life transpires quickly in the present-tense, often with less reflection and future-planning time than we would like. a moment, then, to recap what has been and what will be on this antarctic journey. this may read like a listing of events, but for those of you asking and curious, it will fill in the details i forget to mention.

the official start (not counting medical qualification paperwork and tests) began on september 9 with a flight to denver, colorado from the minneapolis airport. i left town with the remnant pieces of my aunts hobo party in tow, a wandering roustabout hopping in to say hello before his forty-first move.

from september 10-14, i took part in classes to expand my IT knowledge base. the classes related to the computer server systems that i will be responsible for managing during the antarctic winter as the systems administrator for the south pole station. over the course of the weekend i snuck out for a spell of biking with old friends in fort collins and proudly displayed an ability to not completely wreck myself while tumbling downhill on a bike.

structural firefighting school (south pole specific!) took place the next week in golden, colorado, piling a collection of winter-over crew through as much of a full firefighting course as we could get in a week. we also managed to cram in as much good food and company as possible, a roller-derby event, and a polie-party outside of the antarctic. saturday held our psychological testing and a presentation on stress and the response to traumatic events.

we set up on monday for another south pole specific course, focused primarily on first response to a medical situation. three days later we moved back toward denver for orientation and the first batch of flights to new zealand for the antarctic summer season.

i left denver on friday afternoon, transfered flights in los angeles, and then flew over the pacific for twelve hours on the way to new zealand. we landed in aukland, then took a commuter flight to christchurch.

in christchurch, the cargo team (who i’ll be working with for the next four months in my summer season job as an air transportation specialist) spent three days at loader training. we took a caterpillar 943 and a 247 through the mud and muck of the new zealand spring, playing with slopes, drops, and flooded pits that we might never again see (at least not in antarctica). there were giant, goofy grins all around. the last day of class took place in a slew of hail and sleet, but we persevered. after that, we were to fly out on friday.

were to fly out on friday, that is, if we contagious and sick enough with the cold to infect the rest of a flight… myself and one of my coworkers found ourselves forcibly delayed, originally for one day, then for three (due to space restrictions), then for five (due to plane mechanical malfunctions). i was far better after the second day, so there was ample opportunity to play around christchurch, and even sneak out of town for a bit. i made it out to the pacific for a view from a spring beach and caught a hint of the southern alps (mountains).

today, nine days after arriving in new zealand, i fly south to antarctica.

i’ll be in mcmurdo station on the coast (actually on ross island, off the coast of antarctica) until october 23, at which point i’ll head down to the south pole. once i land there, the south pole will be my home for the next thirteen months.

and there it was, a recap. more meandering thoughts and psuedo-philosophies in the future…