The First Two Hectic Weeks

(My apologies for not writing sooner, but it's been a hectic two weeks).

            

Upon entering my apartment, I was glad to see that everything was still in the same place as I had left them at the end of June.  I unpacked my belongings and swept the whole place clean.  When everything was in order, I walked down to the NorthMart and did some light grocery shopping; light because my parents had shipped three boxes of food via First Air.  I would pick them all up several days later.  I also hopped over to Arctic Ventures to see if I needed any office/electronic supplies.  Sure enough, the local establishment is still playing Hindu music and Gilbert & Sullivan operas to ward off loiterers in front of the store.

            

The week of August 19 - 25 was devoted to getting my class ready for the upcoming school year.  I was surprised that the school renovations had yet to be completed.  The main foyer, stairwells, and main office areas were still littered with power tools and construction materials.  Thankfully, the music room was still accessible and I wasted no time putting everything in order.  Near the end of the week I met the rest of the teaching staff at the first staff meeting of the year where we were given our schedules.  For this semester, I would be teaching 4 full classes: Grade 10 Guitar, Grade 11 English, 11&12 Music, and Grade 10 Music.  I would have no prep period.

            

School started on the afternoon of August 27 for Grade 9 students only.  That gave me and many other teachers an extra day to put the finishing touches on our lessons for the first week.  I have to admit that despite having prepared lessons, I still had feelings of uncertainty.  I had yet to meet my students so I didn't know if what I had prepared would go over well.  On the positive side, I was much more prepared this time than in January - back then, I only had two days to get ready.

            

The first day & week of school are always the slowest of the year; after that, the days & weeks fly by.  Most of my music students were from last year; only my English students were completely new.  The first day was mostly devoted to going over the course outlines, highlighting what will be taught, and on what students will be assessed.  There was, of course, time to go over the rules of the classroom.

            

For the rest of the week, my Grade 10 Guitar students practiced chords & chord progressions.  In English, we began the short story unit by reading Henry Slesar's 'Examination Day' and Alan Shadrake's 'Desperate Measures'.  My Grade 11 & 12 music class would be small again with only 9 students.  They're currently working on an arrangement of John Lennon's 'Imagine'. 

            

At the moment, it appears that my junior band will be pretty big this semester with 15 students.  Last semester, I started with 18 but it dropped to 9.  I don't think that will happen with this group; they seem really interested in concert band studies.  Since they are all beginners, I devoted the entire first week to getting down the basics: choosing an instrument, putting it together, how to make a proper sound, proper posture, and following the conductor.  By Friday, they were able to play two songs: 'Jaws' by John Williams and the chorus to 'We Will Rock You' by Queen.

            

Most of the renovations were completed by August 31.  All that remained was painting the outer walls of the high school.     

            

On the weather front, the snow hasn't started falling.  It's still an autumn-like environment.  From the teachers I spoke to, the snow doesn't arrive until the beginning of October.  This is reassuring to many in Iqaluit because they did not receive all of their supplies from the annual sealift.  During the brief summer months when the ice melts, large ships deliver thousands of tons of cargo (you name it, they ship it) to northern communities from Montreal.  Unfortunately, not all the thick ice in Frobisher Bay melted, preventing the local barges to be towed out to the awaiting cargo ship(s) at high tide to unload the large shipping containers.  This long process is the only available option because Iqaluit does not have a deep sea port.  The delayed sealift orders are scheduled to arrive from mid to late September.  The delay has prompted calls for the construction of a deep sea port.        

            

The high cost of food in the North is still a hot topic, even after several high profile protests back in June.  Another protest took place on August 25 in front of the Iqaluit NorthMart.  The protest was organized by Leetia Janes, the creator of the Facebook Group, Feeding My Family.  Since its creation back in June, the Facebook group has over 21,000 members and has become the primary outlet for Northerners to voice their displeasures over the high cost of healthy foods.  Outside Facebook, Feeding My Family now has its own dedicated website.  I thought prices had started to go down across the board but I guess that has yet to happen.  Just a few days ago, I overheard that the average family spends between $200 - $300 a week on food.  I don't spend that much because I only have one mouth to feed.  The only high price that recently caught my attention was for the 890ml Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise I bought for $11.30!             

And finally, Iqaluit's only power plant is in the midst of a much needed renovation.  The building and its four diesel generators are over 40 years old.  From a distance it would appear that a large new section is being added, and the outer walls of the original structure are being stripped and replaced.  The unfortunate consequence of the renovation is rolling blackouts.  So far, four have hit my apartment block at various times in the last two weeks.  It's a tolerable annoyance because in the end, the Nunavut capital will have a more modern & robust power plant.