Working as a dinning attendant has completely blown my mind. I grew up assuming the lunch ladies at school lived their entire lives in blue smocks, wearing hairnets and black safety shoes. Somehow in my mind it stuck that that's all one could ever be once accepting the role of "Public School Children Feeder." I now know when the people are fed and the dishes washed, it's time to feel human again. It has amazed me how diverse the group I'm working with is. Ex-carnies, phycological evaluators, river guides, massage therapists, even a guy who was tagging squirrels last winter make up our little 37 person family. The galley staff works odd hours from the rest of the station so we end up spending most of our time on and off the clock together. The first time I went out with the crowd was shocking because I didn't recognize almost half the group outside of black Dickie's and over sized blue Polo's. I think it was that lack of hair restraints and flecks of food and dish soap that were throwing me off.
In conclusion, to the lunch ladies who served me throughout public school, you are all beautiful and dynamic people. Thank you for your hard work.
As a galley employee I do get the chance to see every person who works and lives at McMurdo. It's been fun so far trying to learn 1200 people's names and faces. I'm up to about 20 outside of galley staff, but I'm sure if I try.... I still won't do it. I have, however, learned the groups that come in and how they interact. There are GA's (general attendants who help with everything/ snow shoveler), Jano's (janitorial staff), Waisties (garbage sorters), and a huge number of other acronyms and nicknames that I can't remember or just don't get. The majority of the staff are all for keeping things running smoothly. When we first got here our traveling group had stuck together. Now that we have our working families the dynamics have changed, of course, and we catch ourselves saying "I haven't seen you forever, how's it going? I miss you." In reality I haven't seen this person since lunch and have only known them three weeks, but it is still nice to catch up.
Always fun is watching the very eccentric, social people that make up the support staff mingling with the very direct and work oriented scientists and engineers. In a sea of crusty, overall wearing people it is hard to tell the difference. The lack of visual social cues makes it more entertaining. I'd compare it to a reality show pitch where the announcer says something like, "We're putting wild and crazy free spirits with specialized mechanics and engineers on a deserted island. What type of wacky, isolation induced shenanigans will happen next?" I'd watch it.
It is part of federal regulation that the environment here be as untouched as possible. So for that, all of our jobs become a little more difficult and specialized then they would be at home. Every drop of liquid spilt outside has to be called in and completely removed, every piece of garbage has to be sorted into a seemingly infinite number of possibilities, and every attempt at energy conservation is implemented. This adds up to McMurdo recycling 65% of the solid waist we produce as well as everything being shipped off the continent and destroyed back in America. It also leads to limited showers and laundry washing, but as a food handler we are exempt from skipping, and even pushed to shower once a day and not reuse clothing. At first I thought this took the fun out of things, but after cleaning an industrial kitchen drain I'm super happy.
My second job has allowed me to visit with the Mid-Rats. These are people working the midnight shift. Instead of bar tending at night, I have picked up the 6:30 am to 1pm shift on my day off. It is much more normal feeling then it should be to wake up so early to feed people drinks and go into bartender mode. When the sun never sets (the last sunset was last week) there really isn't proof of what time of day it really is. The patrons are very adamant about dimming the lights and making it feel as "divey" as possible. When my morning routine usually include silence and lack of communicating, it's a bit of a challenge to muster the energy to run around in a social frenzy and rock out to rock oldies. If you ever come to Antarctica I suggest if you smoke, quit. The smoking lounge is a shelter with a snow covered couch and frozen floor. It also requires you to go outside in the painfully bright day and freeze your butt off. Just a thought.
Hope you're all doing well. If you have any direct questions for me please don't be afraid to ask.
Till next time,
Chris
Friday, October 28, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
... And The Destination
Travel Guide to McMurdo
Arrival: When arriving in McMurdo you may have some immediate questions before landing. For example "How does a giant aircraft land on a peace of ice?" The explanation for this is simple. Very carefully with a bumpy landing and a bit of a fishtail. Don't worry, the flight crew will let you know that the ice shelf sinks four inches every time a plane lands. This should put aside any fears of the visible cracks in the ice giving way and collapsing beneath the wheels. Just in case, they do require the wearing of survival gear throughout the entire four hour flight. Don't worry, the airplane will be cold enough to make this practical and the man wearing the ski mask, or balaclava, is not going to mug you.
Weather: He's wearing it because when you exit the plane the wind that will be blowing at you from the flat expanse of frozen ice shelf will make you second guess any reason for wanting to go outside ever again. The average temperature here ranges from -40 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If arriving in October, expect -20's to 0 to be your average temperature. Of course this does not take into consideration the numbing effects of the wind sheer which is why you will finally be able to sport a ski mask in public transportation and no one will be able to say anything.
