Just a mish-mash of thoughts today….
Now about this aurora borealis… the season for watching them is actually the winter time (I mean, really, with all this sunlight in the summer time, there’s no way you can actually see the Northern Lights). Apparently Yellowknife is overrun with Japanese and other Asian tourists every winter who go out into the countryside to watch the Northern Lights all night long. There are tons of stores here selling touristy knick-knacks, and galleries that sell some pretty stunning photographs of the Yellowknife skies. There’s even “Aurora Village” where you can go eat caribou and muskox, watch Aboriginal dancing, and then sleep under the Northern Lights (geesh! How touristy!). What people here tell me is that in Japanese (and other Asian cultures, I’m guessing, since they come here too) culture, it is extremely lucky to be conceived under the Northern Lights, hence a rather popular destination for young couples.
On Tuesday was not only the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year, which, admittedly, here, you couldn’t really tell that there was that much of a difference), but also National Aboriginal Day. I was told a small itty-bitty parade happened in Toronto, but here in NWT, it’s actually a holiday. There were many celebrations and artists performing that day. We had a fish-fry (yum!), and there was a big ceremony honouring Aboriginal veterans (since this year is also the Year of the Veteran). I was busy helping sell jewellery with some girls that I met at one of the churches out here, while being on call at the same time. So a really nice day out. This whole week is the Summer Solstice Festival up here in Yellowknife, so lots of performers and vendors on the streets. Tomorrow night is the Raven Mad Daze, an all night street festival, but I’m on obstetrical call, so hopefully, if no babies are being born that night, I’ll be able to hang out.
Crack cocaine is a huge problem here. I have honestly seen more users here than I ever did in Toronto. My emerg shifts usually produces at least one user coming because they’re in withdrawal, or needing something to carry them over till their next hit. Crystal meth is also coming, as it is in Ontario too. I have delivered a bunch of crack babies already (as well as the tons of babies affected by alcohol), which just makes me angry, more than anything. The nursery, that I’m running this week, has four babies in it, most premature, half on crack, all on alcohol. Absolutely maddening. How are children expected to achieve if they’re already at a huge disadvantage from the get go?
julia
Monday, June 13, 2005
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Postcards from the Edge Episode XI Part VI
So Yellowknife certainly does give off the ‘vibe’ of a frontier town… it’s kind of hard to explain unless you’re here… feels much different than the South, and different from Iqaluit too… hard to explain…
Yellowknife is fairly diverse: Of approx 20,000 people, I’ve been told about 19% are First Nations people. There are a whole bunch here: Dene, Gwich’in, Inuit, North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuit, Metis, etc etc etc…. there are also about 300 Chinese people, about 1000 Phillipinos and about 1000 Vietnamese (so I was told by one of the Chinese docs up here)… also, there’s a large population of Indian subcontinent people, mainly immigrating here due to their skills in diamond cutting/working/engineering. So, this city certainly has been found to be more culturally diverse than others I have been to in Canada.
I think that may be what contributes to its feel as ‘frontier country’, especially in light of the ‘second gold rush’ of diamonds…. Whole bunches of people from around the globe coming in to stake their claim… incidentally, I went on a rock walk with a geologist near one of the old gold mines outside Yellowknife, and it was quite interesting seeing all the different types of rock (the mosquitos are HUGE and hungry…). We actually saw some old claim stakes and ramshackle digs made by people looking for gold in the 30s. So that was neat. However, it was also sad to see how much had been built and how much of the rock had been blasted and blighted just to find gold, especially since now, as the gold deposits are harder to extract, these landscapes have been abandoned… and they repeat the process at the diamond mines, all over again… OK, OK… getting off my soapbox again…
For those who wanted to hear more, um, “interesting” patient stories… I had a woman who booked an appointment to come see me, as she hadn’t been able to find her pulse for the last few weeks. That was it. I spent the visit teaching her that 1) it’s impossible to not have a pulse and still be able to come into the office to see me and 2) where the right places are to find a pulse. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I was helpful, although it certainly left me scratching my head at the lack of common sense in people in general, AGAIN.
julia
Yellowknife is fairly diverse: Of approx 20,000 people, I’ve been told about 19% are First Nations people. There are a whole bunch here: Dene, Gwich’in, Inuit, North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuit, Metis, etc etc etc…. there are also about 300 Chinese people, about 1000 Phillipinos and about 1000 Vietnamese (so I was told by one of the Chinese docs up here)… also, there’s a large population of Indian subcontinent people, mainly immigrating here due to their skills in diamond cutting/working/engineering. So, this city certainly has been found to be more culturally diverse than others I have been to in Canada.
I think that may be what contributes to its feel as ‘frontier country’, especially in light of the ‘second gold rush’ of diamonds…. Whole bunches of people from around the globe coming in to stake their claim… incidentally, I went on a rock walk with a geologist near one of the old gold mines outside Yellowknife, and it was quite interesting seeing all the different types of rock (the mosquitos are HUGE and hungry…). We actually saw some old claim stakes and ramshackle digs made by people looking for gold in the 30s. So that was neat. However, it was also sad to see how much had been built and how much of the rock had been blasted and blighted just to find gold, especially since now, as the gold deposits are harder to extract, these landscapes have been abandoned… and they repeat the process at the diamond mines, all over again… OK, OK… getting off my soapbox again…
For those who wanted to hear more, um, “interesting” patient stories… I had a woman who booked an appointment to come see me, as she hadn’t been able to find her pulse for the last few weeks. That was it. I spent the visit teaching her that 1) it’s impossible to not have a pulse and still be able to come into the office to see me and 2) where the right places are to find a pulse. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I was helpful, although it certainly left me scratching my head at the lack of common sense in people in general, AGAIN.
julia
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Postcards from the Edge Episode XI Part V
Greetings from the "Diamond Capital of North America" - Yellowknife: Population approx 20,000! I am here for basically the summer, which is good, as I really dislike sticky, hot humid weather; in its place, I just get very warm, moderate weather with 22+ hours of sunlight every day (I think I have the better deal in weather).
