The final countdown

This time next week I shall be firmly ensconced back in the North for a fourth year of fun and frolics above the treeline (I actually fly up this Saturday). I can't quite believe it's been that long but it has, so I guess that some part of me must enjoy the experience, and as regular readers will know I'm travelling even further north this year, to the community of Kangirsujuaq (or Kangiqsujuaq, depending on your source); I shall be able to confirm the spelling next week. The community is also known as Wakeham Bay, after Captain William Wakeham who, in 1897, led an expedition to determine whether the Hudson Strait was safe for navigation. Not sure of his findings; again, maybe I'll be able to tell you next week...

The population in Kangir(q)sujuaq/Wakeham Bay is just 591 by the last count (compare that to the relative metropolis of Inukjuak with its population of around 1500), which will make it the smallest place in which I've ever lived, but there are still a couple of stores there, and as long as the TV and internet work I'll be fine. Not sure when/if Melanie will be joining me; she returns to the UK for a month or so at the beginning of September, and she also has a few job possibilities around Kingston, although nothing's definite yet. If she does come up it'll probably be around late October, so at least that gives me a couple of months to get the new Northern apartment clean!

How I'll furnish said apartment is yet to be decided. I've no idea quite what type of accommodation I'll be getting, and at the time of writing all my 'Northern possessions' are still boxed up in Inukjuak. When they'll arrive in my new home is anyone's guess - remember the saga of the 24 boxes? - so I'll be sure to pack a good supply of underwear in my suitcase this year!

Taking care of business

Hope you enjoyed the Catchphrase clip from yesterday - poor Marita really doesn't know what's going on, does she? - but I should warn you that some of the links that are presented at the end are pretty explicit. Sorry if you've already viewed any of them and got a bit of a surprise as a result, but I wonder how many of you are now going to go back in order to see what you missed? My warning is obviously lost on people like you, a bit like the red triangle that Channel 4 used to display in the corner of the screen to alert any unsuspecting viewers that the program they were watching contained 'adult' content. Now, how many extra viewers did that attract?...

But I digest.

It was the longest day today, and after a few long days of my own at the storage unit I have now officially given up on sorting it out until Melanie arrives next month. I've told her to bring some extra storage unit fairies on the plane with her, but apparently they're not good flyers - ironic, given that they have wings - so they probably won't make the trip.

I'm still keeping busy though. Later this week I should be receiving my contract offer for next year's work, and it's 99% certain now that the course will be moved to Kangirsujuaq, as I hinted at last month. Last year I had to wait until the end of August until I received my contract offer so it's good to be getting it all sorted out early this time, but I've learnt that I will have to return North by August 17th, which is almost three weeks earlier than I anticipated. Now, before you raise your eyebrows in indignation over the fact that I will still have had a three month holiday, going back so soon almost halves the time that Melanie and I will have together once she gets here, which is most disappointing.

However, this situation could still change as there may yet be a further twist in the path that the forthcoming year might take. Melanie and I applied for jobs at a number of schools earlier this year, mainly in the spirit of keeping irons in the fire, but having heard nothing back from any of them we both assumed that the fire had gone out. There must have been a few glowing embers remaining though, because one of these schools contacted us out of the blue on Friday, and this morning I had a telephone interview with them.

I can't really say too much at this stage as I'm not sure what's going to happen next, but I can reveal that this was the first ever interview I've done in my pyjamas (very Canadian; pyjamas are seen as legitimate everyday clothing over here), and I will tease you with the information that if we were offered posts at this school (and accepted them), I'd have to change the title of the blog to Life in a Western Town, or something similar. Intrigued? I'll give you more news when I can, but I have to go now as a show called Impact is about to start on TV. It's 'a two part sci-fi drama about the moon on a collision course with Earth' which, as those of you who know me well will realise, is a show with my name written all over it. Now, which national monument is going to get it first?

Grinding to a halt

It's been a frustrating (but swine flu free) week.

Our internet connection has been doing its best impression of the stock market over the last ten days or so -it's been down more than it's been up - but at least the connection we have here at school at seems to be working today. One problem has been the fact that there has been a big update for Windows issued recently (around 300MB), and whilst that is water of a duck's back for those of you in the South, for us here it can clog the system faster than a Big Mac can clog your arteries if everybody has 'automatic updates' switched to on.

I think I will be returning my modem to Tamaani shortly as I don't want to pay for the whole of May when I'm only here for another week, so postings may continue to be intermittent, but I shall do my best to occupy my students so that I can maximise my time online during school hours (hope my employers aren't reading this!).

Speaking of leaving (which we sort of were in the last paragraph), I will be on my flight home this time next week, so the next seven days involve packing boxes, tying up loose ends and preparing for our graduation ceremony, which is next Thursday. At the time of writing, I have no idea whether I'll be returning here next year; it looks like my course might be moved to Kangirsujuaq, an even more Northern town, but nothing has been confirmed yet. When I have news I'll pass it on to you, but don't hold your breath!

If you do hold your breath though, at least you won't catch swine flu. You'll die of hypoxia, but the swine flu won't get you.

CNN would be proud.