Thursday, August 31, 2006
Answers for Eric
From Eric in Erlangen, Germany:Q: "What are the other people like?? And what kind of person spends 12 years working in Antarctica?"
A: The people here are AMAZING for the most part. Of course, there will always be those people you don't get along with. But... I have met so many friendly, caring, genuine people. The people that are doing long contracts... well, this is just their life. They work 6 months and have 6 months off. Not a bad life, really.
Q: "That is the weirdest address I've ever seen. Do you know where the mail is directed to first?? New Zealand??"
A: If you use the APO address listed under the "SEND ME STUFF!!!" link on the left-hand side of the page, your mail will be directed to the US first. If you use the New Zealand address listed, your mail will immediately go to New Zealand. If you're mailing from outside the US, check to see which address is cheaper to send to.
Q: "Do they ever eat penguins??? Penguin BBQ?"
A: No, we are not allowed to eat any of the animals in Antarctica. They are protected under the Antarctic Treaty. I have heard that penguin is delicious though. ;)
Questions from Alfredo and Em & John
From Alfredo in Milwaukee suburbs:Q: Town?
A: Well, McMurdo IS a town. There is a firehouse, waste water treatment plant, power plant, 2 bars, a coffeehouse/wine bar, an aerobics gym, a weight gym, a gymnasium, a bowling alley (2 lanes), a recreation department, a radio station, clubs (although nobody labels them as clubs), bingo night, a climbing wall, a ceramics room, a newspaper (although not up and running yet)... there are many things that make this place a town.
From Emily & John in Madison, WI:
Q: "Is there a mayor?"
A: No, there is not a mayor. But there are a bunch of important big-wigs sauntering around the place. One guy is the NSF (National Science Foundation) Station Manager, and another guy is the Raytheon Station Manager. I'm not sure who the other important people are.
Q: "What happens if someone commits a crime?"
A: I beat them up. Kidding! There isn't much crime here at all. It's probably the lowest crime rate anywhere in the world. Especially during Win-Fly because it's such a small community. If you get in a fist fight down here and throw a punch (even if it's to protect yourself), you get fired and will be on the next plane out of here. If you pull the power breaker to the whole base (I know where it is), you get fired and fined and probably kicked out of Antarctica forever (not sure about that).
Q: "Where did your luggage end up??!!?!" (edited for content)
A: Tahiti, hopefully enjoying a nice vacation. I'm still not sure. It's been missing 17 days now, and I've pretty much given up all hope that they'll find it.
Questions from Auntie Donna & Fireworks Heather
From Auntie Donna in Westby, WI:Q: "Any hot men there?"
A: There are LOTS of men here. The base is only about 30% women, and I really think that's pushing it. Most of the jobs are in male-dominated fields like carpentry, heavy equipment, fleet operations, cargo.
From Fireworks Heather (in Merrill, WI):
Q: "Are there other lead janitors??"
A: Yes, right now there is one other lead janitor named Peter. He's been a lead for 3 years, so I have a lot to learn. In October, we will have one more lead janitor joining us.
Q: "How many people working for/with you?"
A: Right now there are 10 regular janitors (4 of them wintered here and the other six just arrived). There are two lead janitors. There is one laundry lady and one hair stylist that are also a part of our department. Amanda is the Custodial Coordinator, and she's my boss. Mike is the Housing Director, and he is Amanda's boss. And there are two people in office positions.
Q: "What is the ball on top of the hill in one of your pictures?"
A: I've been told it's for radar, but I'll do more research on that and get back to you.
Q: "Do you have a roommate? Is it like dorm life in college?"
A: I do have a roommate! Her name is Helen, and she's a 36-year-old New Zealander. We get along great although our schedules are a little different. It is like dorm life in college except with older people. About half of the people in my dorm are 35 or older.
Q: "Whats the age range of people working there?"
A: I've recently heard the average age of people working here is 38. I would say that that sounds pretty accurate. There are people in their 60's here, and there are 20-year-olds here too. It's like a small community back home but without any babies or kids.