I've been super-duper sick for the past week, so all I've been doing since I've been here is drag myself to work, and drag home and then sleep. I'm getting better, thanks to this routine, but it's been a bit draining (mainly from my nose, but physically draining otherwise – har har har).
So far this week I’ve learned: Tin foil is bad for your windows. I am not entirely sure why, but this is true. One of the first things I noted when I moved into my apartment up here is that, among the instructions left for me was a note in bold: DO NOT PUT TIN FOIL ON YOUR WINDOWS. I thought that that was a bit of a strange instruction amongst when garbage day pick-up was and where the laundry facilities are. Why? Am I not allowed to make foil stars and hang them up? Am I trying to convection-heat some of my food via sunlight? Is it a ban against hydroponics at home? It didn’t really make sense to me, but I learned that night why you might be tempted to do so…. I hadn’t really noticed the time passing as I was unpacking that night and when I finally looked up, realized it was already 11:30pm (1:30 am at home)!!!! Wayyyy past my bedtime, but I got thrown off b/c of all the light coming in through the window… I could’ve sworn it was still 7pm outside (which also didn’t make sense as my plane had landed at 9pm). So, I figured it was probably a good time to sleep. Except I couldn’t. Cause it was broad daylight outside my window. Then I woke up at 3am, and it was still light out (or maybe the sun had kind of gone down, and I had just missed it), and I thought I was late for work since it was BROAD DAYLIGHT outside. Realized it was 3am, tried going back to bed. This repeated itself at 4am and at 5am until I finally gave up because it looked like lunchtime outside. It always looks like it’s lunchtime outside; the shadows are moving, but I think it’s quite deceptive… I haven’t yet had the chance to stay up long enough to see if the sun actually sets or not, but once I feel better then I plan to do so….
Incidentally, I’m enclosing my mailing address and phone number up here. I know some of you had mentioned coming up this summer, so I’d be most glad for you to come! They’ve given me a little white Ford Focus (which is big compared to my regular car, but certainly is dwarfed by all the –legitimate- trucks up here), so I think of her as my little polar bear car….
My mailing address is:
Dr. Julia
Family Medical Clinic
Tundra Building
Box 1559
Yellowknife NWT
X1A 2P2
The phone number at my apartment is 867-669-7016. Note this is NOT a toll free number (I found that out the hard way…. I had assumed 867 was like 866…. It’s NOT!)
Thinking of you all fondly,
julia
I've been super-duper sick for the past week, so all I've been doing since I've been here is drag myself to work, and drag home and then sleep. I'm getting better, thanks to this routine, but it's been a bit draining (mainly from my nose, but physically draining otherwise – har har har).
So far this week I’ve learned: Tin foil is bad for your windows. I am not entirely sure why, but this is true. One of the first things I noted when I moved into my apartment up here is that, among the instructions left for me was a note in bold: DO NOT PUT TIN FOIL ON YOUR WINDOWS. I thought that that was a bit of a strange instruction amongst when garbage day pick-up was and where the laundry facilities are. Why? Am I not allowed to make foil stars and hang them up? Am I trying to convection-heat some of my food via sunlight? Is it a ban against hydroponics at home? It didn’t really make sense to me, but I learned that night why you might be tempted to do so…. I hadn’t really noticed the time passing as I was unpacking that night and when I finally looked up, realized it was already 11:30pm (1:30 am at home)!!!! Wayyyy past my bedtime, but I got thrown off b/c of all the light coming in through the window… I could’ve sworn it was still 7pm outside (which also didn’t make sense as my plane had landed at 9pm). So, I figured it was probably a good time to sleep. Except I couldn’t. Cause it was broad daylight outside my window. Then I woke up at 3am, and it was still light out (or maybe the sun had kind of gone down, and I had just missed it), and I thought I was late for work since it was BROAD DAYLIGHT outside. Realized it was 3am, tried going back to bed. This repeated itself at 4am and at 5am until I finally gave up because it looked like lunchtime outside. It always looks like it’s lunchtime outside; the shadows are moving, but I think it’s quite deceptive… I haven’t yet had the chance to stay up long enough to see if the sun actually sets or not, but once I feel better then I plan to do so….
Incidentally, I’m enclosing my mailing address and phone number up here. I know some of you had mentioned coming up this summer, so I’d be most glad for you to come! They’ve given me a little white Ford Focus (which is big compared to my regular car, but certainly is dwarfed by all the –legitimate- trucks up here), so I think of her as my little polar bear car….
My mailing address is:
Dr. Julia
Family Medical Clinic
Tundra Building
Box 1559
Yellowknife NWT
X1A 2P2
The phone number at my apartment is 867-669-7016. Note this is NOT a toll free number (I found that out the hard way…. I had assumed 867 was like 866…. It’s NOT!)
Thinking of you all fondly,
julia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)