Y'all, I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year, I'm enthusiastic about all of it—the lights, the cookies, the gifts, the music, and of course, the Reason for the Season, the birth of Jesus. But all that to say that I'm always excited to celebrate Christmas, and while I always like to spend the holiday with my family, I can make the best of a real McMurdo Christmas.
While we're not as bad as supermarkets putting out Christmas decorations before Halloween, the Christmas spirit had taken hold immediately after Thanksgiving. Dorm doors were getting decorated, Christmas movies were on the station TV channels, and Christmas music was playing over the various kitchen speakers. I myself was definitely annoying some coworkers with my eclectic Christmas playlist. (I'm kind enough to wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but then they can't stop me.)
For a place that will take any opportunity to party, you know that holiday festivities were abounding. Every shift had some kind of movie night. So even for us midrats, the option to watch The Polar Express and Elf double feature in the coffee house was there. There were Christmas dance parties in the gym, Christmas themed workouts and yoga—because the holiday can't stop the gains—and one of my buddies made his own eggnog and mulled wine for a small get-together, in a process that it's probably best I not ask too many questions about.
The real active day for the station was actually Christmas Eve. This was when all the scheduled events were taking place. For me, Christmas Eve started at midnight, considering my weird sleep schedule, but I did have the 24th and 25th off, so that was nice. The first Christmas-y thing I did was attend the Christmas Eve service in the chapel. In keeping with the tradition of what my family calls "Chr-Easters," the chapel was more full than most Sundays. We sang a few Christmas carols, read the Christmas story from Luke, received a sermon about Simeon in the temple who gave a blessing for the newly born Jesus, and finally shared in Communion—using the Erebus Chalice no less!
(Holidays are when we bring out the good China.)
The real star of a McMurdo Christmas Eve, however, is the banquet. There's contention from those who've been here for a few seasons about which is better, the Thanksgiving meal or Christmas. But whatever side you might fall on, the food we got was phenomenal. Everyone in the main kitchen was putting in extra effort to get it all just right. Even the simple dishes like lemon risotto and herb green beans were very well done. The big draw were the entrees, of course. While the beef tenderloin was excellent, the most fun and unique addition were the crab legs and lobster tails. Now, I'm not typically a fan of lobster—it's more like a convenient way to eat more butter—but even I enjoyed the seafood. A bit of Surf and Turf is a great way to make a meal memorable.
(The lobster is sadly not freshly caught down here.)
But the real attraction of the banquet was the desserts. I've been singing the praises of our bakery in a number of articles now, but they really outdid themselves this time around. Any of you local might know about the Naevestad Christmas Open House and the sheer amount of cookies we've baked for it over the years. So when I say they made a lot of cookies, just know that I mean it. For a few days before the meal, there were volunteers in the bakery helping cook and decorate sugar and ginger bread cookies, truffles, cakes and pies, and more. And all that effort came through on the final product. Plates were loaded with confections of all kinds, and back at the table, I think all of us had at least one bowl loaded up with as much sugar as we thought we could manage. Every dessert was excellent, and all the remainders have been used in the cookie box so that the base can continue to enjoy the treats, even after the holiday.
(What my dentist doesn't know won't hurt me.)
Just like at Thanksgiving, the Galley team had a special meal time at noon so that those working didn't have to try and schedule breaks around the various dining times, and more importantly, so that we could all eat together as a department. Again like Thanksgiving, we quickly ruined the good work setting up the dining hall by dragging the tables all together to form one long family table that we all ate at. It was a glorious festival of laughter, jokes, shouting, toasts, and overindulgence that we all needed. Holidays away from home can be rough, but getting to share in it together was a great time.
(Fire codes are a suggestion.)
And to cap it all off, we even had a White Christmas. While most everything is covered in ice and snow, fluffy snow falling from the sky is a rarity. But the Good Lord saw fit to send us a gentle snowfall all the way into Christmas Day proper.
From all of us at McMurdo and the rest of the Antarctic stations, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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