Bring On the Questions
I'm having a really hard time focusing on quality blog writing right now. I apologize for the lack in concentration. There is so much going on all the time. Right now it would just be easier for me to answer your questions so PLEASE feel free to email me or post questions in the comments at the end of the entries. More than likely, someone else has the same questions, and I'm just too overwhelmed right now to think of topics on my own.My Aunt Retta from Texas emailed me some questions so I thought I would include them and my answers here:
"Questions ~~ what's in the other buildings you visit ? and what are all the people doing down there ? about how many people ??? It's a government job ?"
There are all kinds of buildings down here. Some are offices and some are work centers. I'll list a few that I've been cleaning in:
Southern Exposure (the smoking bar)
Gallagher's (the non-smoking bar)
the CoffeeHouse (serves coffees, wine, and limited liquors)
Berg Field Center (where the scientists are issued their gear for when they leave base and go to work at a field camp away from base and where us workers can get field gear to out and do things like cross country ski and snowshoe)
VMF (Vehicle Maintenance Facility - they are responsible for the maintenance and distribution of all vehicles on base)
the Chapel of the Snows (the non-denominational church which also doubles as a yoga classroom 3 nights a week)
Crary Lab (the most important building on base probably - this is where the scientists are based out of... doing research, collecting data... there's a seismograph measuring the volcano just behind us called Mt. Erebus)
Supply (which also includes the post office and the mailroom)
the Carp Shop (Carpenter Shop)
Waste Water Treatment Plant
MacOps (radio communications)
The scientists/artists/writers that are all here on grant money are who we call Grantees. They are gold here at McMurdo. They can do no wrong in the eyes of our company. But we're lucky in that the few grantees we have here now are really really great. We have a group of 4 grantees releasing weather balloons to learn about the atmosphere. There is a group of 3 people here working on a film about the work of the grantees. And they might be putting together a movie about us grunt workers too which wasn't in the plans until they came down with us. Then there's one grantee who came down much earlier than the rest of her colleagues to scope out a place to do seal research. In the summer, we'll be crawling with Grantees so we're really lucky that the few that are around are really easy to get along with and not very demanding. The rest of us are Raytheon contract employees. We're all here to support the scientists and keep the biggest base in Antarctica running. There are about 400 of us right now, and in the summer (October-February), we could have as many as 1300 people on base. We work for Raytheon Polar Services which is a branch of Raytheon, a company with many government contracts all over the world, who is contracted by the National Science Foundation to provide the support staff for the base. So it's kind of like working for the government. Sort of. It's definitely like working for corporate America... even being in Antarctica.
GIVE ME MORE QUESTIONS, PLEASE!!!
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.
Mail Me Stuff!
My Mailing Address when mailing from the US:Katie Leum, RPSC
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 BOX 700
APO AP 96599-1035
If you want to mail me something from another country, it's best to find out which address is cheaper to mail to: the US one above or the New Zealand one below.
Katie Leum, RPSC
McMurdo Station
Air Post Office
Private Bag 4747
Christchurch New Zealand 8001
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Dumpsters
Recycling is HUGE here at McMurdo. We sort our trash into many different categories: Aerosols, Batteries, Skua (used goods still good for others), Light Metal, Food Waste, Fabric, Cardboard, Plastic, Aluminum Cans, Glass, Mixed Paper, Burnables, Non-Recyclables (formerly Construction Debris), Cardboard, and Biological Waste. We were told they have a 66% recycling rate here, as I've mentioned before, and this year they are hoping for a 70% rate. I snapped a quick photo of the dumpsters here, but hopefully I will get a better one tomorrow.
Fines
Fines are these little rocks that you will find all over the roads here at McMurdo. Some of the chunks of rock are quite big and can cause you to twist your ankle if you're not watching where you put your feet.
A Sunset Sighting
I snapped these photos this afternoon. Right now we're getting a few hours of dawn, a little light maybe, and then a few hours of dusk. It's dark from 3:30pm-ish until 10 or 11am.
Monday, August 21, 2006
I Have Arrived!!
