On Thursday afternoon the office closed due to a blizzard, and since then the winds have remained high but temperature broke freezing this morning, from the usual minus 20oC.

The following are some shots of when out walking with one of the nurses.  We used my ski poles to keep from slipping, but made it as far as the bridge at the othe end of town. The marker on the ice show the windscape and roads near the local fish plant were very icy. This stretched polar bear skin was one of the sights.

THE PUPPY OF COURSE!

 A co-worker was on call and surprised with the puppy in the van left overnight in freezing weather, so there was abit of problem solving through the morning and of course I got a water dish and box for him in my office. Plan was to go on local radio re: loses and then had another Inuit co-.worker  was willing to adopt him. However I took the puppy out and walked home with me and we found the owner....the pup was named Butterfly.

Just don't get me going on conditions of dogs in some of the communities...very much a different culture and attitude which is reality.

The interesting thing here is the dogs are a mixture of huskies with short legs...so the story goes the original missionaries had a Corgi or two.

is the theme of the month ( I think )for our photo challenge.http://dailyphotos.xanga.com. Thought this one of Mr. Raven on the sea ice I captured on a walk the other evening is quite appropriate...they are scavengers, masters of many sounds and one of the birds that stay all year round in the Canadian Arctic.

AN ENGLISHMAN or kablunac!

The above joke or variations of it gets tossed around when we get into debates about the merits of speaking more than one language or the education of our children, no matter what ethnic or cultural background. Should it be early immersion or late entry immersion? Should the parents be fluent in both languages? How will the child cope in the later grades in science and math? When raising my own children, two out three which went to a french immersion school, these were some of the questions asked. Attitudes have changed alot for the better in the last 20 years but still the debate continues.

Found the following in my email today from Ron Elliot which you might find of interest....

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 – 17:30
CBC North Iqaluit Regional Radio English News
 
Lead:  Researchers: parents who want bilingual children should speak Inuit language at home

Researchers say parents should speak exclusively in the Inuit language in the home if they want their children to be fluently bilingual. Researchers undertook a study on behalf of the Nunavut Literacy Council. Part of the team traveled to the communities to interview those identified as language role models – people admired for their use of the Inuit language. Shelly Tallack is an Associate Professor at St. Mary’s University in Halifax and a Research Advisor on the project.
 
“The parents who had used only Inuktitut in the home said that they saw their children now being excellent Inuktitut language speakers and excellent English speakers even though they’ve never used English in the home. The parents who said they used both English and Inuktitut in the home because they wanted their children to grow up bilingual for the most part tended to see their children grow up with strong English skills but weaker Inuktitut skills.”
 
Tallack says during workshops around the territory, Inuit were particularly keen on developing language skills. However, they felt they often didn’t have the proficiency needed in the oral language to develop other skills such as reading and writing. She says what’s needed is an environment where only the Inuit language is used. Tallack says the home can be one. More Inuktitut daycares or land camps are other possibilities. He also says he understands why some people think the standardization of Inuktitut is the only solution.

Another link is: http://www.nunavutliteracy.ca/english/research/research.htm

A full week since my arrival in Pangnirtung. Life has been full but with some time before heading out to church will give a bit of a re-cap.

Work has been moderately busy as in an acting supervisor position have both Pang and 2 or 3 other communities and a few new social workers in them.  Also just introduced is some post apprehension legislation to Nunavut with very detailed court docs and time lines. Sat in on a phone conference teaching session on Friday and must admit the brain was reeling abit afterwards. So the learning curve is high for all and the thing is only here for a month...

Added is a little “ on call “ and meetings in the regional govt office in Pang,,,the BLUE building… every hamlet has one! Social service vehicle get us around. This bridge connects the two areas of Pang and last spring the old one on the left was washed out by spring melt. Sign gives walkers the right of way on single lane bridge. Morning meetings are held at the health center with this 830 AM view across the fiord and occasional stops at the Northern store for groceries. ….even picked up one small wall hanging. Back lanes and different light conditions make for good photo shots.

But what keeps me sane I think is the walks or sking on the ice.   These one are around sunset about 6 PM with the mountains and town in the background. One evening encountered these kids on their skidoo. Back into town aged 6 and 10 year old driving.  A full sized machine and short kid...same one that put hands in air on previous picture on my blog, tried it on machine and I told him to keep hands on controls

Saturday morning the weather was sunny and clear so could not resist a 2.5 hour ski on the fjiord. About 1 hour each way and minus 20oC. Snow is hard and wind blown captures this skidoo track. In piles of ice near mouth of river due to the changing tide levels ….a totally different world.

Below are a few of the short videos I took

  (attempted to splice all together but the final version too large to download )

when skiing on the ice.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Snowfall+puts+Marmot+high/2665377/story.html

Saturday morning all packed on the back porch... Dysis had been following me all around last 2 days. Flew from Edmonton about noon to overnight in Ottawa..and found a tasty Thai restaurant for dinner green curry and a local dark beer! In the morning it raining All the bags made it...you can always tell who is flying north by food packs and Tim Horton's carry on. Quite amazed at what a small worked the north is…sat next to a physician from Yellowknife on the Edmonton flight, on leg to Iqaluit, an Inuit man from Clyde River whose sister I had worked with in Arctic Bay and another social work friend met me in the Iqaluit airport. Just a 50-minute flight from Iqaluit after the morning 3 hour one, finally brought out the camera….it was  bright assuredly colder in Pangnirtung, which is on the SE corner of Baffin Island and above the arctic circle.

After unpacking and cleaning up the transient apartment where I am staying, did some walk about the hamlet…here are a few shots… One of the grocery stores, the other being the Northern Store Our social work offices are next to the COOP but soon will be a move to the new health center building when complete. Traffic sign in both languages...Inuktitut uses syllabics.

Raven tracks in the snow

An original Hudson's Bay building from era of being a whaling station . I like the perspective of this row of rusty barrels and the view from the inside of the rusted oil drum Note the older buildings and New hotel Inns North

Also encountered two young teens who were enjoying playing out. This 12 year old showing his agility as both climbed and balanced a top each shed.

After Monday at the office got Out for a first ski about 6 PM snow fresh but very windy The dogs in the sled team are tied up spots on the ice Thick coat for blizzardly weather Trying to find a path through the chuck of ice near the shore proved difficult One of the sled dogs was lose and followed me back Arriving finally back at the apartment door, the dog was abit confused as to where I went.

Coming from Darcy's blog  8181 is  an American reader ....so stop and comment...Always curious on my readers and love to hear from you...  

Just looked up the weather in Pangnirtung  and it is definitely out with the winter gear.....PS dogs staying here and on our run today were finding the last vestiges of snow...

Yesterday

 

Max:

-22.4°C

Min:

-27.0°C

 

Normals

 

Max:

-20°C

Min:

-30°C

Today

 

Sunrise:

5:55

Sunset:

17:10

My employment situation is such that I do casual or "fill in " coverage in both situations as a hospital social worker and when in the arctic as a child protection worker. It is somewhat like a substitute teacher or a casual nurse...filling in where there are temporary vacancies.  I love the flexibility of such employment, but it does have its limitations including a cyclical income and NO pension! BUT this has been the pattern for the past 15 years and thus I do think I have some perspective on changes in the social work field.

 I have been covering for last 5 weeks in a position of casual social worker in internal medicine in one of the local hospitals...a different coverage as the usual one is obstetrics...well I am just  shaking my head at the logic or lack thereof of the re-organization of our SW dept at the hospital... inter disciplinary team based, then unit based now back to teams...all in 5 weeks...what about the maxim..."if it ain't broke why fix it".. now just some venting!