Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Jun 05/00) - With their kamiks and sealskin parkas hanging in the closet, and their suitcases stuffed with spring apparel, a group from Grise Fiord went to Toronto in search of a little culture.

Fait accompli.

"They certainly had their eyes opened to a lot of things," said Mike Shea, one of the Umimmak school teachers who escorted the group of eight students to southern Ontario for a week-long field trip last month.

"They were familiar with these things through television, but to see it ... we couldn't have planned it," said Shea.

"There was a perfect example of road rage," he said.

Packed into a mini-van, the High Arctic students were amazed -- and frightened -- when a traffic error on a highway resulted in a male Torontonian hopping from his vehicle, shaking his fist, throwing about expletives.

"We saw road rage," said Susie Kiguktak.

"My teacher was yelled at. The guy was yelling and giving him the finger. It really scared me," she said.

The situation also didn't sit well with classmate Manasie Noah.

"The man came up to us and he was cussing us out," said Noah, more familiar with sea-ice on Ellesmere Island than 12 lanes of rush-hour traffic.

He also wasn't accustomed to seeing homeless people living on the streets, a sight that Shea said might not have been such a bad one for the teens to witness.

"The poverty they saw amazed them. It shocked them to see that," said Shea, hoping his students would keep the image in mind for years to come.

"As long as they're aware that's out there, and it happens, they have the choice to try and change things in their own community," said Shea.

"They got a lot of real-life experiences to tie into what we've spoken about in class," he added.

Noah and Kiguktak also did a great deal of shopping while in the big city, took in a Toronto Blue Jay's game, rode the roller-coasters at Canada's Wonderland, toured CBC National and met Peter Mansbridge and basically, got a dose of city life.

"It made me want to move to Ottawa," said Kiguktak, taking a shine to the country's capital while briefly passing through on her way to Toronto.

"I learned how busy the city could be compared to a little town like Grise Fiord."

And it was just that realization that will likely keep Noah out of the rat-race in the years to come.

"I don't think I would adapt to it really well."