Antarctic Field Course - Study Abroad

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Ben's Journal

QA

Please use the links below to view a specific date further down the page. December - 2003 Sun. 14 Mon. 15 Tue. 16 Wed. 17 Thu. 18 Fri. 19 Sat. 20 Sun. 21 Mon. 22 Tue. 23 Wed. 24 Thu. 25 Fri. 26 Sat. 27 Sun. 28 Mon. 29 Tue. 30 Wed. 31 January - 2004 Thu. 1 Fri. 2 Sat. 3 Sun. 4 Mon. 5

Photos credited to Ben. Click an image to enlarge, hover over an image for a description.

12-14-03

It wasn't all sunshine and berries for long however. About ten minutes before we boarded, what seemed like a hundred girls about 14 years old walked into the terminal singing and clapping and just being loud. Yeah, they were on the flight. It was a long nine hours is all I can say. I had no one to sit with, so I was surrounded with hormone infested girls the whole time. I had one who basically slept on me for half the flight and on the other side, I think I sat by four different girls!! Apparently, they had gone to Disney World. Anyway, the flight was finally over and we transferred flights in Buenos Aires.

What a fiasco. It was the most confusing airport that I have ever been to. We were very concerned about making the flight, and we did, only because they waited for us. I think several of the passengers were angry with us. We were on our way though. We had to make one pitstop on the way to Ushuaia and it was the most desolate place I have ever seen. El Calafate was the name I believe. It was beautiful nonetheless. The strip was right on the water just across from the mountains. It was amazing.

Upon arriving in Ushuaia, the excitement started to build. We were finally there! It was a long journey, but definitely worth it. Ushuaia is smaller than I had pictured, but has an outstanding view. Won't be doing much today however. I have a small case of jetlag, and am extremely tired. The weather isn't cooperating either. Windy and rainy. Not much fun. But am definitely looking forward to tomorrow.

Tip of the day: When there are a lot of people (especially young girls) in a group with matching bags, or the like, be wary. You may be further ahead waiting for the next flight!!

12-15-03

Today we had our first assignment, kind of like a scavenger hunt. We were given questions that we had to find the answers to in two different museums. They were quite small and didn't have the elaborate layout, as you would see in a large city. However, they were comfortable to be in and still provided lots of information. It was interesting to see all the different species of birds and some of the seals that are located in the area.

The history of the city is impressive as well, such as the name of the land Tierra del Fuego. Magellan named it after seeing innumerable fires burning day and night. We explored a bit more today and tried a few restaurants. All have been good to me. It is funny the difference of culture. Every place has alcohol to serve, even the local burger joint. It is surprising how cheap everything is as well. It feels like we are kings here!

The town is not as picturesque as I had thought it would be, at least from the pictures I had seen. It is kind of rundown. The sidewalks are half there, half steps and very awkward to walk on, and there are a lot of stray dogs just running around. There are also a lot of people on the streets just selling wares out of vans and off of tables.

I realized today how extremely excited I am to climb the mountains. I can't wait, and I know I will be taking a lot of pictures. We had our first lecture today…kind of long, but very informative. We have our first test tomorrow, so we had to touch on a lot of things today. I am kind of nervous about it and should get to studying actually. Haven't had the time to really get out and hang with the group when they go out, but we will have lots of time for that when we get back. As for now, I am going to hit the books for a while.

Tip of the day: Don't be afraid to try something new. You may like it, you may not, but at least you have tried it.

12-16-03

Once organized here, we had another assignment to take care of. We visited yet another museum today. This one was the best by far. It was quite large and consisted of many different topics. The museum is actually an old prison, and each cell was like it's own exhibit. On the second floor in one of the wings, there were a series of cells that had the walls painted that kind of told a story. I got some pretty good pictures. The museum also had a lot of historical facts and even had a section of the prison that had not been rebuilt. This wing was extremely eerie. The room was looming with dust, and as the sun shined in it cast spectacular shadows throughout the hall. This room really made you slow down, stop, and think. It kind of put you in state of awe when it hit you that people's lives were spent in these actual cells.

