Business Casual in Winnipeg

Katie and I had the opportunity to leave Iqaluit and most of our responsibilities behind for a four day stay in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This was my first visit to Manitoba and quite an impressive one at that.

I'm sitting now at the desk in our hotel room in Ottawa, our flight was meant to leave just after nine but was cancelled after the anticipation of bad weather in Iqaluit. We checked back into the hotel and ended up in the same room.

This is really the first free time that I've had to stop and think about the last week. Day five away from our stores and our team. We stayed in the oldest hotel in Winnipeg, built in 1911 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, their tag line being, "your castle away from home." Although the room are slightly dated, the lobbies and common areas are exquisite with their historic charm and elegance.

Our visit was centered around the fact that as a team, Tim Hortons Iqaluit won a presidents award from the Company. We attended a beautiful award ceremony on Thursday night at The Manitoba Club, which is the oldest private club in Western Canada, founded in July of 1874. Throughout history the club was gentleman's only and only within the last decade or so, have women been allowed to enter the building, even now, entrance is only permitted when accompanied and signed in by a member. We were lucky to be among the small amount of women who have had the opportunity to tour the prestigious club.

The awards were wonderful. Our friend Mike, who works at head office in Operations, introduced us with a speech. We shared the table with the President and CEO of our Company and had the chance to meet some very important people to the success of NWC. We were honored to be in the company of everyone who surrounded us.

We got to take part in a regional meeting and hear about business aspects that we don't usually touch at the store level. The trip has been a learning experience for us.

On Saturday night the company held a 25th anniversary dinner that was attended by over a thousand people who have a hand on the running of our Company. The night was MC'd by Peter Mansbridge, who we had our picture taken with and who promised to come and visit us when he lands in Iqaluit later this year. Peter shared the stories of his connection to the North, including his beginnings as an anchor man. He got his start as a young man, working in the airport in Churchill Manitoba as a baggage handler. Peter was asked to make a flight announcement and after hearing his voice, he was recruited by a radio executive who happened to be in the airport.

We saw drum dancers, not of Inuit heritage but aboriginal, who were mesmerizing. We listened to an aboriginal prayer and watched the lighting of a kudlik. After an elegant dinner we watched Susan Aglukark perform. The last time I watched her was when she came to Iqaluit to help us open Tim Hortons. We had the opportunity to meet her again, have a photo op and talk about a prospective literacy program in Iqaluit, which one of our managers, Matt, has been trying to push into existence. Susan may be making yet another partnership with us in Iqaluit, she is a wonderful supporter of Inuit youth and education. I have had the chance to hear her speak briefly and she is always very passionate about the projects she engages in. We flew back to Toronto on the same plane with her and her band, who are also fantastic people.

We never did have a great opportunity for shopping, other than quick trips to pick up pieces of business wear, which we don't own much of in the North. Last night we took a trip to Walmart and today we may do a little bit more shopping, keeping in mind, the lack of luggage space remaining. We packed in a lot of freebies that we picked up along our journey and at a trade show that we attended. Katie's luggage was seven pounds over weight... we had to dump seven pounds of free beef jerky on the lady at the check in counter.

This month, as well as the next few months will be very exciting for me. I have some travel plans, which I am keeping under the rug until I set off for the next adventure.

Landing on the Moon

When my moms eyes lit up as she walked off of the airplane, it lit my soul on fire, drowning me in the reminders of my landing in Iqaluit. Everything she sees excites her and every day she experiences half a dozen "firsts," every single one, just as exciting as the last. The feelings I experienced when I first arrived in my arctic home, came rushing back to me. The things she said to me made me smile. She said she felt as though she was 'landing on the moon', describing her landing here as surreal.

Most of the emotions I felt when I arrived here have been buried under the experience of my day to day life. I thought it would be wonderful to dig up those old feelings, my mom, Lisa, has agreed to write the rest of this blog with her very fresh perspective. Enjoy.

-Melissa Davis

It all started in the Ottawa airport with the 40 minute de-icing process, first we were covered in a pink foam, then they coated the plane with green slime. The young man beside me said, "We've been slimed, just like in Ghost Busters." His name was Nick and he has been living up here for several years. I met a lot of very nice people on the trip up on Canadian North. We were loaded into the back end of the plane, separated by a partition, everything else was loaded up front. We had stickers stuck onto our tickets that said, "Landing subject to Weather," warning us that they would not provide any services if this happened. 'So,' i thought, 'what happens now?'....This did nothing to help with the nerves. As we flew, there were a couple of turbulent moments, I was okay though. When I noticed that the landscape had changed, my face was plastered to the little oval window, my camera clicking fast....it was AMAZING!! White,white and more white with little dips and lines in the snow scape, all I could think was ..'wow this is sooooo beautiful!' I truly felt like I was flying over the white moon, there was nothing, no poles, no buildings, no roads...nothing!! I felt like I was heading to another planet, we couldn't really still be in Canada. The flight was approximately 3 hours long, though it went by fast. Then we started the landing process, I could not believe I was actually here and I still couldnt see anything, then I saw the bridge that Melissa has taken pictures `planking' on. I then thought, 'I`m here, actually here!'

