Luck in the North

Preface

Preface

        It has been about a year or so that I have been living up in Arviat. Nobody knows me, even though Arviat is so small that I have probably met every person in the city at least once. I miss Ottawa. Honestly, I still don’t feel like I’m home yet. Everything is so much harder. And damn right, it is fucking cold. Sorry about my language, I should’ve been more professional there, but I feel like my professional life is now just a distant memory. Nothing more, nothing less.  But seriously, it’s cold. I still can’t sleep at night because of just how chilly it gets here. Luckily, I was able to create an amazing fireplace, but nothing seems to be enough. Not a day goes by where I don’t ask myself am I even gonna survive?

        Oh, by the way, my name is Drake Anderson. I moved from Los Angeles to Ottawa after college in response to a job offer in the city. I lived in Ottawa for about six months with no parents, no girlfriend and no friends, alone. However, in Ottawa, I lived the life of the rich, lavishly spending on items I would never need, never appreciating my life. I worked for a huge research development company and probably made more money than the governor general of Canada. Life was so easy. I would be provided with all the food I wanted, I could get whatever I needed, and everything was automatic and expensive. I lived alone in a huge penthouse suit the size of a family home. You’re probably wondering how all of this is possible, I guess it was my lucky year. Nothing made sense to me about my life anyways, I just went along with whatever came in front of me. But every day when I went to bed, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Insomnia always got the better part of me. My mind could never understand what the purpose of my life would be. And the one question that always floated in my mind was “who am I?”

        I guess I adjusted quickly to life in Ottawa. Really, Ottawa was barely any different than LA, no kidding. Yeah, all the lights and bars and girls and casinos aren’t there, but everything else was. The same stores that existed back home were in Ottawa and I actually felt more comfortable here than I ever did living with my parents back in the city of angels. Probably the hardest adjustment was the weather and how unpredictable it was, besides that living up “north” was actually entertaining. The national anthem every morning was a bit of a pain, since my home was right across the parliament buildings, but I began to appreciate the little differences in culture. The most amazing thing about Ottawa to me was definitely the amount of snow that fell here. In LA, you think a centimeter is a miracle, try walking in 30 centimeters with dress shoes. The city was beautiful in winter. It wasn’t even that cold especially because I wore a suit literally every day to work and I never walked anywhere I had to go. 

        One day at work, my team and I were assigned to a research project which involved my corporation travelling to Nunavut in search of prospective plans for job expansion. You probably already know that the job market in Canada suck, even though the population size is small comparatively to America. I was just lucky. Always lucky. Anyways, I agreed on the trip as I was assured the best first class flight with all my expenses covered by the company. Sounds pretty neat, doesn’t it? It’s like going to meet Santa, and talking to him about getting more elves in the North Pole! Honestly speaking, I was exhilarated to go because I haven’t been anywhere ever since I got to Ottawa. So I started packing the usual stuff anyone would bring such as my work items, like my laptop, tablet, phone and a whole bunch of clothes. I don’t know if it was because I was stupid, but I packed only two sweaters and five suits for a one week business trip. Little did I realize that I’m gonna be freezing my ass off up in Nunavut, that is for sure. I was in for a real surprise, absolutely uncalled for.