Around The City: Once you drop your bags off in the dorm and meet the other three or more you will be sharing a room with, take some time to walk around. Please do this slowly as everything is covered in ice and snow. Also look out for passenger vans, trucks, and cargo movers. They will all be stacked on huge tires that look like they belong on the moon. As you walk around please notice that every building is made of sheet metal on the outside and labeled with a number. Also, please watch your step around the flags. These indicate pipes covered by snow, obscured equipment, and the always exciting ice crevasse that drops thirty feet past the few inches of white dust covering it.
There are plenty of social activities around the station to keep you occupied. They include a basketball court in an old hanger bay, a coffee house, two bars that serve cheap beer and mixed drinks, a library, two gyms, a medical center, post office, chapel, and cafeteria. There is also Hut 10 that is reserved for VIP's like presidents, kings, and other officials visiting. If you are lucky enough that there happens to be no dignitaries renting the space, you can reserve Hut 10 for a private party.
Dinning: If the walk around town has made you hungry, please stop by the galley for some food. The diets of the town people are budgeted for 6,000 calories a day so please go crazy. The use of real butter, heavy cream, and animal fats can be a little off putting for those of you watching your figures. Just know that the harsh climate in Antarctica forces our body to up the burn. So please, take another peace of cannoli cake with filling as the icing and shells crumbled for the crust. It's good for you.
Beyond The Base: The consumption of amazing deserts and hefty meals is especially recommended for long hikes in the surrounding wilderness. You can take a two mile hike to Scott Base which is a collection of green buildings inhabited by 30-40 kiwis. Be sure to bring currency since, just two miles away, the currency, power outlets, and driving changes. You can also do hikes up to Ob Hill which produces 360 views of the town, the ice shelf, and Mt. Erebus. Don't be alarmed at the plume of steam coming from Erebus. It erupted recently enough that there shouldn't be an issue while you're here. Most exciting, however, wouldn't be hiking up, but going under.
On the shelf you can visit the observation tube which is a 30ft long tube that you can climb down and view what lives under the ice. This is not for the faint of heart. The tube uses a cover that blocks out the light from above. You should take off large jackets as there is maybe a three foot diameter and things get pretty tight. Once you climb down past the ice and sit at the bottom, the dark claustrophobic anxiety releases. The view through the glass that surrounds you is of glowing ice from above with little white fish, squid, and worms schooling all around you. The temperature down there is in the thirties and feels warm. The sound is almost dead silent, aside from distant crunching of ice and the very surreal sound of seals calling to each other from under the water. A backward, high pitched whale call with chirping thrown in. Definitely a different world.
I am working in the galley as a Dinning Attendant and will be taking my TIPS training tonight to be okay to work in the bars. Now that work and life are getting into a rhythm, I am looking forward to get to know the "locals" a bit more and see what the options are for further excursions.
Till next time,
Chris
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
It's The Journey...
I am officially here. The wait is over. It took almost a week of travel and training to make it this far, but it's just a small price to pay.
My stay in Christchurch was great! The currency exchange was almost spot on to the US dollar so there was no headache of "How much am I really spending on dinner?" The only thing that really needed getting used to was the reversed street traffic. This did not just mean the cars. The people naturally walked on the other side of a sidewalk making it feel at first that everyone kept running into me. Turns out I was just going against traffic. Another opposite I've been waiting my whole life to see is the reversed direction of water as it goes down a drain, or the Coriolis Effect. To my annoyance the toilets there just go down instead of around because of water conservation. I had to wait till I could fill up my bathroom sink to watch and at that point I realized that even if I saw the water going an opposite way, I couldn't remember for the life of me what direction water drains back home. I guess it's just not one of those things you notice unless you look for it.
The briefing we had for Christchurch included emergency contacts and loads of information pertaining to what to do in the case of an earthquake. At first this seemed a little overkill, but when they mentioned that the city had felt a 5.5 a week earlier it brought it all home. Christchurch had been devastated by a huge earthquake last year. The entire downtown area had been wiped out. When we arrived a few of us went for a walk towards the down town area and the entire city had been fenced off. It was eerie looking at large convention centers and tall modern buildings on the main road for as far as I could see, and yet there was no cars, people, or even noise coming from the center. There were even billboards and posters with "Coming in March!" still up. It was like the whole downtown area had been at a stand still for a year.
