Antarctica

                                                                                                                            15 January 2002

Hello Mrs. Jennings & Friends at Northeast School!

     I am writing to you from very far south, in Antarctica! Flat Stanley made it to visit me here, and we have been having a great time together. It was a good idea to make him a warm coat to wear, because it does get very cold here!

     To get to me in Antarctica, Stanley had to ride on a few airplanes. First, he rode from Chicago to Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch is a beautiful city on the South Island of New Zealand, and is where the International Antarctic Airport is located. All people and cargo (like mail, food, construction materials & other supplies) that are flying to Antarctica must pass through the airport in Christchurch. Next, Stanley flew on a special airplane equipped with huge skis, called a C-130, and landed on the Ice Runway here at McMurdo Station.

     McMurdo Station, where I live and work, is a small town where 1000 people live in the summertime and 200 people live in the wintertime. Some of the people who come here are scientists who study everything from penguins to the ozone layer to particles deep down in the ice. Most of the people here, though, are just like me-people who come to work here & make the station run just because they think Antarctica is a wonderful place & so have decided to come live here for a while. There are all kinds of jobs here at McMurdo Station. Lots of people are here to work in construction, making new buildings for people to live in or spaces to work in. There are carpenters, ironworkers, plumbers, and electricians. There are also mechanics here, who fix all the equipment we use to run the station, like airplanes, helicopters, snowmobiles, trucks, forklifts, bulldozers, loaders, heaters, generators & ice hole melters. My roommate here is a mechanic. Her name is Willow and she is from Alaska. She can fix anything! There are also people here who load and unload the cargo on the airplanes, and some who move supplies and construction materials to the places they need to go. Then there are jobs here just like any town has-garbage people, firemen and women, cooks and servers who work in the cafeteria where everyone eats, and janitors to clean the floors and bathrooms. My job is a janitor, and it's really not so bad! The only hard thing about it is that everyone on the station has to work a lot-10 hours a day, six days a week. That means only one day off for the weekend! It is tiring to work so much, but worth it to get the chance to be in Antarctica.

     I am sending along an information sheet on Antarctica, and hopefully that will help answer some of your questions. Here are some more answers for you!

--How cold/warm does it get?
     When I got here in August, the temperature was -85� F with a -160� wind-chill! But since then it has warmed up, and in December we even had a day that was 50�! It set a record for the warmest temperature here ever in the month of December!

--When is it dark?
     Usually the sun sets in February and rises again in September. That means 8 months of total darkness! But during October, November, December, and January, the sun is up all day and all night! It gets very bright here since the sun reflects off all the ice and snow!

--What kinds of animals are there?
     I have seen lots of seals and penguins and big birds called skuas. Sometimes pretty white birds called snow petrels come here. There are whales too, but since the ice is completely frozen where I live, I haven't seen any! There are no polar bears here. They live in the Arctic, not the Antarctic (the North Pole, not the South Pole!)

--Have I seen a penguin egg?
     Yes, I have, and it was beautiful! Round and white, but much bigger than a chicken egg!

--Are there any children here?
     No, but I wish there were! I have been missing seeing children, I haven't seen a child for 6 months now! Isn't that strange? To come to work at McMurdo Station, you have to be at least 18 years old.

--Do people ride 4-wheelers or have sleighs here?
     Yes! People travel across the snow & ice in 4-wheelers, snowmobiles, & other types of track vehicles called Deltas. And we do use sleds-usually tied onto the back of a snowmobile to carry survival kits or scientific equipment.

--Are there mountains in Antarctica?
     Yes, big jagged white peaks called the Transantarctic Mountains! I can see them from the window in my room; they are fantastic!

--What do people wear in Antarctica?
     What you wear here depends on the job you have, but mostly people wear 1 or 2 pairs of warm socks with clunky polar boots called Bunny boots or FDX boots; long underwear; heavily insulated overalls called Carharts; sweatshirts; 1 or 2 jackets; 1 or 2 pairs of gloves; a hat; a neck-warmer; a face mask for when it is really cold; and sunglasses, because it is always very bright! Inside the buildings, people just wear regular clothes like jeans & T-shirts & running shoes.

--In Antarctica, do they have:
      � houses? No real houses; only big dormitories where scientists & workers live. Everyone here has a roommate, and shares a bathroom with the other people on their hall;
      � schools? No schools here. But there is a library where people go to read and learn on their time off.
      � stores? No real stores, but here at McMurdo there is a place where you can buy supplies like soap and toothpaste, chocolate, alcohol, Coca-Cola, and film for your camera. Also, they sell souvenirs like T-shirts& calendars and stickers!
      � Bathtubs/Swimming Pools? I wish there were bathtubs and swimming pools! But unfortunately there are none.
     �TV? Yes, we have TV here, but it comes over satellites and the picture is never very clear. So instead of watching TV, most people usually watch movies. Most TVs here have VCRs and there is a selection of videos at the library!

     Well, I hope that I have helped you all to learn a little bit about what Antarctica is like. It is a very special and peaceful place, and I would encourage all of you to come work here some day, as a scientist or a janitor, it doesn't matter what your job is because everyone here sees the same beautiful landscape! But if you want to come work here, you can't mind the cold-some days it is downright freezing outside!

     I hope you are all well there in Danville, and that my friend Susan (Mrs. Jennings) is being nice to you! Thanks for writing to me in Antarctica! You guys are great!
                                                                              Sincerely,
                                                                                      Lucy Brank