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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Breakfast...and Settling in

This morning as I was walking to work I met my boss and her daughter walking to the store.  Normally she take her kids to school and daycare then to work. It turned out that this morning the school was having a "cold " pancake breakfast.

So Sheryl and I get all of our opening prep done so that we can go to the breakfast. From what Sheryl was telling me that pretty much the whole community comes out... well when we got there it seemed like most of the people in town were there.

Breakfast was cold pancakes, grilled hot dog half's, toast and scrambled eggs and juice. It was great! Sheryl and I were sitting with two of the towns elders, both of whom only spoke Inuktitut which was cool and intimidating as well. I am definitely glad that Sheryl was there to translate.

After breakfast Sheryl and I went back to the store to prepare for opening. Once the store was open and customers were coming in the ones that saw me at breakfast were asking how I enjoyed it. It was a really great feeling of inclusion into the community.

I know I have been here two weeks... it seems wayy longer some days. I am starting to recognize our regular customers and am able to joke around with them. I am looking forward to getting to know more people. I definitely love the feeling of community that Kimmirut has, very few places hold a breakfast and the majority of the town shows up.


It is cool to hear the kids who come into the store saying my name , almost like they want to know if I will respond to it . Alot of kids also want to come visit, mainly because I have a cat and my bosses daughter comes to visit.

I am hoping the snow and cool temperatures have left us behind! I wanted to go out on the ice and take pictures but I don't think I would do that right now ... the ice looks kind of sketchy! I am hoping to get an opportunity to go fishing or something "out on the land" just to say I have had the experience!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Back to the World

I am sure some of you thought that I abandoned my blog ..... your not so lucky!

My first week in the North was quite eventful! Work is entertaining and very challanging. I like that there is never the same thing twice . Good thing to keep my mind fresh. My co-workers are great and teaching me some Inktatut so far my word count is up to 4 words!

Kanwipe- How are you?
Dayma- Finished?
Nacome- Thank you
Your Welcome- which I cannot remember but it still counts!

I am sure I just butchered the spelling of those words.

I have met alot of people which is awesome and am starting to recognize a few faces. I also can make my way around the "subburbs" and the arena which I did not know Kimmirut had until I went to make a delivery with Sheryl.

I can now get around on my own!

The big challange I faced was my internet. As a person who has been connected to my friends and family through the internet to lose that connection was crazy! Especially when I was off for two days in a row! It turned out I did not pay my internet ....Oops ... guess I didnt know about that one. Then my modem wouldn't pick up connection... got a replacement and that one didnt work! Now I am all hooked up! Thank god I was getting a bit stir crazy.


One of the hardest things I have had to get use to with moving is the weather! There has been a bit of a cold snap here and it is a bit of a pain in the butt to bundle up to go to work. The biggest kicker was when I was talking to my little sister Allyson during the long weekend. She was like "Oh it is so hot here and I think I got heat exhsution" mean while I woke up to snow that covered the ground.... Ok so it didnt stay but it was still there!!

Well that is all my musings for now... look forward to hearing more from me for now on! Thank you to everyone who has read my blog and commented it has been great to hear from you!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Traveling and Arriving

I have made it to Kimmirut!

This was such a long journey and a very emotional one for me. Monday night I was still not done packing so I went to work on that and inserted a bit of a going away party. My sisters got me a Wii , which made the trip to Kimmirut with me! It took my mom and my uncle and I to get everything all packed and taped. I finished packing about 12 am . I had to be awake at 2am to start the trip.

Getting to the airport in Fredericton we found that one of my totes was over weight by like a pound. So my mom did some shuffling and we made ti work. Air Canada also checked my luggage straight through until Kimmirut which meant that when I arrived in Ottawa I did not have to worry about getting my luggage , what a relief!

The flight from Fredericton to Ottawa was very noisy I was on a small Dash -8 plane. I was able to sleep and that was good. I got to Ottawa and had about a 2 hour wait until I got on the flight to Iqaluit.

The First Air flight to Iqaluit was great, I was in the last seat of the plane and had no seat mates which was great! First Air is really awesome I got breakfast on the plane as well as hot towel, three options of newspapers and a pillow and blanket ... Airline service is still in existence?

So I get into Iqaluit and they tell me my flight to Kimmirut has been delayed due to weather until 3:30. At 3:30 they tell me that my flight has been canceled. I am a bundle of tears at the airport trying to figure out what on earth I am going to do. I call my boss in Kimmirut and then to the Head Office for my company to find out what I am going to do , since they take care of my travel and accommodations.

