Day 17 - Ottawa to Winnipeg

I’m home! After hundreds of hugs and teary goodbyes were said and done, I finally arrived back in Winnipeg safe and sound. It was quite the emotional day saying our farewells. It’s amazing how quickly this group of students bonded in such a short time, and it wasn’t easy to watch these new-found friends depart. With luck, Facebook and other social networking sites will allow everyone to keep in touch for a long time, but the reality is that this may be the last time many of them see each other.

Luckily, we all have our shared experience together that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. In retrospect, I’ve accomplished what I set out to do with this adventure, as I hope all the students did. For 12 days, we explored the Arctic like few other people in this world have had the chance to do. Rather than reading about the effects of climate change on the poles through second-hand websites, magazines and books, we got to see and hear about it first-hand.

From Inuit elders to Arctic Circle hikes to zodiac trips around sea ice, evidence of global warming was all around us. And while there is no doubt that a portion of it is natural, much of it is man-made. The community of Pangnirtung felt it when the permafrost exposed by heavy rains last year, flooding the town and washing out bridges two summers ago.

Students On Ice founder Geoff Green labels the students who participate in the expedition and others their age “Generation G” for generosity, graciousness and other positive g-words. And although each of these students is committed to doing what they can to educate and counteract climate change, it’s everyone that has to make some changes in the way they live. Otherwise, places like the Arctic will continue to be drastically affected. And that would be a shame.

“O lands! O all so dear to me – what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is,” said Walt Whitman. It’s safe to say that I now have “ice in my veins”, as the saying goes. Having been to this beautiful and fascinating part of our planet, I feel like I’m a part of it now, and it a part of me. I can’t wait to go back.

But as much as the Arctic became a part of me, it was the people that I experienced it with that had the greatest effect on me. From the fantastic staff, scientists and fellow educators to the amazing students, I will miss each and every one of them. In some cases, like the staff, I hope our paths will cross again, perhaps on future SOI expeditions.

As for the students, I hope to see some again in the future. Already, I’ve planned to make some joint presentations with my fellow Winnipegger, student Susan Nanthasit. But in most cases, I expect I will hear more about them as a result of their successes in life, which I know will be plentiful.

To any of the students reading this, please know this. You were the most talented, dedicated, diverse, exhausting, interesting and funny group of young adults I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with. Although I was supposed to be an educator on this trip, it was you who educated me and I thank you for it.

I urge you to never lose that enthusiasm and passion that you all exhibited on this adventure. As you go through life, build upon what you have gained from the experience and continue to make the world a better place. I know my world is a better place having gone through this experience with you all.

And so this brings to an end my blog for this amazing Arctic expedition. Thank you to all who read it. It’s tempting to end with a quote about the voyage having come to an end, but really it hasn’t. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,” according to Helen Keller. So let the adventure… continue!

Day 17 - Ottawa to Winnipeg

I’m home! After hundreds of hugs and teary goodbyes were said and done, I finally arrived back in Winnipeg safe and sound. It was quite the emotional day saying our farewells. It’s amazing how quickly this group of students bonded in such a short time, and it wasn’t easy to watch these new-found friends depart. With luck, Facebook and other social networking sites will allow everyone to keep in touch for a long time, but the reality is that this may be the last time many of them see each other.

Luckily, we all have our shared experience together that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. In retrospect, I’ve accomplished what I set out to do with this adventure, as I hope all the students did. For 12 days, we explored the Arctic like few other people in this world have had the chance to do. Rather than reading about the effects of climate change on the poles through second-hand websites, magazines and books, we got to see and hear about it first-hand.

From Inuit elders to Arctic Circle hikes to zodiac trips around sea ice, evidence of global warming was all around us. And while there is no doubt that a portion of it is natural, much of it is man-made. The community of Pangnirtung felt it when the permafrost exposed by heavy rains last year, flooding the town and washing out bridges two summers ago.

Students On Ice founder Geoff Green labels the students who participate in the expedition and others their age “Generation G” for generosity, graciousness and other positive g-words. And although each of these students is committed to doing what they can to educate and counteract climate change, it’s everyone that has to make some changes in the way they live. Otherwise, places like the Arctic will continue to be drastically affected. And that would be a shame.

“O lands! O all so dear to me – what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is,” said Walt Whitman. It’s safe to say that I now have “ice in my veins”, as the saying goes. Having been to this beautiful and fascinating part of our planet, I feel like I’m a part of it now, and it a part of me. I can’t wait to go back.

But as much as the Arctic became a part of me, it was the people that I experienced it with that had the greatest effect on me. From the fantastic staff, scientists and fellow educators to the amazing students, I will miss each and every one of them. In some cases, like the staff, I hope our paths will cross again, perhaps on future SOI expeditions.

As for the students, I hope to see some again in the future. Already, I’ve planned to make some joint presentations with my fellow Winnipegger, student Susan Nanthasit. But in most cases, I expect I will hear more about them as a result of their successes in life, which I know will be plentiful.

