Hut 10: Where Restraint Is Like Your Shoes, Left At The Door. A.K.A. Knuck-Tats

“I have Social Disease. I have to go out every night. If I stay home one night I start spreading rumors to my dogs.”
― Andy Warhol

After getting settled into a proper work routine and facing the exhaustion of working nearly 60 hour work weeks, the need of a good time was beginning to become more apparent, not only with me but with my coworkers. So the nearing of one of our coworker's birthday was quite the pleasant event to look admirably to the future. With the paperwork filed and anticipation high we prepped ourselves for a night at Hut 10.

The Magical Time Machine Hut 10:
There are many things that can be found around station that are both entertaining and time consuming; but nothing comes close to the wonders that lie within the walls of Hut 10. This is a space primarily reserved for the most important of Distinguished Visitors (D.V.'s) of the likes of Ex-Mr. President William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton. It is essentially the only separated "house" in McMurdo Station. All of the other building are dormitories or work centers of some sort. Hut 10 has it's own plumbing system with working sinks, showers, and toilets. There are about 3 bedrooms including a master bedroom with a King-sized bed set up. There is a living room with a big screen and couches, a dining area with a table that can seat roughly 10 people, and a kitchen with everything you need to make food for said 10 possible people. It's a cozy little spot that all of us would LOVE to have for an entire season.

When we are not entertaining the likes of the honorable Billiam Clinton in this lovely home it can be "rented" by anyone in the community for a day/night. The people in the Rec department keep a list of all of the people who have requested Hut 10 for what night and why. It has to be approved by the station manager and various supervisors but once it's yours it's a wonderful feeling.

At this point you can plan fun events that involve the three d's: dinner, drinks, and dancing. Of course, it's always fun to make a theme for the night. Costumes are ALWAYS encouraged! Sometimes people have certain viewing events where they watch Arrested Development, eat frozen bananas, and take sips of hot ham water "With just a smack of ham!" (This actually happened one night. Big ups Grace Graham).

So back to the story of our first proper Hut 10 party.

It was Morgan's birthday, we just finished work, and we were all returning home to get dressed and ready for the night. My roommate, Sarah Leonetti, and I were extremely excited to finally do something social with the people we were becoming close friends with. Once we were ready we walked to Hut 10, excited for our first chance to see our friends outside of work with only the slightest of nerves. Upon entering we found a mish-mash of various workers from the Galley and Jano-Land talking and sipping on their beverage of choice. We were greeted with smiles as we shed our coats and shoes at the door, gave a fine happy birthday to Morgan, and then stood around awkwardly making bits of small talk with those who were around.
After a while, people began to loosen up and there was laughter from wall to wall in Hut 10. Being the person of importance that day, we wanted to know what Morgan wanted to do and she requested that we played a board game or two.
We first played a simplified version  of Taboo which was a lot of fun and encouraged more joy and laughter within the group. Afterwards, we found a Jenga set that had all of it's pieces so we set it up and began our attempts at stacking the tower. Early on we discovered that most of the blocks had things written on them such as, "Take a drink." "Give a drink." or my favorite, "Slap somebody!" making for an interesting few rounds.

The skinny kid in the picture missing his shirt, rocking the amazing hair, and crushing Jenga one-handed is me.

At one point the tower loomed so high that it seemed to sway on it's own accord. It was Morgan's turn and after pulling her block the structure began to fall towards her and she pushed it with her torso and arms to regain it's position. She claimed "Birthday Save!" and left the blocks in disarray but still standing.
Something that no one expected was that the blocks were built higher and higher without falling. The blocks were so imperfectly placed that it balanced perfectly on it's own.
The game began to get so intense that the entire party was completely captivated by our attempts at removing and replacing blocks. After many breathless moments and screams of disbelief the structure finally found itself toppling over in my arms and across the floor around me.

I was missing my shoes, sock, and my shirt and I knelt in disbelief at what had happened to me. You could feel the room breathe a sigh of relief, unable to withstand much more of this spectacle. Following the sigh came hoots and hollers. Boos and claims of victory from the other participants. It was definitely the greatest game of Jenga played that I've ever seen/been a part of.

