tonight appears to be one of those nights where my fingers feel this urge to dance their way across my laptop's keyboard. this urge doesn't tally with reality though, because there is nothing that really comes to mind for my fingers to translate into the written word.

just a quick update: we are 2 weeks away from the Aurora Australis arriving at our doorstep. when it leaves, it will be taking with it about 40-odd expeditioners from station.

as i have mentioned before, i will not be getting on the ship at the end of this summer season; instead, i'm going to be doing a wintering season at Davis. it is something that i've always wanted and have dreamed of ever since i first stepped foot on this continent way back in 2009.

however, perhaps it is because i started this season as a 'summerer', my brain hasn't really registered the fact that i will be staying on for another 8 months. it sounds silly, but hear me out. i know i have been going through the whole motions of informing my family and others who matter about my intentions, going through the whole ordeal of actually securing a spot on station (read: psych tests, jumping through hoops and crawling under AAD redtape AND MORE), ordering more stuff to come down to station to take me through the winter, and basically justifying to everyone WHY i am staying for winter...it still hasn't really settled in on a subconscious level.

that being said, i'm still extremely excited about my wintering prospects. a small part of me is yelling at me and asking me what the fuck i was thinking about, but overall, i am excited as fuck. i don't really know how i'm going to respond to the whole no-sunlight-for-8-weeks part, and the fact that i will be in isolation with only 20 other people...but no fear.

i'll just think of this whole gig as an OBS course, intensified.