It went from clear skies to a small blizzard in 45 minutes . . .
We didn't really celebrate a "One Year Anniversary" in Iqaluit. I didn't blog about it and it sort of slipped by us. Time seems to fly up here and there's no shortage of people who will confirm that. This month we officially joined the very popular club of "I was only gonna stay a year but here I am (insert lengthy time here) later!" Iqaluit grows on ya'!
What really drove the "anniversary stake" through me today was the weather. It's coming up to our second winter here and I think by Iqaluit standards that qualifies us as people who can say they've been here "a year". I'm proud of us.
I can remember thinking how we may not last up here during the first few months,and I especially remember how hard the homesickness hit during the holidays. I've always said that it takes a certain kind of tolerance and personality to really last up here and I still stand by it. But now, when you've met the challenges head on and you're still happy, excited, and strong, I think that's when you know you can last up here. It's an overwhelming experience, it really is but, you'll always be better for having taken the journey.
A year later, we'd still do it all over again.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
DUMP FIRE
I love the smell of methane gas in the morning.
I decided to remember this because it's the strangest fire experience we've had to date.
Last week, some genius teenager decided it'd be a great idea to start a gas fire at the dump. Lucky for us it was the night all the wind decided to pick up. At first, you could smell that old warming scent of fire wood but now, it feels like you're inhaling the fumes off an over-heated engine. Oddly enough, from what I understand, we are inhaling parts, liquids, and burning fluids from old tires, engines, waste, and oils from cars.
Personally, I find this both ironic and coincidental since all last week on the local morning A.M. radio show they had pushed this story/report from some environmentalist who had just been to a dump out in Baker Lake. His very dramatic radio clip was funny to hear over and over all week, and then again translated to Inuktitut but, now it all makes sense.
After two days of burning wood, we are left with a god awful scent of burning plastic, methane gas, and just plain pollution. Maybe this guy was right. Maybe the dump situation up here is out of hand and this is some crazy way of realizing it. Who knows?
Either way, the whole situation . . . .wait for it . . . "Stinks!".
Yes, I did.
I decided to remember this because it's the strangest fire experience we've had to date.
Last week, some genius teenager decided it'd be a great idea to start a gas fire at the dump. Lucky for us it was the night all the wind decided to pick up. At first, you could smell that old warming scent of fire wood but now, it feels like you're inhaling the fumes off an over-heated engine. Oddly enough, from what I understand, we are inhaling parts, liquids, and burning fluids from old tires, engines, waste, and oils from cars.
Personally, I find this both ironic and coincidental since all last week on the local morning A.M. radio show they had pushed this story/report from some environmentalist who had just been to a dump out in Baker Lake. His very dramatic radio clip was funny to hear over and over all week, and then again translated to Inuktitut but, now it all makes sense.
After two days of burning wood, we are left with a god awful scent of burning plastic, methane gas, and just plain pollution. Maybe this guy was right. Maybe the dump situation up here is out of hand and this is some crazy way of realizing it. Who knows?
Either way, the whole situation . . . .wait for it . . . "Stinks!".
Yes, I did.
Happy Birthday Steph.
Happy 26th Birthday Stephanie!
What a great reason to finally make a post!
I love you . . . dinner's on me!
What a great reason to finally make a post!
I love you . . . dinner's on me!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Ty & Lacie Galloway
I'd like you all to welcome our dear friends Ty and Lacie Galloway to Iqaluit.
Stephanie's best friend and her husband made the move and started their own northern adventure.
Ty
No. Ty is not my brother and we are in no way related. I'm not saying that wouldn't be the raddest situation on the planet, it just isn't the case. However, he is awesome.
Lacie
Yes. When asked why Lacie was so excited to get up here she was quoted as saying "the sole reason I moved up here was Jordan and Stephanie's blog"
We love you guys. Good Luck.
Stephanie's best friend and her husband made the move and started their own northern adventure.
Ty
No. Ty is not my brother and we are in no way related. I'm not saying that wouldn't be the raddest situation on the planet, it just isn't the case. However, he is awesome.
