Two and a half months within a 1/2 mile radius. Does that sound fun? It actually has been surprisingly not too bad, considering it's like living in a downtown city, which it is downtown Mactown, having everything you need almost in the same building. I will try to give you a vision of where I live as I have had many requests of what there is to do and such.
It's a pretty basic little town, McMurdo Station! Out of the hundreds of buildings here at the station, everything is basically either orange, blue, red, or cream colored. No amazing architectural feats or fancy designer-brand-made buildings, just your basic square metal buildings, ranging in size. There are many strange statues and little quirky weird things around the base that make you go "huh?!?". For example, there is a giant man cut from a flat piece of metal on one of the hills and below on the road, a large orca formed from chains that was made years ago and thought to be pagan. Then you travel on down the road a bit further to a footpath and footbridge to find someone has welded together an interesting troll underneath the bridge. These are just a few examples of what people probably do when they are stuck here in the winter or just bored in some downtime, day to day. The lay of the town doesn't nearly make sense, seeming to me that they just put buildings up as they needed them where they had room, as everything isn't in a grid and building 155 is next to 211, 108, and 142. The roads are also kind of strewn about with a certain intersection that has 5 different roads leading to it and only two stopsigns.
For the nightlife, which at the current moment has nothing to do with light, there are many things to do. If you feel like being active, there is the "Gerbil Gym", where people go to use aerobic machines, and there is the "Meat Gym/Acey Ducey", where you can go to lift weights. In addition to this building, there is a ceramics room, arts and crafts room, bouldering cave, and even a 2-lane bowling alley. This bowling alley is very special in that is the oldest and only manual bowling alley in the world, dating back to 1961! Everything is manual in that people are at the end of the lane setting up the pins and then sending the balls back, and you have to keep your own score. This means that a 10 frame game will typically last about an hour, but is at times a bit more fun and challenging since the floors are nto professionally kept and warped a bit, so no fancy curves when you throw the ball down the lane. I am also proud to say that I am the team captain of the Galley Slaves for the bowling league. Games commence soonish. If you are looking for something a bit more active and even socialable, then you can go to the "Big Gym", where they regularly have it set up to play either basketball, soccer, or volleyball. Or, we even have our very own climbing wall to try your hand at. Yes sir, you can even make your own route on this 25 foot wall(approx.)! And of course, as the weather is getting nicer and there is no sunset anymore, you can take your time doing what you please in the outdoors and go on the many designated hikes around the station, or see the town by playing on the 9-hole frisbee golf course that goes around and over many buildings and piles of shipping crates. And of course, if you like to party, MacTown has been known to cater towards that desire. We most recently had our Halloween party, which was a very fun time of everyone dressing up and dancing. Or, you can almost always find a room/lounge party/social gathering to join that will probably be broken up soon enough if it is too late. Or, finally, we do have two bars to choose from. First there is the ever popular Gallaghers Bar, that is usually full of dancing, slow bartenders, but cheap beer. It is also outfitted with an arcade golf game from a few years ago, as well as a multicade system that has maybe 15 different old-school Arcade games like Donkey Kong, Burgertime, Qix, Centipede... Then, there is the more rowdy, rough smoking bar, Southern Exposure that as soon as you step foot into, you will wreak of ashtray until you shower with bleach and set fire to your clothing. But, saying that, it is a fun bar, with poker occasionally going on and the shuffle board and pool tables are always full, if you can see them. And, completely opposite from Southern is the Coffee House, which is very cozy inside that you can get most any type of coffee drink and wine from and relax with friends, read, or play boardgames. Aside from all the activities going on in town, if there is anything else that you want to happen, you can always go to the Rec. Department and volunteer to become the point of contact for your own fun thing.
I hope that this has painted a probably horrible picture of where I currently live. My dormroom is actually connected to the same building as the galley so I never have to step outside to get to work, which is nice at times. Then again, this can be a bad thing where I may not step outside for days and realize that I am surrounded by beautiful mountains in Antarctica! And, for all your snacking/gift needs, there is a store in the same building that has many American treats, as well as Kiwi. This includes our liquor store with a daily allowance of 12 beers, or 2 bottles of wine, or 1 bottle of Bailey's/Amaretto/Kahlua, as they stopped selling liquor this year in the store. There are also many toiletries and clothes and other gifts that are almost all advertisements for the United States Antarctic Program or boasting that "I've been to Antarctica". Finally, there is a well-stocked video store that actually has pretty current movies and series, as long as people donate them to the store when they leave the continent. And if you are just wanting to watch TV, we do get a few channels. We get one Australian channel, CNN/FOX news channel (depending on time of day), 2 channels that are always looping different movies, ESPN, and another AFN channel which is the Armed Forces Network that has random stuff.
So, it isn't that bad living at the bottom of the world. It's true I do miss many things like sushi and tap beer, along with friends and family and my dog, but there are many activities and the fact that we work 6 days a week, 9-12 hour days, that occupies our time. Let me tell you, working in a cold environment that has zero humidity, catches up to you and wears you down. The one bad thing is that the package that my parents sent me from home of stuff that I wish I had will probably not reach me for at least another month since it is a larger sized box and not a flat envelope. I still think you should all send me something nice!