    I was greeted at the little Yellow airport by gusty cold snowy winds that took my breath away, little did I know I was being watched by Melissa and Katie both watching for my reaction from a window of the airport. I saw them as I climbed the stairs in the tiny airport, greetings, hugging, kissing my daughter and her best friend with huge smiles on their faces, I was really here. It was so very nice to hold Melissa again and tell her how much I loved her. We would be celebrating both Christmas and new years 2012 together! I was really here, sorry, but that feeling lasted awhile...I WAS REALLY HERE!! The airport was full of families getting together for the holidays. Happy people were greeting other happy people all around me, they wore furs and large coats and sealskin boots and had babies attached to hoods on their backs I felt like I was in a different world, not Canada. They quickly hustled me out to the waiting pick-up truck and threw my luggage in the back of the snow filled bed. Katie crawled in the backseat and we were off down gravel and snow filled streets. I noticed buildings on stilts and lots of colourful wooden buildings and houses. I felt out of touch with reality like I had arrived in a foreign country.

     I have adjusted and I feel like I have arrived in Gods Country, the most awe inspiring, beautiful, breathtaking, stand still and don`t move feeling. The sunrises and sunsets are the most beautiful I have ever experienced. I could stand and watch for hours but I`d freeze. Each day while Melissa goes to work I roam Iqaluit, climbing the hills, scouring the waters edge, everyday I see something new and wondrous. I can`t seem to take enough photos, desperately trying to capture this phenomenal land. I really can`t even explain the feeling.



Dog Sledding



     The people of Iqaluit have been very welcoming, some, life long residents, others, people from the south who have fallen in love with the North. I had the honour of meeting Miss Kitty as well as Polar Man on my travels through town. Life is interesting in Iqaluit, a slower pace and close knit friendships.

 

Lisa and the Northern Lights



    While wandering the town the cold creeps in quickly, Katie gave me an amazing gift of a pair of seal skin and fox mittens they are beautiful and I will treasure them, I purchased a fox fur to replace the fake fur on my collar, I now know why they dress this way, what a difference. Now I can wander until my toes grow cold or the sun sets. Tomorrow Melissa and are going on a 4 hour dog sledding adventure, I can't wait. So far this has been an amazing experience, spending time with my daughter and her northern gypsy friends in the great white north.



Very First Igloo


-Lisa Davis

Holiday Happenings at Northmart

There's nothing quite like the feeling of walking into the GTA's shopping malls after they've been decked with huge Christmas trees and decorative ornaments. I remember as a child, going into the malls, packed with people. I remember the hustle and bustle of running between stores with a shopping check list in my mind. I always hated the suffocation of the crowds but I loved the music and the beautiful shiny, spirit filled decor.

Christmas in Iqaluit is different. Maybe it's only because I've left childhood behind. It's different but its wonderful. This year we've had festivities around every corner, mapped out by an enormous calendar I made that is hanging from the ceiling in the store.

It started with the one year anniversary of Tim Hortons in Iqaluit opening. It feels like just last week that we were sent down South for training. This last year has been incredible, hard but incredible. I decorated a cake in twenty minutes and cut it up for all of our customers. With the restaurant decked out in streamers and balloons, Katie and I talked about the trials and triumphs of the last year.

Santa came by Northmart before Christmas, he stops here first because we're so close to the North Pole. We handed Dryden and Shemekia over to him... they didn't exactly enjoy his visit.

December also held Northmart's famous balloon drop. With most of the balloons holding tags for free prizes, the anticipation was high and the fight for everyone to get their hands on one was very fun to watch. I stood back with my camera and recorded the fall.

This year I wanted to be a part of Iqaluit's Santa Claus parade. We took two ATV's, the big red side by side and one skidoo, which we strapped onto a trailer. We drove all of the toys down to one of our warehouses and decorated them before joining in on the parade. I rode on the skidoo, sacrificing the ATV so Collin could join in on the fun too.

My purpose in the parade was to be Northmart's Price Blaster. I threw candy to the kids on the side of the road. The parade was nothing like the ones I remember down South. The floats are small scale and there are no crowds in comparison to the streets lined with people for parades in Ontario.

We froze ...

First Air and Winter Air

My dress never arrived. Canada Post had given it an arrival date of November 18th, today is December 2nd and my parcel still hasn't landed in Iqaluit. My Fairy Godmother made her appearance however, in the form of two of my friends.