WOW! I am here. It is a day after I first got here, and I'm still not exactly sure what to say. I think I'll type up a quick summary of yesterday's events. I'll save the profound thoughts til tomorrow.Yesterday morning we were told to report to the Antarctic Center at 4am. I waited outside for 45 minutes for the shuttle driver from the day before as he said he would pick us up the next morning. Finally I called for the person on duty at the USAP to find out what was going on. I was only about 15 minutes late if that, anyways.
I went in to the changing room to grab my gear from the day before, and packed a few more things in my carry-on orange bag. We took all of our bags and brought them into the Passenger Terminal where the workers weighed all of our checked luggage. And then they weighed us with our carry-on luggage. You are only allowed to bring 75 pounds of stuff per person. But they don't count your carry-on and whatever you can get on your body (the red parkas have a million pockets). All of our checked luggage was loaded into a massive crate with everyone else's.
We had a briefing about our flight and what a boomerang is. A boomeranged flight is a flight that can't land at McMurdo and has to fly back to New Zealand. Sometimes they get right over McMurdo, but because of conditions they can't land. Then we all had to go through a security check point and a drug dog sniffed us. Then we walked out of the building and onto busses that took us out to the plane. The bus had to go through a couple of security gates, and then we stopped right in front of the C-17. We boarded the plane, and my group being the last busload out to the plane had few choices of where to sit. Luckily my friends Lenny and Rhoda had a seat next to them sitting against the wall of the plane in back near the cargo. There were rows of airline seats through the middle filling about 2/3 of the plane and behind the seats were massive cases of cargo including "freshies" for the winterovers. Freshies are fresh fruits and vegetables... something the winterovers have been lacking since February. The rest of the plane was very military... no fancy panels on the sides of the plane... you can see all of the cords and switches. If I am correct in saying this, I believe the Air National Guard out of New York do all of the flights for us. There were a couple of them on the plane and even a few kiwis (New Zealanders) flying down to Scott Base (about 2 miles from McMurdo).
The trip took about 5 hours. About three or three and a half hours into the flight we could see the mountains you see now in my photos in the previous entry. Then with only about 45 minutes left in the air, one of the crew members told us to start putting on our ECW. I talked to Kevin, Phil's buddy, to make sure he waited for me to get off the plane so we could find Phil together. Phil had offered to let me ride in the front of his Delta with him and Kevin as they drove us to base. We got off the plane and found out that there had been a change in plans, and Phil was unloading the plane. So Kevin and I found a van that had some room and we climbed up in it. I got a chance to look around just before we got in, and I could see that we were standing on a plain of snow and there were mountains surrounding us.
The drive took about 30 minutes to get to base. I think they said the temperature was about -23 degrees Fahrenheit. I did get to see McMurdo Station as we drove in just before the windows started to fog up in the van. They ushered us into the Galley (dining room) in Building 155 where we had another briefing about how things work at McMurdo... phone numbers, paging, etc. We were issued our housing keys and then sent on our way.
Amanda, my new boss, took me on a brief little tour of the main janitor's closet and her office. She took me to my dorm. They call it Hotel California (..."you can check out, but you can never leave"...), and it's been known as the party dorm in years past. It's not the worst dorm to be in, so that's a positive. It's very social because the only TV that has "cable" is in the lounge. There's a foosball table and internet connection too. I guess the internet is only in this dorm. Another bonus.
I skua-ed a few things yesterday. A skua is a large scavenger bird that lives here in the summers. I won't see one until end of September or beginning of October, I think. Since they try to recycle or reuse everything on station (and I mean EVERYTHING... there is a 66% recycle rate and they're hoping for 70% this year), they have bins where people can drop off things they no longer want that someone else may want. Yesterday I got 2 T-shirts, a stocking cap, and Cranium (the board game). Today I skua-ed a TON of stuff from the bigger dorms. I got a run-down hamper (but it still works), a sari to decorate my room, some colored paper to write letters on, a quarter bottle of body wash, a shelf to put up on my wall... lots of great things. And tomorrow I'm going to skua again. They use the word skua as a noun, verb (past and future tense), adjective, etc. It's been a great way to get "things" to have in my room so I feel like I have just as many possessions as everyone else!
