My Winter in Antarctica
Sandra Markle, US-American teenager, spent a winter in ice and cold

On a –30°F day last month, I pulled on my parka and hurried to Discovery Point as fast as I could. I'd heard a weddel seal had been spotted there. Now I could see it, next to a crack in the ice-covered sea. It was the first wildlife anyone had seen since the long Antarctic winter began in February. This seal was a sign. At last the coldest, darkest winter on Earth was ending!
I spent the winter at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. McMurdo is a U.S. research center. Just 202 people live there during the winter. Because of the bad weather, there are no plane flights into or out of McMurdo from February 22 until the end of August. Except for e-mail and phone calls, we were cut off from the world for the whole winter. And what a winter it was!

Light Shows in the Sky
It was dark for almost six months, except for the light of the moon and stars. With the windchill, it sometimes felt like –109°F. I would catch myself holding my breath outdoors because it hurt to breathe, even through a scarf.

The air was often full of tiny glitter-like ice crystals. They blew through everything, even the zipper on my parka. When the air was clear, though, I was treated to a spectacular light show. A green glow painted the sky with sparkling, shooting lights. These dazzling lights, called auroras, occur near the poles.

Now that the sun has returned, I'm enjoying another kind of light show: mother-of-pearl clouds. Ice crystals in the clouds act as prisms and break the light into rainbows.

I'm looking forward to returning this month to my family and warmer weather, but I will always remember the amazing winter I spent in Antarctica.

The 5 Best Things About My Winter in Antarctica
1. Auroras: I never got tired of the ever changing light show in the sky.
2. Ice fishing: I caught an 85-pound Antarctic cod. What an ugly fish!
3. Seal songs: Sitting next to a hole in the 8-foot-thick ice, I heard a seal in the sea below. Its chirping sounds were beautiful music.
4. Mother-of-pearl clouds: I loved seeing the sky covered with rainbows!
5. The people in this little town at the bottom of the world, I made wonderful friends.

The 5 Worst Things About My Winter in Antarctica
1. E.C.W. (Extreme Cold Weather) Gear: I had to put on 40 pounds of clothes to go outdoors.
2. Windchill: It was often –70°F with the windchill.At that temperature, a sneeze freezes in midair!
3. Yes, we had no bananas: I sometimes dreamed about going to a grocery store full of fresh fruit.
4. The dark: I liked seeing the moon and stars—but not all night and day.
5. Almost no smells: Antarctica is so cold and dry, there isn't much to smell. Even the scent of food cooking isn't very strong there.

By Sandra Markle

October 20, 2000

Greger: Now you tell me and us about Sandra's winter - in written or spoken English!