The day of the Ball, Katie rushed me out to see if we could "find something." We had heard that Baffin Flowers had a small selection of dresses. So small in fact that they had one dress that fit me, one beautiful purple and black, floor length gown, it was perfect. Katie had the dress wrapped up and all of a sudden I was outfitted for the night.

After work, Holly, the new girl across the hall, sat me down with a bottle of hair spray and did my hair and make up. Everything worked out perfectly, just the way it did for Cinderella.

My dear friend Nick and I joined his close friends Richard and Juliette and made our way to the gala, where we ate, drank and danced the night away. Unlike Cinderella's twelve o'clock curfew, we stayed out a little later and the magic was gone when my alarm went off at 5 am. I woke up with my hair standing straight up, make-up smudged down my face and a head ache that I couldn't shake all day. The pain was worth the night, it felt so good to dress up and have fun. I was so thankful that Nick took me as his date.



Nick and I before the First Air Ball

 The night of the Ball was the coldest I have felt so far this winter. The days are getting much shorter. It is just after 10 am as I write this blog post and the sun is just starting the peak through the clouds.

The winter is a hard time in the North. Last year was very hard for me and I had assumed this year would be easy. I am free of stress and have a lot to be excited about but still I feel the drag of the darkness. I feel the illnesses that take over our bodies so easily. I feel the dryness that sucks life from our skin, even with a humidifier running full force next to my bed. The winter brings with it a depression that eats at one person and slowly moves on to feed off of others. I've seen more tears and more sensitivity since the darkness arrived. I let the summer light take the pain of my break up off of my soul, but this winter I am reminded by the pain resonating between other couples. Relationships get harder in the dark and waking up on the wrong side of the bed becomes all the more common.

There are wonderful things about the winter that I try to focus on. Every sun rise and sun set is all the more gorgeous when you long to see the light and the colours of nature. I love to bundle up and walk in the cold, fresh, arctic air. It stings my cheeks and fills my lungs like a deep freezing gas that stops them from working temporarily. 

 I love to take walks with friends over the ice and snow. My favorite friend to walk with is baby Shemekia, not only because of how sweet she looks dressed up for the cold but because she brings an innocence and a peacefulness that accentuates the purity of nature. As we walk, Mekia falls asleep in her warm pocket behind me. I can feel the heat of her tiny body against my back and in the hood that we share I can hear her soft snores. I think of how rejuvenating the fresh air is and keep walking as the baby, warm and free, sleeps in the outdoors.

Sometimes the cold is nearly unbearable but I always wait to see the sunset if I can. Every time the sun starts to lower behind the mountains, its like witnessing a reoccurring miracle.

The soft, rose coloured light of the arctic sunset casts a glow on everything in the City, illuminating the dullest of objects and making our world more vibrant

Today, the sun will set at 1:59pm, and I take such pleasure in knowing that I will be here to enjoy it.

Inuusivut, Our Life

Just when I start to become comfortable, or ignorant in my lifestyle here, forgetting that there is often unease lying below the surface of calm, someone, or a couple people take gun shots just out side our buildings. I figured it out when I tried to leave for work on Wednesday morning and the street I usually take was completely blocked off by RCMP. The following article was posted by CBC news following the events of the morning.

2 men in hospital following Iqaluit shooting

Suspect in stable, but critical condition
CBC News Posted: Nov 23, 2011 7:42 AM
RCMP in Iqaluit block off a city block of the city after reports of gunfire early Wednesday morning.
The RCMP responded to a call about gun shots early in the morning in the 100-block area of the Nunavut capital. RCMP said when officers arrived at the scene, they were confronted by a man who pointed a firearm at them.
Shots were fired and the man fled.
Police said they found the man a short time later near house 238, bleeding from the chest area. The suspect was taken to the Qikiqtani General Hospital where he was treated for injuries. As of this morning, he was in stable but critical condition.
Another man living in the 100-block area of homes in Iqaluit was injured during the incident. He was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries in hospital.
Parts of the downtown area near the Snack restaurant and the Public Health building were cordoned off by police vehicles and tape.
People nearby described hearing multiple gunshots very early Wednesday morning. Iqaluit resident Travis Daley said he was sleeping inside his house when he was abruptly woken around 4 a.m. Wednesday morning.
"I just heard a couple bangs and got up thinking some kids were messing around with the house and I looked outside and I saw an RCMP truck, doors wide open and they just chased a kid down the street."
Daley said he went back to bed and then woke up this morning.
"That's all I know, then they put tape around my house and I woke up this morning in the crime scene,” said Daley.
The RCMP’s policy is to have an outside police or independent agency investigate serious matters that involve RCMP officers.
Det. John Monette of the Ottawa Police Service Major Crime Unit were to arrive in Iqaluit Wednesday to oversee the investigation, and a team from the N.W.T. will handle the investigation, according to Iqaluit RCMP.