At this point we no longer needed games to have our fun. We abandoned them and simply danced and socialized on our own around the room. As various people left throughout the night, the party grew stronger despite their absence.

Before I really knew what was happening my hands were taken by two people with markers and I was told not to move. After a little giggling and scribbling I got my hands back and was told to make fists and place them side by side and show everyone. "Poop-Lick" was written across my knuckles and a roar of laughter came from the room. At this point I was explained the fine art of Knuck-Tats where two people take your hands (without discussion) and write a four letter word on each area of the finger between the knuckles. The likes of which may include: Shit-Fart, Lick-Nuts, or Slap-Dick (They're really never this coordinated).

I'm not sure why but clothes began to get swapped between the men and the women...pants in particular. And at some point we had an intermission without pants at all but did not last long due to the palpable awkwardness felt int he room due to the fact that we did not know each other well yet.

After we had our fill of dancing, humility, and singing "Happy Birthday" at sporadic intervals we decided that the night was old and, despite the laughter, we needed to leave. Understanding that we had an entire season to recreate nights like this made the departure simple and we left after rigorous cleaning and long good nights.

Understanding The Job Part 2 Jano Land

“I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.”
― Billy Joel

The life of a Janitor is quite a stellar event for everyone on station in my opinion. These are people who appear to be permanently happy, fun, and extremely contagious.
Janos come in every shape, size, and personality. We have those solemn ones who greet you with a smile and a head nod but leave the initiation of conversation up to your discretion.
There are those found singing away the workday while working to sterilize the many doorknobs around station.
There are some which you don't even notice because they are quick on their feet and direct in what they are cleaning and have a list of other items on the docket leaving them no time to "dilly-dally."
And then there are those who have a hearty laugh that is heard through the halls. These are usually found dancing up the halls with mops and brooms or playing pranks on clueless victims.

A Day of the Fabled Jano:
Our Janos begin our day just like the vast majority of the workers at McMurdo Station, slow, quiet, and at 7:30am. At 7:25am you can usually point them out because they'll be the ones grabbing a cup of coffee with a pastry in their mouth making their way to the second floor to attend "Morning Meeting." Going to Morning Meeting is a great way to start the day if you ask me. You get to see friendly faces and discuss any odd events that may have happened in the last while since your last morning meeting such as what happened at the social gathering the previous night. My favorite days are when you're sitting next to someone who was up entirely too late the night before when someone walks in with a "Shit-Eating Grin." (As it's been known as). The person, upon entering, immediately looks at the person of concern and, with a slight hesitation for dramatic effect, asks something like, "How ya feeling today?" or "How much of last night do you remember?" or "You guys won't believe what this guy/girl did in the Galley!" This always starts the morning with a good, much needed laugh.

Once all of the possibly embarrassing stories are out of the way the actual stories begin. The Lead Janos are amazing people. They are constantly thinking of fun things to do for the plebeians who have to follow their orders. One thing they do for morning meeting is find fun little books that are silly in every way. For example, "People Who Deserve It" by Casey Rand. A book about crappy people in society who giggle on their cell phones while you're trying to tell them a funny story or eat with their mouths open, allowing you to smell the process of their digestion.
Another book is, "I wish Daddy didn't drink so much"by Judith Vigna. Where a young girl spends Christmas hoping her father didn't do such silly things like dressing up like Santa and spilling beer on her bedroom floor.

Once the fun is over we take a moment or two to actually discuss topics involved with work such as safety concerns, cleaning techniques, and actual work schedule for the day. It may seem like this is a good way to waste the first 1/2 hour of work everyday but it is crucial for morale and general happiness. Without starting the day out with laughter the entirety of station would suffer greatly.

So at this point we go to the Galley one more time to get our hydration on and refill our water bottles. Afterwards, we break off on our own to handle our various tasks. At the beginning of the day we all have our dormitories to clean. This is a large task and definitely takes a lot of the day. When we are done here it is usually time for lunch after our appropriate stretch break and break break. Once we are back on duty it is time to clean Highway 1. This is the busiest part of station because it leads to the Galley and on the way has various offices for Human Resources, Housing, and Recreation along with our small store. So naturally this place is going to get filthy with people tracking in mud and snow along with spilling coffee and food bits all over the floor. This is a fun event because it's the only part of the day where you are teamed up with other Janos. The four of you tag-team clean the two bathrooms, two hand sinks, and sweep and mop the floor with the assistance of the Zamboni.

