Iglulik (Mar 07/05) - Jimmy Makkik, 28, is busy chopping up green peppers like a pro on a television cooking show.

Makkik, who has lived in Iglulik the past three years, is part of a new pizza making team at the Tujurmivik Hotel in Iglulik where they now deliver hot, homemade pizzas right to people's doors Tuesday to Saturday.

"It's going to be a real gold mine," said Makkik, taking a break from cooking to talk about himself and what he likes about living in Iglulik.

Makkik likes to hunt, so Iglulik is a good place to be.

In April and May, Makkik looks forward to seal hunting. In June and July, he turns his attention to the walrus hunting season.

He says walrus hunting is not dangerous.

"(But) it depends on who your driver is, if they know what they are doing," he says. "If they can't recognize when a walrus is being aggressive, then you may have a problem."

From August to September, Makkik hunts caribou, beluga and narwhal.

Makkik also likes to draw and considers himself an artist, although, right now his energy is mostly focused on his fairly new job as a cook. He used to work at the hotel as a janitor.

He graduated from Ataguttaluk high school in Iglulik in 1996. He has moved around a bit, living in Iqaluit for a while. But Makkik decided to settle in Iglulik because it suits his lifestyle.

Iglulik is widely known as an Inuit cultural centre in Nunavut, but Makkik, who speaks Inuktitut and English, admits he is speaking an increasing amount of English with his friends.

"My friends say speak Inuktitut, but I end up speaking English," he says.

Makkik is single, a fact he actually mentioned in a little write-up about himself on the back of a postcard he designed featuring two walruses for Imagination Card in Alberta in 2002.

"I got a couple of phone calls," he says about the write-up.

But Makkik admits he isn't ready to settle down yet. But he is looking.

One problem Makkik admits to battling in his life is alcohol. That is one of the reasons he doesn't like living in Iqaluit - too many bars.

Makkik says if Iglulik did ever get a liquor store, they should have very strict rules about who can buy it and who can't.

"We have to limit the availability to those who drink to get drunk," he says.