Aside from the crumbling city center Christchurch proved to be a lovely place. The town includes a very large botanical garden that goes on for miles. This was a welcomed sight since I won't be seeing greenery for a while. It did feel kind of like time travel, however, to be walking through a spring time setting when I had just left the color changes and rainy days of fall a few days before. Still, the emerging tulips and fresh leaves on the trees matched with the cool crisp air made it a bliss full two days of exploring. I was also very interested to see the amount of businesses coping with the loss of the city by taking over buildings in the neighborhoods. It seemed that every empty gas stationed had been turned into a restaurant and every house a doctor's or contractor's office of one sort or another. Our friendly hotel bartender had passed on the information that even on the most quiet of nights it was still wise to call ahead for a reservation considering the number of bars and restaurants had been cut in half and people still wanted to go out.
The most exciting was not a place, but an event. The All Blacks, New Zealand's rugby team, were playing Australia's Wallabies. To add excitement to the already heated match was New Zealand hosting the current Rugby World Cup. Naturally the locals were in sporting form with everyone of us visitors feeling a sense of duty to wear black on the night of the big game. Either for joining in, or just not wanting to be the one sticking out, the majority of us dawned our blacks and hung out in various bars to watch the game. Like flies, we dropped. The combination of jet lag and a 4:15 am wake up call forced most of us to call it a night before the end. I managed to squeeze the last bits of the game in while I repacked my bag and NZ won by a landslide. Great game.
The forty plus folks I got to travel with have become such a relief to me. The question was asked, "What if you get down there and you don't like anyone?" I assure you now that anyone traveling to Antarctica is worth it. Some very down to earth, entertaining people to be met. I already find myself bonding with the group on the platform that we all have at least one thing in common. As I continue to learn new things about them and hear their stories, I have to say this is one awesome group of people to be stuck on an ice shelf with, and that makes me happy.
More from and about the ice later.
Till next time,
Chris
My stay in Christchurch was great! The currency exchange was almost spot on to the US dollar so there was no headache of "How much am I really spending on dinner?" The only thing that really needed getting used to was the reversed street traffic. This did not just mean the cars. The people naturally walked on the other side of a sidewalk making it feel at first that everyone kept running into me. Turns out I was just going against traffic. Another opposite I've been waiting my whole life to see is the reversed direction of water as it goes down a drain, or the Coriolis Effect. To my annoyance the toilets there just go down instead of around because of water conservation. I had to wait till I could fill up my bathroom sink to watch and at that point I realized that even if I saw the water going an opposite way, I couldn't remember for the life of me what direction water drains back home. I guess it's just not one of those things you notice unless you look for it.
The briefing we had for Christchurch included emergency contacts and loads of information pertaining to what to do in the case of an earthquake. At first this seemed a little overkill, but when they mentioned that the city had felt a 5.5 a week earlier it brought it all home. Christchurch had been devastated by a huge earthquake last year. The entire downtown area had been wiped out. When we arrived a few of us went for a walk towards the down town area and the entire city had been fenced off. It was eerie looking at large convention centers and tall modern buildings on the main road for as far as I could see, and yet there was no cars, people, or even noise coming from the center. There were even billboards and posters with "Coming in March!" still up. It was like the whole downtown area had been at a stand still for a year.
Aside from the crumbling city center Christchurch proved to be a lovely place. The town includes a very large botanical garden that goes on for miles. This was a welcomed sight since I won't be seeing greenery for a while. It did feel kind of like time travel, however, to be walking through a spring time setting when I had just left the color changes and rainy days of fall a few days before. Still, the emerging tulips and fresh leaves on the trees matched with the cool crisp air made it a bliss full two days of exploring. I was also very interested to see the amount of businesses coping with the loss of the city by taking over buildings in the neighborhoods. It seemed that every empty gas stationed had been turned into a restaurant and every house a doctor's or contractor's office of one sort or another. Our friendly hotel bartender had passed on the information that even on the most quiet of nights it was still wise to call ahead for a reservation considering the number of bars and restaurants had been cut in half and people still wanted to go out.
The most exciting was not a place, but an event. The All Blacks, New Zealand's rugby team, were playing Australia's Wallabies. To add excitement to the already heated match was New Zealand hosting the current Rugby World Cup. Naturally the locals were in sporting form with everyone of us visitors feeling a sense of duty to wear black on the night of the big game. Either for joining in, or just not wanting to be the one sticking out, the majority of us dawned our blacks and hung out in various bars to watch the game. Like flies, we dropped. The combination of jet lag and a 4:15 am wake up call forced most of us to call it a night before the end. I managed to squeeze the last bits of the game in while I repacked my bag and NZ won by a landslide. Great game.
