And so to bed.....

Eh?? Whats with that title? Its 1pm, I ain't going to bed. Although I was up all night having the most fun that you can have on your own. I was WRITING people- get yer minds oot the gutter!

So. Churchill. I took the world's longest train ride from Winnipeg to Churchill- 48 hours. Actually I enjoyed it. There were fun people on the train including my train BFF Megan. Who was funny and chatty AND had a guitar. What more could you possibly need! There were also 45 cub scouts who instead of making the journey hell, made it fun and pleasant and it flew by.

So we arrived in Churchill a mere 3 hours late and were met by Mike. At first I had no idea who he was and assumed that he was just some worker like the rest of us. It wasn't till later that I discovered that he is the Executive Director. Fortunately I displayed my usual tact diplomacy and appropriateness at all times and so therefore had no need to be embarassed..ahem...

The Study Centre is about 30 minutes drive from the town centre and Mike was kind enough to point out landmarks as we went along. In this way if we ever found ourselves lost in the middle of nowhere, we could take comfort in the fact that the Golf Balls were right over there while the polar bear was chewing on our ankle.

On arrival at the CNSC we were introduced to Avril, program co-ordinator. Uh oh, I thought, she seems a little stern! First impressions are notoriously wrong and this was no exception. Avril possibly the least stern person I ever met in my life, and probably one of my favourite people at the Centre. I was also introduced to fellow volunteer Holly, and to one of the cooks, Audrey.

Work for me did not begin until the next day when I was trained (wonderfully!) by Avril. Most of the work appeared to involve washing dishes and some basic kitchen work so I wasn't too perplexed and got stuck right in. It was fairly quiet with just the scouts in residence so not too much rushing around.

I'm going to be painfully honest at this point and state right off the bat that the first 3 weeks at the CNSC was a little difficult for me. This had nothing to do with the lack of work, with being so isolated or any of the other problems that you might expect. As someone who has volunteered for a long time, I'm used to loving or hating my compatriots almost immediately. In this, the CNSC was different. At first it just felt...well, bland. I didn't feel that loud CLICK with the other volunteers that I was used to. They were perfectly nice and I liked them, I just felt that something was missing. In retrospect this seems almost funny, given the way I feel about them now. But at the time it worried me so much I even spoke to Avril about it to gain some perspective on the situation.

Anyway. Time went on. Dishes were washed. Cupcakes were baked. Veggies were peeled and chopped. But the best part of the study centre life is not necessarily the work, although I enjoyed it. It was the stuff that went on after work. The kitchen, as is the case in so many places, was the hub of activity. It was the place to hang out after work was over. It was the place to exchange photos, movies and music. It was the place to drink a few beers and shoot the shit. It was the place to get to know the people that you were living and working with and I will mention them in a later entry. The kitchen was the place that I finally felt that loud click with the others, it was the place that I spent most of my time working or playing. It was the place where the best music was played and all the drama was acted out. It was simply the place to be.....