Friends, I would like to say a few words here about how good it is to finally be home again, after spending my third year of art school overseas in Florence, Italy.

Of course it is always an adventure to do something a little or even very different. In this case being almost on the other side of the world in Old World Europe is like another world. The Italian language is as complicated as you will get, but with a total of 10 lessons I found that I could get by at least in the shops.

My class of 25 Canadian students, mainly from Toronto and surrounding areas, were treated to the 14th, 15th and 16th-century Italian Renaissance, a time when sculptors, painters and architects completely revolutionized the concept of art itself, at the behest of business and religious interests.

For me it was a dream come true, being in the hometown of my lifelong artistic hero, Michelangelo, and gaining an appreciation for many others from there, including Bernini and Caravaggio.

But all of this saturation of the European scene does have its drawbacks, one of course being missing the familiarity of western technology and the ease and access we have around here. Having to deal with a washing machine that takes at least two hours to do just one load does test one's patience.

So now it is a real treat just to be back in the North and in the Sahtu working for the Government of the NWT to promote the arts as I've done now for the past two summers.

One of the sad things, though, that I came home to is the passing of another Northern legend in the person of women's advocate Bertha Allen. I surely do feel for her many friends and relatives and am no doubt right on the truth when I say that her kind comes by only but once in a good lifetime.

Meanwhile, here in the smaller fishing village of Deline, on the shores of Great Bear Lake, I am reminded of what I had missed being away, the peace and tranquility of a people united in a purpose in life.

One of the things I was greeted with was to actually see teenagers playing together outside in the evening, without the ever-present cellphone and video games.

Here, too, I can spend as much time with the elders as I like, gaining insight into the importance of the land and the water. This place, for instance, is the source of one of the biggest bodies of fresh water in Canada and the world.

Also, it is reassuring in today's strange world to be in a place where locking doors is unnecessary and you will find a ready smile and a joke wherever you go. Until I find a place to rent here, people have been kind enough to put me up in the priest's house, and the running joke going around is that I am here to hear confessions!

As for my work with Sahtu In the Arts, one of our plans for this Summer of 2010 includes setting up right on the music festival grounds of Yellowknife's Folk On the Rocks in mid-July. Hope to see you all there!

Mahsi Cho, Thank you very much.