I'm off to bed. More tomorrow hopefully!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Preparation, Journey, and Arrival in Antarctica
I'm actually HERE! It's still sinking in. I'll post more soon about today's events, but for now enjoy the photos!!
A board at the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) showing the ECW (extreme cold weather gear) that we are issued. I took most of what's shown and then some other things that weren't on display.
The women's changing room. This is where we walked in to find our orange bags full of appropriate gear according to what job we have. You exchange it for different sizes behind that maroon curtain.
My departure card for Antarctica.
The USAP passenger terminal
Lenny and I in our seats alongside the wall on the plane. Lenny and his wife Rhoda have been so incredibly helpful to us first-timers!
Sitting by the cargo on the plane.
View of inside the plane from in back where I sat.
View of inside the plane from up front.
Somewhere between New Zealand and Antarctica
I couldn't decide which of these photos to post, so I decided to post them all. As seen from the plane as we flew over Antarctica.
My dorm room:
My Only Photo from Christchurch
The only photo I took in Christchurch. I thought it was an interesting fountain.
Me and Jeff at O'Hare
I still can't believe he waited three hours to hang out with me for 45 minutes!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Leaving Civilization Tomorrow!
So much has been going on since I first arrived in Denver. Besides losing my luggage and a few notes I've made about training, I really haven't told you much.I'll start again with Denver. On Monday morning we reported to RPSC headquarters for supervisor training. Luckily, the day before I had met Susan, who is also a first timer and will be a Lead Dining Attendant on the Ice, at the airport. She was there and so were a few other first time supervisors. Good to know I'm not the only new supervisor to the program this year. Tuesday was our first big day, and about 60-70 new people joined our group for safety training. I met Kevin, who is a friend of Phil's - a winter-over I've been in contact with for the last few weeks whose hot sauce is still lost with my luggage. My laptop was screened and passed so I can use it on the network down there. Wednesday we had a half day of training, which discussed security, human resources, and benefits. Before we boarded the busses for the airport, us newbies had to go through a "What Happens Next" briefing.
We boarded the busses for the airport, and then flew to Los Angeles. At LAX, I met Holly, a friend of my friend Devon. This will be his 5th season down, if I'm not mistaken, and he's been so helpful to me the last couple months. I walked up to shake his hand, but Holly's a hugger so I got a big hug! That's when my boss Amanda remembered that we had been in contact with each other (me and Holly) and why I had so few questions for her!
The 12- hour flight to Auckland went by fast. I tried staying awake to watch a movie, but I kept falling asleep in the middle of it, so I finally just gave in. I slept for more than three quarters of the flight. I woke up just in time to have breakfast. While we waited in Auckland for our connecting flight to Christchurch, I chatted with Kevin, whom I had met on Tuesday. Kevin used to go down to the Ice as a diver and had some great stories and amazing photos. As we got off the plane in Christchurch, we were grouped up and told if our last names were K-Z to get in line to get our paperwork and perdium and then get our bags and opposite order for the last names A-J. Then we were shuffled onto shuttles to take us into town.
I was the first one dropped off as my hostel is just north of downtown. I have my own room, and the place is very quiet. I was thinking about switching for tonight, but it's just as easy to walk the extra 8-9 blocks.
I met Susan and John, both Lead DA's at Cathedral Square. Susan has spent the last 9 months traveling and working in New Zealand, so for lunch we went to a restaurant one of her friends works at. Then we spent the afternoon lounging around, shopping, and picking up last minute things at the supermarket. Susan made a comment that it kind of feels like we're going to jail. We were trying to think of things we needed to get before we left. At one point in the afternoon, Susan was looking at earrings from a vendor at the Square. She made a comment about how she was looking for some earrings to wear for the next 6 months. The guy said, "Oh, you're Ice people." We asked how he knew, and he said Ice people go away for six months. The Ice people definitely invaded Christchurch yesterday, and I could tell because we would run into them everywhere. We made plans to meet up with a couple of the returners for beers at Dux de Lux where we had a round. Then we walked over to Bailey's, which is full of Antarctic history. Someone told me last night that the old explorer, Scott, had eaten one of his last meals in New Zealand there back in the day. Seven of us (a mix of returners and newbies) went to The Bog for dinner, and then ventured back to Dux de Lux for a couple more rounds. I was so tired, I kept falling asleep. I slept very well last night.