Lacie
Yes. When asked why Lacie was so excited to get up here she was quoted as saying "the sole reason I moved up here was Jordan and Stephanie's blog"
We love you guys. Good Luck.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saying Goodbye
Last week we said goodbye to not only a friend but, the first friend we made up here.
Jaime was our resource when we were planning this journey. She became a guide for us as we planned and finally,after we got here she became our friend. A friend we would've liked to have spent more time with but, a friend nonetheless.
I thought it be appropriate that we say goodbye on our blog since it was Jaime's blog that convinced us to make this journey. When we arrived she was nice enough to welcome us over some wings and a few drinks. Since then we've curled with Jaime, played badminton, and I'm sure we've frustrated her with our up and downs while we've adjusted during our first year up here.
Jaime has found love and is pursuing it no matter where the journey leads her. She's brave and we wish her nothing but the best in her next steps. We'll miss her and we thank her for all her help.
Good luck Jaime.
Jaime was our resource when we were planning this journey. She became a guide for us as we planned and finally,after we got here she became our friend. A friend we would've liked to have spent more time with but, a friend nonetheless.
I thought it be appropriate that we say goodbye on our blog since it was Jaime's blog that convinced us to make this journey. When we arrived she was nice enough to welcome us over some wings and a few drinks. Since then we've curled with Jaime, played badminton, and I'm sure we've frustrated her with our up and downs while we've adjusted during our first year up here.
Jaime has found love and is pursuing it no matter where the journey leads her. She's brave and we wish her nothing but the best in her next steps. We'll miss her and we thank her for all her help.
Good luck Jaime.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Alianait Arts Festival 2010
This was one of the best moments I've had being in Iqaluit.
Kyle & I were invited to play this years Alianait Arts Festival. When the invitation came in I immediately felt honoured to be asked to contribute to the event. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not but, Iqaluit has an incredible amount of talent. Seriously. The spectrum and depth of the talent up here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Every single artist or act is completely different yet equally engaging. Anywhere you look you have these great people who get great support from anyone and everyone in town. Artists share camaraderie instead of competing against one another. We buy each others records, we listen to each others songs, we communicated and collaborate; it's never ending.
Ever since I got here and started up friendships with some of the musicians, all I heard about was "Alianait". When you first step off the plane, it just sounds like another word you don't know how to say nor do you understand but, as time went by it became both more familiar and intriguing. So, when I got the e-mail with the invitation I was instantly stoked.
I think us getting involved was mostly due to Karen MacKenzie. Without gushing over how talented she is and how much I love her album "Wind Don't Blow" as well as her song "Wind Don't Blow", I'll just let you all discover her for yourself and send her the biggest THANK YOU KAREN ever given.
Kyle and I worked diligently on new and original material and we were very happy with our results. We practiced until we lost our voices and played until our hands were sore. We opened the Friday Night "Sound Fusion" stage with as much energy as we could and we couldn't have been happier with the reception. We even ended up filling in some extra time before the Headliner "Kodiak" since they were late getting to their time-slot. It was such a surreal experience.
Not in a decade had I been on a stage singing my own music; it was such a rush. We got so many compliments on the energy and the fun nature of the performance. We only played 20 minutes but we ended up signing autographs on kids shirts and doing interviews with News North. Autographs!!!! . . . like, I haven't signed an autograph in my whole life, let alone enough signatures to necessitate pluralising the word "autograph". It was just SO amazing.
The festival itself is so well organized. The entire team are all dedicated individuals who have out in the time and effort to make this a great great event. The Tent is majestic, the music is eclectic, and the whole event is just amazing. If or when you come to Iqaluit, make sure you are here for Alianait. It's this festival that gets your feet wet from the talent pool we have up here. It's a perfect blend of styles that you're guaranteed to enjoy.
Thank you Heather Daley . . .Thank you Karen . . . Thank you Alianait . . . Thank you Iqaluit.
