Postcards from Alaska in the Galley

Today I found a huge stack of postcards in my luggage that I brought down from Mrs. Gillam's 8th grade science classes at Central Middle School of Science in Anchorage, Alaska. Fortunately they were already pre-addressed and stamped! I sorted out the 2 inches of 120 postcards into piles by the type of question they asked: ANDRILL, General Science, General Antarctic. Then I took all the General Antarctic question postcards with me to lunch in the galley. Six big tables of friendly Antarctican's later, all of the postcards were spoken for. Everyone was very enthused to be able to answer some questions about living and working in Antarctica and many Alaskans working here were happy to find out where the students were from. Some folks answered them right then! We awarded one enthusiastic volunteer a special award (see picture).

The science postcards are making their way through the teams at Crary Lab as they have some time, and the drilling specific questions are being answered by the many members of the ANDRILL team. One of the things I enjoy most about working in Antarctica is the enthusiasm and good attitude that everyone brings to their jobs here. Absolutely everyone is happy to be here, proud of doing a good and useful job, and interested in meeting new people and sharing stories with them. Also, very flexible and willing to helping out in any way. I think part of that comes from feeling lucky to be able to be here in any capacity.

If you could have any question answered by someone in Antarctica, what would you want to know?