There was also a Darwin room, which had a small display of fossils and of penguins. It was a very interesting room and I learned a few small facts. One thing that I found particularly interesting was that despite the fact of the penguin's size, it is known for not backing down when it comes to a fight. Bold little suckers they are! Seeing more pictures of penguins made everyone realize again how close we are to actually seeing them.

We board the ship tomorrow, and I am sure it is going to be quite an adventure! I myself can't wait to board. We started talking today about our group projects. I am a bit concerned because I really don't know where we are going with our topics. I think this is going to be a very difficult task. We are under a heavy time restraint as well, and I think everyone is becoming more aware of that also. But as for me, I have a few more odds and ends to patch up before the end of the day, so I am heading out.

Tip of the Day: Be careful of the fried eggs, they tend to be undercooked!

12-17-03

After lecture, we had several hours before we boarded. I mailed a couple of postcards, checked my email, made a phone call, and bought a gift for secret Santa's. I bought a really cool wood carving of penguins. After that, I headed back to our meeting place and we got our stuff together and headed to the pier. How EXCITING!! I can't even begin to explain the feeling that was inside of me as we stood next to the ship.

Once we boarded, we had cocktails and a small speech. We went through our safety measures and then proceeded to have supper. It was the captain's meal this evening and my steak was absolutely stupendous! I am really excited about the food we are going to be served on the ship. After supper, we left port and were on our way. As we left, the weather kicked up a bit as it started to rain and the wind was very strong. It was a sight to see however. The waves were quite large, but I am anticipating the Drake Passage. I hope to see large waves that overtake the bow. I'd love to get a picture of that. I do not believe I will get seasick either. I have never had the problem and don't foresee it to be one. I did not take any drugs, so we will see how things end up. I guess it takes a while for it to set in sometimes.

As time progressed, the sun set and we took in some of the sights of the Beagle Channel. The mountain ranges on both sides are stunning, as were the waves as we cut through the water. We have been on the deck several times and spent a good amount of time on the bow. In fact, I saw a shooting star this evening and Stacey picked out a satellite in the sky. We are hoping to be awake for when we enter open waters, but that won't happen until 2 am or so. It is ten after 1 at the moment, so we will have to see if I can make it that long to see the mouth of the Beagle Channel. The less you sleep, the more you see.

Tip of the Day: "The world is our home." - Kannan

12-18-03

A few minutes after, I was feeling fine and managed to take some pictures. Upon deciding to come back in due to the weather, I packed up and made my way down to my cabin once again. This journey also proved too much for me, and my guts let me know it. I threw up a couple more times and I have been in bed ever since, napping on and off and feeling fine. I am thinking that I will be here for the rest of the day. I don't feel that bad though, word has it that even those who took drugs are not feeling up to par. So in my opinion, it is better to be sick and drug free than to be sick and on drugs.

Tip of the Day: Take precautions when given the chance.

12-19-03

Later on in the evening, I went to supper. I really had no choice in the matter because I was absolutely starving. I braved the waters in order to obtain food in my system. All was well for supper, the food was good, my stomach was full, and I was ready to put in for the evening and sleep until tomorrow. However, my plans did not last that long.

Everyone was required to meet up front for a mandatory meeting on zodiac safety and the whole process of embarking and returning. After this meeting, our group as a whole stayed in the front lounge area to talk and gather our thoughts on our group projects. We talked for a bit, and decided we needed a bit more guidance. In order to do this, we stayed in the front lounge even longer. This room is probably the worst on the ship when seasickness is concerned. We stayed in there for probably another twenty minutes, and by the time we got out of there, I had the worst headache in the world.

When I got back to my cabin, I went to bed and did not move for the rest of the evening. I don't really know what came over me. It wasn't nausea, but it was wicked whatever it was. I just did not want to move. I slept through the night without even changing clothes. It was pretty rough.

