Well aren't I a Happy Camper!

Okie dokie, so I missed a week, what's a FNG (Freakin New Guy) supposed to do? I wish I had a good reason as to why I missed a post but I really don't. There just wasn't all too much to report last week. However, a lot did happen in the last 4 or 5 days.

So down here the weeks become really long at times. We work a lot. Monday thru Saturday I work from 7Am - 5PM. And most of the time the work is pretty much the same. I try to mix it up as much as I can and try to see as much as I can but some times it just doesn't work out that way.

Last week was one of those weeks. The week before nothing all too exciting had happened and I was finding that I had a lot of free time on my hands. I've been watching a lot of True Blood (on HBO Awesome Show!) and Californication (Showtime hilarious). Both of which a friend of mine's husband mails them down to her and a big group of us watch. It sounds nice, which it is, but it's also far too normal for my liking. The reason I don't like the normal is because when things are somewhat normal like that I really start to miss all of you guys back home. Then comes Thursday...

Thursday was starting out to be one of those really normal days I was talking about. Then, at around 11:00AM my supervisor says "Hey Danny, I've got a question for you." To which I respond "What's that Gingleho? (her login ID)"

"How would you like to go to Happy Camper tomorrow?" (see what I did there with the title of the blog?)

I was kind of out of it at that point but after about a second or two to sink in I responded, "Absolutely!" and so the craziness of the weekend was underway.

Let me give you a quick run down as to what exactly Happy Camper is. Happy Camper is a trip they take FNG's on. They get a group of about 16-22 people, load them up in a shuttle, drive them out to the middle of the ice-shelf and say "Hey you're going to learn how to survive out here for the night." Now that may sound intimidating but it's not so bad. It was actually a lot of fun!

It all started at 8:30AM on Friday morning. Everyone meets at the Science Support Center and we get a 2 hour briefing on the events that are going to transpire over the next two days. They tell us ways to recognize the onset of hypothermia as well as frostbite. They also give us ways to avoid both of these conditions from occurring. At around 10:30AM they load us on the shuttle and drive us to the I-Hut which stands for Instructors Hut. At that point they show us how to use these little tiny camping stoves to make hot water as well as they fed us lunch.

After that short little education we are drivin out to Snow-School. Once out there we are going to be out in the wild of Antarctica for the next 24 hours. On our way out there we pick up all kinds of supplies, first we picked up our sleep kit which comprised of a sleeping bag, a liner for the inside as well as two insulated mats to put on the ground. After that we loaded up a sled with shovels, saws, tents, and other camping equipment.

The first thing they teach us when we get out there is about the best ways to set up our tents in relation to wind and snow and not getting snowed in. Along with that train of thought we were taught how to construct an ice-block quarry. That way we could build a wall to help and block the wind from getting to the tents and what not.

Continuing after that our instructor taught us good ways to build snowcaves and all about how much room and space we should try and make. And after that we were taught how to build a Quinsy (basically a tent made out of snow). Hopefully I never have to use any of the knowledge that I learned over the weekend but it is definitely a good thing to have learned. I ended up building and sleeping in a hole in the ground. Surprisingly I wasn't very cold at all, my fingers were about the only things to be cold on myself the next morning.

The following morning we had to pack up camp and be ready to go by 8:30AM, which we were and it wasn't a problem. After we packed up camp we headed back to the I-Hut and went through a debriefing as well as some survival scenarios. We finished up the trip by watching some videos on helicopter safety, hopefully I get to use that information sometime soon!

I was glad to be back so that I could get some sleep. Only to find out that all sorts of parties had been planned for the evening. There was a Prom, a Pajama Jam, a Hut 10 party, as well as HeavyShop Pride Night. And mom, don't worry I didn't go to all four, I missed the Pajama Jam.

The night was crazy and was a ton of fun. I woke up the next morning however with a huge lump on my head from the HeavyShop Pride Night where I got headbutted by a 5' tall garden gnome named Tom. And all day Sunday, like god intended, I had a day of rest. And tonight well of course I played volleyball and of course we are still undefeated. That's it for now, I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading. Blast off everyone! Have a good night and I shall talk to you all soon. Let me know how things are going.

Love and miss you all!
D