My first stop on the journey was Denver,
Colorado where the headquarters for the program are located. I work
for a company called Raytheon Polar Services which provides all the
science support down here. I left Seattle on October 3.I have so much to tell you about my adventure so far. I have been trying to come up with a good way to organize my e-mails to you. I think the best way for me to do it will be to structure it like a book with chapters. It may also seem a little like a journal, too, but I won't be able to write you everyday. I hope you are all having a good school year. I bet the leaves are turning yellow, red, orange and brown. You are probably getting ready for Halloween and the Fall Harvest Festival. I hope it's fun! Please write me if you want.
My first stop on the journey was Denver,
Colorado where the headquarters for the program are located. I work
for a company called Raytheon Polar Services which provides all the
science support down here. I left Seattle on October 3.
While sitting in the airport waiting for my flight, I met 2 other people going the same place! When we arrived in Denver, we picked up our bags and caught a shuttle bus for our hotel. What a surprise to find a Seattle friend already waiting in the shuttle. Lots of people want to work in Antarctica. My last year's students met my friend Patrick. He left a week before I did, so he was not with me.
The next morning, we had to get up for an orientation meeting which started at 6:45am. That's early! At orientation, I met even more people--about 80 in all! Different people from Raytheon told us various rules and what to expect on our journey. Orientation lasted until about 2:00 in the afternoon. After that it was off to the airport again to begin the long flight to Aukland, New Zealand. Can you find Aukland on a map?
We flew for about 15 hours altogether.
Because we cross that international dateline, we lost a day! I
didn't get to "see" Wednesday, October, 5! Try and trace my journey
on a map! From Denver, we flew to Los Angeles, CA. We spent 3 hours
waiting for the plane to New Zealand. I got to watch part of the
Mariners-vs-WhiteSox game. I think we won. (Too bad we didn't make
it to the World Series. That would have been exciting!) From Los
Angeles, it's a 12 hour flight to Aukland, NZ (remember we lose a
day!) Can you figure out why? Have you ever tried to sleep on a
plane? It's not that easy even though I brought my own pillow and
the plane was an enormous 747-400!
We landed in Aukland and made our way
through customs. When leaving your own country, you have to go
through what is called "customs." This is where officers from the
country you are going to inspect your luggage and check to make
sure you aren't bringing anything unsafe into their country. We
exchanged our US dollars for New Zealand dollars. When you go to a
different country, you have to use their money. I'm sure many of
you know that, especially since we live so close to Canada.
Soon after landing in Aukland, it was back on a smaller plane heading for Christchurch which is a small city on the South Island. Christchurch is where the International Antarctic Centre is. It is where all flights leaving for McMurdo Station and other locations on this part of the continent leave from. We stayed in Christchurch for a few days and this is where the adventure really began! Next chapter... Getting My Extreme Cold Weather Gear and Flying on a C-17! Photos will be included in this one! Have fun, kids! Study hard! Be kind to each other! Dream BIG!
Love, Miss Talso