To any of the students reading this, please know this. You were the most talented, dedicated, diverse, exhausting, interesting and funny group of young adults I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with. Although I was supposed to be an educator on this trip, it was you who educated me and I thank you for it.

I urge you to never lose that enthusiasm and passion that you all exhibited on this adventure. As you go through life, build upon what you have gained from the experience and continue to make the world a better place. I know my world is a better place having gone through this experience with you all.

And so this brings to an end my blog for this amazing Arctic expedition. Thank you to all who read it. It’s tempting to end with a quote about the voyage having come to an end, but really it hasn’t. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,” according to Helen Keller. So let the adventure… continue!

Days 15 and 16 Nannuk Harbour, Iqaluit and Ottawa

First off, apologies for not sending a report for yesterday. I’ll recap it (and today) in a minute, but it was simply so packed with activities, there was no time. Where to start… ah yes, Nannuk Harbour. Our last landing of the adventure was a nice little spot on the south coast of Baffin Island. It was easy to feel a bit of a “been there, done that” attitude – same plants, same rocks, same landscape.

But luckily, there was none of that going on. First off, there were polar bears everywhere. Reports were at least eight of them including a cub were either walking or sleeping in the near vicinity. So, we did some group activities until our intrepid armed watchers gave us the all clear for a hike. Yes, I said hike. Because the Geoff Green Center for Weight Loss doesn’t stop just because it’s our last landing.

The hike was good, although the crisp wind meant the layers stayed on. Which meant some serious sweating was going on in my case. But that’s ok… I can’t wait to get home to a scale to see if this did any good for me.

We ended up at a geographical survey marker placed on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Hudson Strait. There we pretty much did one big huge group hug in one different form or another. It was a special moment for everyone and a lot of fun. There’s a lot I will miss about the Arctic tundra – the ever-changing terrain, the surprising palette of colours and the overall feeling that we are someplace special that needs to be taken care of by all of us.

The afternoon and evening was spent packing and celebrating our last evening on the ship. It was filled with activities like thank yous for the crew of the Orlova, games, awards, a talent show, slide show and a special appearance by the “rock” band Geoff and the G.G.’s. Ah, you had to be there. There was laughter and there were tears; and overall it was a truly special time that I will remember for the rest of my life.

This morning, we were up early (ugh) to disembark and head to Iqaluit, the modern and modest capital of Nunavut. It was weird to be back to civilization as my cell phone announced a text message for the first time in two weeks. Arriving on shore, it took some time to re-acclimate to paved roads, car alarms and debit cards (what’s my PIN?!)

Iqaluit was charming and we got a tour of the Legislative Assembly courtesy of Her Honour, Ann Hanson, the Commissioner of Nunavut. Madame Hanson was supposed to accompany us on the voyage, but we never made it to the port where she was to join us. But she quickly regaled us with stories and descriptions of her life. Then it was off to the visitor center, local museum and finally to a BBQ lunch.

And then it was time to say goodbye to some of our friends as we arrived at the airport. Many of our northern students and staff were flying out of Iqaluit, instead of going all the way back to Ottawa. It was a heavily emotional time for all, with hardly a dry eye around, and I imagine it will be a fraction of the emotions that will come out Thursday morning as we all separate for the final time.

Tonight is some informal time back at Carleton University in Ottawa before our flights, trains, busses and car rides home tomorrow. I hope to do one more entry for this blog before signing off, so stay tuned.

John Keats said, “Much have I traveled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen…” I have seen many goodly states and kingdoms over the past two weeks. Now all that’s left are the memories, and for one more night, the people I have shared them with. I’ve gotta a feeling, that tonight’s gonna be a good good night…

Day 1 - Ottawa

The second day of my Students on Ice Arctic expedition was mostly spent greeting the various students arriving for this great adventure. I got to meet lots of great young adults from Pond Inlet to Victoria to St. John’s, from Rhode Island to New York, and even Monaco! And I discovered something quite quickly… no matter where they are from, when they have something in common, teenagers can talk. And talk. Aaaaand talk. But they are all a dynamic and entertaining group and I was thrilled to be one of the first people they met on their journey.

It was suggested I write more stories in my blog, so here goes. Waiting at the airport with me was one of my fellow Expedition staff members, Scobie Pye. Scobie is quite the character, hailing from Hobart, Tasmania (giving him the nickname of our Tasmanian Devil). He’s also a wealth of information as you can probably guess from his bio on the Students On Ice website.

Scobie makes is a tradition to greet students at the airport each expedition. In between waiting for delayed flights, lost luggage and urgent trips to “the loo” by jet-lagged travelers, Scobie inundated me with stories of the North, including visits to northern Russian mining towns. He could write a book… if he hasn’t already.

Thursday we are off to a behind the scenes tour of the Canadian Museum of Nature, a trip to the Parliament Buildings (I’ll be sure to say hello to Stephen Harper). I’ll end off with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” We are definitely going where there is no path…