The Carpe Diem Story

Aloha Friends and Family,  It has been a few weeks since I have reached out and shared the going on of Gillian McPherson's life.   I have spent a few weeks in Maui defrosting while preparing for my next adventure.  I have enjoyed plenty of time with friends, beach days and sunshine.  It has been nice coming back to a place where I am extremely familiar with how things work. I know plenty of people told me about ice brain when leaving the ice- it is a real thing.  It is basically the same feeling your have at the end of finals week in college.  Your brain in done, toast..finished.  You know it is not firing as fast as you would like but you can't do much about it.  Now after being off the ice for over a month I can confidently say that my brain has defrosted completely and I feel like my cognitive processes are back to normal.   That being said I had a few people ask if I will continue writing and sending emails over the next couple of months ...

I am back on another rock enjoying the warm sunshine, salt ocean, fresh fruit and veggies and the company of good friends.   I just wanted to thank everyone for reading my updates and responding with such kind words or keeping me updated with what is going on in your lives.  I feel like I know a bunch of you better through this process.  One last story before I sign off...as you have heard before the people in Antarctica are amazing.  One special thing they do when you leave is called a hug line.  It is when everyone who is staying and can leave work comes up to the building where you catch your shuttle to the air field.  They all stand in a line in the loading bay of the building and as you get checked off the manifest you run this gauntlet of people who are surrounding you with hugs as you leave.  It is just so heart warming and special that people take time out of their work day to come say goodbye.   Some of you might be asking what is next fo...

  As I look at the calendar I cannot believe that I have less than a month left here in Antarctica.  This experience has blown my expectations out of the water.  I have enjoyed it so much that I hope to be back next Austral Summer.   Since my last email I have transitioned to working the night shift here at McMurdo.  I have never had the chance to work the night shift but is it really night when the sun is up 24 hours a day? (The next sunset is Feb. 20th).  There are only about 20 people on station who are working the night shift.  Some of them have been working together on nights since October.  They are a funny, tight knit group.  Our "lunches" which are at midnight are always a comical affair.  I have to honestly say that I do enjoy working the night shift.  It was a nice change at the end of season when things could have started to get monotonous.  I just sleep when everyone else is at work and get up when they get off...

When I was getting information about coming down to Antarctica, I kept on being told that I should bring costumes and be ready for epic parties.  Not what you would expect when traveling to the most southern part of the earth.  Needless to say my informants did not  steer  me wrong.  During the past two weeks we have had a town Christmas Party, Waste Barn Party (Christmas Variety Show), New Years Eve, Icestock (outdoor music festival), softball tournament and a marathon.  I don't want to bore you with details for all these events but I will highlight a few.  Waste Barn Party:  This Christmas Variety show takes place in the waste barn (where trash gets sorted and prepared to get moved off the continent).  There is seating, drinks and a great show. Anyone on station can sign up before to perform.  We had a Jano Band: one piano, one guitar, one ukulele, one violin, myself and another girl on vocals.  We rewrote 4 Christmas So...

  If you could have guessed from all my previous emails I love to go on adventures and do active things.  This time of year when the weather gets "warmer" (above freezing) many opportunities are available to explore Antarctica.  One highlight was participating in a recreation event called "Room with a View".  Once your snowmobile training is complete you are eligible for the event.  In small groups a trip leader will lead a gaggle of snowmobiles an hour away from the station to the base of Mount Erebus-the southernmost active volcano in the world.  It was surreal to be motoring along on the flat white taking in the mountains with barely a cloud in the sky.  The whole time I kept on pinching myself not believing that I could be snowmobiling in Antarctica after a day's work.  It was unbelievable.  One common thread that is woven in my life right now is running.  If you told me 10 years ago I would enjoy running I would not have b...

  The past month has given me a lot of opportunities to try new things, get stretched and feel more settled in Antarctica.   I had my first bartending shift here on the base.  I was lucky enough that I was training with a friend of mine, Travis.  Earlier in the day the janitorial team cleans the bars before opening them up for the night.  I told the two janitors that were cleaning the bar to leave me some presents to find while I was working that night.   When I first walked into the bar I found a note with a joke on it to welcome me to my shift.  Then while Travis and I were setting up the bar, our manager comes in and says “ Gillian, I didn’t know it was your birthday.”  For someone whose birthday is in April I was pretty surprised to hear that too.  Mark, our manager continues, “There is a note in the men’s bathroom on the stall that says- It is Gillian, the bartender's, birthday today and she does not want people to know but wish her a ha...

