What you've all been waiting for

Hey Everyone,

I've got pictures for you all, but first a little bit of news.

1. I've decided to accept a part time teaching position here Innilik School. I'll be teaching math, science and computers for grade 7 students. I have a day to prepare material. YAY!
2. I've decided to join a couple of the other teachers at school for their evening Volleyball/Weight Lifting/Ping Pong/Billiards sessions. They're really cool guys and they let the kids come into the school after hours so that they stay out of trouble. It's been a blast so far and I'm really enjoying it.
3. "High Speed Internet" really means a max bandwidth of about 100k. I download at about 20k on a good day... I guess it's better than dial up, but I'm really hoping that it doesn't prevent me from doing Workbrain stuff.

In any case, here's the goods:

Notice that there's three official languages... and no known population.

A nice shot of the landscape from the airplane. Notice the lack of trees. And the snow :-)

Here's the handful of buildings that make up the town.

The trendy part of town.

In Inukjuak we get water delivered by truck every day. Except for Sunday. Nobody showers on Sunday.

Colleen sporting her light and airy summer clothes.

The only wildlife we've seen thus far. (Hint: it's on the beech and it's no longer alive)

Anyways, that's about it for this post. I'll let you know how things are going on the long weekend. Hopefully by then we'll have gone out and seen some caribou or caught some fish. We'll also post some pictures of the school and our house later.

Take it easy,

Markus

P.S. Blueberries actually grow up here. We've encountered some on our strolls out of town and heard of classes being cancelled so that kids can go pick them. That's one tough berry.

A Lazy Sunday

Markus and I went for a nice walk yesterday. We realized we are living a bizzaro Jeff Foxworthy joke - I think it would go something like this: "You might be a Northerner if you go for a walk around town and actually walk AROUND the town." In Inukjuak's defence it took about an hour and did not include the airport.

I have been here since the 12th of August already and the time has absolutely flown. I have been frantically preparing for my students who arrived for the first day of school on the 17th of August. At last count I have 11 students and I am teaching them secondary 4 and 5 (that is Quebec for grades 10 and 11) English, Science, Social Studies and Math. Which was a bit of a surprise as I was told I was teaching science and math only. Awww well, everyday is a surprise!
Me: "Hello little boy who just ran into my classroom. Can I help you?"
Little Boy : " I have a knife"
Me: "Pardon?"
Little Boy: " Wanna buy it?"
Me: "Pardon?"
Little Boy runs out of classroom.

Surpise! Kids carry knives to school. In case they have to go hunting at lunch. I'm a little serious.

Markus and I have been hanging out with the other teachers at the school. It is a pretty interesting crew of people who come from all over Central and Eastern Canada. I'm really excited to work with them and get to know them better. Especially since they got Markus hang-over drunk last night. But that is gossip for the next post;)

First post from the great...green north?

Hey Everyone,

Colleen and I have made it safe and sound to the land of the caribou and polar bears. She's been here a few days longer than I have, so I still have a few things to go see and explore like the amazing landscape. Flying in was such a surreal experience because of the low cloud cover. The flight started off in Montreal and took us into the clouds, then the plane would dip slightly below and suddenly there was a thick forest beneath us. It would only take a few moments and all I could see was cloud again. The next time I could see the ground the countryside consisted of only rocks and grass. Not a tree to be seen.

Something I will have to say is that it impressed me much more than I thought it would. The landscape has a certain beauty that's hard to describe. We'll be sure to take pictures and post them soon so that you can see what I'm talking about.

In any case, the community we're living in is very small, but the people have been great so far. The road system consists of little more than a nine by nine grid that's constantly got ATVs and scooters zipping up and down it. The two competing places to shop are the co-op and the Northern, although, competition must not be that intense since a liter of milk costs about five dollars. That's ok, though, cause our first order of food came in today so we're not starving.

I should also let you know that I've (Markus) already been offered a full-time teaching position. They want to give me the grade 7 class since the teacher had to leave for personal reasons. I still want to stick to part time, since I'm also planning on doing contract work for Workbrain as well, so we'll see how that pans out tomorrow when I meet with the principle again.

Well, those are the essentials for now. We're planning on going for some great hikes on the weekend since the arctic char are supposedly thick enough to catch with your bare hands and a huge heard of caribou are going to be migrating through this area in the next couple of months. We'll most definitely keep you updated on all the things that happen and I'll try to remember to bring the camera.

Until next time,

Markus & Colleen

Hello World

Hello, World, hello