This morning our shuttle driver from the day before picked me up at 7:30 to go over to the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) to get our ECW (extreme cold weather gear, now refered to forever as ECW because I'm sick of defining acronyms). We had to attend a briefing about our flight tomorrow. We need to report to the airport around 4am tomorrow morning. Then we were let loose into the changing rooms - women in one and men in the other. There were a pair of orange bags in the middle of the room for everyone. You grab your bag, stake out a corner of the room to call yours,
and start trying everything on working the buttons, zippers, velcro, etc. Everything fit, but the zipper on my big red parka wasn't the greatest and I wanted a different style fleece jacket. I hopped in line to exchange things. The line formed to walk behind a curtain to exchange whatever you needed so the guys working in the main clothing room couldn't see in to the changing room. The wait took a while, so I left my things in line, and ran over to the travel office to see if they had heard about my bag. They hadn't but I told them I still wanted to fly down. There's nothing I can do about my bag here, and I just want to move on and if it shows up - it shows up. If not, at least I'll be in the swing of things down there. I also requested a pair of cargo pants, a red windbreaker, and an extra orange bag. I was issued enough warm clothes and work clothes that all I really need now are underthings, which is what I'm off to shop for now. Hopefully the airline reimburses me for everything.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Greetings from New Zealand!!
I have recently arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand. As soon as we arrived here, I was able to meet up with Leighton, the guy who my bag is being sent to the Antarctic Center in care of. He was really wonderful and immediately went into the computer system and made a note that I am going to Antarctica. Leighton has come up with two possibilities to where my bag is. One: it's sitting at O'Hare tagless and Two: Someone stole it. I'm hoping for option 1. In the mean time, he has told me to start buying things I'll need and to keep receipts. He said it's my decision to fly down to McMurdo on the first flight. I could wait here and fly down either on the second or fourth flight (the third will be strictly cargo), but then I'm not able to fly with all of the amazing people I've met this week. But if I stay, I'll be on the payroll plus I'll get my perdium each day which is more than enough to live on. Not sure what I'm going to do. For now, I'm off to meet some friends for lunch in Cathedral Square. Tomorrow we are being issued our Extreme Cold Weather gear (ECW).Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Still Missing... Going to New Zealand Anyways
My bag is still missing. I talked to someone in the travel department today, and she was going to have someone higher up call it in as a priority. Not sure if that actually happened. I made numerous phone calls to them again today. No luck until my most recent when the woman at the call center finally told me that there was a 500-bag pile-up at O'Hare this week, and now they still have 400 left to sort out. That made me feel a little bit better... at least it's not completely lost. And the woman in the travel office told me I could stay in Denver and wait for my bag, or I could fly to Christchurch and wait for it there. I figure I'd rather be stuck in downtown Christchurch than suburbian Denver any day.I did lose it today though. I got back to the hotel this afternoon from an all-day orientation where I learned all kinds of useful information about asbestos, PPE, climbing a ladder, and how to lift a box according to some crazy equation. I walked up the stairs to find some guys ripping out old carpet and putting in new stuff. As soon as I put one foot into my hotel room, I realized that I had stepped in carpet glue. And the guys who were working on it were standing right there!! I called my friend Jen here in Colorado and started crying. I hate crying. I'm not a cryer. But I had had IT! After I got off the phone with her, I walked down to the lobby and asked the front desk to clean my shoe because I couldn't get it clean. They delivered it a half hour later, but I wasn't able to leave the hotel because I have no other shoes because my luggage is not here!
I did go out to dinner with a guy named John who will be working as a Lead Dining Attendant. We've been struggling through orientation all day today, so we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Claim Jumper, courtesy of our company since they gave us a ton of dough today to cover dinner expenses for the last 3 days. I also got a $100 credit from American Airlines to buy some clothes and toiletries to get through until my bag arrives. We stopped at Kohl's so I could buy some pants, shirts, and socks.
