Thursday, September 9

Today's plan:
6 am wake up, catch shuttle at 7 am, training until noon, take the shuttle to the Denver airport, wait for hours, fly to the Los Angeles airport, wait, fly from LA to Auckland NZ, wait, fly from Auckland to Christchurch, pick up our hotel reservation, take shuttle to hotel.

Our itinerary has us arriving in Christchurch on Saturday, October 11 at 10:20 am.

Lucas

Tuesday, October 7th

Alex and I are at the airport in Dallas, TX. We are both laying on the floor. Alex is reading a national bestseller and I am left attempting to entertain myself. We are on our way to Denver for two days of training before the long flight to New Zealand. We'll spend two days in New Zealand and are set to arrive in Antarctica on the 13th. Our mailing address will be:
PSC 469, Box 700
APO, AP 96599-1035

February 24

Today is the day. My plane is on it's way. I transport at 12:30 and should be in the air by 2:30p.

I not sure exactly how to end the blog. We danced last night, like so many other evenings in Antarctica. It's a fitting end to this continent. I feel alive and human, I think I might love it here.

I think the blog is such a reflection of my experience. It was fascinating and all-good in the beginning, become mundane, and as I grew more into the community I grew away from the blog.

The penguins, the seals, the whales, the pressure ridges, the pastel colors of the sky, the all-so-pretty mountains and the daily fresh baked bread have all been a blessing, but what has made my Antarctica has to be the dancing, the stories of other travels and lives and how I am surrounded by people that feel human and alive.

February 22

I am still in Antarctica. My flight has been delayed for two days due to weather. I worked 4 hours today and spent the remaining time entertaining myself with euchre games, a nap, and enjoying other's company.

The weather is nastier this evening than we've seen yet, so I'm not so optimistic about tomorrow's odds.

Alex arrives in New Zealand on Monday, so as long as I'm off the ice by then I won't mind so much. I figure I make at least $50 a day salary and save at least $50 a day by not being in Christchurch.

February 18th

Tomorrow is my last full day of work in Antarctica. The next day I work two hours and have the rest of the day off to pack for my flight to New Zealand on the 21st.

We are down to less than 8 janitors now. I spent most all day taking out trash and cleaning restrooms. Gone are the days of meditative mopping.

All is well, I spend a lot of time looking forward to seeing Alex again. She arrives in New Zealand on the 25th and has a month away from work. We plan to spend a couple weeks walking and a couple weeks for sightseeing, logistics and such.

February 16

It is totally feeling like the end. In this town of 1,000 people, nearly 100 folks are leaving every other day. The last flight out is on the 23rd, then one flight in April and the next flight isn't until August. I think it's all so fascinating.

I feel like I've grown into McMurdo, like I've been living this life for years. Eating every meal in the same cafeteria, knowing what to wear for -20 temps as opposed to how to dress for -5. Working 54 hours each week, no trees or children or pets. Dusty roads and big trucks and drunken firefighters wandering the halls. It's all so familiar to me, maybe too familar.

I like to wonder what it will be like to stand on the sidewalk in Christchurch, to see and hear and feel the traffic, the trees, the humid weather, brick buildings and grass. I'm excited.

The day shift has been going fine. I clean the same dormitory each morning and in the afternoon I clean one of the work centers I cleaned on nights. I worked in the warehouse one day and helped move couches another. I appreciate being able to mix it up a little bit and get different assignments. Who knew one could get so excited about moving heavy furniture?

My clustermates have slowly been making their way back to Christchurch, some planning to return to the ice next year and others happy to be finished with Antarctica. Everyone has fantastic post-ice travel plans, many with plans to travel for months and months. I've enjoyed all their company.

February 10

I start working again tomorrow morning. I've enjoyed the time off, spent much time reading, writing, and taking care of the to do list during my free time. At the beginning of the season, I promised myself I would write everyone that wrote me, so I spent a good bit of Saturday writing short letters. Thanks for all the mail everyone. I think it was good for the body and soul to spend some quality time sitting around.

Went for a hike with a guy who brews his own beer on campus. I suppose it's not everyday one gets to drink a beer made with Antarctic waters. I think it's kind of cool. Saw a whale.

The weather is looking more wintery everyday and I've been told it's only going to get worse.

February 9th

I've finished nights. I have the next three days off to get my body used to being awake during the daytime.

Last night was the final janitor party. The bought $90 worth of booze with all the change we found laying on the floor while we were cleaning during the season. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The weather has made a dramatic turn for the worse. It seems at least as bad as when I arrived in October. Winter is on it's way.

Folks are finishing their season and heading home almost everyday now.

I'm not sure why, but I find myself fascinated with the supply vessel and how all of the logistics operate. This huge boat drops off all of next season's supplies and takes home all of this years waste.

February 4th

I can't believe it's February already. Times seems to be passing by so quickly. Time also seems to be moving so slow these past couple weeks as I think more and more about what I'm going to do after Antarctica.

The vessel, the symbolic and literal end of each summer season, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. Many have transitioned to nights for the around-the-clock offload of the vessel. The vessel essentially brings all of next years supplies and take all of this year's waste back to a landfill in California.

