Rankin Inlet (Aug 16/06) - Sebastien Richard warmed to the Kivalliq experience during the past four months in Rankin Inlet.

Richard, 23, came to Rankin from Edmundston, N.B., where he had completed his first year of culinary studies at New Brunswick Community College.

Sebastien Richard works the steel to sharpen his knife at Inns North in Rankin Inlet this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The manager of Inns North in Rankin, John Paul Albert, attended the same college.

Albert called his former instructors at the school to see if any of the current students would be interested in doing an internship in Rankin.

Richard said when the job was placed at the school, he jumped at the chance to have a true Northern experience.

"I'll be telling people on the East Coast that my time in Rankin was a truly great experience," said Richard.

"If you like new challenges, the North is a great place to experience."

Richard said his work experience in Rankin complemented what he learned during his first year of college.

He said he particularly enjoyed preparing breakfast and noontime pasta dishes at the inn's restaurant.

"It was a lot busier at the hotel than I thought it would be before I arrived.

"I was really kept hopping a lot of the time."

Richard said if he doesn't make it back this way again, his fondest memories of Rankin will always be the friendliness of its people and the beauty of the land.

"I will never forget sitting there, looking up at a full moon, while the dawn was breaking at the same time.

"That was a spectacular site which I will always remember."

Richard isn't ruling out a return to Rankin, especially if that meant a chance to experience a Kivalliq winter.

However, the decision isn't his alone.

"My girlfriend didn't like the idea of me coming here alone for four months.

"But, if I had the chance to come back to Rankin with her, I'd take it right away.

"I think she'd really like it here once she adapted from life in the south.

"It would be a great opportunity for the two of us to spend a few years here."