They decide to put me up at the staff housing in Iqaluit and have someone from the store pick me up. Which was ok. .. So picture this a girl who is BONE tired with two carts full of totes and bags and a cat waiting . I am litterly the only person left in the airport who does not work there.

Melissa came and picked me up and when I realized that she was coming to get me I cried . The stress was crazy. I just wanted to get where I am going and be done with it .

I was able to fly into Kimmirut on Wednesday . We were delayed by about 45 mins due to some fog. So I got all checked in and such and was waiting. Then one of the First Air staff comes over and lets me know one of my totes broke open.... GREAT ... My totes were already cracked and chipped and such so I was not looking forward to this. I did a crazy tape job and got it back on the conveyor belt.

The flight to Kimmirut was pretty, since I was in a Twin Otter you can see all the landscape which was beautiful... bad thing my camera was dead.

Staying in Iqaluit was actually good for my mental health lol. I got all the exhaustion , the nerves, the emotions out of my system so I was able to meet people in Kimmirut without being an emotional wreck.

I am going to close this post for now and I will write more on my first few days in Kimmirut!


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Shopping Spree, Surprises and Packing ... An Adventure

Tuesday was my big shopping spree day in Saint John! This would be the final big shopping trip before my move. I had my list all prepared , my stores all picked out and a plan in place.

Everything was going great got to Saint John picked up my sister's wedding dress from the dry cleaner then headed to mecca.... COSTCO!  I had a short but specific list for Costco and I stuck mainly to it. Which in Costco is virtually impossible due to the things you manage to find and think... " Hey I might need all 15 of those" and buy it.

After the Costco adventure(where I am sure people thought I was crazy for having a big bottle of Advil , Robaxacet and about 750 Vitamin D pills) I had to go get jeans. That was an adventure and a half mainly because I am so darn picky about jeans! Well Addition Elle had NO jeans... so off to Reitmans ... no jeans there but got a cute windbreaker. So Mom and I decide to take a break and grab lunch that is where the surprise came in...


While eating my older sister called and asked about her wedding dress. Kathie then asked to talk to me where she informs me I need to tell my mother to be at the airport at 4:30pm. I was like what the heck! Well it turns out my uncle , whom I had never met  and had not been home in 31 years was coming home for a week! He actually leaves the same day as me (May 15th) I leave from Fredericton at 6am and he and his girlfriend leave from Saint John at 5:20pm.

Needless to say that there were alot of tears at the airport! So only a few people in my family knew he was coming home mainly my parents and my sister and her fiancee. So we surprised my Nannie who was shocked as heck!

So after a night of chatting I wake up this morning to the power being out... not a big deal you think well when there is no ceiling fan or air conditioning it makes for a very cranky Jeka.

Today was the day of packing for me... well at least one tote! I got most of my sewing stuff packed and even a buch of odds and ends . I was prepared to be over the 70lb limit it was about 50lbs so I thought that was pretty darn good! I still have a few things to pack and some stuff cannot be packed until Monday ( like clothes I am wearing !)

I also have to get a few more things for Paislie so that she can eat and have litter during the first few weeks of living in the North.

The cool thing I have been noticing thanks to www.kimmirutweather.com is that the sun is coming up extremely early (like 3:30am) and the nights are like twilight until like 11pm. Which is soo cool. I am looking forward to taking lots of pictures! I also spoke to my store manager and she confirmed for me that I will have both phone and INTERNET when I arrive in Kimmirut. Thank gosh! I think I would probably be going crazy without them.

Well the next few days are going to crazy busy, cleaning , packing and getting ready for my Nannie's 70th Birthday Open House on Saturday.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Closing of a Door

Today was my last day of work....

What a bittersweet time for me! I thought I was going to be ok then I got to work. Needless to say all my faux bravado melted away and I was left sobbing at work. What can I say I am pretty emotional at times.

My co-workers gave me a this beautiful card... which did not help the tears!





I have to say that I have some of the best co-workers ! They gave me balloons and a cake too and put up with the tears. They are all excited for me to be on this journey and to have this crazy adventure. I am too but my emotions still roller coaster .


Now that I am finished work I need to really get on task with preparing for the move. I have 11 days to decide what I am taking North with me, sort through stuff that is staying and tidy up my room.

Tomorrow is going to be what I call affectionately  "Tote Day". What is this you may ask? Well totes are on sale at Canadian Tire! I am hoping I am able to pick up the size of totes I need (ie will fit all my stuff but not cause too much in overage fees ) and maybe ....just maybe start to fill them.

The younger sisters and I are debating going to Saint John to a movie so I thought we might do some tote shopping and maybe find a few pairs of jeans for me too ... ones that do not cost me 60 bucks a pop!

Well I will let you know how "Tote Day" goes!