The Zamboni:
This pleasant little vehicle makes a Janos life much easier but also a little more exciting. It looks like a regular zamboni got pregnant and aborted the baby a bit on the late side resulting in a miniature blue thing that with a handle that is too low for most people to operate and barely has the capacity to suck the dirt off the ground without spreading more of it around. But as they say, "It's the little victories." Yes it is small and does not do it's job well but damnit, it's a change up from a push broom! Plus, you can "ghost ride the whip" which means you let it gently pull itself forward while dancing around it to the music that you can only hear because you're wearing headphones.

After another stretch break and one more break break we come to the home stretch of the work day where we just start tackling work centers around station. At this time the other workers get the pleasure of running into random Janos around station. We walk into where they work and close down their bathrooms for cleaning. A lot of people get pissy about this but whatever, if it doesn't get cleaned now then it never will so dance around for a little and let us do our thing.

So now that you understand what we do work-wise, let's discuss the important part of things. Recreation!

Understanding The Job Part 1 The Galley

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.”
― Herman Melville

Currently I am employed as a "Steward" here on The Ice. What that entails is a dual position job consisting of a Dining Attendant (D.A.) and a Janitor (Jano).

The life of a Dining Attendant in McMurdo Station is a wondrous thing. It has similarities to that of normal restaurant work but with numerous differences. For one, we conduct under the classic "Mess Hall" procedure where people can help themselves to the available food (so long as we have enough). D.A.s work in the Galley, a beloved part of everyone's life here on the ice.

The Galley:
In Building 155 there are many useful things to find within these hallways. There's H.R., Housing, the store, the recreation board, but most importantly there's the Galley. This is where we all get to eat, hang out, and for some of us, work.

When walking through the hallway and following the aroma of the finest dining, you will reach a trophy case on your right containing numerous interesting scientific objects and pictures. Once at the end of this hallway the room opens into the main part of the Galley. Immediately on your right you can pick up your tray and a plate for today's meal. Just on the other side of these trays you will find the entrance to the Dish Room. This is a strange land where food is magically removed from dishes and given back to the community for reuse. There's usually a lot of singing and dancing coming from this room and is a place where you can either get a friendly smile or a stern look followed by a half growled, "Excuse me."

On the other side of the room, however, you can see something that will truly make you happy. There are two stations where hot food is served and "The Action Station" where cooks have prepared a special something for all of us to enjoy. Here, people will line up single file around the side of the Galley. If you are waiting in line and look to the right you will see Bakery Island. This is where you can find fresh baked bread for dinner but most importantly, where you can find dessert. The desserts are, quite literally, something to write home about. There are smoothies, cakes, pies, and many other exotic kinds of goodies to be had depending on the theme of lunch or dinner.

Once you pass Bakery Island you will see the entrance to the Dining Room. There are two levels to this area. There is the lower part which is known as the "Republican Section" where you will find more of the older crowd consisting of many people who have seasoned multiple times. There isn't a name for the rest of the Galley dining room. When looking for a place to sit, people might ask if you'd like to sit in the Galley or the Republican Section (which is a question that has never been asked by anyone who sits in the Galley).

Once you've finished with your meal you now head to Trash Alley. Here you can discard all of your remains into "Food Waste." Afterwards, on the adjacent wall, you have the dish window where you have to separate your dishes and silverware. There has been a large debate over this process but that's for a later tale.

Duties of the infamous Dining Attendant:

There are multiple shifts that are worked throughout the day by our Dining Attendants but I mostly have worked the PM shift so I'll walk you all through what that's like.

Our day starts at a prompt 10AM in the galley. There is a tasking sheet with the assignment for the day and is ALWAYS subjected to change at any moment. There are 4 different things that you can typically be tasked for.

