Helenenorth

 Hello Yes, I am back in the saddle, so to speak.  Already  a month since Christmas.  Where does the time go when you are having fun!!  We were hit by a severe blizzard last week, closing the school because of the high winds, over 100 k an hour, cold temperatures of up to minus 50 and blinding snow.  It took one full day for the loader to clear the roads so that the water trucks could run, so, we were out for 3 days.  I can not imagine what it was like before our modern way of living.  The Inuit were tough people!! I have a new neighbour, and his name is not Jaques or Pierre--I can hardly believe it.  He is Germaine!! Germaine is the new, trained, maintenance guy--how lucky he lives next door.  He wants to use my internet--sure--fine--but--I want him to drive me to get groceries and water--fair trade, don't you think! There are 4 trucks here.  In the past, it has been very easy to use the truck--kind of the honor system.  When ...

 Hello Welcome to winter--and I understand old man winter has visited the sunny side of Canada too!! We have just come through a 3 day blizzard with winds of up to 100 miles an hour, blowing snow and drifting snow.  Yes, there is a difference.  Blowing snow is when it is falling and blowing.  Drifting can happen when the wind blows it across the landscape.  All three can happen at the same time making any kind of outdoor activity, including walking, extremely dangerous.  I have no idea how the Inuit of past gone days ever lived or survived here.  Yes, they had the ice houses--but they had to build them--and what kept them warm--not a stick of wood anywhere--so they had to depend on the whale oil or seal oil--not exactly something you could buy at the local Hudson's  Bay Store!!   With school closed on Friday, I invited my Inuit neighbour in for coffee.  She is the kindergarten teacher.  She is about 45, has three children, is d...

 Hello all 12 full school days left or fewer, depending upon the weather--but who is counting!! As always, each day brings tears, delights, frustration and great joy, plus a few surprises. On Monday afternoon, two little girls came in after lunch.  We had launched into a social studies lesson, and the girls were just starting on their seat work, when one child told me that she had seen a man with a black mask on a ski-doo with a hand gun near the back of the school.  She also said that this man was uttering bad words, and pointing the gun at the school windows.  The other little girl agreed.  I immediately called down to the office for the principal--he was their in seconds.  He questioned the girls, and the story was exactly the same, so within 10 minutes, the police arrived, and we were in lockdown.  Not only us, but the whole community.  This lasted for about an hour, and then we were released.  Yes, their was a suspect--but who, what, whe...

 Hello all It is all been a blur since Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, I got the dreaded Covid, and although I had 4 shots, I suffered from an extremely sore throat, runny nose, dry cough and exhaustion.  I was able to go back to work after 5 days, but the cough, stuffy nose and exhaustion have held on.  Fortunately for me, I missed only two days of school---there was bad weather, and illness in the community, so the school was shut down for several days. Now, with Remembrance Day gone, we are in the count down to Christmas.  I have volunteered to organize the Christmas Concert, and it has been fun talking to all staff members about what their plans are.  After 2 years of no concert, the community is looking forward to a big splash.  The grand finale will feature a guitar band of about 10 staff, with the entire staff singing Silent Night and Felice Navidad in Inuktitut, French and English. I have also been invited into more Inuit homes.  Everyone is...

                            Happy Thanksgiving from Grade 3 and Grade 4 English Thanks, Brenna, our teacher support Thanks, Malayia and young brother Hurray, Lydia, all by herself!! And I have a cute video of the children reciting "The Turkey", but I can not figure out how to upload it on this platform.  If you wish to see it, let me know, and I can easily send it to you on messenger. It is beginning to snow, think I  will take a walk. wishing you all love and hope on this Thanksgiving weekend. Helene