Planes on the Ice

Last night, something big happened in Pond Inlet and immediately made the Pond Inlet News Facebook group: a plane landed on the ice.

Understand, this doesn't happen on a regular basis. We have an airport; planes don't need to land on the ice -- but land it did, and Pat immediately spotted it, and I jumped up to snap a few photos. We've speculated that it may be a Canadian Forces plane, as the CF is in town doing exercises (apparently, this is the conclusion that Pond Inlet News has drawn as well).

The plane -- the same bright yellow as the Iqaluit airport -- landed, rolled its way behind the iceberg, hid there for a little while, and then took off again.

The plane landed facing the other direction (west) and turned around toward the iceberg.

It rolled its way over to the iceberg and scooted behind the towering hunk of ice. This also helps put the iceberg's scale in perspective.

I'm finding now that Pond Inlet is starting to feel, to me, like more of a regular small town, as I'm also finding that this teaching still feels like teaching, although with different requirements and challenges. This isn't to say that the glamour has worn off, or the magic of this place has diminished. It's just that I find myself settling into the familiar aspects of teaching and living that one could find in nearly any community.

Before the NU 5 left Halifax International Airport, Nick reminded us that, although our trip would certainly be exciting, it is still our job to teach to the best of our abilities and to support our students as learners and as individuals. And I'm beginning to feel that on a deeper level, although I'd already grasped it intellectually. Yes, this is a different teaching environment than the one I just left -- indeed, each and every teaching and learning community will be different from others -- but it's still teaching. It's still about forming relationships and helping my students develop intellectually, emotionally, personally.

As much as a place can feel different, and the details of a particular community -- its norms, its values, its lived realities -- can seem in stark contrast to other places, the core often remains the same. We come together because we have hope for the futures of our youth. We watch a plane land, we speculate and take photographs. We post about it on our community news group.

Of course, in this place, we also get to go on quests for hunks of iceberg to provide delicious water, and, when we go, we take a harpoon in case of polar bears. So there's that, I suppose.

From Monday's quest. Thanks, Brooke!