Dish: This is where we get to man the dish machine known as Bertha. She is a large, old, sassy machine with many issues that are immediately apparent. She is an inanimate object with more personality than many people you'll find in the world (inanimate being a relative term that I have fought with myself back and forth and have decided that, "It's my blog; fuck it, I don't care if it's correct."). This is a duty that can be performed with 1-3 people at any given time. We take the cups, mugs, plates, bowls and silverware from the dish window, wash them off a bit and send them through Bertha for her to do her wondrous magic. On the far end of her conveyor belt, dishes emerge (most of the time) clean for the person on that end to "catch" and sort into it's proper area. This process is ALWAYS accompanied by loud music. The accompaniment of singing, dancing, and laughter is up to the discretion of the current D.A.s and volunteers.

Pots: This is within the same vein as Dish but drastically different. Behind the doors to the kitchen there is the "Pot Room."

"I don't even know why they call it that. I've looked everywhere and I can't find weed ANYWHERE."
-Brad Geer Winfly September 2012

When standing in the doorway, on the right, there is shelving with many different types of clean pots and pans. On the left side is the end of a bench where clean pots come out of our other washing machine known as Slim. He is a single compartment washing beast who is very seasoned but very reliable, unlike Bertha. On the other side of Slim you'll find three sinks for washing and rinsing our various pans. At the end of the sinks there is a bench that protrudes perpendicular to the rest of the washing area. This is the beginning of our system. Here, there is a hose that comes from above the person who is designated as, "The Sprayer."

This person is the one who gets things going; the person who controls the pace of the Pot Room which is very important. On either side of the sprayer there can be either a few pots and pans or an evil, unmanageable pile of shit. I've personally seen sheet and hotel pans inches away from the ceiling.

I stand at 6'2ish and have long extremities and have had trouble reaching the tops of these mountainous stacks. But once those piles have reached such heights things start piling on the ground; objects of all shapes and sizes that make life seem superfluous and unfulfilled. But with the help of your coworkers, some extra loud, pump-it up music, and a little time, you will soon see the floor and hope reappear.

Needless to say, this could be the funnest or the worst room to be in on station.

Line: This job can be very frustrating at first but will ease up as it is practiced. This person is responsible for refilling the various dishes in our two hot lines and our vegetarian line. The reason this can be frustrating is purely on the community as they cue up to fill their plates. When you're holding a 4" hotel pan with about 12 pounds of potatoes that are at roughly 175 degrees waiting for someone to move out of your way who is simply weighing whether or not they want to get another pork loin can be a little annoying (hah). But once you get the hang of the job you begin to adopt an attitude where it's more like, "You can either move or I'll make you move!"

Floor: This activity can be a cake walk or a frantic messed up situation. This person has many responsibilities, most of which just involve keeping things stocked. You can imagine that it would probably take a while for 14 liters of milk to run out. WRONG! Once we have the bulk of our community here they, for some inexplicable reason, like to come in herds. When a few hundred people come in at once and all need a fork, knife, and spoon then shit runs out fast! When we have the ability to serve salad you'll see a D.A. full-stride power-walking across the room to grab more salad containers throughout lunch or dinner (helpful tip: GET OUT OF THE WAY).

In between meal periods, D.A.s will go on their own designated breaks for food and stretch break where we keep loose and limber to avoid repetitive motion injuries (ideally). Beyond that we also clean up the mayhem that previously ensued. We'll restock napkins, wipe down tables, and vacuum the dining area. Clear the garbage out of trash alley, sweep and mop the floors, and do laundry. And somehow we'll also remove the food from the hot lines and other places around the galley to make it look presentable again.

Needless to say, the life of a D.A. can be very rewarding but can also make you hate people more than you should be allowed.

And then there's the life of a Jano which is drastically different...

First Events With A Familiar Face

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.” -W.M. Lewis

Once we disembarked the vehicle night had somehow crept upon us and it was significantly darker than before but not all the way dark. We were let out at what is known as Derelict Junction which sits between the various dorm buildings and 155 which is the main building. We then were led to our science building known as Crary for our debriefing. Crary is a bright, welcoming, multi-level building (by that I mean 2 levels). We threw down our large jackets on any hook available and proceeded upstairs to a large room with a pedestal at the front of it. We were welcomed by the acting station manager and a few of the other people of importance and were given instructions on how the next few hours should be taken. It essentially meant that we had to pick up our room keys and then report to our supervisors. They, in turn, gave us a pocket books (known as a green brain due to it's color) with various notes and then instructed us to get some food and sleep because we would be working first thing in the morning.

