You're going WHERE?!? You may or may not have heard right!

I have had many people ask me about my next adventure and I'm not sure if people are just confused or don't fully hear what I'm saying. To clarify, I'm going to Antarctica. That's the continent where the South Pole is. It still puzzles me that people think I'm going to the North Pole which actually has no land, it's all ice. Or strangely enough, Alaska, which is one of the 50 United States. Please don't be confused! :-)
A little bit about Antarctica for you...

• Antarctica is the highest, driest, windiest, emptiest, coldest place on earth. 
• Eskimos and polar bears are found in the ARCTIC, not the Antarctic.
• There are lots of penguins, whales, seals, krill (the main food for whales), and even fish in Antarctica's waters, but there are no land mammals and, as far as scientists know, no native peoples. 
• The mean annual temperature at the South Pole is minus 56 degrees F. During the Austral Summer, temperatures at McMurdo base(where I will be!), on the Ross Sea, may get as high as 40 degrees F, while at the South Pole, at the Amundsen- Scott station, temperatures may reach 0 degrees F.
• The seasons in Antarctica are the opposite of the seasons in the Northern hemisphere--summer is October through February. Winter is March through September.
• The continent is roughly 14 million square kilometers (5.4 million square miles). The USA is only 9.36 million square kilometers (3.6 million square miles).

What exactly will I be doing there you ask?
I will be a support person at Mc Murdo Station. Mc Murdo is one of 3 US owned stations on the continent and the National Science Foundation sponsors scientists to work there.

What the heck are these scientists doing or studying?
Scientists work on all kinds of unique projects in Antarctica, including penguins, Antarctic cod (they have a special antifreeze agent in their blood!), whales, seals, global warming, climatology, meteorites, glaciology, astronomy, volcanoes, UV radiation, and more. Scientists also study humans in Antarctica, doing research on how the human body adapts to cold and how the human mind and heart react to extreme isolation.

So where on the continent will you be?

If you look at the lines that form a plus sign (+) follow the vertical line down from the middle and you will see Mc Murdo (USA) at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Sea.
I will be flying from New Zealand. My total journey will include 6 flights: Burlington, VT to Philadelphia, PA to Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA to Auckland, New Zealand to Christchurch, New Zealand to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The mileage I've roughly calculated is 12,324 miles.

I have expressed to many that I have a dream of living on every continent and this is my next step toward that goal. Where else have I lived you may ask? First, born and raised in North America, in college I lived in Australia, and I lived in Germany while working as a civilian contractor for the Army. So continent number 4 here I come!

I am still trying to figure out what to pack. I will be issued over 20 pounds of extreme cold weather gear in New Zealand as well as my work uniforms of blue polo shirts and black pants. My job is a dining attendant which means I help prep, serve, and clean up the meals in the cafeteria. I will work six 10 hour days a week. I leave on Monday for Denver where I will spend a few days doing training and will continue on from there.

If you have questions please feel free to ask. I'll try to answer them as best I can.