I've been making calls and harassing the airline ever since, and now I'm off to bed because tomorrow we have a half day of orientation and then we are off to New Zealand tomorrow night!!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
In Denver... Missing: ONE LARGE BACKPACK!!
I'm in Denver. I've had a day of supervisor training. I'm still wearing the clothes I left home in yesterday morning. My bag is still stuck somewhere in Chicago, I think. Other than that... I'm doing great!I spent the last week meeting people for dinners and drinks and chatting before I left. It was a great week but left me little time for packing. I left it all for Saturday. But Saturday night I had dinner with my family and then we had to have a fire just for fun. So I only got 2 hours of sleep that night, and Jessi stayed up to watch movies and pack with me.
Sunday morning, all 5 of us went up to see Grandpa Lloyd at the nursing home. Then Mom, Dad, and Jess drove me to the La Crosse airport to catch my flight. Luckily my backpack weighed in at 46.75 pounds which left me 3.25 to spare before they would have started charging me. I flew into Chicago, and as I was walking down the corridor I heard, "What? You're too good to say HI!" or something to that effect. And it was JEFF!!! We had talked earlier about meeting up since he flew into O'Hare that morning around 9am after a weekend in Montreal, but I didn't think he'd wait for 3 hours to hang out with me for a half hour. But he did! And then my flight was delayed 10 minutes so we had extra time to chat! That was probably the highlight of my day. Because once I arrived in Denver, my backpack, which pretty much holds all of my belongings for the next 6-8 months, was not there. After filing my missing baggage report, I went out to find my shuttle. Some guy standing next to my shuttle driver told me my driver had been waiting an hour and where had I been. I told him that first my flight was delayed and then one of my bags didn't arrive. JERK!
The other highlight of the day was meeting Susan who was also riding on my shuttle. She's a Lead Dining Attendant, and she's new too! We are both in the same boat, so it was really great to talk with her.
My hotel suite is AMAZING!! A couch, a kitchen, nice bathroom, big bed!!! What more could a traveling girl ask for?? Oh yeah... my LUGGAGE!!
This morning I was up bright and early to catch my shuttle to Raytheon headquarters at 7:30. We had supervisor training today, and of the 35-40 supervisors, there are only 5 of us that are brand new to the program! I met my boss and her boss and my co-worker too since we were all at the same session. I was amazed that many of the people I was sitting next to or working with in groups have been down to the Ice for 7 or more seasons. A few of them have been down 18, 20, and 21 seasons. This doesn't mean years... it means summers or winters. That's how Ice time is measured apparently.
I walked a mile and a half down the road to Wal-Mart tonight to get some supplies and a new t-shirt. Hopefully tomorrow my bag will arrive because otherwise I'll be flying to New Zealand with almost nothing!!!!!
Saturday, August 12, 2006
My Travel Itinerary
In case of emergency...Sunday, August 13th
Flight Number AA 4202, flying with American Eagle
Departs: LA CROSSE, WI (LSE) 11:14am
Arrives: CHICAGO OHARE, IL (ORD) 12:14pm
Flight Number AA 0319, flying with American Airlines
Departs: CHICAGO OHARE, IL (ORD) 12:53pm
Arrives: DENVER, CO (DEN) 2:20pm
Wednesday, August 16
Flight Number AA 1519, flying with American Airlines
Departs: DENVER, CO (DEN) 5:01pm
Arrives: LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) 6:20pm
Flight Number AA 7337, flying with American Airlines operated by Qantas Airways
Departs: LOS ANGELES, CA (LAX) 9:40pm
Arrives: AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (AKL) 5:10am Fri, Aug 18
Friday, August 18
Flight Number AA 7395, flying with American Airlines, operated by JetConnect for Qantas
Departs: AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (AKL) 8:30am
Arrives: CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (CHC) 9:50am
Departure to Antarctica estimated between August 20th and August 21st.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Educate Yourself a Bit More on Life in Antarctica
I found an article and a video online that are worth checking out if you're interested.Janitors Provide Sweeping Support - Article from the Antarctic Sun, written by Hilary Oliver
Time Lapse Video showing the seasons of Antarctica - by Anthony Powell
Monday, August 07, 2006
Bon Voyage Party
I had the most amazing weekend celebrating my upcoming departure to the Ice with some fantastic friends and family! I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my last full weekend in Wisconsin. Thanks to everyone who made it! And especially to my parents, Ron, Jessi, cousin Kala, and Nora for all the help to make it possible! Thanks also to Omar and BG for documenting the weekend... some of these great photos are theirs!
