First Impressions

Dear Diary (oops probably meant to keep that to ourselves),We are just finishing up our first week of teaching at Crolancia. We’ve had a busy week up North and have lots to share with you!Saturday we woke up and met Lucy for a tour of Pickle Lake! Lucie and Roy have been lifesavers here in Pickle Lake and they have shown us around town as well as introduced us to a ton of local residents. Roy is the Mayor of Pickle Lake and they both have tons of knowledge to share with us, which is greatly appreciated. We are definitely not experts yet, but each day we are feeling more and more a part of the community thanks to everyone being so welcoming. After the tour, we had dinner all together and then went by the community center to the family karaoke night. We met tons of kids that we are now teaching at Crolancia. John sang Celine Dion with our new friend Korben (who is 10) and we quickly realized that going up and reading words off of a screen does not make for high quality karaoke. Luckily, Brent invited us over later that night and gave us a second shot with great sing alongs we already knew around a campfire.Sunday morning we were invited on a northern adventure with Brent, Nathan, Korben, Kayla and Gord. Brent and Kayla acted as our tour guides and made a few scenic stops very worthwhile.It was a gorgeous day and we spent it trying our hand at some culturally relevant activities. We finished it off with an open fire and some bannock dogs Brent had prepared. Just past our lunch stop was Mussel White Mine. We couldn’t go down the road to see the mine, but we did snap a quick picture in front of the sign. They are a generous QHO sponsor, and it was cool to see exactly where they are located. After a full day of fun we made sure we were in bed at a decent hour, as we knew we had to be up early for our first day of school!This week has been busy at school. We help out at breakfast club every morning, which gives us some unstructured time with the kids. After a day of introductions we have gotten into more health topics, which seem to be well received. Our favourite lessons from this week included a teamwork exercise with the high school students, as well as a communication lesson with the 1,2,3 class that ended with giving “warm fuzzies” to one another (these are anonymous written compliments which will be sorted and hung up for the class).Besides school, we have action packed afternoons. Sports club for both elementary and high school students run from Monday to Thursday as well as a Girls Club Wednesday afternoon have kept us busy and given us the opportunity to run around and get to know the kids better. Tuesday night we joined in on adult volleyball, which hopefully we can make a weekly event. Just can’t seem to get ourselves out of the gym, maybe we should bring sleeping bags and live there instead!We were very fortunate to be invited, along with Aaron and Elaine, to Lucie and Roy’s for a lovely homemade moose dinner. It was a new flavor for all of us but definitely one we would recommend (especially if Lucie and Roy are making it)!There was a First Responders Appreciation BBQ on Thursday night that Lucie and Roy invited us to. We were happy to help with set up and take down (in exchange for some tasty food and homemade treats). This allowed us to spend some time with familiar faces, as well as meet new ones and hear more about Pickle Lake.This weekend we are off on another adventure with Brent and his Junior Canadian Rangers group for a couple nights of camping. We’re expecting to change roles and be the ones learning from them although it sounds like we might lead a lesson or two. We’ll be sure to let you know how it goes! #WeTheNorth J^2