Rick Jr. at NYA’s Orientation Camp in Ottawa. Photo: Thorsten Gohl

Hi, my name is Rick Jr. Oyukuluk. I am from Arctic Bay, Nunavut, I am enjoying my time here in Hamilton, Ontario. When we were flying to Ottawa I was very excited that it was going to be my very first time in the south. When we got to the airport I was nervous to see beautiful places, like stores and everything like that. When I got outside with my friend from home Napassi, I was like, when I breathe it’s not the same thing as where we live. And also I was getting to see lots of cars and places that I’ve never seen before, and I was worried about the half hour drive to the camp where we stayed.

I couldn’t sleep when we got to the cabin because I was too happy to be down south. After the day we woke up it was very nice out, sunny and and I was getting very hot like super fast. And I couldn’t wait till we went to the baseball game, and to the swimming pool. But after we went to those places I was thinking that we were going to go shopping but we didn’t and I was worried about that because we only went to two places in Ottawa. And I didn’t know there were going to be a lot of mosquitos at the camp, but there were a lot of them. 

In Hamilton I usually go to work at 8:30 now with the kids at a martial arts summer camp. Before that I worked at a restaurant called Except for Kenneth, but not anymore. The place is very different from my home town, and the weather here is too hot for me. As usual my home town is colder right now, but sometimes it’s hot too. My host family and I went to the Music Festival a few days ago, and we enjoyed it very much. There were people dancing and celebrating, and also we went to Canada’s Wonderland, and Niagara Falls. It was so beautiful to see Buffalo, United States of America, and we have our own TV, weights and a couch in our bedroom. Thank you…!