Tip of the Day: It is always important to take care of yourself, no matter what the means.

12-20-03

The shores were interesting as well. For one moment, you could be walking on small pebbles, the next on metamorphic rock flats, and finally on massive amounts of kelp and seaweed. Skewers were in the area patrolling for an easy meal, but I think the penguins do a pretty good job of protecting the nests.

At Yankee Harbour, it was more of the same...however; there was a spotting of a macaroni penguin. He was the only around amidst hundreds of Gentoos. A Wendell seal was also there just being his lazy self. I don't think he moved the whole time we were there!! While at Yankee, we took some temperature measurements of different surfaces and tried to determine what exact direction we were going to take with our group project, but we came up with no conclusions.

At Half Moon, again there were a lot of penguins. There was also an abandoned research station, but we weren't allowed to go in. There was more discussion as to what our group was going to do, but I guess things had to be discussed between the faculty. My project of comparing glacier sizes from the present to records/pictures of the past was going nowhere fast. After talking about that for a bit, we were off on our own to explore some more. Half Moon provided an excellent example of glaciers and had the most spectacular scenery to date. I captured a lot of photos.

All in all the day was grand. It snowed for a while, which is a rare occurrence, and the weather was beautiful all day long. It was picture perfect if you will. It wasn't even necessary to wear all the layers that everyone brought. It was absolutely stupendous.

At the end of the day, everyone decided it was an evening to celebrate. Some of us were bummed about our projects because we didn't know where we were going with them, and the frustration wasn't allowing us to enjoy ourselves. However, we all got together in the evening, had a few drinks, a few laughs, and let the frustrations blow away with the wind.

Tip of the Day: No matter what happens, things always seem to work out in some fashion.

12-21-03

Once we had gotten there and had our meeting with our groups, collected data, and decided to go our own ways, we realized how big of a rookery it was. There seemed to be millions of penguins around the bend. The hills were covered with them. The wind made it a little more difficult the enjoy the scenery, but for those who were able to bear it, they could climb up the large hillside to get a good look at the whole area along with the ocean on the other side. This was a breathtaking experience. The penguins here seemed to be a lot more personable, maybe because there are less people that visit that area.

We literally had to walk through groups of penguins just to get to where we needed to go. The scenery here was lovely too. A large volcanic rock structure was the first thing that greeted us as we hit shore, and off behind was a stream that was created by all the snowmelt.

Our last stop of the day was at Deception Island. This island is a volcano and the waters are heated by the volcanic activity. There was very little wildlife to be seen, however, they were still there. A few penguins and seals were found in the area. The history of the place was interesting. A lot remained of the old whaling base, including foundations, large cylinders, and even a hangar. There was a lot of beach area due to the volcano, and the landscape itself was quite desolate. There was a pathway that we took up the side of one of the mountains that provided an outlook on the ocean at the top of it. It was probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen. There was a section of rock that had either been blow away from the volcano, or had broken off, or eroded away. Whatever fashion it was that carved the mountain like that had to be spectacular. It was absolutely awe striking.

Finally at the end of the day, we were all given the option to take a swim in the "warm" water of Deception Island. A hole was dug and water was allowed to enter. The volcanic activity warmed the water to that of a bathtub. Someone had the wonderful idea of jumping into the South Sea first...and then jumping into the warm water…so that is what we all did, those of us who got in anyway. It was definitely an experience to remember. What intrigued me to go through with it, I don't ever think I will know.

Tip of the Day: Sometimes it pays to be uncomfortable.

12-22-03

The mountains surrounding the point were amazing, and there were a lot of glaciers around. I got quite a few pics for the project. After Jougal, we visited Port Lockroy. This was a British base that was rebuilt and is now a museum of sorts. One can buy souvenirs, maps, become a member of the Antarctic Ski Club, and even send postcards! They have a running post office, believe it or not. I sent one to myself, just to get the stamp and seal.

