Got up extra early today to go attend a redeployment meeting that covered a bunch of different stuff on what happens when we get done working down here. Went over getting our stuff back to civilization, cleaning up our rooms in preparation for their next occupants, financial and health stuff, and the fun part - travel! Still not sure exactly what my plans will be for after the ice, but it's fairly certain that there will be at least a little traveling around New Zealand involved! If things work out for it, I might try swinging by some other places on the way back home, but the main plan is to spend a month or two in NZ. Not that I'm having a bad time down here or anything, but I'm ready to get off the ice and back to someplace where the sun sets and things outside are alive!

Speaking of travel, I just got an email from my friend Thor (one of the guys from Mountain Crossings / Neels Gap,) who's in South Korea teaching English. Sounds like a really neat arrangement he's got, neat job in an even neater place! Here's a funny little snipped from that email:
The next night they added seafood and rice which was really
good too, though their idea of seafood differs from in the States. I
have learned not to expect shrimp, scallops, and crab. Here it is
octopus, squid, urchin and eel, different but good. If you are lucky
it will be cooked, as it is normal for it to be raw. Fine by me, but
after that third helping of raw squid you wonder if you can feel
things moving around down there. And on occasion, it is moving around,
so remind yourself to chew thoroughly to avoid any attempts at escape.

Also, I grabbed this picture off the common drive of the Krasin cutting ice recently. Not sure who took it, but thought it was neat and figured I'd put it here.