It is bewildering to believe that I have been living in Antarctica for over three weeks.  In all honesty it does feel like I have been here longer.  I have finally figured out my way around the station.  Gotten into work routine. Gone on a few adventures.  Enjoyed the social scene.  Furthermore, I am making new friends along the way.    This season there are only about 400 people on station which is a third of the normal size.  When I walk down a hallway in the main building on station there are times that everyone I walk by knows my name and I know theirs.  Everyone is intentional and inclusive.  Pretty much everyone who is down here have interesting stories of how they got here in addition to the remarkable things they have done with their lives.    Take the other janitors.  In the other times of the year they do very different jobs.  One is a chef, one taught Biology at a collegiate level, one is a respiratory ther...

On October 6, 2020 at 2pm a C-17 Military Aircraft landed on Phoenix Air Field in Antarctica.    There were 106 of us on the flight.    Majority Americans but about 20 Kiwis that were heading to the New Zealand Base.    About 30 minutes before landing the pilot told us to put on our layers before they started their approach.    There was a scramble of people putting on layers, gloves, hats and big red coats.    That was when all of us newbies started feeling our hearts pounding and wondering what have we got ourselves into.     Once we had landed we were eager to exit because we had been baking in our layers for the past 30 mins.    I was expecting to have my breath taken away once I got off the plane but it was a warm day in Antarctica (-14 degrees C or 6 degree F) and no wind chill.    The runway is on an ice shield-no runway with lights.    Once you walk off the plane you scramble into a shuttle...

  Aloha from Christchurch, New Zealand,  After getting all packed up last night, waking up early and hauling everything down to the lobby we found out our flight down to McMurdo station was going to be delayed 24 hours due to a maintenance issues.  Having flights delayed is very typical for flying down to Antartica.  We are even require to pack a specific bag called a Boomerang bag which is given to us if we have to turn around the plane mid-flight due to weather while all the other luggage’s stays on pallets at the Airport.   In the past the delays just meant more time to explore New Zealand but with this year being special due to Covid that is not the case.  We moved to a different hotel once our managed isolation was done this past Friday and we are required to stay on hotel property during our whole stay.  If Covid were to get down to Antarctica it would be a disaster.  The NSF is taking every precaution to make sure that will not happen. ...

  Aloha from the 13th floor in a hotel in the middle of Christchurch, New Zealand. One thing is for certain traveling in Covid season is not for the faint of heart.  There are many hurtles to jump through and plenty of waiting in lines.  Lots of flight worldwide have been cancelled and traveling internationally is difficult.  The only way my whole cohort was able to get to New Zealand was to charter a flight from San Fransisco to Christchurch.  It was a new experience being on a long flight with no kids and everyone traveling for the same purpose and destination.  After 13 hours of flying we still had to wait on the tarmac because they were only taking people off the plane in groups of 15.  Then you entered into the New Zealand arrivals gauntlet.   I respect New Zealand because they have done their due diligence to protect their country.  By implementing a strict shut down in March the country is now Covid-free.  Life is normal.  Wh...

  Aloha from San Fransisco,   I am here waiting for our departure to New Zealand on Wednesday night.  There are currently 212 people who are apart of my cohort in this hotel enjoying a couple days of virtual training and room service.  The first day we got here everyone traveling had to get a Covid test.  A negative result was the only way one could get on the plane to New Zealand.  Luckily, we found out yesterday that everyone in our cohort tested negative for Covid.  Everyone is breathing a lot easier today with that burden lifted from their shoulders.  I know a bunch of you are probably asking why is Gillian going to Antartica? Why is she leaving sunny Hawaii for the coldest and driest desert on the planet?  Well it all started about last fall.  I started getting the feeling that it was time for me to move on and start finding something new.  I had been working and living in Maui for 5 years.  I had gotten as far up in my jo...