This is hardly etched in stone yet, but there is a growing possibility that I will be home this summer for a few weeks. This is a change in plan as the next time I expected to get back to St. John's was going to be for Christmas. However, there is some general weirdness and uncertainty happening right now.
The first bit is the increasing unlikeliness that I'll be at my current job once the contract expires in a few weeks time. It's not that my employers dislike me or the work I'm doing. It is the...eccentricities of the hiring system in Nunavut. That Land Claims Beneficiaries got preferential treatment was something I knew and accepted before I moved to Nunavut. That long-term residents (i.e. having lived here for more than one year) also get preference was a bit of a surprise.
It's causing...difficulties in getting certain jobs, including the one I currently have. I haven't lived here a year which means, barring a miracle, they won't be able to hire me full-time.
It is disappointing, but yelling and screaming at people will get me nowhere. It is policy and that's that.
I've applied for other positions and there are possibilities. I have an interview in a little more than a week that has potential. There is also the chance at more casual work. But if nothing is firmed up by mid to late June, I'm likely to head home for July. Why? Because Cathy will be in St. John's for most of that month. So the notion of spending the month of July in Iqaluit, unemployed, without my wife and living in near perpetual sunshine is not that appealing to me.
As Cathy has pointed out "All you will do is spend all your time in the apartment watching TV, playing Civilizations, surfing the Internet and reading a bit." It's mildly annoying how fast wives get to know you, really...
Besides, several people have told me that trying to get hired during July is virtually impossible. Most people that can do the hiring are on vacation or out on the land. Plus, there are lots of summer students doing work and whatnot.
We'll see. I'm beginning to like the idea of going back to St. John's for a month to relax, along with seeing friends and family. Which means I will get a job to throw a wrench into the whole shebang.
Plus, and I know it's silly to worry about but I hate being unemployed. I've saved tons, I've got lots of EI left and once I pass the one year mark it should become much easier to get work here. But it always makes me nervous.
Hell, if I go back to St. John's maybe The Express or The Telegram will throw me some freelance work. I know some of you guys read the blog. Throw me some freelancing, will ya?
Mmmmm, downtown St. John's in the summer. It is, quite possibly, my favourite place on earth. If only they would allow me to shoot the motorcyclists first, though. Then it would be perfect....
4 comments:
Heelllllloooooooo! Shoot the motorcyclists? I'm going to be one of those on NF streets, though not until abouts Sept. I just wish the Harleys cold be shot, bloody things give you hearing damage and the obnoxiousness of that kind of noise must, I'm sure, cause blood pressure to rise.
Hi TB,
I check your blog regularly to see how you are coping in the new environment.
Just a thought, and call me old fashion, but with your pending ‘time on your hands’, would it not be beneficial, not to mention educational, to figure out a way to absorb some of the culture where you live now.
If you are going to work and live in Nunavut it would make sense, to me at least, to learn more about the people and the land, especially if you are hoping to work for the Government that represents the people of Nunavut.
Perhaps it does make sense. And I certainly was in the mental head space to be here and working this summer and not be with my wife. After all, it will be less than a month. We just did nearly 9 months apart. A month is nothing.
Except now that the seed is planted, the idea of spending a month back home sounds like a wonderful, luxurous treat that we may not experience for many years. Christmas will be nuts. Last summer was nuts, what with planning to move and the wedding. And future summers are unlike to provide the time off or the window to do this.
So yes, maybe I should stay in Iqaluit and absorb more of the culture. Although, quite honestly, I'm being told that Iqaluit is a ghost town during the summer. Even many Inuit go back to their home communities rather than stay here.
But I got to tell you, a summer afternoon with a book sitting outside Hava Java is very, very appealing to me right now.
Your rational for taking time out seems rational. I too miss the little luxuries of sitting outdoors at a cafe with a coffee, or even something stronger, watching the passing parade of summer.
I once went about 7 years without a trip outside of Labrador, figured I had absorbed enough culture and took a trip with my wife to Ottawa/Montreal. I confess to culture shock for several days, did stabilize and was able to enjoy the trip.
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