Still in Christchurch!

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I'm still in Christchurch! We've been delayed here for 4 days now which (besides the anticipation) hasn't been too bad at all. There's still a springtime chill in the air but the kiwi kids still trot to school in their pinstriped blazers, shorts, and knee-high socks and then hit the beach for a surf lesson in the afternoons.
It's pretty funny that Ann Curry from the Today Show is down in McMurdo right now, considering the frequency that I have been on the Today Show in New York working with Habitat for Humanity. Here is the link so you can try to watch her Today Show broadcasts online: Ends of the Earth Just scroll down to the Antarctica part... who really cares about global warming's effect on Greenland and Ecuador anyway?!? There's also a great photo-journalism piece on their website, complete with audio highlights from some of my soon-to-be coworkers: McMurdo Photos. We were watching in a friend's hotel room the other night and now I'm more scared and excited all at once. It's pretty graphically chilly but doesn't the bowling alley seem fun! Being delayed in New Zealand hasn't been all bad because I just picked up a packet of "per diem" money and st the sun came out yesterday so we headed over to the beach, New Brighton. We've been waking up every morning at 5AM (or 2AM this morning) in preparation for an ice flight, only to find a note slipped under the door saying it's been delayed 24 hours. Right now I'm staring out the window at the C-17 Air Force plane on the tarmac that will eventually transport us and our cargo there and the anticipation is killing me. What will complete whiteness look like and frigid temperatures feel like? Will my skin crack and peel off and nose pop a gasket of blood from the total dryness? Who will my roommate be and will my fellow carpenters take me seriously? For now, I'm glad to have gotten back here to the International Antarctic Center to dip into my clothing stores so I can put some clean clothes on (I've been wearing the same stuff since Denver) and not feel so grimy hanging around town. It gets a little chilly here at night but my coworkers have been advising me to not bundle up too much to "acclimate" to what we're about to live in (-40*F anyone?) so I guess it's a plus that I didn't pack much more than a fleece jacket...
So far, I haven't met any other Americans (besides friends of my coworkers) in Christchurch which is relieving but tags us as "Ice Folk" pretty quickly as soon as we open our mouths in any restaurant, store or other tourist location. As I sat in a coffee shop sipping a "tall black" ("Americano" to you coffee drinkers, "espresso and water" to you novices) I was asked directions by a passersby so I guess I'm not too "ugly American" after all. It's so interesting to talk to the Polies (people who have wintered-over at the South Pole in isolation and complete darkness for 8 months) and other Ice veterans who go back to The Ice year after year and claim that it's "fun" and "addictive" (I'll be the judge of that) and "not too cold" (and that too, thank you). We're a motley crew of aloof scientists, rugged outdoorsmen, worldwide travelers, and some people who I can only imagine in a tent on an iceberg, not a cubicle in the corporate headquarters in Denver (we have some representatives from their HR department there too). Then there are others who seem to have been leading perfectly normal lives back in Texas, Alaska, or where ever they claim to hail from and I wonder how they said "see ya!" for 4+ months or even a full year. Speaking of which, I've been told that I'll be one of about 5 New Yorkers on the Ice (I've already met 2- one in Manhattan and one on the plane) because (surprise! surprise!) they don't recruit much on the east coast and we're not usually the "type" of people who sign up for a job like "this" (I can't begin to imagine what that might mean...).
I just found out that the 1st graders in my elementary school are currently studying Antarctica so I'm excited to be able to "give back" and offer them a personalized, up-close view of the Forgotten Seventh Continent. That is, if we ever get there...

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Comments

[Neil Cremmins]

Well Alrighty Then!
It is with great anticipation that I check each day for updates from you, and even moreso when I see that a new entry is indeed waiting in my in-box for me. I did find today's update more Stephen Kingish that normal ("Will my skin crack and peel off and nose pop a gasket of blood from the total dryness?"), but hey...I love Stephen King! Keep it coming! Bu sure to let us know if any insane nurses, rabid dogs, possessed automobiles or high school students with telekinetic powers cross your path. Be well, be warm. Lots of Love Always, Neil