A New Academic Year Begins

I always find it fascinating to see eight weeks of summer just fly by in an instant and not have the opportunity to experience it for just a little longer.  I shouldn't complain because many workers in the world receive far less vacation time . . . and in some cases, none at all.  Although my summer was brief, it was fun, exciting, and filled with adventure.  I divided my time between New Zealand, Winnipeg, and my hometown of Ottawa.  That's right, I revisited New Zealand after being away for five years!

            

Auckland, New Zealand.

The remains of Christ Church Cathedral.

I travelled to New Zealand for three weeks to explore more of the north island and to see how much Christchurch has changed since the devastating earthquakes of 2010 & 2011.  In short, the city, especially the downtown core, has completely changed.  In fact, the city is still rebuilding.  Several well-known landmarks remain but much of the old & damaged structures have been removed.  However, I was glad to see that the University of Canterbury only suffered minimal damage. 

           

Me bungee jumping for the first time.
I did this from a height of 40m at the
Auckland Harbour Bridge.

I don't want to give too much away because I will be blogging about my recent trip on my New Zealand blog.  I'll just say that the trip was awesome.  I visited many towns, did some extreme sports, and snapped over 1000 pictures.  I'm not sure when I will begin blogging about Middle Earth.  I want to start right away but my teaching occupation & other commitments in Arctic Bay receive priority.  I think I will have the time in the new year.

           

I was flown to Winnipeg, Manitoba by the Department of National Defence to undergo basic officer training.  This is a mandatory course for those adults wanting to be officers in the Cadet Instructor Cadre (CIC).  The course focused on dress, drill, deportment, and leadership.  It was an intensive course attended by officer cadets from the western provinces.  I was the only one from the north.

            

The remaining days of summer were spent in Ottawa where I reconnected with old friends, shopped for school supplies, and packed for my return to Baffin Island.  I made sure to bring food because my refrigerator in Arctic Bay was empty and the Northern Store & Co-op would be closed by the time I arrived.

           

The landscape of Nunavik. (Northern Quebec)

Frobisher Bay.

I flew to Arctic Bay on the morning of August 7th.  The CATSA people gave me the "star" treatment at the oversize baggage counter at the Ottawa Airport by inspecting some of my large boxes.  I was glad we were able to reseal them.  One of my coworkers, Kaitlynd, was on the same Iqaluit flight.  She is the school's Student Support Teacher.  The plane lifted off into the sky with ease and flew north, crossing the Ottawa River and into Quebec airspace.  After about ninety minutes of flying, the tress below us were gone, replaced by a rocky landscape with thousands of lakes.

            

Iqaluit.

Sealift vessel.

I took out my camera and photographed the landscape below.  When the plane flew over Hudson Strait, the water was blue.  There were only a few stubborn icebergs left floating above the service, refusing to melt.  There were more pieces of broken ice in Frobisher Bay.  I was able to take several pictures of Iqaluit when the plane got into position to land.  There were two large sealift vessels in the bay. 

            

Newly repaved runway.  Iqaluit Airport.

New passenger terminal construction.

The Iqaluit Airport is currently being expanded and renovated.  The Iqaluit International Airport Improvement Project (IIAIP) will add a new terminal building, expanded aprons, new lighting systems, a repaved runway, and a new combined services building to house fire-fighting vehicles, support equipment, and heavy equipment.  Construction is expected to be completed in 2017.  The project has been controversial & criticized in Nunavut because of its price tag of $400 million dollars over 30 years.  Nunavummiut have argued that the money should have been spent on more pressing matters like social housing, infrastructure, and education.  Personally, I think the airport is long overdue for an upgrade and the benefits will be felt by other communities.      

            

Old Iqaluit Airport terminal (still in use).

Once I was off the plane, I exited the terminal and walked over to Yummy Shawarma for lunch.  I was greeted by one of the establishment's veteran servers.  He immediately recognized me and listed off my usual choices.  I chose a large beef shawarma sandwich with everything on it.  As always, the shawarma was delicious.

           

I met another coworker at the airport.  Paulette had taken the previous year off to complete several art courses in Montreal.  Her high school art & English class was looked after by Aga.  We chatted about the summer and shared photos of our adventures.

            

Hall Beach Airport Terminal

DEW Line Site

Our flight to Arctic Bay had to be diverted to Hall Beach because the plane needed to be refueled.  I had never been to Hall Beach before.  All I knew about the community was that it was situated on flat land and it contained a DEW Line radar station.  The large radar dishes were built in the late 1950s to warn Canada & the United States of Soviet bombers flying over the arctic with nuclear weapons.  The site is no longer in operation but needs to be cleaned up of contaminants and dismantled.

            

Refueled and ready to go.

The stopover at Hall Beach was brief.  We were allowed to head inside the small terminal to stretch our legs.  I took my camera and photographed the DEW Line site and the terminal.  We took off when the plane was fully fueled and everyone was onboard.    

            

Construction site of the new health centre.

I was greeted by Frank at the Arctic Bay Airport.   He drove me to my place where I spent the next several hours unpacking and putting everything in order.  The town hadn't changed much in the last two months.  The only forthcoming addition will be the new health centre.  Construction has just started with the installation of large steel pipes into the ground.  The building will be constructed on top of these pipes once all the necessary materials arrive on sealift.  Arctic Bay has been expecting a new health centre for several years.  The old one was built in the 1970s and needs to be replaced.

            

King George V Mountain, Arctic Bay.

The next few days were spent organizing my classroom and greeting familiar faces around town.  The staff at Inuujaq School had their first day on Tuesday, August 11th.  We spent the day getting our classrooms & lessons in order.  The principal also held a brief staff meeting to welcome everyone and to hand out teaching schedules.  I would be teaching three classes this semester: Grades 10 & 11 Social Studies, and Grade 10 Percussion.  (Pretty much the same classes as before). 

            

Inuujaq School staff prepare breakfast plates.

Breakfast plates.

The first day of school for students was on Wednesday, August 12th.  A welcome breakfast assembly was held in the gym.  The staff had arrived early that morning to prepare the food and set up the gym with tables, chairs, garbage bins, and sound system.  The assembly began at 9:30am with an opening prayer, and brief introductions from the principal and teaching staff.  The teachers then handed out the plates of food to the students, parents, elders, and community members.  Teachers and students returned to their respective classrooms at the end of the assembly.

            

Eating breakfast.

For the first three days of school, I focused my efforts on getting to know my students, showing them the layout of my classroom, how to behave in my classroom, and settling them into an academic routine.  My largest class this semester will be Grade 10 Social Studies with 25 students on my attendance. 

            

Me instructing one of my drummers.

My drum class is the smallest with seven students.  I may get another student because I have enough drums for eight.  My beginner percussionists are excited to be learning drums.  I started off by teaching them the basics: match & traditional stick grips, beginner rudiments, and the importance of playing together at a steady pace.  I restricted them to practicing on drum pads for the time being.  I'll be assigning their primary instruments next week.  I have three types of drums to offer: snare, bass, and quad toms.  They won't be practicing on the real drums until they reach a certain level of discipline and focus.