Kyle & I were invited to play this years Alianait Arts Festival. When the invitation came in I immediately felt honoured to be asked to contribute to the event. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not but, Iqaluit has an incredible amount of talent. Seriously. The spectrum and depth of the talent up here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Every single artist or act is completely different yet equally engaging. Anywhere you look you have these great people who get great support from anyone and everyone in town. Artists share camaraderie instead of competing against one another. We buy each others records, we listen to each others songs, we communicated and collaborate; it's never ending.
Ever since I got here and started up friendships with some of the musicians, all I heard about was "Alianait". When you first step off the plane, it just sounds like another word you don't know how to say nor do you understand but, as time went by it became both more familiar and intriguing. So, when I got the e-mail with the invitation I was instantly stoked.
I think us getting involved was mostly due to Karen MacKenzie. Without gushing over how talented she is and how much I love her album "Wind Don't Blow" as well as her song "Wind Don't Blow", I'll just let you all discover her for yourself and send her the biggest THANK YOU KAREN ever given.
Kyle and I worked diligently on new and original material and we were very happy with our results. We practiced until we lost our voices and played until our hands were sore. We opened the Friday Night "Sound Fusion" stage with as much energy as we could and we couldn't have been happier with the reception. We even ended up filling in some extra time before the Headliner "Kodiak" since they were late getting to their time-slot. It was such a surreal experience.
Not in a decade had I been on a stage singing my own music; it was such a rush. We got so many compliments on the energy and the fun nature of the performance. We only played 20 minutes but we ended up signing autographs on kids shirts and doing interviews with News North. Autographs!!!! . . . like, I haven't signed an autograph in my whole life, let alone enough signatures to necessitate pluralising the word "autograph". It was just SO amazing.
The festival itself is so well organized. The entire team are all dedicated individuals who have out in the time and effort to make this a great great event. The Tent is majestic, the music is eclectic, and the whole event is just amazing. If or when you come to Iqaluit, make sure you are here for Alianait. It's this festival that gets your feet wet from the talent pool we have up here. It's a perfect blend of styles that you're guaranteed to enjoy.
Thank you Heather Daley . . .Thank you Karen . . . Thank you Alianait . . . Thank you Iqaluit.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
GOODBYE WATERS' EDGE
It was . . . . an experience.
I don't believe in public slander and there's never any real reason for burning bridges so, I'll just say this: I left on my own terms and I have no regrets.
It'll cost you at least two drinks if you want the rest.
I'm lucky enough to be joining Canada Post here in Iqaluit as a Full-Time Assistant the day after my Birthday and I couldn't be more excited. For the first time in 12 years I'll have a day job and weekends off. What do people do on Friday Nights anyways? . . .
In all honesty, this is a move I made for Steph and for a more secure and dependant future. The lifestyle is different and something she can count on a little more. I'm excited because it's a federal position and I'll actually be home to spend time with her. I can't tell you how many nights we've spent where the only time we saw eachother was when we'd come home from different shifts and found eachother sleeping. I'm normal . . . and grown up now. Oh boy.
My short term goal is to try and change Townie Bastard's opinion of the Post Office by the end of 2010.
Wish me luck!
I don't believe in public slander and there's never any real reason for burning bridges so, I'll just say this: I left on my own terms and I have no regrets.
It'll cost you at least two drinks if you want the rest.
I'm lucky enough to be joining Canada Post here in Iqaluit as a Full-Time Assistant the day after my Birthday and I couldn't be more excited. For the first time in 12 years I'll have a day job and weekends off. What do people do on Friday Nights anyways? . . .
In all honesty, this is a move I made for Steph and for a more secure and dependant future. The lifestyle is different and something she can count on a little more. I'm excited because it's a federal position and I'll actually be home to spend time with her. I can't tell you how many nights we've spent where the only time we saw eachother was when we'd come home from different shifts and found eachother sleeping. I'm normal . . . and grown up now. Oh boy.
My short term goal is to try and change Townie Bastard's opinion of the Post Office by the end of 2010.
Wish me luck!
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