The end...
hello again, thanks for all the messages i got from everyone after i wrote out last time (which was too long ago, i think). Winfly got away from me with planning travels and working (notice how "working" came second on the list). it gets hard to concentrate after all this time, and you have a picture of a van you're going to live out of in NZ hanging on the wall, and you stare at it every morning and evening as you get ready for bed...
anyway, it's been incredible to see and experience an entire cycle of town life here (from both sides- coming in new and fresh, and leaving old and crusty). not too crusty, really. i got a lot of compliments on how "with it" i seem after being here so long. i don't know what that means- perhaps it means i won't survive out there in the real world where i have to find my own place to sleep, cook my own food, clean my own dishes, talk to strangers... i've been so institutionalized by now. i told some of you this, but i was so stressed out about all the things i had to do to prepare for people coming in at Winfly, so my workmate Shandra suggested i make a list to get all the things out of my mind... after writing down three things, i couldn't think of any more. i was stressing out about three things i had to do, and i got them all done in an afternoon. sheesh. "how do i do anything outside of this place?" i began to wonder. but i think i'll bounce right back into it like riding a bike... which i haven't done for too long (sure, there was that time on the gravel pass to Scott Base, but i can't count that really since i was on the verge of wiping out the whole time).
and now i have three days of work left, and then a plane takes me to NZ on monday. the first of many planes landed today and didn't break the runway this year, so everything is working out for me to leave here on time. i'll just keep my fingers crossed.
after this stint, i will never come back... for a year-long contract, that is. i can see coming down again for just one season at a time- and maybe my Antarctic world will open up to opportunities working at Pole or Palmer stations. but that will be quite in the future, since i definitely need some time away. it's beautiful and fun and amazing, and i enjoy it all- but there's a lot to be said for home comforts and warm breezes...
for my second consecutive birthday on the ice, we had an awesome party (co-celebrating our friend Anna's birthday which is four days away from mine), and we ate so much good home-cooked food; hearty soup, garlic/rosemary bread, homebrew, fersh-baked cookies and brownies, and the highlight of desserts- Creme Brulee, freshly bruleed and served in a big pan (the kind you find salad dressing being served in at an all-you-can-eat buffet)- i've never seen so much of it at one time, and it tasted amazing. Anna and i got to break the top.
my friend Deborah made me a fur-lined carhartt bomber hat (see attached photo). it made my day. and about the photo- it's sad to say, but i think it reveals my true skin tone.
take care,
Phil
anyway, it's been incredible to see and experience an entire cycle of town life here (from both sides- coming in new and fresh, and leaving old and crusty). not too crusty, really. i got a lot of compliments on how "with it" i seem after being here so long. i don't know what that means- perhaps it means i won't survive out there in the real world where i have to find my own place to sleep, cook my own food, clean my own dishes, talk to strangers... i've been so institutionalized by now. i told some of you this, but i was so stressed out about all the things i had to do to prepare for people coming in at Winfly, so my workmate Shandra suggested i make a list to get all the things out of my mind... after writing down three things, i couldn't think of any more. i was stressing out about three things i had to do, and i got them all done in an afternoon. sheesh. "how do i do anything outside of this place?" i began to wonder. but i think i'll bounce right back into it like riding a bike... which i haven't done for too long (sure, there was that time on the gravel pass to Scott Base, but i can't count that really since i was on the verge of wiping out the whole time).
and now i have three days of work left, and then a plane takes me to NZ on monday. the first of many planes landed today and didn't break the runway this year, so everything is working out for me to leave here on time. i'll just keep my fingers crossed.
after this stint, i will never come back... for a year-long contract, that is. i can see coming down again for just one season at a time- and maybe my Antarctic world will open up to opportunities working at Pole or Palmer stations. but that will be quite in the future, since i definitely need some time away. it's beautiful and fun and amazing, and i enjoy it all- but there's a lot to be said for home comforts and warm breezes...
for my second consecutive birthday on the ice, we had an awesome party (co-celebrating our friend Anna's birthday which is four days away from mine), and we ate so much good home-cooked food; hearty soup, garlic/rosemary bread, homebrew, fersh-baked cookies and brownies, and the highlight of desserts- Creme Brulee, freshly bruleed and served in a big pan (the kind you find salad dressing being served in at an all-you-can-eat buffet)- i've never seen so much of it at one time, and it tasted amazing. Anna and i got to break the top.
my friend Deborah made me a fur-lined carhartt bomber hat (see attached photo). it made my day. and about the photo- it's sad to say, but i think it reveals my true skin tone.
take care,
Phil
posted by Phil on Ice at 11:50 AM
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