Guest Post: Jeka of Nunavut

Fellow blogger Jeka moved to the picturesque hamlet of Kimmirut (a hamlet in the Baffin Island region that only has about 500 people!!) and has been blogging over at Jeka of Nunavut to share her adventures. She is super smiley and tells lovely tales about her life and working at the Northern! :) 

Here's Jeka's story!

Hi All!  My name is Jeka and almost one year ago I left my long time job in New Brunswick and moved to the southern Baffin Island community of Kimmirut. It would be the longest distance I have lived away from my family ever!

Kimmirut means "heel" and refers to this rocky outcrop

How did I end up in Kimmirut you may ask … well it started as an offhand comment from my grandmother that turned into a job search for Nunavut. I think that first night I searched blogs and job postings about living in Nunavut. I came across a job posting for the North West Company. I applied at about 12 am and the next afternoon I was getting a call to invite me to an information session/interview in Moncton .

I went to the information session with lots of questions and since I had about a month between the invitation to go to the session and the actual session I did a lot of research! The more I read, the more Nunavut sounded like an experience.  About a week after the interview I found out that they would be moving forward with my file but it could take a time to find a position and community that would fit.

That was October 2011… flash forward to April 1st 2012 and I was driving to my job when I got a phone call… I was being an offered a position as an office supervisor at the Northern store in Kimmirut. I think every emotion fled through me…excitement, fear, nervousness and every emotion in between!  I had many conversations with my family and decided to accept the position.

A month later I landed in Kimmirut with 5 broken plastic totes and one howling cat…. with as much as I had researched Kimmirut I was still surprised when I arrived.

My house is one of the last ones at the end of town and looks right on to the water.. It is so beautiful here!

The first three months were an adjustment time.. I got to try some amazing country foods, seal, Canada goose and mattaq (whale skin with blubber). Once school started up again, I was included in a lot of activities with new friends and lots of new activities.  My best advice to anyone thinking of coming North…. do your research and get involved. The North can be beautiful and offer many opportunities but it can also be lonely and isolated.

To end off this guest blog I thought I would share some pictures of Kimmirut! Enjoy!

- Jeka

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Are you interested in guest posting on our blog? We welcome you to post a comment below and express your interest - we'd be happy to "host" your stories on our blog as well! -L&J