Once we were released we walked outside to a pitch black view of the sky and went to the Galley for dinner with a few people, one of which was Camille and she showed us a few areas of interest on our way to dinner. Once we were fully fed and the nerves had calmed a bit we picked up our bed linens and went to the post office to pick up our bags to bring to our new rooms. My bags were heavy and stifling after our long journey but luckily there was a shuttle service to make the trip significantly shorter. Once I got out of the shuttle I was on my own. I walked slowly up the stairs to the third floor of building 206 with my mind escaping to an innumerable amount of places. I waddled down the hallway gawking at the room numbers wondering where mine would be. 316...317...319? Wait a minute! Where's my room? After a few more steps I realized it was the next down due to the odd arrangement of doors.

I opened the locked door expecting my roommate to be there waiting for me but was disappointed. Her things were arranged on one side of the room signifying that she had arrived yesterday. I then began to tear my bags open and arrange my set up to suit my needs. With the blankets on the bed, toiletries in their appropriate areas and clothes tucked away in the closet I sat for a moment and marveled at my current situation. In the last few days I have flown partway across America, flew across the Pacific Ocean to Australia, then to New Zealand for three days, landed in Antarctica and am now waiting to start work the next day. Talk about an action packed week!

In the few moments while I was considering all of this I heard a key jostle in lock of the door and in walked my roommate Sarah Leonetti!

The History of Tom and Sarah:

May 4th, 2012 Cinco de Mayo.

I met up with my friends Andy Christopfel and Jodi Birkofer at a bar in Denver to have a few celebratory drinks on behalf of our freed Mexican friends to the south. After a beer they told me that our friend Rocco Sucato would be arriving with a friend of his from Chicago. The two of them arrived shortly and this is the first occasion I shook hands with Sarah Leonetti. Conversation progressed as it will and at one point my friend Jodi asked how my Antarctic application was going and Rocco lit up before I had a chance to answer. He turned to Sarah and said, "Oh! This is the Antarctica guy!" And she lit up in return. She then explained how she's been trying to get into the program without much luck. I explained that it's probably because the company had switched over to Lockheed Martin and she needed to reapply. I then told her that I knew two people who worked for the headquarters there in Denver and it might help to send them an email notifying them of her interest. After a few more drinks and more information being exchanged we parted ways promising that we would email each other within the next few days to ensure maximum possibility of her acceptance. This was the last time I spoke with Sarah for the next 3 or so months in person. We kept to our word and exchanged emails inquiring about each other's process and as luck would have it, we both got our offer letters to join the program! We then filed the proper paperwork to be each other's roommates.

I sprang to my feet to greet Sarah as she walked through the door in her big red. We had so much to talk about and not enough night to do so. Sarah then alerted me to an Outdoor Safety Lecture happening that night. This was important to attend so we would be cleared to do the various hikes around station. So it was back to Crary to the upstairs room for another lecture. The sign in sheet made me laugh because it asked me for information I did not know off the top of my head. Department? I think it's GSC...I'm going with that...Supervisor...shit...I have no idea...Well they have my name and room number, if they really need this stuff they can find me, people are waiting for this clipboard. Lucky for me there were two clipboards and so I snagged up the second one and signed it as well and also found someone else who worked for GSC and copied their information. I realized later that it unfortunately, was the wrong information.

Once this was over we went back to our dorms and though I was anxious for the next day I was also incredibly tired and fell asleep almost immediately. Now it was time to really get McMurdo life underway!

Arrival In A New World

“Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.”

-Alan Sachs

Walking out of the plane is quite the spectacle! The sky is blue and there is white as far as the eye can see. With the slight breeze the wind was picking up snow off the ground and whipping it around giving the illusion of a painter brushing white strokes of paint in front of you. Assisted by the sudden rush of cold air into my lungs made it was truly breath-taking!