After the fort we headed back for lunch, which was really good as usual. We then were headed to Lemaire Channel to head to Petermann Island. The scenery was spectacular and many pics were taken once again. However, due to the tides, there were several icebergs that were blocking the entrance to the channel and we were not able to traverse through it. We had to turn around and go back and take a different route. Because of this, plans changed a bit and we had supper before our last trek of the day. This was nice, because it gave us some free time today to catch up, spend some time on deck watching for whales, and just taking in the scenery and the nice weather.

For supper, we had an all out barbeque. It was great. Free beer and pop for everyone. We had our choice of pork chops, spare ribs, sausage, cheese filled sausage, brats, lamb, steak, chicken, and even foot long hot dogs. It was like heaven. When we were finished we loaded up the boats and headed to Petermann Island. Here, we saw our first Adelie penguins. There were a lot of chicks there, so that made people happy.

After I took some pics for the project, I sat and just took in the scenery. It really gives you a time to reflect and think about whatever is on your mind. Or, if one so chooses, it is also a great way to clear the mind.

Tip of the Day: There is a lot that can be said for a little bit of peace.

12-23-03

Atop the rock, we all took a break, took pictures, ate some clean snow, and took it all in. Then came the fun part. For those of us who wanted to, we could slide down the hill. The hill was steep enough and the snow was packed enough that you could just sit on your butt and pick up your feet and away you went! It was so much fun, I did it twice. I was quite warm after that, but had time to cool down and take some pics before we hopped back on the zodiacs for our 1-hour tour.

The tour was just as appealing as anything else. We toured along the edge of the mountains and came up close to the face of a glacier. We saw some blue-eyed shags, and we also had a whale sighting! That was extremely exciting. It was a minke whale, all by itself. We had to chase it down in a fashion, in order to have it right by the boat, but our persistence paid off and it dove right underneath of us. It was an awe-striking event. After that we continued the tour and landed on an iceberg. That was pretty neat as well, and a lot of fun. Finally, we skirted by the mountains again to see a frozen waterfall and a copper deposit. It was oxidized, so it was a greenish teal color and very easy to pick out. Then we headed back to the ship and had some chow.

Our next stop was changed from the itinerary due to weather conditions, but our new destination was no disappointment. It was a small gentoo rookery and had the scenery that is described in storybooks. The most spectacular part of it was the halo that had formed around the sun from the light reflecting off of ice crystals in the sky. It was absolutely amazing. I have never seen anything like it. I really enjoyed the place. We had a lot of time to take it all in and soak it up. I can't explain what kind of feeling a person gets when they have seen something like this place and know that they have to leave it. It is very humbling and the only piece of advice I can give others is that the only way they can come to appreciate it, is to experience it themselves.

Tip of the Day: Take time, take time and soak things in. It'll be over before you know it.

12-24-03

Today was spent trying to capture everything we had done. We had four days on the most remote place in the world, and now we are heading home. It is exciting due to the fact that we are going to pass Cape Horn on our way back before entering the Beagle. I will definitely miss Antarctica, but I am looking forward to getting back to the mainland. Hiking the mountains should be quite an experience, as should be the everglades. I am really excited about that, been looking forward to it since we left.

I am also ready to be home. Not homesick or anything, but just want to share everything I have done so far. Also want to be able to sit back and relax a bit. The trip has definitely been high strung; sometimes I am surprised at everything we manage to fit into a day. It is go go go everyday, but that's good I guess, cause it allows us to see more. Everyone is starting to realize what we have done on this trip and it's starting to hit home. Yes, we have schoolwork to do, and obviously that kind of stinks, but what we have done is something that very few people will get the chance to experience, which is a shame.

We had a few lectures that we attended today which were really good. Especially Ollie's lecture, his was about the Swedish expedition to Antarctica. It was really intriguing and helps us to appreciate our journey that much more. It gives a humbling feeling. Finally, at the end of the day, we had a party on deck for Christmas. It was a lot of fun because it is something you never do; however, I still miss my family and look forward to seeing them again.

