You're going where? For how long? That's a question I have been excitedly answering a lot lately! On April 12, I received a phone call at lunch from Janet Wharburton, PolarTREC Project Manager. She asked me if I was interested in interviewing for a position on a research team traveling to Antarctica aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden, from November to January, 2011. I was so excited I could hardly breathe, but I managed an awkward "Yes, yes, yes, thank you," hardly hearing the rest of the information shared with me. On the afternoon of April15, I joined Principal Investigator Stephen Ackley, researcher Blake Weissling, and PolarTREC Project Manager Kristin Timm for a conference call interview. They shared information about the research project, their expectations and needs, and asked me many challenging and thought provoking questions. In the middle of the interview, my principal announced over the school intercom system that they would be testing the fire alarm system. As the alarm blared, my thought was, "Oh no! My interview willl be ruined!There go my chances for PolarTREC." But I turned the situation around by joking that they must have set it up to test my flexibility in stressful situations and we ended on a positive note. I was THRILLED to get a phone call 20 minutes later asking me to join their research team! I'll remember that day fondly every time that fire alarm goes off!
So, my great adventure began! Sixteen days later I flew from my home in Los Angeles, California, to Seattle, Washington, to Fairbanks, Alaska to join 11 other PolarTREC teachers for a weeklong orientation and share fair. In Seattle, there was just enough time to have dinner with my friend Wendy, who spent a winter working in Antarctica. My excitement built as she shared photos and stories from her time at McMurdo Station, which is where I will be disembarking the Oden to begin my travels home.
I've never been to Alaska before, so I read my guidebooks and checked the weather forecast before I left home.Everyone kept asking me, "How cold will it be there?" I told them I wasn't too concerned about the "highs in the 50's, lows in the 30's" forecast. That's similar to our coldest winter days in Los Angeles, not a problem for this California girl! My travel continued smoothly and I landed in Fairbanks, Alaska near midnight on Saturday, May 1. Imagine my surprise when my cab driver stepped out of her taxi wearing a tank top! Apparantly this was "warm, spring weather" for the locals. As for me, I kept my jacket on!
The temperature at lunch today (Wednesday) was about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, and we were even getting some snow flurries!
Since I will be learning an incredible amount of new knowledge and experiencing many new things as I embark on this once in a lifetime adventure, I have decided to borrow an idea from a friend of mine (thanks Kelly) and close each journal entry with a "lesson learned" tag. I hope you gain new knowledge about polar science as you join me on my adventure, and that you learn something new everyday too!
Lesson Learned: You can turn a problem (ie: the fire alarm) into a positive experience if you keep your sense of humor.