In the distance there were two groups of people standing to greet us in front of two very large vehicles. One vehicle is known as "Ivan The Terrabus." He is a large red and white personnel vehicle that looks like something out of an army movie crossed with a Mars Land-rover. Unfortunately, I did not have the honor of climbing aboard Ivan. I was sent to Ivan's little brother (his name escapes me) and boarded with a handful of other people. The inside held nothing but two bench seats lining the walls of the vehicle and a ghetto-rigged heater that worked wonderfully.

Once we were secure in the back of the vehicle we began the last leg of the journey to reach McMurdo Station. Traveling from Pegasus Runway to McMurdo Station takes about an hour or so and feels like an eternity. Nerves were worn on the faces of the newbies including myself. The veterans coolly told us stories of previous seasons' shenanigans

and moments of wonderment on the ice. The windows were frosted over thick with ice obscuring any possible vision of our journey from within the back of the vehicle. Some managed to scrape tiny peep-holes in the frost and veterans pointed to various mountains and areas of interest. From where I sat I could not see out of any of these pockets of sight and promised myself I would see them all up close and in person.

Once the vehicle came to a complete stop something shot up from the base of my spine all the way to my head. It was a feeling of anxiety mixed with panic, geographic understanding, flashbacks, and sprinkled with a wide variety of nervousness. This was the first time I would see McMurdo Station and step into the new world I've been looking forward to for the past 8 months...

Final Flight Before Adventurous Beginnings

“One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.”

– William Feather

I woke up knowing it would be an action packed day of travel and possibly a stressful day if we are to "Boomerang."

Boomeranging a flight: Antarctica's weather is very unpredictable. Conditions can change from ok to terrible within an hour at any given moment. It takes 3-4 hours to get to Pegasus Airstrip from Christchurch, New Zealand. While in the air anything can happen to the weather on the ground. So when the plan takes off they fly almost all the way to Pegasus and communicate with the ground personnel there. That's when the plane will get clearance to land or not. If the weather has picked up and it's unsafe to land the plane will be sent back to New Zealand to wait for better conditions. This process has been described as, "Very Crappy!" and "A pain in the ass!" By many people who have gone through it. One reason being that you have one or many days to live out of your "Boomerang Bag."

Boomerang Bag: When packing the plane there are 3+ bags that everyone takes with them.
A stowaway bag (or two) that is given to plane personnel and stowed in the back of the plane until landing in Antarctica.
A carry-on bag that contains your camera, music player, books, and any ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) Gear that you don't want to wear for the entire flight. This is taken on your person in the plane.
And finally a Boomerang Bag that contains an extra change of clothes or two, toiletries, books, and any other things you might need if you don't make it to Antarctica on the first try.


Luckily for us, we made it on our first try but I'm getting ahead of myself.

After fully packing our various bags and checking out of our rooms we waited in front of our hotel for the shuttle to come get us. Driving to the Antarctic Support Center was nothing special for some people in the van but others were nervous and you can read it off their faces. I sat in the back with my arms crossed and legs leaning together against the right side of the vehicle staring out the window unblinkingly. Once we arrived we were given our luggage and sent to the designated changing rooms to put our ECW on and get situated. Afterwards, we checked our luggage in to the New Zealand army personnel who took it to the plane while we waited in the ASC building for one last video and a small briefing. The video was short and all the information mostly a repeat of impertinent information previously discussed with a few bits of new information for today's journey. Once this was finished we filed through the various scanners and took one last shuttle to our plane.

This is a new experience. I've boarded many planes, many of which has been in the last week, but walking down a runway while the plane is warming up and the sun is slowly rising is a new feeling. When you walk up to the side of a massive Boeing C-17 you can feel a number of emotions. I strangely felt profoundly safe. Seeing the American Army look so calm while they tinkered around the plane was very reassuring.

For some reason this plane ride seems to take significantly longer than it should. There isn't much conversation during the entire flight due to the roaring of the engine and people mostly keeping to themselves. There is a few windows on either side of the plane that you can look out of and it's quite beautiful. There is one that looks out just below the wing and one of the huge engines.

