Changes. Christmas parties. Turkey.
Ticket to L.A. is such a strange song- Brett Young sings this whole song about how he would trade anything for a ticket to L.A. like he can't just trade $300.
$300 dude. You didn't have to write a whole song about it.
Anyway, life has been good up here. We have a new manager, and she's been good so far. Today was much colder than it has been for the past two months, and for the first time I wished to had worn a scarf. Also I passed my two month Nunnaversary! I spent it sick in bed (that story to follow).
Christmas is approaching quickly. Today is Saturday December 21, and I am working today and Monday. I have Tuesday-Thursday off of work for Christmas, which is nice but also kind of sucks because I'd rather be working and keeping myself busy than be by myself over Christmas. There are places that I can go to share Christmas dinner, so I won't be all alone all day, but wherever I go I'll be the guest. It's a little different.
Maybe by summer I won't want to counsel and I'll just want to stay with my family. Everything has changed since I moved here. A list of things that have changed during the two months (and five days) that I've been here:
- I've developed better management skills. I feel much better equipped for leadership and working with people than I was when I arrived.
- I have had lots of practice with meal planning, cooking, and freezing meals for later use.
- I decided to quit shaving my legs. What's the point? If anyone questions it I'm going to tell them that it's for extra insulation up North. But no I'm not starting again if I come South.
- I still pick up road trash, but now I stuff it into the many pockets of my jacket instead of in the back seat of my van.
- For the first time maybe ever I've been considering buying some art. Maybe I'll buy lots and put it everywhere.
The city employee Christmas party was last Saturday. The food was catered, but not like any catered meal I'd ever attended before. There were a bunch of salads (normal), and all of the regular things like potatoes, roast beef, and turkey, but beyond that, they served strips of raw char (surprisingly -to me- very nice!) and garlic roasted char. Arctic Char is considered country food (food harvested from the land on Baffin Island or the water around it), and it was traditionally eaten raw. I enjoyed it both raw and cooked. I did not like at all the rice, beans, and escargot salad. I don't like wasting food, but it turned my stomach and I didn't finish it. Of course, I shouldn't have been surprised that country food was served at the dinner; thinking back, I'm surprised that there weren't more traditional options.
On Sunday was my church Christmas party, which was much more quiet and restful than my work party. It was a potluck, and at the end I got to bring home leftovers from other people's dishes- salad, ham, homemade buns, and carrots. It was a good day. The next day was not that good, because I got sick. My first thought was that I was getting sick because of the ham (it was a short lived stomach bug- my first thought was food poisoning), and that may have been true, but several other staff members have called in sick with a stomach bug for only one day since then, so maybe it was just going around.
In the Christmas spirit, I suppose, the city of Iqaluit gives each of its permanent and term staff members a turkey the week before Christmas. Therefore, I have a turkey in my freezer right now. It will not be thawed by Christmas now (I don't think), but I have it. It is way too much turkey for me to have by myself, and I didn't even know that I was going to get one until Wednesday. I was in a meeting with the Aquatic Centre management staff, when the fitness coordinator leaned over to me and whispered "I'm going to go get the turkeys", to which I responded with confusion. Apparently our new manager didn't know either, so we both had a strange surprise and now both have enough meat for a month in our freezers.
Final side note for the day: some days I think I should clean up my blog writing and write like I learned to, but then I remember that I spent lots of years writing carefully, and now I can write however I want. It's very freeing, and it makes me feel like blogging more.
- Aliya 🎄
$300 dude. You didn't have to write a whole song about it.
Anyway, life has been good up here. We have a new manager, and she's been good so far. Today was much colder than it has been for the past two months, and for the first time I wished to had worn a scarf. Also I passed my two month Nunnaversary! I spent it sick in bed (that story to follow).
Christmas is approaching quickly. Today is Saturday December 21, and I am working today and Monday. I have Tuesday-Thursday off of work for Christmas, which is nice but also kind of sucks because I'd rather be working and keeping myself busy than be by myself over Christmas. There are places that I can go to share Christmas dinner, so I won't be all alone all day, but wherever I go I'll be the guest. It's a little different.
Maybe by summer I won't want to counsel and I'll just want to stay with my family. Everything has changed since I moved here. A list of things that have changed during the two months (and five days) that I've been here:
- I've developed better management skills. I feel much better equipped for leadership and working with people than I was when I arrived.
- I have had lots of practice with meal planning, cooking, and freezing meals for later use.
- I decided to quit shaving my legs. What's the point? If anyone questions it I'm going to tell them that it's for extra insulation up North. But no I'm not starting again if I come South.
- I still pick up road trash, but now I stuff it into the many pockets of my jacket instead of in the back seat of my van.
- For the first time maybe ever I've been considering buying some art. Maybe I'll buy lots and put it everywhere.
The city employee Christmas party was last Saturday. The food was catered, but not like any catered meal I'd ever attended before. There were a bunch of salads (normal), and all of the regular things like potatoes, roast beef, and turkey, but beyond that, they served strips of raw char (surprisingly -to me- very nice!) and garlic roasted char. Arctic Char is considered country food (food harvested from the land on Baffin Island or the water around it), and it was traditionally eaten raw. I enjoyed it both raw and cooked. I did not like at all the rice, beans, and escargot salad. I don't like wasting food, but it turned my stomach and I didn't finish it. Of course, I shouldn't have been surprised that country food was served at the dinner; thinking back, I'm surprised that there weren't more traditional options.
On Sunday was my church Christmas party, which was much more quiet and restful than my work party. It was a potluck, and at the end I got to bring home leftovers from other people's dishes- salad, ham, homemade buns, and carrots. It was a good day. The next day was not that good, because I got sick. My first thought was that I was getting sick because of the ham (it was a short lived stomach bug- my first thought was food poisoning), and that may have been true, but several other staff members have called in sick with a stomach bug for only one day since then, so maybe it was just going around.
In the Christmas spirit, I suppose, the city of Iqaluit gives each of its permanent and term staff members a turkey the week before Christmas. Therefore, I have a turkey in my freezer right now. It will not be thawed by Christmas now (I don't think), but I have it. It is way too much turkey for me to have by myself, and I didn't even know that I was going to get one until Wednesday. I was in a meeting with the Aquatic Centre management staff, when the fitness coordinator leaned over to me and whispered "I'm going to go get the turkeys", to which I responded with confusion. Apparently our new manager didn't know either, so we both had a strange surprise and now both have enough meat for a month in our freezers.
 |
| My turkey! Julianna suggested that I put a hat on it. I am taking no other suggestions. |
Final side note for the day: some days I think I should clean up my blog writing and write like I learned to, but then I remember that I spent lots of years writing carefully, and now I can write however I want. It's very freeing, and it makes me feel like blogging more.
- Aliya 🎄
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