The new Florida

When you come to Antarctica, most people are always asked many of the same questions like "What do you do here?", "Is this your first time on the ice?", "Where are you from?"... And, a cool thing is that people are from all around the states and cities like Northfield, Minneapolis, Forest Lake, Saint Paul, Hastings, Minneapolis, Faribault, Moorhead, Farmington, Apple Valley, Orr, Prior Lake, Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Monticello, Austin, Minneapolis, White Bear Lake... But, wait a minute, those cities aren't all around the state, you might notice. That's right my friend, those are all cities from the great state, or as my dad puts it, "God's favorite state", MINNESOTA! Now, when I first arrived here, it was kind of neat to meet a person here and there that was from the same state as me (MN), but as more and more people arrived, more and more of them began their trek to the bottom of the world in Minnesota. So, what began as a few others that I knew originated near my hometown, became borderline annoying that so many people down here are from the same state that when I would here the question, "Where are you from?", asked of someone else, I would assume their response to be "Minnesota". Now, I am not actually complaining about the vast herd of Minnesotans because it is kind of neat to share similar experiences, talk about home at times, and gang up on people if they talk bad about a Minnesotan, or how we say certain words like "bag". But, why is it that when I am at work, there are usually at least 8 other people working with me that are from MN?

I have a theory. Many people like to go south for the winter. Florida, New Mexico, and old Mexico being the most popular solutions. But, for many of us more more adventurous people, we like to push it a little further and go all the way south, landing us in good ole McMurdo Station, Antartica. It actually does make sense too! It's great because you are actually getting paid to go migrate south. You get to do some travelling. There is plenty of bright sunlight down here, 24 hours every day to be exact. And, for the one reason that will maybe blow your mind, it's warmer here! I like to know what is going on at home while I am away, and one of the things that I will check occasionally is the weather reports. And as I was browsing the world wide web, I went to weather.com, put in my zip code, and what i saw put a smile on my face and a little snicker escaped my mouth. -12 degrees fahrenheit was what the computer screen was saying the temp was going to be that wonderful night in Farmington, while way down in Antarctica, we are expected to have +34 degrees! But don't worry, it will only get warmer here in the next 2 months, maybe even get up to +45 degrees and if I remember correctly, it will get colder in Minnesota, maybe even down to -45 degrees.

So, I leave you with a job offer. If you are one of those people who like to get out of the cold Minnesota weather and head somewhere south, come to Antarctica! Of course you don't have to get a job to come down here, but I don't know a lot of people who want to spend the $5,000 to $10,000 to get down here on a cruise, only to actually only step onto Antarctica's soil for a few hours. So, if you want to do the opposite and possibly even make more than that much money, there is a job fair in Denver in March that you could go to and try to get a job with Raytheon Polar Services! Plus, it's kind of fun to say that you work for a weapons manufacturer!