I am scheduled to transition back to days starting this Friday. Only 3 more working Antarctican nights.

Heard of a Russian sailor guy that was here today. He had his appendix removed aboard a ship in the area but then it became infected. So they helicoptered him into McMurdo, cleaned him up and sent him on the next plane to New Zealand.

January 30

I was walking past a window and saw a whale. Surely the night's highlight. My co-worker left on a morale trip for the south pole. She will be there for an hour before it's time to turn around and come back.

The last day to mail packages from McMurdo is in two days. I sent home many the things (mostly excess clothes) that I won't be needing for my travels in New Zealand.

I've started thinking about post-Antarctic work.

January 29

It's been a few days since I last posted a blog entry. Campus is packed full these days. There's a bunch of Navy guys and Kiwi military folks that are here to unload the supply vessel when it arrives. About 30 Russian folks on their way home from the Russian base are in town. There are three ships out in the bay: the icebreaker, the research vessel and the fuel tanker. All of their crews take some R&R time on campus. South pole folks are passing through here on their way home. The winter folks are starting to arrive. Most the field camps are closing down and passing through here on their way home. It's kind of exciting and kind of fascinating. Last night we were 10 people below capacity and rumors are that we will be over capacity tonight. I still have an empty bed in my room.
All is well. I am enjoying myself.

January 24th

All is well in Antarctica. It is now 1 month until I see my girlfriend again and I'm missing her so very much.

The weather has turned super windy, which is nice as it's blowing a lot of the ice (the icebreaker broke up) out of here. Many have told me that more open water = more whales.

Work continues to be routine. I attended open mic night at the bar.

Everyone is talking about their post-Antarctica travel plans. Many have plans to travel for three or more months and to all types of exotic locations.

January 22nd

This is my 100th post. Makes one realize how long he's been here.

Attended a travelogue of someones travels to the Falkland Islands. She had tons of pictures of birds, including skuas, several types of penguins and these birds with blue eyes. The rockhopper penguins have yellow mohawks and apparently jump vertically and the king penguins have such pretty colors.

Saw a penguin all by its lonesome near the boat dock.

Morning janitor meeting was about avoiding burn-out and coping with irritability.

January 21st

I attended the "Polar Palooza". It was essentially a series of short documentries about work being done at both the north and south poles. Some guy has a job of driving around on ice that has been there for a super long time and looking for meteoites. There was a short documentry on a guy that I've met that makes a living drilling holes in ice.

I spent hours mopping.

January 20

I saw another whale. They are called 'minky' whales and are on the small side of whales.

The fuel ship scheduled to arrive here today or tomorrow will be a few days late due to bad weather or something.

My clustermates held a party at the house on campus last night. They mostly made homemade pizzas, visited and listened to a guy play the guitar. It struck me how special of an occasion it was to cook a meal in a house and enjoy each other's company. During the job fair the other day, one of the interviewers told me that "You don't know you want to come back to the ice until your off the ice and you still want to come back."

It's fun to wonder if I will see anything in a different light after my time here.

January 19th

My highlight of the last several days has been whale sightings! Yesterday I went for a walk on the ob hill loop trail and witnessed two whales using a little pond of open water to come up for air. It was the first time I've ever seen a whale in my life. There were seals and penguins as well, so it made for a nice morning.

I'm sure lots of other exciting things have happened as well, but they have all lost significance. My predicted departure date from the ice has been set for February 21. The first sunset on February 20. I was here the first night the sun didn't set. I think it's neat, anyways.

Attended the live music show at the bar last night. One of the bands that was playing was military guys, so lots of the military folks from around campus were at the bar. As were folks from the icebreaker (their all Swedish), so it was a fun mix of people. We all had a good time, lots of dancing.

My friend asked why an icebreaker is here. McMurdo's main source of supplies for the next year is a big boat that arrives near the end of the season each February. The ocean is frozen here, so the icebreaker comes to clear the way for the supply vessel (and for an additional boat that brings all of the fuel we need for the next season).

January 16th

I attended the 'on ice' job fair this morning. I gave my resume to the guy that hires 'solid waste technicians' and the guy who hires janitors. I gave Alex's resume to the guy who runs the campus store, the person who hires administrative folks and the guy who hires janitors.

Met a lady who works 8 months a year on a ship that drives around Antarctica with scientist.

I met a guy whose made a career of drilling holes in ice. He works here during the Antarctican summer and in Greenland during it's summer. His career started when he was offered a job shoveling snow for an ice drilling team while he was an undergrad.

I shared another penguin sighting experience with the night janitorial team. This time the sighting was from the library window.

Suluay, my co-worker, was super excited because she found out that there's another person from Thailand on campus. Suluay was the second ever person from Thailand to visit Antarctica and he is the sixth. He's in the biology class that's here. The first person from Thailand to visit Antarctica was a princess and she was only here for a couple hours, so really I don't even know if she should really count.

The icebreaker is still going strong and breaking ice.

January 13

Attended this evening's science lecture. It was about long-term ecological research and how they are monitoring lots of different biological and physical indicators to study change over time. They showed a picture of the longest river in Antarctica and I more imagined myself canoeing down the river instead of listening to the science lecture.

