Parting is such sweet sorrow

No sooner had she arrived than she was gone.

I saw Melanie off at the airport this morning, and although it's only seven weeks until I'll see her again it feels like an eternity at the moment. We had a wonderful ten days together but it all went by so quickly; it only seems like yesterday that we were (contemplating) eating archaeologically significant bars of chocolate and antique almond cookies.

The fare was far more palatable on Wednesday night, when we attended the official opening of the new student residence - the Nasivvik. Many of the Kativik School Board's great and good were in town for the event, and after the seal skin ribbon was cut we were all invited inside for some (mercifully short) speeches and some (mercifully abundant) food. Roland, Annie-Claude and all the students did a wonderful job in preparing the building to receive such a large number of guests, and I was surprised by just how many of the dignitaries I knew or, failing that, knew me.

I suppose I've been in the North long enough now to establish a reputation of sorts, and whilst reputations are not always justly earned or bestowed, it was certainly heartening to learn from various sources that my work of the past four years has been viewed in a positive light. My probable (permanent) departure in May was common knowledge - word travels fast in these parts - and I guess I should take it as a complement that no-one I spoke to wanted me to leave, but despite the fact that you should never say never, all things being equal my life in a northern town has just seven weeks left to run...

The Bionic Residence

Students from all over Nunavik come to Kangiqsujuaq to further their education, and we have about fifteen out of town students here at the moment. Most of them are taking either Secondary 6 (college preparation) English - the course I teach - or Secondary 6 French, but one or two come here to complete their high school studies. In the smaller communities in Nunavik the number of students who actually stay in school is often so small that it doesn't warrant running Secondary 4 or Secondary 5 classes, and in those cases if there are any students who want to finish their schooling and graduate they can do so either by enrolling in adult ed classes or by coming to Kangiqsujuaq.

Up until this week these students were accommodated in a residence next to the school, and whilst this building was adequate it was little more than a shack, and the living conditions were somewhat cramped, to say the least. A new residence building has been under construction for almost two years though, and yesterday was the day when the students finally got to move in. The new building is named Nasivvik, and whilst there isn't a direct translation this means something like 'the place where you can see far,' which is apt on two levels; the studying that takes place there will hopefully allow the students to increase their opportunities in life, expanding their view of the world in the process, but the building's relatively elevated position also gives its occupants a wonderful physical view of the town, the bay and its mountainous surroundings.

The new residence could not be more different from its predecessor; in fact, it's more like a hotel - those of you reading this post who have worked in the North will instantly recognize it's structure as being almost identical to the co-op hotels - and whilst I'm not at liberty to say how much it cost, let's just say that back in the 1970s you could have built a Bionic Man on the same budget.

I'll take some photos of the interior of the new residence next time I'm there, and I'll make sure to post a few of them right here; that way, our Canadian readership can see just where their tax dollars are going...