This is the photo that CBC published with the article, edited by me

I love Iqaluit, I love it's people, I love it's culture and I love its scenery. I spent all of Wednesday listening to people talk at work about the incidents of the morning. I had a good chance to converse with my friend Mai who works with me at Tim's. She's lived here all her life and as we talked, we recounted the events of the last year or so, the murders, the suicides and the rest of the life shattering goings-on. Regardless of how much I adore this land, I spent that day, as I have many times before, stuck with my thoughts. My mind filled with questions about faith, about love, about respect and about the blatant disregard for the value of life. A disregard which we have seen too often lately. Every time one person makes the choice to take or harm their own life, or the life of another, they are impacting an entire City. They are putting ache in the hearts of those who are touched directly and indirectly by their actions. In Iqaluit, or any small community, that ache is felt by every individual. I wish, daily, that the people around me would find faith in their hearts and hold onto it for dear life.

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

Bibbity bobbity boo.... Cinderella had mice to help her with the dirty work and a fairy God mother to dress, and transport her to the Ball.

Today, while we dipped donuts, Katie and I talked about how quickly the time has gone by since I booked a ticket for my mom to visit me in the North. I remembered thinking that the count down was very close to the 130 day countdown I had going while I waited for my vacation to arrive last June. There is little over a month left until Christmas, which mom will be here for. We came to the realization that there have been about a hundred days that slipped through the cracks without us noticing.

I don't do countdowns anymore, the anticipation hurts my brain. Days fly by because we keep busy with work. We tried to think of the fun things we had done over the last hundred days. The list we came up with was short. Poker night, girls night, Halloween party, thanksgiving dinner, one movie and one Friday night gathering. That's six nights out in a hundred days, I don't like that ratio. I'm young and single and have the entire world in front of me. Although I came here with a job, I came for the adventure, the travel and the excitement of a world other than my own. I often feel as though I'm a slave to a job that wont take me anywhere soon. It bothers me immensely but as long as I want to stay in Iqaluit, I need to have short term solutions. The best one I have is to try and get out more often.

One of Iqaluit's biggest events every year is the First Air Ball. Last year I watched everyone in awe as they headed for the ball dawning gowns and tuxedos. This year my good friend Nick asked me to accompany him. One problem... I left all of my stilettos, dresses and jewellery packed away down South.

I had my dad send me a gown as soon as possible. When you live in Nunavut however, as soon as possible, is never soon enough.

Que the fairy God mother I've been waiting for. The ball is on Saturday and I have three weekdays left to hope and pray that my gown arrives. I cannot for the life of me find the earrings I want to wear, my shoes don't feel right and if Canada Post lets me down this time... well, I don't know what I'll do.

These are the joys of living so far from the convenience of shopping malls. I never, ever, imagined missing them.

Crossing my fingers for a fitting pair of glass slippers, a pumpkin turned coach and a lady with wings to conjure me up a gown that is currently lost in transit.

Welcome Winds

Its nearly quarter to four in the afternoon and the sun is on its way down in Iqaluit. I will never get over the way it excites me to see the sun disappear earlier and earlier as the winter falls upon us. As the weather and the habits of the sun change, everyone around us gets sick and we all fall into an exhaustion that has to be fought, yet still, every day and every season brings with it the excitement of change.

Today was the first day this fall that I truly felt the arctic winter had made its return. You can tell, because the wind feels like tiny blades running over your skin. It bites and lashes until your cheeks become numb. The temperature with windchill today is negative twenty four.

I'm sitting on my big blue couch, looking out my living room window, over the tops of my cats heads. I have been watching the moon float higher in the sky. I like to go for walks when the moon and sun are out together, its a time of day here that holds its own kind of peace.

With the snow falling more often now, the Bay, and the mountains beyond it continue to stun me with their beauty. The water hasn't frozen yet, other than in the rivers and around the shore. Every time I see a frozen pool of water I can feel the thrill of it in my stomach. The frozen Bay means the arrival of snow sports.

My friends Robert, Katie, Shawn and I are planning an overnight skidoo adventure between Iqaluit and Kimmirut, there are emergency cabins along the way and we have plenty of time to prepare for the trip. We wont go until April, when the spring arrives and takes with it the most bitter temperatures of winter.

For me, with the same routine and the same stressful job, day in and day out, this excursion is something huge for me to look forward to. I try to find something, always, to be excited about and help me to stay sane.

My friend Sherri just took this picture of the sun on it's way down. Sometimes all it takes is a sunset to remind me of why I stay in Iqaluit.