January 12

Like each Saturday evening, I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock. As Alex pointed out, my day off is the only day I have to set an alarm to wake me. I like attending the ballroom dancing class that starts each Saturday at 6pm.

This evening was the annual art show. It's absolutely amazing how much talent there is crammed into a town of 1,000 folks. After the art show, I enjoyed the company of my clustermates for a while, sent out some e-mails, called the girlfriend and went on a long walk on one of the designated hiking trails. I don't get as excited about the seals as I had when they had first arrived in the area.

The icebreaker boat docked, allowing the crew an evening on land.

January 11

All of the snow had melted by the time I woke. At the midnight meal, my co-worker and I delivered a fresh salad to her husband who is stuck working at the power plant and unable to leave. He normally works at the water plant but has been moved to the power plant due to staffing issues.

The icebreaker boat is right close, it's scheduled to dock at noon tomorrow. It's fun to watch the boat work. It backs up, gets a running start, skids up onto the ice in front of it and the falls through the ice, breaking it all up as it goes. As I understand, now we wait for the heavy winds to blow the ice outta here. I think it's all kind of fascinating. People boarded this ship somewhere in the northern hemisphere where ice exists that needs broken, drove the thing down and over the equator, all while the seasons were changing. They break up our wee bit of ice then turn around and go back over the equator and to break some ice on the other end of the world. The ship is especially noisy and seems like it would be super crazy bumpy as it breaks up the ice. It would be a hard life breaking up the ice, but maybe the trips back and forth across the equator wouldn't be so bad.

January 10

Last night held a bit of excitement. During the midnight meal someone told us there were ~30 penguins on campus by the boat dock. We headed that way immediately and spent some time enjoying the penguins. They would walk up a hill only to turn around and slide back down. It didn't take long for a substantial crowd to develop. The penguins were curious and walked right up to the crowd.

McMurdo station made the news for reasons other than our science: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080109/od_nm/christmas_dc;_ylt=AldyT0kYRpzw3AjAHSeXhPms0NUE

During morning janitor meeting, we were told that the flu is going around campus with ~20 cases in the last week.

It's still snowing with at least 6 inches of accumulation and some knee-high drifts.

January 9th

It's snowing, the most snow I've seen this summer. I spent the evening writing a letter to my girlfriend. Work was uneventful and routine. All is well.

January 8th

After a pork chop and fruit cobbler breakfast, I went for another walk to check out the icebreaker's progress. It's still out there, presumably slowly working itself this way. I heard a seal come up for air and breathing deeply, but never actually saw it.

Attended a travelogue of someone's travels to Mongolia. My favorite part was probably a picture of a yurt with solar panels and a satellite dish. In Mongolia you can buy a sheep for US$35 or an old horse for as little as $50. Cabbage, carrots and potatoes are the only veggies available outside of the big cities. The mountains were so pretty.

One of my co-workers showed up to work with a her arm in a sling. Apparently, the vacuum got the best of her elbow. The only upside was it gave the rest of us enough work to keep us busy all night.

January 7

I awoke late due to a 3pm fire alarm (middle of my night's sleep) which involved me standing outside for 20 minutes in my pajamas and big red coat. "Sonic Antarctic" is like a film festival but with just audio recordings; while I thought it sounded like a great idea, most of the recordings were just annoying industrial sounds from around campus and a bunch of scientist's recordings of the ground moving, etc. (equally annoying).

I found this cool looking rock and thought it was petrified wood and I showed it to a scientist and he said it wasn't petrified wood, but I still like my rock even if it isn't as cool as I once presumed.

I finished off the day by going for a walk to check out the progress the icebreaker ship is making. Lots of folks from the icebreaker were helicoptered onto campus, presumably to get a break from the boat. Isn't it kind of funny to think that they are all so happy to get onto campus while we would all be so happy to get to go on the boat?

January 6

I KNOW! I've been really bad at keeping up with my blog. I don't really have an excuse (plus an ex used to tell me that you shouldn't apologize and give excuses at the same time). I've just been lazy.

Lots of cool things have happened since my last blog. We found a can of bug spray in the lost and found bin (there's not any bugs here). We can see the icebreaker ship off in the distance. Numerous penguin sightings have occured on and around campus. I met a guy that drives a tour bus across America for a living. I played euchre for the first time in months. I watched a hitchhiking documentry about a guy that works here (70,000 miles, 42 countries, 6 continents). My lead was hired to janitor over-winter. There was a travelogue on Pakistan. I was convinced the entire world has pretty mountains. I went to a bluegrass concernt and danced and danced. I wrote letters, received packages and worked on my Spanish lessons.

I was asked which day I wanted to leave Antarctica (February 21st). The first janitors start leaving on February 11. That's less than 5 weeks away. Folks are starting to talk much about their post-Antarctica travel plans. Folks are mentioning that they are ready to go home. There's a mandatory meeting this week that's all about leaving Antarctica. It's an odd feeling, the beginning of the end. I feel like I've just arrived and like I've been here forever.

All is well, I'll do better keeping up with the blog.