Once we were set to land everyone put their ECW on and waited anxiously. The plane came to a stop and we got ready to step outside on a new continent. When the door opens there is a swift breeze that enters the plane and clears the scent from inside and catches you off guard a bit. This was it, I had officially made it to Antarctica! Now it's time for the adventure to truly begin...

Home Is Gone And The Road Lies At My Feet

“I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.”-Vincent Van Gogh

Once all of the paperwork was finished and the phone calls had finally ceased life was peaceful again, if only for a few days. Some would take this time to relax and enjoy themselves in the States and I did just that. But I am not a normal person and my definition of "relax" is different from others.

My intention was to make as many memories as possible in this short amount of time so I had something nice to look back upon once I was on the ice. This involved laying by the pool, going out all night at the bars (a lot), dancing the days away, going on short road trips, having brunch, lunch and dinner with anyone who had the time and all other manners of enjoyment. Little did I know, this was making leaving harder and harder as time passed. The day before my flight to Los Angeles, I spent the entire day drinking and having fun with my friends. Before the sun fell I periodically had to run outside or to another room to calm myself down from the thought of my inevitable departure.

Once the morning finally came I walked around in a stupor. Numb with the thought of leaving so much behind until further notice. The car ride was in virtual silence as my two good friends rode next to me occasionally asking me how I felt. I, admittedly, wept in the airport after saying goodbye to my friends. The feeling of despair was greatest on me as I tried to function the airport self check-in. The first take-off was very difficult especially since I'm a bad flier to begin with. But strangely enough I felt renewed once I set foot in LAX. You would think that an 8 hour layover would be hellish but it flew by while I read and randomly toured around the premises. Next stop, Sydney, Australia.

Back in L.A. I picked up a small digital camera that would hold me over until I could get something better. I, for a moment, thought that I'd be able to run outside the airport for a quick look around not realizing I would need a visa of some sort so I took my pictures of Sydney from the lounge side windows. There was only enough time in my layover to grab a quick drink to calm the nerves and read a few chapters before boarding another plane. This was where things would get much more interesting.

I landed in Christchurch, New Zealand at about 9:00AM. I was directed by USAP personnel to certain areas of the airport to receive instructions on where I'd be staying and what my duties were. This is where I began to talk to other Antarctica bound travelers. I met one gentleman named Rich and we headed towards out hotel with the intentions of having a few drinks that night. Unfortunately, I was at the wrong hotel and had to catch a shuttle to the other side of town. Traveling in a car in foreign countries is always fun to see but driving around Christchurch is quite a sight. The buildings are made of stone and other materials and there isn't a building over 4 stories high. The sidewalks are uneven and quite beaten but they add a sort of novelty to the town. Everything feels like it has history behind it and looks so inviting. Upon reaching our hotel I got out with a few people and we checked in. Two people by the names of Camille and Kimber were roomed next to me and we agreed to meet up a little later to walk around the town together. I met up with Camille and we looked for Kimber but didn't find her so we walked without her.

As the sun goes down in Christchurch the town just gets more enticing. We walked down the street towards the mall and I felt incredibly safe. It's easy to feel that way when everyone smiles and every now and again someone asks you how you're doing. The Northlands Mall is supposedly the "crappier" mall but it's still pretty amazing. Being very clean and bright it made American malls seem dirty, unpleasant places to be. Finding food is hard only in the respect that there's far too much to choose from. Do you want Egyptian, Japanese or Greek? All of this can be found next door to each other capped at the end by an empty Subway Sandwich shop. Afterwards, we walked down to a bar for a quick pint before calling it a night. We walked in and grabbed a seat in the crowded bar and realized that something very important was about to happen. New Zealand was just about to play Australia in a rugby match.

This was such a spectacle! At the beginning they played the national anthem of both teams and the bar was deafening as the Kiwis (New Zealanders) yelled the anthem at the top of their lungs. Afterwards, someone found out that we were Americans and spent part of the game educating me on the rules involved with rugby. For some reason, people from New Zealand LOVE Americans. We retired for the evening before the game was over (New Zealand was clearly going to win).

