Here to do science the ice camp crew lives altogether in the Inuit village of Qikiqtarjuaq. Résumés, age or nationality do not matter; we all share each and every moment in this little village and on the ice-camp. English is the main language used and allows us all to communicate, but it still is very interesting to learn new words or expressions in other languages (English, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Inuktitut, French – France and Québécois).
Everyone has its team and job to do, however everyone still helps each other out throughout the week and that is either in the lab (dish-washing parties), on the ice camp (without falling in the water… yes it has happened more than once in three weeks) or in the kitchen (here again dishes, but with cookie preparation or even pizza!). Saturday night, its BBQ and Qik-ciné, Sunday night, its pizza party, everyone gets their hands dirty and participates in the making and baking. There is an awesome team spirit, even after work is over such as helping the “seals” of the group to climb an iceberg by doing a human chain! The Inuit children love to help us in loading on and off the equipment and to spend time with us. On certain evenings, our GreenEdge colleagues go and play basketball/volleyball with the community and often come home defeated holding their ribs.
Good ambiance within the group is always present, even when there are few technical problems, such as a piece of a ski-doo that breaks off, a kamoutik that breaks loose (RIP), or even when the drill for the ice coring team is on strike! Of course there is a lot of work and the days are long, but the team spirit drives everyone to get through each day with a smile on their face. There are also times when we spend time off work, like to visit the Vagabond, climb mountains, do the dishes in the lab with blasting music, watch iconic or not so much iconic movies (Oh Mamma Mia!) or even just chat. With each passing day, the ice camp is becoming emptier and the ice continues to melt… nearly the end.