Camping in the front yard, the sunrise over the corn, and relaxing in the hammock.
Back in the field.
Digging potatoes in Mom's garden and sampling the fresh peas and beans!
The New American Gothic and Omar pushing Brandi on the swings.
Playing on the merry-go-round!!
Playing on the rings!
Playing and climbing on the rocks at the Westby Park
At the Stabbur, our tourist information center. And a pic of the norseman carved out of a tree.
Funny things spotted on our tour of Amish country and some of the country stores.
Brandi, Omar, Ron and Jeff playing horseshoes!
I wish I would've taken more photos during the day, but between me, BG, and Omar, this is all I have.
My Antarctica cake "Into the Deep Freeze" with frosting seals and penguins. And a pic of Brandi when she fell out of her chair... without partaking of any beverages.
It wouldn't be a party at my house without a few fireworks! The last one BG took as one of the fireworks fired at me and Dad!
Sam, Ally, and I recreated our old lip sync hit, Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" for the fans at the bar! This is one of my favorite photos from the night!
3am campfire after Nordic
Omar with Travis and Justin, our opossum-remover. Just as Jeff and Brandi were getting ready for bed in the tent, Jeff spotted two little beady eyes in the corner. Him and Brandi went running, and Justin went in and picked it up by the tail.
Group hug with Babs on Sunday afternoon
BG put this photo spread together by stitching the pics. I love it! Thanks, man!
Thanks to everyone who brought me gifts! It was completely unexpected! I was just happy to celebrate with friends and family!
Advertising for Our Rummage Sale
My friends Melanie and Jeron and I had a rummage sale 2 weeks ago. This is the top of one of the signs Jeron made and posted around town. I made enough money to cover most of the costs for my bon voyage party, and I was able to get rid of lots of stuff I've accummulated over the last 8 years or so.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Snail Mail
Send me stuff! You send me something, and I promise to send you something back!Please don't mail anything until after Labor Day!
My address is:
Katie Leum, RPSC
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 700
APO AP 96599-1035
DO NOT MAIL
- Perishable food items
- Chemicals, explosives, flammable materials
- Biological materials (I think this includes plants and animals)
- Intoxicating liquor
- Odor-producing materials
- Sharp instruments
- Drugs
- Articles for resale
This list is almost directly quoted from the Participant Guide. I'm not sure why you would send me chemicals... but keep them at home!
Do not use foam packing peanuts! Antarctica is a zero-impact environment so ALL garbage and waste is shipped out. Instead, use a shirt or towel or soft fabric to cushion the items.
Package mail can take up to 8 weeks to arrive and has the lowest priority. Letter mail can take 5-14 days, sometimes longer depending on the time of year.
Directly from the Participant Guide from 2004: "The most cost-effective way to mail a parcel weighing more than 10 lbs. to Antarctica is parcel post. If you have a parcel that contains only videos, books or CDs it can be sent special fourth class 'book rate,' which is the lowest cost."
Packages intended to arrive by Christmas must be mailed from the US by Halloween.
Ideas for things to mail:
1. Lotion - any kind, but my favorite is Gold Bond Ultimate Healing
2. Anything to decorate my dorm room
3. Bandanas: I'll include a posting about all the different ones I receive at the end of the season.
4. Photos!
5. gummy candies (like worms, bears, snakes, octopi)
6. CDs with some new music
7. Mallo Cups
I'll add more things after I get down there... I have no idea what I'd like!