What part of being North is so attractive to me you might ask. Well …it’s living in the superlative! 😉 The further North the more pristine, wild and invigorating. It’s just so cooool…(-40) and the people are so interesting.
So I have been busy preparing. My car has been very unreliable, so I had to get something more dependable. I’ve hauled my guns out of the safe and have been stocking up on foodstuffs. I’m taking my bread-makers, bought lots of powdered milk and gathered my collection of music and video CDs ; and…not to forget I’m taking my computer to stay in touch with you folk. I did check and they claim they do have a reasonably good DSL hookup. The location is Iskut, B.C. from which I intend to build my corporate empire after completing this course. I wonder if the NSA surveillance teams will be able to track me down there?
I’ve had some experience building empires. I ran a very successful language institute in Vancouver for many years and subsequently became consultant on international student recruitment to several Lower Mainland School Districts and several Community Colleges. I traveled extensively internationally in my recruiting efforts. I also represented the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) in the Lower Maniland as Local Secretary.
My interest in this course is due to the fact that at the core I’m still entrepreneurial. I like to solve issues that present themselves as a challenge. I’m hoping to meet some kindred spirits to brain storm. preferably in an international context.
About me personally: Retired teacher, three gown kids now successfully launched, and a dedicated wife who plans to stay home in North Van while I move north for ten months to stare at the Aurora Borealis.
Hi David,
We must be just about neighbours, I too am in the North of North Vancouver, near Grouse Mtn. Good luck on your even more north adventure!
Cheers, Jen
Hi Jen,
We should meet for coffee some time. Leaving Sept 12th though.
Hi David. It is nice to meet you. Going north is always a challenge and I wish you the best. I spent 6 months on the northern tip of Ellsmere Island We were just 300 Kim’s south of the North Pole. I look forward to learning with you this term.
Dale
Hi Dale, Ellsmere Island must have been a magical experience. I hope to be posting some photos of my coming trip north. It’s hardly the real North though, still just being below 60 degrees latitude.
Hi David. It was an incredible experience especially coming out of darkness to light. The neatest part was seeing that small sliver of sunlight indicating the change is coming.
Sounds like a wonderful experience! I hope to see lots of pictures of bears, beards and icicles! Best of luck this term!
Sure, would love to! Message me with some times that work for you, you’re probably busier than I am at the moment 😉
Hi David, Good luck on your northern migration. I look forward to reading more about your experiences. So what do you have in mind for this “empire”?
How about Sunday afternoon? You set the time and place.
After pondering snowflakes for a while I’ll be putting my thinking cap on. International collaboration? Joint ventures in education? Cross-national student teams? For me brainstorming is half the fun.
Up North I’ll be looking for ideas in context. First Nations education needs a drastic overhaul. Oral traditions should take easily to social networking. My experience has been a hunger to reach out through social media. The question is how to exploit, channel and build upon the traditional values of living off the land, story telling and community. What is worth preserving and what is inevitable to change?
It has been observed that Native youth are in fact becoming less social locally as they focus on communicating synchronously and asynchronously through the medium of their computers, well beyond the limits of the hamlet. This is of concern to many elders.
Other cultures have had a similar cultural shift moving from traditional oral forms of communication (synchronous) to a literate (asynchronous) society. We all know situations where neighbors hardly know each other because there is little need for communal life. We keep in touch with those we need to asynchronously. We obtain our knowledge asynchronously.
Hi David! I love the Northern Lights! It is one of the reasons I still live in the north. Unfortunately, with the influx of oil and gas activity, our region is fast losing much of its ‘pristineness’. 🙁
You probably didn’t get my email return on your last message. Sorry!
I went to the venue at 10 and left at 10:40. It would have been nice to meet a real person from our group.
Hi Jackie,
I see you are on our team, Team 2. This is my first MET course, so you probably have a better idea than me as to go about this assignment.
Hi David,
Very nice to meet you – I too maintain an entrepreneurial spirit and look forward to your ideas and opinions.
Cheers,
Kevin
Hi David,
Now that a few weeks have passed, how are you enjoying the wild northern frontier?
Would be great to see some photos when you have a chance to post some and hear the adventures you are having.