Tip of the Day: Drugs really do help.

12-25-03

Anywho, we had a few lectures today that were alright. It gave us something to do, but I was really tired so I felt like I was in class again. We also had some movies that we watched as well. The first one was very interesting and one of the staff actually narrated it. It was about the whaling process and it showed how much hard work it was and how gory it could be. The other video was about going around the tip of South America and passing by Cape Horn. Which, interestingly enough, we managed to pass by and see after lunch. It was good to see green land again. The movie started out to be interesting and a bit funny, but it dragged on for quite a while. Then I just started to struggle with sleep. I was just worn out from such a busy week.

Anyway, we ate supper that evening and it was a great meal. It was the Captain's Farewell Dinner and the amount of food that was served was immense. I was particularly partial to the Sorbet that we had…and of course, the beef. There were a lot of toasts and the wait staff did a short song. It was pretty cool. Everyone had a good time and people started getting a bit sad that this was going to be our last night on the ship.

Later on, we had our own little Christmas party in the lounge. We exchanged gifts and had a really good time. I got a gift from Stacey, which was an Argentinean flag and a bottle of chocolate liquor. After the party, we pretty much just stayed up chatting with everyone in the bar and hanging out. It was a wonderful way to cap off the trip…in my opinion. Even the faculty got into it pretty good. I have a great picture of them all taking a shot! It was a good Christmas away from home to say the least.

Tip of the Day: No matter how much fun you have, remember the reason for the season.

12-26-03

After we checked in, we had a meeting in order to get a game plan going. Looks like we will be very busy for the whole time we are here, but we still have some fun things to do. We will be going to the National Park for a day, which should be good. And of course, the Everglades will be a good time. After our meeting however, the rest of the day was ours besides the fact that we had to meet at six in order to get more direction on the oral project. We went shopping this afternoon because tomorrow we will be hiking up the mountain in order to collect some data for another group. So we will need to pack our lunch.

Can you believe that peanut butter does not exist down here!?!? It blew my mind…seems they like dulce de leche. They have tons of flavors of that. Not quite what we had in mind, so we settled for plain jelly. After that we worked on our projects a bit, met with Bob to see what he thought, and was told we needed to organize a bit more. So that is what we did for the rest of the evening after supper, and we caught an episode of South Park. Fun times. And another plus, the view from our room is WAY better than last time.

Tip of the Day: Never, EVER, take peanut butter for granted!!

12-27-03

At first I didn't mind the idea of climbing the mountain. I thought it would be a good experience and a nifty way to have a lecture. What's better than hands on? However, I was very disturbed by the fact that we would practically be spending all day out there collecting data for someone else's project. Now, I have absolutely nothing against helping others out, but we were out there until 7 pm! With the kind of time crunch that we are under, I think I could have used some of that time, if not all of that time to work on our own project. The work we had to do was a lot of bull work too. I don't know, I just felt a little cheated out of my time in order to work on my stuff. Rather, I did work for someone else's project all day. Now I am exhausted from hiking around all day and taking measurements on more trees that I can count.

Oh well, what is done is done and I can't do much about it. But for now, it's time for supper. We'll be going out again; don't really know where. And after that, I will be doing homework all night. Fun fun, I know.

Tip of the Day: Be a friend of nature, and it will be a friend to you.

12-28-03

I met with Bob tonight to talk about my presentation. It went well, I just explained to him that it was only the second time that I had ever used Powerpoint. He just said it was ok as long as it didn't look like crap. I don't have to get all fancy and everything. That made me feel a bit better. But I am still feeling the pressure of getting everything done. I am just looking forward to New Year's Eve. Everything will be done by then and there will be no more worries. I will still have work to do when I get back, but it won't be under such stressful conditions, which will be really nice. Ah, but the stress is good for us I suppose. I was able to bust out 7 slides today for my presentation, and I will have to finish it up tomorrow, because I have to present it on Tuesday. Yeah, looking forward to that. Anyway, speaking of that, I should probably work on that some more.

