February is a time for anticipation at McMurdo. You can practically feel it in the air. Almost everyone is thinking about one thing: redeployment. I don't know why it's called that—another of those naming conventions that probably made sense 25 years ago—but redeployment is the time for everyone to go home. After being here for six months, I can attest that the thought of going home is what gets us through the day.
Leaving the Ice doesn't involve nearly as much paperwork as getting there, but there is still plenty that needs to be done, both personally and professionally. In January, they hosted a few meetings talking about how to leave, as well as what you might need to know when you get back to civilization. Despite being as far from civilization as possible, you can still get organized on things like unemployment and COBRA coverage. Even something simple like a business address needs to be cleared up. It would be hard to tell a future employer to contact your boss down the road from the penguin colony.
There's also everything involved in packing up and leaving your room. Despite it being home away from home for the past six months, you can't leave your things behind and move back in like it's your parents' house. Everything needs to be reset to how it was when you found it. For me, that's pretty easy, but for others, that's going to involve a lot of moving furniture. My roommate took a small desk from somewhere and had that next to his bed, so he had to move that out before he left. Others I know rearranged their entire rooms, pushing beds together, sectioning off the room with the cabinets, and other budget interior design. So that whoever lives in that room next doesn't have to deal with your warped sense of living aesthetic, everything needs to go back to the status quo. Although I'm sure some people left hidden stickers and trinkets around for others to find. That's just part of the fun of community living.
The real reason you could tell it was redeployment season, however, was because of the attitudes. For those of us not staying for winter, or even staying until late March in what is known as the Shoulder season, all anyone could talk about was what they'd be doing when they got home. For some of us, this was a one-off thing, something to fill the time while we sort out life, or another contract job between other seasonal work. For others, this is what they do for work, so when they're off Ice, it's adventure time. They live life six months on, six months off, and have balanced their situations around Ice life.
For many who are done with their season, they're looking to travel. We don't have to fly back immediately when we reach Christchurch. I think by now the program knows that people will want to make the most of their opportunity, and exploring New Zealand is an attractive offer for many. I have a group of three friends that are renting a car together and driving all the way to the north island, then to the south island, and returning to Christchurch. One woman I worked with is having her mom fly down to New Zealand and the two of them are going to explore to their heart's content. Another friend wants to get back to the states as quickly as possible, because he's got a flight to Japan a few days after getting back. Still another got a ticket to participate in a big Iron Man race that apparently is rather exclusive, and she's pumped for that.
Some of them are using their downtime to polish up new skills so they can come back and do something new on the Ice. One friend is getting certified in ham radio and its installation so that he can work on the communications relay team down here. Another wants to get familiar with the way the helicopter team works down here so he can get his license and training back in the real world and then join the flying team in Antarctica. Having been down here and seeing what all goes into living life at McMurdo, it's inspired a lot of people to pursue new avenues and bring a different set of skills to their next deployment.
For those staying, there's also a lot to consider. Some of my friends were staying on to do the same work they came down for. But others are taking this as an opportunity to try something new. I had some friends join up with the Waste team, Shuttles, and one friend I didn't realize was so exceptionally smart until he joined one of the science teams! Once the main body clears out, those staying will have the chance to move rooms as well, with many of them probably going into the 200 block rooms, which have smaller rooms and more opportunities to live by yourself. Probably not a place I would stay if I was working over the winter. Because then, outside of work, other people would definitely not see me.
I asked around to some of my friends, and finding out what people were most looking forward to was a lot of fun. Some really wanted a good cup of coffee. No shame to the stewies, but from what I hear, the same galley coffee day in and day out gets tiring. Even if it's just a Starbucks something, that change will be welcome. Some really wanted to pet an animal. We already talked how we aren't allowed to bother the penguins and seals, so for animal lovers, they've been a bit touch starved. I wish the best of luck to any family pets when they get home. Of course, food was a common answer. There are restaurants in Christchurch that people were making plans to go to, but also some were excited to get back, get their own ingredients, and make something that they love and couldn't get down here. Hand-rolled sushi was a common answer. For me, I'm most looking forward to real ice cream. The soft serve from Frosty Boy is fine—when the machine works that is—but some good chocolate nonsense will hit the spot.
My parents can attest that when things were coming to an end, I was feeling it. I compare it to being a college senior—that senioritis we've all felt. I've enjoyed my time on the Ice, but when you know an end is near, then you can't help but look forward to the change. It's an effort to not let it affect my work, but I also don't want to leave a bad impression if I ever want to come back. Thankfully, my sous chefs are pretty understanding of it, and things were pretty relaxed. No one had to clean the ceilings or behind the shelves in an effort to look busy. We would get most of our cooking prep done with plenty of time to spare, so if we had time, it was fine for us to mostly hang around and socialize. I think I talked more with my coworkers this last week than I had in the past few months working at Willy Field.
Endings are more like new beginnings, and for those staying and those leaving, McMurdo was going to be a different place in a few weeks. So while the air is filled with excitement, there's also a lot of reflection, remembering what the season was like, and seeing how we've all grown through it. While I'm looking forward to everything I'm going to do back home, looking back still has a bittersweet taste to it.
But I still want my ice cream.
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