Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 16/01) - Nobody has ever asked Kyle Bussell if they run the Northern Lights on Sundays and holidays, but that's because visitors to the North tend to do homework before arriving.
It's a long way to travel without knowing what you're getting into.
As an employee of the Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre, Bussell answers a lot of questions. And he loves it.
The 17-year-old student has worked part-time at the centre since landing the job last summer, when he worked full-time.
"I've never had an experience where someone has been ignorant," he says.
Visitors -- who tend to be older with enough time on their hands for long trips, "are certainly enthusiastic about the North. People are in awe of it," Bussell said.
The most common questions he fields in the summer are about highways -- whether there are enough services like gas. In the winter it's about where to go to view the Northern Lights.
Sometimes Bussell has to console disappointed visitors who came all this way to see the lights, but they don't appear.
"I feel for them. I understand how they can be disappointed. It's really hard because those people may not come back to Yellowknife."
Other times he offers tips to people who can't sleep when it doesn't get dark.
He tells them to put a blanket over the curtains, but it's not so simple for campers in modern thin-skinned tents that let light glow through.
The job helps Bussell appreciate things here that could be taken for granted. Many visitors can't believe they can be sipping cappuccino in a four-star hotel one moment, and 10 minutes later be in complete wilderness.
A surprising number of inquiries are local.
A couple of days ago someone called to ask where they could buy a fruit basket, and centre manager Beth Harding is making arrangements this week to help accommodate 23 visitors coming to town for a weekend wedding.
Bussell may return to the local tourist industry after going to college, and Harding is helping him get through a course on becoming a certified tourism information counsellor. In fact that's how he wound up helping tourists find their way - tourism officials went into his high school to recruit youths for the course.
"I love meeting interesting people. Working here also lets me learn about different cultures as well."