Tip of the Day: You have heard it before I am sure, but don't procrastinate.

12-29-03

We found out tonight that we basically have to know everything for the exam. The format is different with a few short answers and an essay question. That could be good, could be bad. But it's all going to be over soon, that's the main thing. I am getting a little nervous about my presentation, but I guess I have always gotten nervous. Hopefully, once I get going I'll be able to rattle it off. That's normally how it goes for me.

We went shopping this evening. Going to try out the artificial refrigerator too. Had to buy more food for lunch tomorrow while we are at the National Park. I don't really know what that all pertains, but it should be a good time. Hopefully the weather will work with us on that one. I'll be packing my rain gear just in case. It's a hassle trying to fit everything in. Things are really winding down, and I don't think we will be able to do everything we want to in the time that we have.

I still need to shop and take some pictures of the town. Some people are considering going to another town, others want to go horseback riding, and others still are debating on going sea kayaking. I'd like to do them all because I have had experience in all of them, and they are all fun. The problem is that our only free day is Jan 1. It's just not going to work out. So that seems to be a bigger and bigger debate, what to do on the 1st.

Tip of the Day: When you are in a new place, make a list of things to do.

12-30-03

Once we got to the park, we began our excursion. The terrain wasn't too bad, a bit muddy at times and there was one hill that made me pant a bit, but it was a lot of fun. Our guide really flew though, and it was hard to take pictures and such, but after a while we just started slowing down and going at our own pace. While at the park, I tried some wild growing plants, including a fungus and a winter plant I think. The fungus had absolutely no flavor to it at all, and the winter plant tasted like pepper.

We stopped at a couple beaches and skipped stones for a while and ran across a few parakeets as well. It was a good time. I am not sure how far we actually walked, but our first trail was 6.2 km, and we walked on three different trails. It wore everyone out, because on the way home, everyone fell asleep on the bus. Once back, we had to present our orals. That took A LOT longer than expected. We were down there for 4 hours, and we still have more presentations tomorrow! No one has even started studying for the final, which is tomorrow at 4pm, so basically, we have a few hours tomorrow to study everything we have done thus far. Crazy. But tomorrow it will all be over, and we can finally relax. I am SOOO looking forward to that. And on that note, I am going to go study for my exam.

Tip of the Day: Nature will never cease to marvel mankind.

12-31-03

I woke up, studied some more and took a short South Park break. I needed to give my mind a rest. After my break, I went back to studying. Then came the moment. I went downstairs, as ready as I could be with the amount of time we had to study, and ended up having to take my test on 2 chairs because there wasn't enough tables for everyone. That kind of sucked. So we began a test that was supposed to be a 2 hour test. It had 40 questions in the first part, of which was concept questions I guess you could call them. Then there was a short answer section and finally an essay question. Well, turns out it took me 3 hours to take the test! But it felt really good when I handed it in. I'm not exactly sure how well I did, but it felt good.

I was soooo drained after that, but I couldn't think about that, it was time to get ready for New Years! Our instructors booked reservations at the Albatross Hotel. Food and drinks provided. It proved to be quite an evening as well. Exotic food, champagne, good cheer, beer, main course, dessert…they all contributed to the evening. Everyone had a great time, and Stacey and I even got a free tequila shot, so that made things even better. Lots of pictures were taken, people danced, the limbo began, and party novelties were handed out. Being that I wasn't able to spend the New Year with my family, I don't think I could have asked for a better group to spend it with. It was a great way to cap off a marvelous trip.

Tip of the Day: It's the people that are important.

