As I walked a letter to the post office this morning, I saw a midget riding a motorcycle that was much too small for him, he was riding on a busy city road in Christchurch. Enjoyed a final briefing before the flight to Antarctica. They seem to consistently stress the importance of taking it easy the first couple days on the ice and staying hydrated. They keep saying that many people feel overwhelmed their first couple of days on the ice. They keep reviewing the safety rules with us, mostly don't go anywhere you aren't supposed to and don't get dehydrated.
Like most all flights on this trip, the flight was delayed for about an hour. The military plane, a C-17 if I heard correctly, was loud and didn't have any windows. But the seats were plenty comfy and the ride didn't seem too long. I listened to the Ipod for a good part of the trip.
The plane landed on frozen ocean. The landing was smooth. It was kind of scary walking outside into -25C temperature, mostly because I have no idea what -25 feels like. I quickly realized I was overdressed, which made me happy. Vans with monster truck tires picked us up from the ice runway and drove us to the campus building where we had dinner, safety briefings and were given our room assignments. Saw 2 people jogging the McMurdo streets at one point.
I was assigned to a room in the same building as the dining hall, which also happens to be the building where the janitors meet every morning and the main building on campus. Met my roommate who is a firefighter from Northern California but is working here for the summer as a general assistant in the heavy equipment shop, meaning mostly that he moves stuff around and cleans. He seems calm, pleasant and well mannered, which is excellent. I slept better than I would have expected for my first night on the seventh continent.
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