Perfect Snowflakes!

The snowflakes in Hay River are perfect!

There is definitely never a shortage of things to do here!  It's incredible how many activities and clubs and social opportunities there are in such a small town.  I have to admit, I have misrepresented Hay River a little bit.  It's a small town, but it services a fairly large number of people.  There are about 3600 people in town but the area that uses it's services is about 6000 people.  A lot of people drive in from the reserves surrounding the town to grocery shop and use the pool and library.  So it's a pretty bumpin' little town!

Before I got this job I had never even heard of Hay River, but now that I am here everyone I know seems to know someone from Hay River or who has been to Hay River.  Just yesterday I went to the Bank to open an account and the bank manager went to UPEI and we had an english class together in my first year! What a small world!  The 6 degrees of separation theory can definitely be proven here!

Last night I went to the Legion for a few drinks with the girls and it happened to be Karaoke night! What was intended to just be a beer or two ended up resulting in a night of dancing and socializing until the bar closed. Since I'm new to town and the town is fairly small, I stick out quite a bit.  Everyone knows I'm new and everyone wants to know who I am, why I'm here, what I do, where I came from and how I like Hay River so far. It was nice to have people approach me and talk to me for the first little while but by the end of the night it became a bit exhausting!  It's almost like being a mzungu in Kenya all over again!  Regardless it was a pretty good time! It's nice to feel like I'm making some friends and being welcomed into the community!

This morning was Hay River's Family Christmas Day and they had a free breakfast with Santa! Stacey and I went for pancakes this morning and then to the craft fair at the high school.  I bought a coffee-table book full of photographs of Hay River taken by the librarian here. The photographs are gorgeous and I can't wait to get to experience all the different things that are represented in the book!  I'm hoping to have personal stories to go with many of the images in the book by the end of the year.

Tonight is the Firefighter's Ball!  So we're getting all glammed up and heading back to the legion for a fancy dinner and dance party.  It's the buzz around town and apparently quite the event!