1-1-04

We ate lunch with Craig, which was a good time. He bought us a beer and we talked about the trip and life in general. It was a good time. After lunch, we decided to watch a little South Park before heading back out on the town. We didn't do anything different, just kept walking around. It was nice because we had nowhere to be and nothing to do. It proved to be a very relaxing day, and I think we all needed that. I do have some things to take care of tomorrow, so hopefully that will go smoothly. It is hard to believe that we leave tomorrow. I am ready to go home, but it is sad at the same time. It seems that we have finally gotten into a groove down here, and now we have to leave. It will be cool being able to see Buenos Aires though. For now, I must go. My stomach is calling. Tip of the Day: You have to give 120%. If you only give 100%, things will only stay the same.

1-2-04

But anyway, I got everything that I needed and made a substitute for the shirt that I originally wanted. Upon getting to the airport, our flight was delayed for some reason, don't really know why. It wasn't a bad set back, I think about an hour or so. That was ok; the airport was really cool, although it was extremely hot. Finally we were able to leave for Buenos Aires. Upon arriving there, we got our luggage and hopped a bus to our hotel. It seemed like it was in a ghetto part of town, and the outside looked like crap basically. Looks can be deceiving though, because the inside was quite nice, a four star hotel. We didn't have much time there so we wanted to make the most of it.

We dropped our stuff off and headed out to get some pictures. We spent a few hours doing that and checking things out. We then went back to the hotel to see if we could find anyone to eat with. That didn't happen though and we went off on our own. Very good food. We ate pretty quick, because we did not want to miss anyone coming back from eating. We wanted to make sure we had a group to hit up some clubs. It all worked out, and the evening became quite an adventure. It took a while to figure out where to go and what to do, so we stopped at a café and had a few beers. Then we walked some more and ended up in a weird part of town, to say the least. We went to a bar and I had a tequila sunrise for the first time. It was really good. We finally managed to find cool place and hang for a while.

Tip of the Day: Take a taxi ride; it's quite an adventure!

1-3-03

So, the whole day was spent bonding, but we were finally able to get on the plane and fly to Miami. It was better than the last 9-hour flight, but it still left something to be desired. It felt good to be back in the states, but everyone was tired and snappy with one another. I was a little pissed to find out that my nametags were stolen off of my luggage. They were really nice ones too. So that made me bitter. It took awhile to get settled in at the hotel, but we managed. I called home and talked for a while and ended up hitting the sack and getting a whole hour of sleep for the evening. Big surprise there.

Tip of the Day: When you go the airport, take something to do!!

1-4-04

Once we got back, we decided to eat out. Go figure, everyone wanted Chinese. So that is what we did. It was a good time however. We celebrated Stacey's bday and put some candles in a piece of pie for her. Everyone was there too, so that was cool. I got lucky as well because they had a lot of American food too. It had been a long time since we had an "American meal" and it tasted great! I ended up eating way too much and feeling like I was going to burst! Once we got back to the hotel, we watched the Sugar Bowl. LSU ended up winning, and I still haven't figured out if I am happy about that or not, what with the Nick Saban ordeal and all. We stayed up until 12:15am, only to have to wake up and be in the lobby by 4:45am in order to make our flight home. This time we have spent together will definitely be unforgettable. Tip of the Day: Live life to the fullest and there will be no regrets.

1-5-04

The flight itself was good. We watched South Park and talked about life. It made me stop and think about how close we all had become. This was a once in a lifetime experience and we had the opportunity to do it together. A person couldn't ask for a better group of people either.

Getting back to the airport was a relief. It was good to see snow on the ground, but there wasn't much to speak of. We had a small sentimental moment with our group before heading off to get our baggage. Everyone's parents were waiting for us too. It was exciting and sad all at once. I almost had a tear come to my eye. It was good to be home, sad, because it was over. I am sure we will spend more time together though. As for me and this trip goes, this will be my last entry for this journal. From here we will see where life carries me, and hopefully I will once again be able to experience the land of ice and snow.

Tip of the Day: Take the time to reflect. It will imprint your memories not only on your heart and mind, but also on your soul.