I have itchy feet. Lately I have found myself thinking about every trip I have ever wanted to take, and every course or program I have ever been interested in, every language I have ever wanted to know. I don’t know if this is simply because I have been home for a few weeks now and I am starting to get bored. Writing lists, costing stuff out, planning, daydreaming….

I haven’t been a lot of places in my life. I have been lucky enough to visit many places in Canada, mostly obscure, small places that most people will never have the opportunity to see, and I am thankful for that. But other than Canada, I have only been to a handful of places in the US, and never further than that. I have never taken a ‘hot’ vacation, or traveled Europe. I have never seen the places where my ancestors lived.

Likewise, as far as school goes, I haven’t done much. I was bored as hell in High School, and never had designs on University or College. I was happy to go to trade school, knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life. After that didn’t pan out, I had no choice but to work, to support myself and my family. Now, especially with the array of choices with Distance Education and online learning, there are more and more programs I want to take. Some of these relate to the job I have, many don’t.

I guess the sudden fascination with wanting to learn a bunch of new languages makes sense. I am constantly surrounded by other languages. Inuktitut, the first language here, is far more widely spoken than English, and I hate not knowing it. Not because I want to know what everyone else is saying, but because I feel that if you are going to live somewhere, you should be able to speak the native language of the people and place. But you hear other languages here too. French is one that I have always wanted to know more of. After all, with a name like Desiree Lapierre, you get a certain ‘look’ when you tell people that you can’t speak French. It’s embarrassing. Add that to the fact that my daughter is in French Immersion and can speak a second language better than I can, and yes, it’s time to learn. And while we’re at it, let’s throw some Spanish in there. And German, which at one point I could speak.

As busy as I usually am with work, and as much traveling as I have been doing since I arrived in Nunavut, at 5pm my day ends and there is not much going on. I read a lot, but I can do that anytime. I don’t have cable or internet or phone, as I see these as almost an invasion on my quiet, simple, after-hours life. Besides, I have more than enough of my fill of this stuff at work or on duty-travel.

I don’t have much of a social life here, which is also a big change from down south, where there was always somewhere to go, someone to visit, something going on. Not to say that I don’t have a few friends, but things are just quieter here; slower.

The fact that I am single and alone also plays a big role. There is all of a sudden no one to cook for, no one to wake up in the morning, or take to the library on Saturdays, or any of those regular things that take up your time and are just a natural part of family life.

Sooo… I’m off to go look into my next trip.

Until we meet again….

I have itchy feet. Lately I have found myself thinking about every trip I have ever wanted to take, and every course or program I have ever been interested in, every language I have ever wanted to know. I don’t know if this is simply because I have been home for a few weeks now and I am starting to get bored. Writing lists, costing stuff out, planning, daydreaming….

I haven’t been a lot of places in my life. I have been lucky enough to visit many places in Canada, mostly obscure, small places that most people will never have the opportunity to see, and I am thankful for that. But other than Canada, I have only been to a handful of places in the US, and never further than that. I have never taken a ‘hot’ vacation, or traveled Europe. I have never seen the places where my ancestors lived.

Likewise, as far as school goes, I haven’t done much. I was bored as hell in High School, and never had designs on University or College. I was happy to go to trade school, knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life. After that didn’t pan out, I had no choice but to work, to support myself and my family. Now, especially with the array of choices with Distance Education and online learning, there are more and more programs I want to take. Some of these relate to the job I have, many don’t.

I guess the sudden fascination with wanting to learn a bunch of new languages makes sense. I am constantly surrounded by other languages. Inuktitut, the first language here, is far more widely spoken than English, and I hate not knowing it. Not because I want to know what everyone else is saying, but because I feel that if you are going to live somewhere, you should be able to speak the native language of the people and place. But you hear other languages here too. French is one that I have always wanted to know more of. After all, with a name like Desiree Lapierre, you get a certain ‘look’ when you tell people that you can’t speak French. It’s embarrassing. Add that to the fact that my daughter is in French Immersion and can speak a second language better than I can, and yes, it’s time to learn. And while we’re at it, let’s throw some Spanish in there. And German, which at one point I could speak.

As busy as I usually am with work, and as much traveling as I have been doing since I arrived in Nunavut, at 5pm my day ends and there is not much going on. I read a lot, but I can do that anytime. I don’t have cable or internet or phone, as I see these as almost an invasion on my quiet, simple, after-hours life. Besides, I have more than enough of my fill of this stuff at work or on duty-travel.

I don’t have much of a social life here, which is also a big change from down south, where there was always somewhere to go, someone to visit, something going on. Not to say that I don’t have a few friends, but things are just quieter here; slower.

The fact that I am single and alone also plays a big role. There is all of a sudden no one to cook for, no one to wake up in the morning, or take to the library on Saturdays, or any of those regular things that take up your time and are just a natural part of family life.

Sooo… I’m off to go look into my next trip.

Until we meet again….