have an ICE day 

Intro

I am on my way back to McMurdo Station, Antarctica for my third season on the Ice. I'm working in the Crary Lab again this season as the Administrative Coordinator.

Toilet Tally

521 toilets scrubbed as of February 18, 2007

Weather at McMurdo

Contact Me

Email: katieantarctica@gmail.com

My Mailing Address

Relevant Reads

• Big Dead Place
• Terra Incognita
• Ice Bound

Antarctica Movies

• March of the Penguins
• Eight Below
• Madagascar
• Happy Feet
• The Thing
• Alien vs. Predator

Other Ice Websites

• Antarctic Slang
• Ana Bell
• Erin's Life on The Ice
• Sweet As
• South Pole Dudes
• Phil Jacobsen
• Sandwich Girl
• winter camp

Visitors

My Photos

Monday, August 28, 2006

My First Week in Antarctica

Where do I begin? I am still pinching myself that I live and work in Antarctica. This past week has been a blur.

I've been training to be a Lead Janitor this week. I try to get to breakfast at 7am (for those of you who know me well... yes, really), and then we have a Housing Department meeting at 7:30am. Just before our meeting finishes at 8am, we get our building assignments for the day. Usually everyone has to clean a dorm in the morning. The trash truck comes through by 9:30am, so you have to have all your garbages from the lounges and bathrooms out. At 10am, we take a 15-minute break in the Galley (the community eating room), and afterwards us janitors take a 15-minute stretch break. That is one of the highlights of my day. At noon, we lunch in the Galley for an hour. I have been sitting with different people every day both lunch and dinner, and it's really great to get to know as many people as possible. At 1pm, we go to the work buildings we've been assigned. I've been training every day, so I get to go to 3-4 new buildings every afternoon with different Janitor Tour Guides. We take another 15-minute break at 3pm, and then we're done by 5:30pm. It's actually flying by for me. I'm so glad that I took the janitor job over the dining attendant job because I actually get out once in awhile. I also get to be one of the first people to see new Skua stuff all the time. I've had some great finds so far! An unopened-bottle of Eucerin hand cream, a hamper, some clothes, a metal box, a wooden crate with shelves... it's great!

Tonight I walked out to Hut Point with a friend to see the view of town. It's about a quarter to a half mile from town. I'll take some photos the next time I go out there.

On a side note, my friends Susan and John and I were hanging out in the lounge when John said, "Last night I thought I heard traffic." And we all cracked up! Then I realized that this would not be funny to anyone who hadn't experienced this place. Let's just say there isn't much traffic to worry about around here.