The Blog

Driving in Yukon

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 18:37:40 -0700

Only in the Yukon do we have these amazing sights to see as we drive .. along our very well kept dirt highways (yes, you read this right ... dirt highways - tis how we roll in the North), although the main highways are 'paved' ... and the one I drive on (The Campbell Highway is partially paved, although the dirt sections are much better than the paved sections)... and these views are just from the drive from Ross River to Faro.

My Classroom

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 18:15:21 -0700

So yes, I am aware that the blog has been quiet lately ... and with good reason! I’ve been busy getting ready for the new school year! And do I ever have a lot of work to do! Between getting a classroom ready, hunting down text books (or at least one copy for me), unpacking all of the resources that I shipped off to myself from Nunavut and reading my curriculums it’s been one busy week!. And I don’t have much time left either to finish getting ready, but I at least have things ready for Tuesday when my students arrive and soon will also have things ready for the rest of the week ... as soon as I figure out what I am teaching between my two curriculums (which, by the looks of it will be mainly grade 5 as the majority of my class are grade 5 students - I only have two grade 6 students!).

So, here you go, a first glance at my classroom before my students arrive .....

If you go out in the woods today.....

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:02:03 -0700

This afternoon I was invited out on a hike through the woods / hiking trails out around Ross River (across the river) with Brian and Ann (fellow teachers at the school). It was a good hiking day - a nice breeze and cool temperatures, the only thing that was missing was the sun.

Day 1 in Ross River

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:00:37 -0700

Today was officially day 1 in Ross River.

And what a long day it has been so far.

This morning I traveled on back over to Faro to meet with the housing manager to sign my lease for my unit and to get other paper work under way (fuel, power, insurance....). After meeting with the housing manager, I headed on back over to Kara and Matt’s (you can’t get rid of me that easily!) to pick up some forgotten items and to have one last yummy lunch :-).

The drive in and out of Ross isn’t too bad .. there are patches on the road that are a little, dare I say, entertaining to drive through (deep rivets and pits due to rain) and well, the truck will go where the truck wants to go. Driving up here in the North is definitely making me remember a lot of rules from drivers ed (as in turn into the swerve, not away). I hope that after this year of driving on dirt /gravel roads all of the time I”ll remember how to drive paved roads when I hit the south again!

The rest of today was spent mostly unpacking my boxes (or opening them to see what is in them) and then finding what is desperately needed and what I don’t quite need right away (ie: parka). I can’t believe the amount of stuff that I actually have here with me. Some of it I don’t even remember putting into storage two years ago.. and of course, there is always some stuff that I wish I would have left back down south with the parental units (for safe keeping more than anything - ie: my special glassware). But, oh well. It might come in handy for something someday.

I checked out the two grocery stores here in town today ... Clare, you are right. I do miss the Northern. But, between the two of them, I should be able to scrape up enough basics until I am able to make it back out to Carmacks / Whitehorse for a proper stock up. And the rest of the day has been unpacking and organizing. The living room area is starting to look a little less cluttered ... but my bedroom is looking more like a tornado hit it every minute. A little bit at a time I guess. It will all eventually get put away (I’ll try not to send anything back home to you mom!).

Tomorrow, hopefully my modem will have arrived at the post office (crossing fingers) so I can get back online to publish these last couple of posts. Oh, how living with the internet is painful ... I don’t know how much longer I will be able to take it.....

I’m Here!

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:35:55 -0700

Well, I’ve finally made it to Ross River.

The last couple of days (almost a week!) were great over at Matt and Kara’s. Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you for welcoming me into your home and ‘adopting’ me. Hope my disappearance didn’t cause too much chaos for you tonight with the rug-rat. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon enough :-)

The drive out to Ross River was amazing. The scenery was breath taking - if I would have been more prepared, I would have just mounted my camera to take pictures on intervals, but .. I didn’t think of that until much much later.

I’ve made it to my house. It’s not that shabby of a place .. much better than I thought it was going to be. The only issue that we currently have with the house is the huge bee/wasp nest on the side of the house. But, housing is supposed to be coming over to deal with that soon.

My movers also arrived here tonight as well. I have boxes all over the place currently. Good thing I still have two weeks before school starts .. and at least a week before my housemates stuff arrives here in Ross. Hopefully by then it will all be sorted away .. or at least put away somewheres until I need something.