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5 December, 1999McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica Sunday I attended Mass this morning at Chapel of the Snows. Father Bede was scheduled to leave for Christchurch this morning and the new priest, Father Humphrey O'Leary celebrated Mass. Shortly after Mass, Father Bede walked in announcing that the Kiwi C-130 on which he was scheduled to fly, was experiencing technical difficulties! Father Bede was experiencing deja vu, remembering back to our 8 day wait in Christchurch! After a lab meeting to discuss our plans for next week, I worked at the gas chromatograph (GC) all afternoon! The GC still wasn't working the way that we would like, but it's tolerable! At 7 p.m. I attended a reception for some distinguished visitors! The reception was by invitation only and I had been selected to represent the Teachers Experiencing Antarctica program! The visitors were from the National Science Foundation. Dr. John Armstrong and Dr. Robert Suzuki represented the National Science Board and Stephanie Pfirman represented the Office Advisory Committee. It was quite an honor to meet them! Later, I met with Mike Madigan (the scientist who started my career) for a final toast to his research. Mike, Laurie, and Jennifer will be leaving on Tuesday! It was wonderful to have the opportunity to see Mike again. We were both so busy with our work though, that we usually only had time for a 'hello' as we passed in the halls! Have a safe trip folks! Mike and Jennifer and I talked with the crew of the malfunctioning Kiwi C-130 while we ate popcorn and toasted to Mike's successful trip. I had met the flight engineer of the crew, Bevan Mark, while we waited and waited and waited in Christchurch. It was nice to see him again and have a chance to talk with him. Bevan kindly discussed with me many aspects of the culture in New Zealand. I know that the Kiwi's speak English but, every form of English has it's own phrases and it has taken me quite a long while to understand some of the terms and phrases that New Zealanders use. For example, Bevan said that the evening meal in New Zealand is 'tea'. We would call it supper or dinner. In England, tea is an afternoon snack! Thanks Bevan for the Kiwi lesson! ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION: There are 3 major ice sheets on Earth; the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (this is the one that the ITASE team is studying), the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and the Greenland Ice Sheet. TODAY'S QUESTION: For what Antarctic feat is Admiral Byrd known? Sharon JUST FOR KIDS!!!!! I attended Mass this morning and a new priest was there. Father Bede was scheduled to fly home today. Our new priest is Father Humphrey O'Leary. We had a lab meeting in the afternoon to discuss our plans for next week. Then it was back to the gas chromatograph (GC). I have found that if I am very patient with the GC, it will work alright. I worked on the gases until late in the afternoon. At 7 p.m., I attended a reception for some very important people from the National Science Foundation. I represented the Teachers Experiencing Antarctica program. It was fun to meet these interesting visitors! In the evening, I met with my good friend, Mike Madigan. Mike is leaving Antarctica on Tuesday and we wanted to celebrate his successful trip to the ice! While we sat at Gallighers, we talked to the crew of an airplane that had come from Christchurch, New Zealand. It was interesting to learn about the different words that the Kiwi's use. For example, what we would call supper or dinner, the Kiwi's call 'tea'! ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION: There are 3 major ice sheets on Earth; the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (this is the one that the ITASE team is studying), the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and the Greenland Ice Sheet. TODAY'S QUESTION: For what Antarctic feat is Admiral Byrd known? Sharon
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