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4 Mar, 2008
After all the gears for the adventure had come, Mr. Oba and Mr. Hasegawa were confirming them with a long-awaited look in the garage.As if they had been like little boys who have got a new toy, they were much involved and very serious.
The view is wonderfully beautiful in the early evening, and it is so cold that breath is frozen.
The communication with the pilot school got started.Canada has three time zones. When I was making plans to communicate with Japan, Dubai, Costa Rica, Munich and so on, the calculation of time difference spinned me out. So I have made a phone call to Japan at midnight by mistake.
Every time I make an international call and then hear a cheerful voice, I have a feeling my heart is gradually warmed. Nowadays it is not a rare case to communicate with people in the far distant country thanks to development of internet and transport, but I always feel touched with voice coming over from abroad.
Closer the day when we start is getting, more we are determined that it is coming up soon and worried whether it is really all right.
Above all, it was last night that we couldn't fall asleep due to the sound of the blizzard.
Looking out the dark night from the window, powder snow was blowing a storm.
Then I thought seriously it is not so late yet that I could stop my co-adventurers from going, I would persuade them not to go the next morning.
Resolute Bay village, seen from hill. The stormy wind blows up snow.
We were often told about episodes of polar bears and the way of defense by a lot of people night and day.For example, when a man opened the front door of an inn, there was a polar bear just there and he was scared to death. And, another one was rasping the window of another inn.Almost all of people living here for a long time tell us a couple of episodes about polar bears.This is the land where polar bears live.
Now then I put together the information about a polar bear I have heard.
- A polar bear is left handed.
- It has colorblindness.
- It is afraid of a bigger thing than itself. You can make it mistaken and run away if you have a long bar.
- It is afraid of big sound.
- Its breath smells bad. (I wonder if they eat a seal and fish.)
- It considers all moving things as food.
- It has a sensitive nose.
- It is good at swimming.
- You must get away to leeward if you see a polar bear in the far distant place.
- You must not look in its eyes.
- You must never run in the sight of a polar bear.
- You must not get in between a mother and its child, or you will be attacked by the mother bear.
Labors in Resolute from the south Canada know polar bears are flesh-eating mammals that may attack people, so they want to avoid this scary animal as many times as possible.
Pictured at the garage next to Nawhal Inn.The snow blowing machine and Carl, a mechanician.He has come to work from Prince Edward, well-known for "Ann with red hair".
On the other hand, how have the Inuit had to do with "Nanuq"? If an Inuit man can shoot a polar bear, he uses whole of it such as fur, meat, nail and the rest for him to live.The story like that about the animal that the Inuit coexist with is vividly told one generation to the next.
"Nanuq" do the Inuit call a polar bear.
Noriko Miyashita