It's a pretty basic little town, McMurdo Station! Out of the hundreds of buildings here at the station, everything is basically either orange, blue, red, or cream colored. No amazing architectural feats or fancy designer-brand-made buildings, just your basic square metal buildings, ranging in size. There are many strange statues and little quirky weird things around the base that make you go "huh?!?". For example, there is a giant man cut from a flat piece of metal on one of the hills and below on the road, a large orca formed from chains that was made years ago and thought to be pagan. Then you travel on down the road a bit further to a footpath and footbridge to find someone has welded together an interesting troll underneath the bridge. These are just a few examples of what people probably do when they are stuck here in the winter or just bored in some downtime, day to day. The lay of the town doesn't nearly make sense, seeming to me that they just put buildings up as they needed them where they had room, as everything isn't in a grid and building 155 is next to 211, 108, and 142. The roads are also kind of strewn about with a certain intersection that has 5 different roads leading to it and only two stopsigns.
For the nightlife, which at the current moment has nothing to do with light, there are many things to do. If you feel like being active, there is the "Gerbil Gym", where people go to use aerobic machines, and there is the "Meat Gym/Acey Ducey", where you can go to lift weights. In addition to this building, there is a ceramics room, arts and crafts room, bouldering cave, and even a 2-lane bowling alley. This bowling alley is very special in that is the oldest and only manual bowling alley in the world, dating back to 1961! Everything is manual in that people are at the end of the lane setting up the pins and then sending the balls back, and you have to keep your own score. This means that a 10 frame game will typically last about an hour, but is at times a bit more fun and challenging since the floors are nto professionally kept and warped a bit, so no fancy curves when you throw the ball down the lane. I am also proud to say that I am the team captain of the Galley Slaves for the bowling league. Games commence soonish. If you are looking for something a bit more active and even socialable, then you can go to the "Big Gym", where they regularly have it set up to play either basketball, soccer, or volleyball. Or, we even have our very own climbing wall to try your hand at. Yes sir, you can even make your own route on this 25 foot wall(approx.)! And of course, as the weather is getting nicer and there is no sunset anymore, you can take your time doing what you please in the outdoors and go on the many designated hikes around the station, or see the town by playing on the 9-hole frisbee golf course that goes around and over many buildings and piles of shipping crates. And of course, if you like to party, MacTown has been known to cater towards that desire. We most recently had our Halloween party, which was a very fun time of everyone dressing up and dancing. Or, you can almost always find a room/lounge party/social gathering to join that will probably be broken up soon enough if it is too late. Or, finally, we do have two bars to choose from. First there is the ever popular Gallaghers Bar, that is usually full of dancing, slow bartenders, but cheap beer. It is also outfitted with an arcade golf game from a few years ago, as well as a multicade system that has maybe 15 different old-school Arcade games like Donkey Kong, Burgertime, Qix, Centipede... Then, there is the more rowdy, rough smoking bar, Southern Exposure that as soon as you step foot into, you will wreak of ashtray until you shower with bleach and set fire to your clothing. But, saying that, it is a fun bar, with poker occasionally going on and the shuffle board and pool tables are always full, if you can see them. And, completely opposite from Southern is the Coffee House, which is very cozy inside that you can get most any type of coffee drink and wine from and relax with friends, read, or play boardgames. Aside from all the activities going on in town, if there is anything else that you want to happen, you can always go to the Rec. Department and volunteer to become the point of contact for your own fun thing.
I hope that this has painted a probably horrible picture of where I currently live. My dormroom is actually connected to the same building as the galley so I never have to step outside to get to work, which is nice at times. Then again, this can be a bad thing where I may not step outside for days and realize that I am surrounded by beautiful mountains in Antarctica! And, for all your snacking/gift needs, there is a store in the same building that has many American treats, as well as Kiwi. This includes our liquor store with a daily allowance of 12 beers, or 2 bottles of wine, or 1 bottle of Bailey's/Amaretto/Kahlua, as they stopped selling liquor this year in the store. There are also many toiletries and clothes and other gifts that are almost all advertisements for the United States Antarctic Program or boasting that "I've been to Antarctica". Finally, there is a well-stocked video store that actually has pretty current movies and series, as long as people donate them to the store when they leave the continent. And if you are just wanting to watch TV, we do get a few channels. We get one Australian channel, CNN/FOX news channel (depending on time of day), 2 channels that are always looping different movies, ESPN, and another AFN channel which is the Armed Forces Network that has random stuff.
So, it isn't that bad living at the bottom of the world. It's true I do miss many things like sushi and tap beer, along with friends and family and my dog, but there are many activities and the fact that we work 6 days a week, 9-12 hour days, that occupies our time. Let me tell you, working in a cold environment that has zero humidity, catches up to you and wears you down. The one bad thing is that the package that my parents sent me from home of stuff that I wish I had will probably not reach me for at least another month since it is a larger sized box and not a flat envelope. I still think you should all send me something nice!
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