Well, I don't really buy it. It seems to me that people like what is familiar as opposed to change and what is new. Of course, that can't be said for everyone or everything but for some things I think it holds true. My beard for instance; I've gotten emails from some of your back home about the dislike for the beard or downright hatred (love). So for Thanksgiving I shaved the beard off, just for a little bit of shock factor. Surprise, surprise it shocked some people down here. It was really funny to go down to the galley for dinner and have about half of everyone I see on a daily basis not recognize me. On top of that I've had a good 6 or 7 people flat out tell me I need to grow it back. Not because of what anyone is saying down here, I am. Mainly I'm growing the beard back because, well, I'm in Antarctica for Pete's sake! My face nearly froze off the other day because it was so damn cold and windy. So until I'm in Italy my face will be covered with fur! Anyways, aside from that, let me tell you how the past 10 days have been.
Thanksgiving was great. Did it compare to the feast that I'm use to back home? Absolutely not. It's impossible to duplicate what I get with my nearest and dearest anyplace other than with them. This is the first year I didn't have mashed potatoes (right there with ya Emily), however I wished that I did. I had a baked potato but it's not the same. This is also the first Thanksgiving ever without Gulliver's corn (tear, running down my throat to my cornless belly) as well as none of Noni's magnificent rigatoni and her famous sauce. I definitely missed the normal family drama that occurs, gladly missed the nearly violent karaoke though. Nobody should be forced to listen to some members of the family sing before they get pie, I don't want bloody ears and an upset stomach before dessert! Love ya sis!
Although, I missed Thanksgiving it was still a pretty special treat down here. I had the three o'clock seating for dinner and in the hour and a half I got to eat I ate so much food that I didn't need to eat until 10:30 the next morning. It was quite a feast. The meal consisted of Turkey (duh), beef tenderloin, shrimp (yummy, fresh!), baked potatoes, candied yams, bread, gravy, truffles, pumpkin pie, and about 3 other desserts (I didn't eat them all but they looked great) and some more sides I'm sure. I was fortunate enough to eat at a table with 8 or 9 good friends that I've made down here, it was all by chance because we all signed up to eat at different times.
The rest of the day I pretty much just relaxed and let my food digest. I watched some Californication as well as some more True Blood, I love those shows! I figured that I definitely needed to rest though, it was in fact the only two day weekend I will have the entire time that I am down here. So needless to say I took full advantage of it.
As some of you know I am a compulsive sleep walker. Every place I've ever lived and numerous places I haven't, I have been caught sleep walking. Some of you might know about the time I woke up in a friend's mom's bedroom (I was on the ground) that I had never met before she asked me who the heck I was and what I was doing in her room. Others might remember the story about the time I found my pajamas in the freezer in Connecticut. If you don't know about these stories just email and I'll give you a quick summary on the events at hand.
You might be wondering where all of this is going... Well, be patient I'm getting there. I live in a room with two other guys, Shaun (essentially my best friend down here) and Nate (total frat guy at first impression, good guy though). Well Shaun had been at a field camp for the last two weeks so Nate and I had the room made for 4 all to ourselves. So on Monday night I actually woke up twice in the middle of a sleepwalking episode. The first time I found myself standing up on my bed and lifting one of the ceiling tiles out (think the kind that you throw a pencil into in high school). I have no idea why I was up there but I quickly gathered myself, went to the bathroom and went back to bed.
About two hours later, Shaun returned from the field camp that he was at (WAIS Divide, West Antarctic Ice Sheet kind of like the continental divide in the states). Apparently I had a conversation with him for a few minutes before I woke up. Most of you are about to learn a little nugget of information that I only recently realized. My sleeping walking all has a theme. When Shaun walked in the door apparently I was really happy that he got there just in time and now I wasn't going to lose the game that I had been playing. For the last few years every time I've caught myself sleepwalking or somebody else has it has something to do with this game. My dreams are full of this game and I absolutely have no idea what the rules or objective to it are. If I'm going to do a little dream analyzing I think it has a lot to do with the fact that since high school ended I haven't really engaged in enough competitive sports.
I've done crazier things than that but the point of this rambling is that I think I'm finally becoming comfortable being down here and having roommates. I am essentially sleeping through the night aside from the occasional restroom trip. I feel as though the rest of the season will be pretty easy. Christmas will be difficult and so will missing all 4 of the most important women in my life birthdays but this has been extremely rewarding.
I've learned so much about what it is to be on your own, truly on your own. And I know that no matter what goes on in life I'll be able to handle it. Life is great, you sometimes just have to take step out of your comfort zone to really appreciate it. I've always been a happy person, laid back and easy going. That's not going to change either, I just appreciate this life I lead a little bit more. I'm definitely thankful for all of you that are reading this (thanksgiving theme a little) and I miss you all terribly (N).
What I really like about this online blog thing is I never really have a plan on where it's going to go, it just kind of goes. So if it seems a little scattered and all over the place, that's because it is and that's kind of nice to not have any rules. So at this point I've drawn a blank and to me that means I'm done for the night. I hope you all take one thing out of my blog, if you ever catch me sleeping walking, don't wake me just have some fun and see where you can make the conversation go. If I wake you up it'd be easy to be upset but the point is, don't let my sleepwalking upset you because that's pointless why be mad when you can have fun!
Much love,
D
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment