Too many Christmas dinners...

...lead to some kind of stomach bug which has made my day miserable.
Luckily, my holidays have officially begun, and I head down south in 4 days.
In Toronto, it's around zero right now, which sounds downright balmy compared to the minus 30 (minus 40 plus with the windchill) temperatures we've been having in Iqaluit lately.

Christmas concerts, dinners, and assorted festivities

Tonight I went to the Christmas concert at my school. And, no, no fights broke out, and it wasn't at all excruciating. In fact, I'm filled with something that feels kinda like pride, especially for the grade 4 class I help with in the mornings, who were great (although I can take no real credit for any of this, since I wasn't responsible for any of the performances). This feeling is taking some getting used to after the feelings of frustration that often pepper my working days. I'm hoping for more of it.

Sick Day

One of the viruses or whatever that circulates through this town has hit me like a cold wind off Frobisher Bay. I stayed home today. I slept alot, found a blog about a coyote in Wyoming, and turned myself and Kate Nova into elves.

Cold weather, cold beer, and urbanity (or lack thereof)

Hmm, not to much to report here in the frigid north, other than my usual busy schedule. Today was an unearthly cold - or at least based on my past experience living on earth. I won't dwell on that since people continue to tell me it's going to get even colder. Once I've updated my blog 8 times in one day, you'll know it's gotten cold enough to stop time.

Last week, I went to the legion for the first time ever here in Iqaluit. It smelled of beer and other depressants as soon as I walked in. I'm not sure why I would join for the privilege of spending time in such a cavernous, institutional, windowless place. Unless there was some decent live music (which there was that night, thanks to Kate Nova and others.) Maybe it's just the snobby urbanite in me talking, but generally speaking I'd rather go somewhere like the bar at the new hotel in town, where the bartender remembers people's drink orders.

I received a Lego catalogue in the mail last week, which was exciting. For you Star Wars geeks, you can buy a 3-feet long Millenium Falcon (only $679.99). However, since I'm totally missing civilized cafe culture, I might be more likely to get my hands on a $200 "Cafe Corner," which hopefully includes a French Lego-man waiter whose rudeness is only exceeded by his prompt service. And possibly a tiny Lego espresso machine. Also, if I really want to pretend I'm in Paris, I could also get a $300 Lego model of the Eiffel Tower.

Speaking of urbanity, in 3 weeks I'm heading back down south, to towns with trees, buildings higher than eight stories, and temperatures higher than minus 20. I intend to eat and drink and socialize to great excess, and I'm pretty excited about it.