An Idiot Abroad

AGAIN, sorry about the blog fail, for my own reference these posts were originally from May 11th.

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DISCLAIMER—so I reread some of this—I sound like an idiot, not unlike Karl Pilkington (check him out, he will hopefully make me look better).

Please remember the following while reading this entry:
1) I have never lived anywhere colder than Abbotsford. I’ve never BEEN anywhere colder than a ski hill. I have never been to the Arctic, or even northern BC/AB/SASK etc in the winter. I had no idea what to expect.
2) You are only reading this if you love me—otherwise you will find this boring. Even if you do love me, you will probably need to read this in chunks, as it is very long. If you are my mom, I’m sure you will print it off and read it to your coworkers and anyone else who will listen this is okay, just don’t let dad tell people I’m in Africa doing my masters. Again.

Okay well that’s that.

So as promised, here are a few pics from my first couple days here. Yes, I know how bizarre it is that I already posted at all when it normally takes me 4 weeks to send an email, longer to post pics, but I’m a bit exhausted from my first day on the job, so I thought I’d chill, watch some Glee and share some of the sights of Rankin Inlet (seriously though, Friday? Glee—seriously??? Bah.)

TOKEN AIRPLANE PICTURE
Here I am just leaving the Rockies behind (everyone who has ever flown eas has this photo. I actually took this pic because I thought the sign on the engine was funny—“this is an nginem nt a men’s room”—how ever could one tell? I’m so funny.)

This is a bumper sticker; it’s extremely symbolic here, as so many Inuit are eaten by polar bears everyday.

Since I have arrived, I have been pleasantly surprised with the weather. I walk aroud in a windbreaker, jeans, and my trusty new boots, and it’s entirely sufficient—I have not been cold since I arrived. Apparently I brought the warmth with me—it was -30 last week, and this week the snow is melting like crazy!

This is a musk ox. Err—the remains of a musk ox. Or maybe a bison. I should confirm this. One of my neighbours is apparently a hunter, so this was cool to see. I’m sure what’s left of him will make a beautiful throw rug, or some nice boots, or something. Note to self: find out what he is really going to do with it

These are the dogs! There are HUNDREDS of dogs, lining the bay, just waiting for someone to take them out! (That will be me soon enough!) They all seem very sweet, but you know that feeling, when you’re like “…should I feel bad for them?” but then you tell yourself, “no, no, they’re fine… but then really… Okay well I will look into this and get back to you, I’m sure it’s fine.

This is a dead seal beside deer antlers. Sorry to the veggies, but it was pretty cool to see. Apparently the Inuit give their spoiled meat to their dogs, so this was going to be given to them pretty soon methinks.

Hey look. An Inukshuk. Weren’t you at the Olympics? Still, very cool to see.
Note to self: ask people here what they thought of the Olympics.

This picture is for the girls—Lana look! They do have them here! And they aren’t even that much more expensive! It’s a good thing I bought that big bag at Target for the same price though, but its nice to know I won’t run out!

This picture is more for price comparison. OUCH! I would say that most things here seem to be about double the cost of home prices, but junk food and PRODUCE and MILK tend to be the most ridiculously expensive.

In the brief amount of time that I have been here, there are times when I feel like I’m just at Whistler for a ski trip; there are other times when I’m at home or at the office and I forget that I’m in the Arctic at all.

The COOLEST thing about Rankin Inlet is the Inukitut speakers all around me. Everything from stop signs to grocery store signs read in both English and Inuktitut. Also, the Northern, one of two grocery stores here, has quads for sale, just sitting right next to the coffee section. It’s awesome. I kind of want one (so badly.)

I started work today, and it is great! The team is so diverse in their backgrounds and specializations. I look forward to learning from them and helping out where I can (putting my memo writing skills to use, woot!). I’m currently staying at our finance director’s sweet apartment while he’s out of town, so I’ve got my own digs “downtown” (next time I’ll show pictures of downtown).

Well I’m sure there is more to say, but even I have stopped listening at this point. Stay tuned folks, because this idiot “abroad” will, I’m sure, have more to say.