The forty plus folks I got to travel with have become such a relief to me. The question was asked, "What if you get down there and you don't like anyone?" I assure you now that anyone traveling to Antarctica is worth it. Some very down to earth, entertaining people to be met. I already find myself bonding with the group on the platform that we all have at least one thing in common. As I continue to learn new things about them and hear their stories, I have to say this is one awesome group of people to be stuck on an ice shelf with, and that makes me happy.
More from and about the ice later.
Till next time,
Chris
Saturday, October 15, 2011
How To Snag A Job On The Ice
Knowing that I am on my way down to Antarctica there are many questions of "How did you get that job in the first place?" In a much abridged description I will attempt to tell you everything required as well as the things people don't tell you about.
Being in the Loop It is important to know someone who's done this before. I suggest random strangers in hostels and bars that share stories of what a crazy experience it was, which of course will lead you to want to join in the fun. If crazy doesn't excite you then searching the web for stories of how beautiful the scenery was and the once in a life time experience to practice science might peak your interest.
Having Backup Having people that want to support crazy shenanigans is just as important as the drive to do them. Some examples of these would be boss's willing to write letters of recommendation just because it would be awesome, recruiters giving you a helping hand to represent your city, or family members who have given up trying to talk you out of such ventures either from acceptance or just fatigue.
Dumb Luck Sometimes you hit a home run with an interview and take the job with an iron fist. Other times you're on the wait list and told you'll be called once someone has to drop out. This sucks until you're called the next day because someone does something and drops out. At this point you take a breath and whisper an "amen" as you scramble to get tested for every health related thing under the sun to get PQ'd.
Patients Once you've established you have the job and are free of tooth decay, STD's, heart murmurs, and a list of other things you hope you haven't been exposed to because you've never heard of them and don't know what they do, you start the waiting game for departure. After life is shut down and the final days of work come to a close the ticket comes and the adventure begins.
At this point I am sitting in New Zealand in Christchurch catching up on emails. So far we have gone through safety training, travel briefings, and will be issued clothing tomorrow morning. It has been straight forward in terms of meeting the forty others flying down with me. All just crazy enough to work down there, and yet all very cool people.
I've even gotten a shout out by presidentcial hopeful Newt Gingrich in the LAX airport. We met Peter hanging out in the airport and when he got up to go to Starbucks he came back with a guy in tow and said "Hey guys this is Newt Gingrich..." Peter then b-lined for the bathroom and left poor Newt staring at three travelers sitting on the floor. He was a cool guy. I shook his hand from my seated possition and he thanked us for our work with the NSF. As he walked away we looked him up online to make sure we could remember which politician he was.
I'll let you all know how NZ turns out when I hit Antarctica.
Till later,
Chris
Being in the Loop It is important to know someone who's done this before. I suggest random strangers in hostels and bars that share stories of what a crazy experience it was, which of course will lead you to want to join in the fun. If crazy doesn't excite you then searching the web for stories of how beautiful the scenery was and the once in a life time experience to practice science might peak your interest.
Having Backup Having people that want to support crazy shenanigans is just as important as the drive to do them. Some examples of these would be boss's willing to write letters of recommendation just because it would be awesome, recruiters giving you a helping hand to represent your city, or family members who have given up trying to talk you out of such ventures either from acceptance or just fatigue.
Dumb Luck Sometimes you hit a home run with an interview and take the job with an iron fist. Other times you're on the wait list and told you'll be called once someone has to drop out. This sucks until you're called the next day because someone does something and drops out. At this point you take a breath and whisper an "amen" as you scramble to get tested for every health related thing under the sun to get PQ'd.
Patients Once you've established you have the job and are free of tooth decay, STD's, heart murmurs, and a list of other things you hope you haven't been exposed to because you've never heard of them and don't know what they do, you start the waiting game for departure. After life is shut down and the final days of work come to a close the ticket comes and the adventure begins.
At this point I am sitting in New Zealand in Christchurch catching up on emails. So far we have gone through safety training, travel briefings, and will be issued clothing tomorrow morning. It has been straight forward in terms of meeting the forty others flying down with me. All just crazy enough to work down there, and yet all very cool people.
I've even gotten a shout out by presidentcial hopeful Newt Gingrich in the LAX airport. We met Peter hanging out in the airport and when he got up to go to Starbucks he came back with a guy in tow and said "Hey guys this is Newt Gingrich..." Peter then b-lined for the bathroom and left poor Newt staring at three travelers sitting on the floor. He was a cool guy. I shook his hand from my seated possition and he thanked us for our work with the NSF. As he walked away we looked him up online to make sure we could remember which politician he was.
I'll let you all know how NZ turns out when I hit Antarctica.
Till later,
Chris
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