Again!

Delayed, that is. Until Tuesday. Which is nice, because it means tomorrow I don't have to wake up at 4, take a shower and then get a call that says don't come. Not that I should really complain-that's been about the ONLY annoying thing thats happened so far, and its not really that annoying.

Last night I went out with some fellow Antarctica-ers (what should I call them...er, us?) and found that Christchurch has a much more vibrant night life than I was expecting. Its a small city, but it didn't feel that way last night. I also met a guy who had just finished wintering on the Pole (which is pretty hardcore-its extra cold there and dark all the time instead of light) and he told me that McMurdo has a ceramics studio! I am really very excited about that. And they have two art shows a summer, both of which I am going to enter.

So hopefully my next post will be from the Ice, but we'll see if the weather holds.

Also, just an fyi since I left so abruptly I didn't really have time to fill everyone in on what was going on: I met a guy in Denver who told me he had worked in Antarctica about 6 years ago, and I thought that was super cool so I applied for all the jobs available. I got hired to be an alternate Dining Attendant (read: dish washer) for the South Pole in early October, but then they decided they needed me at McMurdo Station instead. They called me about two weeks ago and asked how soon I could be ready, and 5 days later I was flying down!

The National Science Foundation has 3 US bases on Antarctica, plus a number of field camps. Palmer Station is closer to South America and is the smallest base with about 15 people working there. Next is South Pole, which has about 50-60 people, and McMurdo is the largest with about 1000. McMurdo is on the coast due south of New Zealand. The National Science Foundation has a contract with Raytheon to provide support to the bases in the form of electricians, carpenters, fire fighters, etc. Raytheon sub-contracts all the cooking and cleaning type jobs to a company called NANA Services, and that's who I'm working for.

Its a pretty cool gig-the pay isn't spectactular but I don't have to pay room and board and Raytheon has paid for all my travel down here. I figure whatever gets me to Antarctica is pretty cool, and the opportunities for world travel after are pretty amazing. So the plan right now is: finish my contract at the end of Feb. and then travel until I can't travel no mo'. Anyone who wants to join me in the latter part of this plan is, of course, more than welcome!!

And I'd love to hear what you guys are all up to! So shoot me an email-I've met a lot of nice people, but its still nice to hear from friends :)