Welcome Home (Away From Home)

Last meal in the outside world: Ton-Katsu
Weight of checked baggage: 71lbs
Temp when I got off the C-17: -32 F

(Where I Live)

I'm here! And in a way it felt like I never left. I must admit, there were moments on the way down when I got the strong urge to quit and hop on a plane back home; especially in Denver, when I realized how different this year will be without Adam or Jesse. Actually, I was still panicking a bit in Christchurch when I realized I didn't really want to take any photos or go exploring because I had seen it all before...I started to think that maybe that's what the ice would feel like: "been there, done that". But, luckily, the closer I got the more my doubts faded. Like I said before, I know deep down that I belong here, but committing yourself to 6 months at the end of the Earth is enough to give anyone pause.

(view from Pegasus)

The moment I stepped of the plane at Pegasus I remebered why I'm here. I think that no matter where I go or what I do travel-wise, Pegasus will always be one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life...and it didn't dissapoint the second time around. The miles and miles of flat perfect white snow and ice, the sunset, erebus in the background. Even though I had been travelling for days and days (which felt like weeks and weeks) and had to get up at 3am to get on the C-17 and wanted more than anything to get to McMurdo and out of my ECW, the view at Pegasus tends to make you take your time getting to the terrabus.

Once I got back into town I had to do the arrival briefing, which took about an hour and was about as much fun as getting your teeth pulled. They pretty much repeat everything you've heard in Denver and everything you already know from past seasons...and then repeat it some more, while you sit in the gear you have been suffocating in for the past 8 hours. I finally got into my room and was a bit dismayed to see that, while no one was home, the tv was blaring, the heat was cranked up to 80, and there were bottles all over the room. This did not fair well for my new roommate situation, but I tried not to let it get me down and went to go get my bags at building 140. When I got back there were yet another persons bags in the room so I checked with my housing people only to discover that a winter-over had been delayed in leaving til Friday and me and my new roommate Molly got put in his room. The bad news was that we have to stay in a temp room for a couple days, which is a little small...but this is far outweighed by the good news which is that Molly is really cool and it was the winter-over who was the electricity wasting, noisy, messy person. And, as it turns out, Molly is good friends with my roommate Leah, from last season, (she'll be returning at mainbody) and Leah was awesome, so that bodes well for the rest of my Winfly.

And now, I have to get some sleep so I can start work bright and early...oh and pics are courtesy of Chad via the I drive...I am not that awesome of a photographer, but they come pretty close to showing how freaking beautiful this place can be so I figured I have to share.