The next morning we met our shuttle to take us to the Antarctic Support Center for orientation. Here we got to talk to veterans about their past experiences and received their advise about anything and everything. We then, watched a video depicting life on the ice and were given a few disclaimers before we got there. Afterwards you're given a flu shot and sent to another room to try on your gear. This is the uniforms you'll be wearing and the Extreme Cold Weather Gear issued by the company. All must be tried on to ensure they fit right and work properly. Then you are brought to another location for a safety briefing. It's the part of the orientation that no one likes to sit through but luckily the people involved make it enjoyable by asking questions and telling jokes. After this you are set loose once again.

A group of us decided to go to the "good" mall. After a short cab ride we were in the heart of Christchurch where the city finally starts to feel like a city. There are tall buildings and busy streets lined with people and cars. The strange thing was the mall closed at 7pm and it was 6:30pm so not much shopping could be done. There was disagreement in our group as to where we were going to eat so we split into two groups and said we would meet outside of the mall in 2 hours. I was in a group with Matt and Brad and we walked to a pizza place but realized that it was way too overpriced for what we were looking for. Then we walked around until we found a fish and chips stand and decided this would do. It turned out to be so much more than we had expected! They made it fresh on the spot and gave you enough for 3 people in a single serving. We all got our own and did what we could to put it away. The guys finished earlier than me so I sent them ahead to find our friends while I finished and we would meet at the bar next door. While waiting outside two men came out of the bar. They looked to be mid to late 20s, covered in tattoos, and intoxicated. One of them asked me for a light and I passed him a stack of matches thinking these guys looked a little dangerous so I kept my distance. As soon as they found out I was American they lit up with excitement! They had so many questions about The States and thought Americans are "So cool!" After a short exchange they shook my hands and took off just as my friends met back up with me. We still couldn't find our friends so decided to grab a beer while we figured it out.

The bar seemed more like a sports bar of sorts. There were large TVs on the walls and pool tables in the back with a dim hue of light. The floor was lined in a green and brown carpet and the tables were standing wobbly and scratched. There was a small batch of people who were all friends having a good time while one of their friends sang and played guitar. They looked to be 22-25 years old and the musician was laughing and missing cues in her own song but just giggled and continued. She sang beautifully and we cheered after every song. She would say things to us and our friend Matt would be completely confused and ask things like, "Did she just call us Afghani?" But under her thick accent she just asked, "Should I play that song again, eh?" After a couple of pints we continued onward to find our friends and get home.

Luckily, we found them shortly after and began our hike home unaware of how far we really were. After walking for about 15 minutes we decided to have another pint in a bar before waving down a cab. We have come to learn that betting is huge in New Zealand and every bar is either a sports bar or has a small section dedicated to placing bets on horse races. It was maybe 9pm and there were two gentlemen sitting in this bar separately with ticket stubs in their hands. We left the bar after a beer and took off down the street again. At this time of the night in this part of town you can see just how pleasant Christchurch really is. There's a faint light from the building that gives the sky a softness without obscuring the light of the stars and moon. Few cars go by giving the illusion that it's much later than it really is. After getting home we discovered our flight was pushed back one more day due to the weather.

The next day I woke up at 6am and started a run around the city. I took off down a street with the intentions of making a big loop trying to keep the various street names in my head. After making my first left I came across some construction so I ducked behind a street thinking it would lead out to the same street but I was incorrect. I began to zig-zag down streets and came out on a road without sidewalks and with two large fields on either side of the street. I had the entire day to figure this out so I continued to run knowing that I could just grab a bus or cab back to my hotel. After a while I came to a main street with a bus map of the city and got my bearings. I found that I was a few blocks away from the Northlands Mall so I continued my run till I got there. It was about 9:30am and I was starving! So I popped in and grabbed a quick bite at an Egyptian place and went shopping. One very nice thing was New Zealand was going into Spring/Summer so every jacket was 40-80% off and I picked up a nice jacket for 40 New Zealand Dollars which equates to about $32 American.

After getting a few other supplies I returned home and spent the day relaxing knowing tomorrow would be the day I boarded the plane to go to Antarctica...