Turf in Antarctica?: A Year Later!

So as I am writing this I am taking a break from last minute details to go back to Antarctica for a second season. I have been reflecting on the past year and all the fun that I have had and the places I have seen and been. I have been asked why go to Antarctica, well in all honesty why not. To be able to tell someone that you have been to a place where few people have gotten a chance to go to and see animals up close that you would have to pay to see at a zoo from behind a glass wall. I have made friends for life and most of all I got a chance to work with the best grounds crew in all of Major League Baseball (Jim Joyce told us this).

So I can say I am happier now then were I was a year and a half ago when I first applied to work in Antarctica. I had a few struggles this year with getting qualified to go back because of some lost paperwork but I am glad to know that I wasn't the only one. It has been a trying season for all my friends and myself to get cleared to go. I hope that next season the qualification process goes a whole lot easier for everyone. I am glad to know that I am going back and will be working with and seeing most of my same friends from last year. Knowing the process of getting to McMurdo, where things are and how things run will make getting started a lot easier to. I will be working in the same department as I did last year, hopefully have one of my old roommates back but we will be living in a different dorm than last year, so we will see how that goes.

Saying good bye this time around has been easier for me, since I know that I can call home whenever I want, e-mailing is easy and sending mail out is easy to. So home isn't as far away as it seemed a year ago. This time it has been a staged goodbye for me with my family. My sister Joan and her husband Matt and their two girls took a trip to visit family in Germany and won't be back till after I leave. I couldn't believe how much my niece Orly grew while I was gone, but she got to know me this summer while I was home so hopefully when I get back in the spring she isn't scared of me like she was when I got home back in March. My dad left 2 weeks ago to continue on with his cross country bicycle ride so I got to say goodbye to him before he left. I am looking forward to raising a drink to him with my friends at McMurdo when I find out that he has reached the Atlantic ocean. I wish I could be there with him to ride the last day of his long journey with him, but I know that we both will be proud of each other for our accomplishments even though we are thousands of miles apart. Tonight I get a chance to say good bye to my sister Eva and her family over dinner. I will miss Breandan and Elsa her two kids while I am gone, but I know that Breandan will remember me and Elsa will get even bigger while I am gone, but I will have all next summer to spend time with her.

Well that is all for now. If you would like to send me something via mail you can send it to the address below. If you do choose to send me something as much as I would like alcohol, that is a big no no for us. But food is always welcome.

Tim Schunck, ASC
McMurdo Station PSC 469 Box 700

APO AP 96599-1035

Hope this finds everyone well and hope you all enjoy this years blog.