Week 33: 3 more weeks to good bye.

i have about 3 more weeks before i leave for the frozen southern tundra. it's weird! i haven't actually really given much thought to it because life has been quite...turbulent the past few weeks. and now i'm staring down the barrel of 3 more weeks of sunshine-and-green-trees-enjoyment and 4 months of icy hell.

please don't misunderstand and think that i'm ranting against going for this trip. au contraire, i'm actually super looking forward to it because the way i see it:

1. great career opportunity
2. fantastic experience (seriously...fucking Antartica? ok..i mean, not fucking in that sense but you understand)
3. trip of a lifetime

the other day, albert was saying that antartica is probably only second to exploring the moon in terms of the hostility of the environment as well as the reachability (?? did i get this right? sorry i was zoning out a little). i have to say that i agree!

anyway, i went for my psychology test today as part of my preparations for the trip. needless to say, i ACED it and completely won over the lovely interviewer lady so much so that she was shaking my hands vigorously towards the end of said interview and wishing me all the best of luck in my trip and future endeavours. there was a point where she asked me if i consumed alcohol and, of course, i said yes. she wanted to know when was the last time i had a drink, so i told her that it was a couple of days ago when i was in Melbourne. she proceeded to ask me HOW MUCH did i consume while i was there, and i told her with the straightest face, oh...about 2-3 glasses, i never more drink more than 3. and i swear, i kid you not, she broke out into the biggest smile and said GOOD GIRL in a resounding voice. at that exact moment, i felt an intense feeling of joy because i'd just made someone's day. anyway, your friend and daughter is not mentally unbalanced because the psychologist said so, so we can all rest easy tonight.

so yes, three more weeks for you to come say goodbye to me, after which you'll have to wait for march before you get to see my face.

[Edit: adding photos from my BEST 10 DAYS at the bottom of this post - i went a bit polaroid-crazy]