Interview Adventure!

Okay, so some of you may be curious to know how I landed this job and what was involved.  Basically, I answered an email sent on behalf of the school to Brock advertising various teaching jobs in Wemindji.  I responded not even thinking I was qualified to teach in Quebec (I'm not technically but my paperwork to become qualified is slowly being completed heh). 

I got a phone call within 2 hours from the vice-principal asking me to call back to set up a time for an interview.  I figured it would be a Skype or phone interview.  When I called her back this was the deal:

- The Cree School Board of Quebec would fly me up ASAP (turned out to be Sunday night, I got the call Wednesday or Tuesday I can't remember)
- I would spend the night at a paid-for hotel in Montreal and fly out on Air Creebec on Monday morning

My luxurious hotel room. I stole all the freebies of course.

- I would tour the reservation, meet the principal, students, teachers, support staff and parent committee that helps deciding in hiring teachers.
- I would stay the night at a teacher or school staff's house, interview on Monday evening, see the last day of school and the awards ceremonies on Tuesday morning and then fly back home Tuesday afternoon!

So that all happened! I was so lucky to meet Carmen, a fellow interviewee on the plane and we really hit it off.  The number of jobs was limited and there were a few other interviewees so we both hoped someone sucked hard and we both got a job.  Knowing that I have a friend going up there with me coming from Southern Ontario made taking the job a whole lot easier.  We both interviewed for whatever position they were offering which was grades 2,3,4,5 and I think one more. I got grade 5 and Carmen got grade 2, awesome!  We teach the Quebec curriculum but no French and there are Cree teachers who teach Cree language and culture to the students separately.  It is approximately 20% Cree instruction and 80% English language instruction.

I toured the reservation which was set in beautiful James Bay area of Hudson's Bay in Northern Quebec.  The reservation is right on the shore surrounded by beautiful forest and landscape.  It was a little chilly those few days up there and of course I packed for Toronto heat-wave weather but I learned my lesson!

A snapshot of the houses in Wemindji.  Lots of new building as the community is fairly new.  The stop signs are in Cree and apparently no one wears seatbelts. Good to know! Most of the roads are paved, some are gravel.

I met a whole bunch of really friendly, enthusiastic and helpful teachers who even gave us their phone numbers and emails (we hadn't even been hired yet!), I was definitely overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality of the teachers and staff in Wemindji.  I stayed with a lady named Eleanor who works at the school as a sort of social worker/school support/intervention staff.  We had a lot in common and she treated me like her daughter.  Staying in a strange place knowing almost no one is hard but she made me feel right at home, even making me a sandwich for the plane ride home!

Just a teepee in my backyard. No biggie.

I had my interview at 7:15pm on Monday night which was nerve wracking! We spend most of the day with the principal which actually made things a lot easier to deal with in the interview room.  It was a panel interview comprised of the principal, vp, a member of the Cree School Board and a couple of members of the Parent's Committee.  They all took turns asking me pretty typical interview questions and I was very prepared.  I cracked maybe a few too many jokes but I let my personality shine through and I landed it yehaw!

So that night we stayed in different people's houses (I still in Eleanor's) and got up the next day to tour the school again, visit some classrooms, meet the kids and watch the awards ceremonies. 

Cubbies in Cree!

Hallway of the school

The school sits on a riverbank.  This part is the attached high school.  There are canoes along the bank to the left.

One view of Maquatua Eeyou School

Each class has about 15-20 kids which is AMAZING. I am really looking forward to that.  The classrooms are all decked out with smartboards and docucams and there is a great little library and apparently resources are pretty easy to purchase. 

So once we were finished at the school we got a ride to the airport with an amazing teacher Brandi who kindly offered her contact info so we could ask lots of questions (and we will, there is so much you need to prepare for a huge move like this). 

Here is where the real adventure begins ladies and gents. I almost lost my life that Tuesday.  You see, we flew into Wemindji from Montreal on Monday morning on a 28 seater Air Creebec plane.  At that point, that had been the smallest commercial plane I had even flown on.  HA. When the plane arrived to pick us up it was a different story.  This plane had 18 SEATS. 18!!! IT WAS A TOY PLANE. So anyways we screamed a little and rolled with it.  It helped that the pilot was super sexy and had a French accent.  If we died at least we died with him.  Honestly, there was no heat on this plane, people had to sit all over the place to BALANCE OUT THE PLANE, and then alarms started going off which we could hear because there was no cockpit door and I could see everything.  Oh and the bathroom had no door either and the plane smelled of poop when we boarded.  And we didn't need boarding passes until our last of 5 stops before hitting Montreal.  So if you ever plan on visiting me, make sure you have $2000 for a return ticket, no fear of death and a liking for bus trips because that's what the plane essentially is from Montreal to Wemindji.  The pictures below hardly do it justice.

Wemindji Airport! No security checks! No ID necessary! Awesome!

Imagine this sound as you are thousands of feet in the air: "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

This is me clearly losing my cookies at the sheer tiny-ness of this aircraft.  Trying not to freak out - its not working.

Note: doorless bathroom at the rear of the plane.  Also note: hilarious guy on my right. 

Wemindji! Home to a garage, fire and police station, clinic, B&B, motel, restaurant, elementary and high school, trapping lodge, huge band office, general store, post office, pool hall, recreation center, courthouse, youth center and SO MUCH MORE!

More Wemindji

So basically that was it! Carmen and I met another interviewee on the way home who was nice enough but we really really didn't want him to get a job so that we could both get one and it worked! See people, dreams really do come true! We landed safely to my utter surprise and the rest is history.  I hope this was informative and entertaining.  I hope to never take that puddle jumper again but I probably will.

Love Aidan

Ps lots of these photos belong to Carmen. Cred given where cred is due. :)