July 19, 2022

Hi, my name is Verna Kalluk.

I am from Baker Lake, Nunavut. I am 20 years old and this summer, I have been away from my hometown without any of my friends or family members. I travelled for Northern Youth Abroad which is education through work and travel.

 I enjoyed every minute of this trip with my host family, Jon and Christine Maxwell with their kids Sadie, Owen, Everlee and Poppy, and with my placement buddy, Blaire Nakoolak, who is from Coral Harbour.

I have been having a lot of fun with my host family and my placement buddy, Blaire. They took us to Flying Squirrel which is a “trampoline playground”, and we also went to FunHaven where there is a lot of different games, like laser tag that we went and there was a lot of people that joined it as well, I went to a Dark Ride where we sit on a chair and you choose a game of your choice and I chose zombies, it felt real and fun to play.

On Nunavut Day, we had a BBQ with their neighbors. We had around 30 people over and had lots of conversations. Blaire and I did our presentation on that day. Everyone asked questions about my hometown and I was able to answer their questions very well.

I have made a few friends at work and I have been loving Ritual On Main Coffee House. My coworkers have taught me new things like Uber Eats, making cold drinks, heating food and prepping things. I never thought I would experience uber eats and those fancy stuff in my life.

I am looking forward to see the other Canadian and Next participants. I am thankful for the staff for giving me this experience, and I would love to say a big thank you to my host parents Jon and Christine Maxwell for having Blaire and I here in Stittsville and showing us Ottawa.