On Saturday, Cambridge Bay held its "Last Chance" Christmas Bazaar, named as such to distinguish it from the other Christmas Bazaar held earlier last month, and not because it's actually the last chance to buy Christmas gifts because everyone knows that you can always run to the store ten minutes before closing on Christmas Eve (not that this is a habit of mine...)
The opportunity to go shopping in Cambridge Bay is very exciting for me, and I'm sure for a lot of other people too. This is why the fact there was a blizzard did not stop us from going shopping at the bazaar.
Of course, walking through a blizzard is not the easiest thing. Even with my parka to keep me warm, I had to battle the winds which threatened to pick me up and blow me away like a kite. And to protect my face, I had to pull my coyote fur-lined hood down low, which basically means I had no peripheral vision while walking. You'd hope that as I'm blindly stumbling across the street that the drivers in the car would watch for me, but I find that their peripheral vision is often limited by their parka hoods too.
It's kind of surreal to listen to Teen Daze's Beach Dreams record while walking through the Arctic blizzard.
Once I got to the Bazaar, it was clear that I wasn't the only one battling the blizzard to do a little shopping. The high school gym was packed.
Last week I attended the children's Christmas concert that put on by the elementary school annually. Normally people would probably think it's a little strange for me to be attending an event for elementary school students, especially since I don't have any kids, but the children's Christmas concert is actually one of the biggest, most favourite holiday events in town. Cambridge Bay does love their children after all, and who can blame them when they're so cute you could eat them right up pinch their adorable cheeks.
It was an important event for Cambridge Bay. Doors opened a half hour before the performances were to start, and the gym was completely packed from wall to wall, with every seat filled, every spot on the wall leaned on, and even the floor completely covered. I stupidly arrived ten minutes late and had to squeeze myself a spot on the floor.
Meanwhile, the kids were looking their best. The girls were wearing their prettiest dresses and the boys were wearing dress shirts and ties. They could have easily been going to junior prom (if you went to junior prom as a seven-year-old).
The concert was led by a wisecracking emcee who effortlessly switched back and forth between English and Inuinnaqtun, and never let an opportunity for a joke pass by.
I was impressed by all the efforts that had gone into putting on the show. Each class had an Inuinnaqtun portion, with the kids singing songs like O Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night in Inuinnaqtun. The grade one students also did the world's most adorable jigging demonstration, and I swear, there is nothing cute than watching small children dancing with their partners with furious feet.
This spells something
Some of the older kids also danced some jigs.
Other performances included a Cambridge Bay re-writing of Jingle Bell Rock, Christmas poems, a play about Christmas elves breaking into a toy store, the most charismatic Frosty the Snowman this town as ever seen, and the Arctic version of 12 Days of Christmas, all while the smaller kids in the audience excitedly calling out greetings at their older siblings on stage and enticing them to break the fourth wall.
A Christmas play
Frosty the Snowman
Students talk about why a horse-drawn sleigh would be impractical in Cambridge Bay
Rewriting Jingle Bell Rock
3 arctic hares
2 shiny ulus
and a pair of sealskin mitts for free
-The 12 days of Christmas in Cambridge Bay
As you can see it was a fun evening for the whole community and a chance for everyone to be proud of the Cambridge Bay youth. And a great way to start the Christmas season.
Cambridge Bay held its annual Christmas Bazaar last week, popular event where all of the town's crafters, artists, bakers, and other business folks show off their wares to residents looking for Christmas gift ideas.
We took part this year, selling our hand-rolled Korean-style sushi (kimbap) and our homemade kimchi flavoured with Arctic char, featuring green onions grown from my indoor Arctic garden. The sushi sold out quickly, as it usually does, but we were pleasantly surprised to find out that our kimchi was popular as well, as it also sold out within an hour.
We were also selling band merchandise in form of t-shirts, baby clothes, and underwear. We did not sell out of granny panties, but did make some sales as well, which is cool. Obviously Cambridge Bay supports independent music.
It was fun to see what other people were selling as well, and it made me realize that for such a small town, we have a lot of cool things. I gorged on a plate of rice, deviled eggs and toast sandwiches from Salma's Kitchen (did you know Cambridge Bay has a Bangladeshi food takeout place?). Cambridge Bay resident John was selling a table full of Arctic fox furs, and did very well in sales.
The biggest highlight of course was Ronnie's Arctic char antipasto, as it is every year. People literally line up outside for up to half an hour for the chance to buy a char of Ronnie's famous char antipasto, and once the bazaar doors open, people sprint for her table. She always sells out very, very quickly. Perhaps one day my Arctic char kimchi will also be this popular.
Lining up for Ronnie's char antipasto
As for me, once I was done selling my wares, I bought myself a beautiful pair of sealskin mitts made by local artist Zuleika. Bring on the cold weather! My hands will be ready and warm.
We helped run a fundraiser this weekend to raise money for the local food bank. I am always amazed to see how the community gets together when their help is needed. The organizer Angela put out a call for volunteers to help set up the coffeehouse and for bakers to donate baked goods so we could sell them and have the proceeds go to the food bank. The response was amazing. So many people turned out, both to provide their labour and yummy goods.
setting up
sound check
cake pops
chocolate sleigh
We organized the musical portion of the event. We performed a few sets along with local flamenco band Spice on Ice, but for most of the day we opened the floor to other local musicians to play some songs. I was really glad that a lot of people came up to perform. It was really neat to see such a diversity of acts coming from one little town!
Spice on Ice playing flamenco
guitar performance from Ashely, a blind young man in town who is a talented musician
Throat singing by Sarah and Donna
James and Ashley played some great crowd pleasers
An impressive duet by young siblings John and Janae
a young music critic
We performed some of our originals as well as Christmas carols. We also played a cover of "Do You Want To Build A Snow Man" from the movie Frozen, and that was a huge hit with the little girls. There was literally an army of tiny kids lining up at the front, mesmerized and singing along. It was so cute, I almost stopped playing.
A lot of people turned out for the coffeehouse - it felt like the whole town was there!
By the end of the event, we were completely sold out of baked goods and we had raised over $3000 for the food bank. We've had these events a few times now, and I am always pleasantly surprised (and touched) by the generosity and talent of Cambridge Bay. It's almost as though people are just waiting for the chance to help. It really helped us get into the Christmas spirit, especially since it was the last day that the sun would rise this year. From now on, with 24 hours a day without sunlight, we'll have to be relying on our friends and loved ones to keep our spirits up.
My plants are sad because the sun does not rise anymore.
Life got a little busy this month so I haven't been posting on this blog much, but things are under control, and there really is never a shortage of stories to tell in Cambridge Bay.
Lately, after dealing with blizzards, the newest adventures have been power outages. Some of the generators at the power plants aren't working, so when the working ones break down, the whole community goes dark. And cold, because we're talking about Arctic winters with no working heaters. It's been a problem lately, and hopefully a permanent solution is found soon, but in the meantime, it's an adventure.
A lot of times, the power goes out while I'm at work. On one hand, it's kind of fun to be sent home from work because of a power outage, but it's not fun at all if you have actual work to do - or deadlines to meet. One time, the power went out right when I was supposed to have an important phone meeting. With no access to my files on my computer, I ended up finding my contact's phone number in the phone book - after having to learn how to use a phone book, because who uses phone books these days - calling the person on my cell phone (because our office landlines don't work without electricity). While taking notes by scribbling them down on paper in the dark.
Another time, I was desperately trying to get some research done, and power was being rotated on a half hour on, half our off basis. Luckily I had my laptop, so for half an hour I would frantically search for cases online and print them out, and then for the next half hour I would read the cases in the dark. I am told that lots of people used to do research without the Internet and computers a long time ago, but I have a hard time believing this is true.
Even when you are able to go home due to electricity-related office closures, there is the question of what you are supposed to do at home, in the dark. I mean, there's no cable and there's no internet. You can't even post photos on Instagram or tweet about how bored you are (smart phones are a relatively new thing up here).
I suppose what's more of a concern than the lack of cable, internet, or landline phones (if your phone needs electricity to work), is the fact that you don't have any water either because the water pump operates by electricity. Which basically means that you have all the inconveniences of running out of water, but also in the cold dark. So you can't kill time by doing the dishes or running the washing machine, in case you like to do that sort of thing.
Eventually I started compiling a list of things you can do when the power goes out:
Eat sandwiches
Do your nails
Lift weights (but you can't shower after)
Floss
Quarrel with your spouse
Accidentally drip candle wax all over your hand
I discovered the latter activity while wielding a candle stick around the house to defend myself against my biggest worry: Arctic vampires. An remote community plunged in darkness with no sunrise expected until mid-January: this would be prime attacking season for vampires. Isn't there a movie about this? Anyway, as the Boy Scouts always say (probably in reference to vampire attacks): Be Prepared.
Of course, what is probably the main concern is trying to keep warm when your heater won't work and it's -40 outside in the middle of an Arctic winter. You can only imagine the kind of damage it could do to your house if the pipes freeze too. In theory, the power company was trying to rotate power so that each house would have a half hour on and an hour off. But in reality, some of us were going hours without any power. Things got cold fast.
Meanwhile, the power company was providing updates about the progress of repairs on Facebook and Twitter, which was great for everyone who had, you know, electricity and stuff.
We decided that the best way to cope with it all was to head over to our friends' home and pretend that the candle light was a camp fire and tell ghost stories with a few drinks. The dog discreetly ate our crumbs off the carpet, hoping the darkness would hide her stealthy deeds. The only person with a working smart phone and a battery read out the latest news from Facebook. So-and-so's wallet is still missing, a woman is looking for a reliable cook, and the convenience store is still open (cash only). It's good to have company when you're going through these adventures. We're sure everything will return to normal tomorrow. The power will come back. And as little Orphan Annie sang, the sun will come up...maybe next year sometime in January.
