Flag Day
This morning was the much-awaited “Flag Day.” We landed at Neko Harbor, where we took a short hike up the mountain and had photos taken with Rob Swan and our flags. Each person was allowed up to three flags, not including team flags (such as Team USA). While my group was waiting to take photos, we did a short activity with Matthias - we each had to mime an object that represented our personalities, and the other team members had to guess what it was. I chose a telescope because I am a very detail-oriented person.
After returning to the ship, we ate lunch outside on Deck 5. There was an interesting discussion about how NGOs can shift to more sustainable business models. Team Shackleton met during Team Time, and continued the “Sweet Spot” activity.
After returning to the ship, we ate lunch outside on Deck 5. There was an interesting discussion about how NGOs can shift to more sustainable business models. Team Shackleton met during Team Time, and continued the “Sweet Spot” activity.
Zodiac Cruise - An Icy Adventure
After Team Time, I went on a second zodiac cruise. We didn’t make any landings, but it was very serene. During the cruise, we noticed that there a few different kinds of sea ice (ice that’s formed when the sea freezes). Curious about the ice, another person on my zodiac, Robert Marks, picked up two different pieces of sea ice. One piece was translucent, because it had air bubbles in it, and the other was clear - the clear ice is less common. Everyone in the zodiac passed around the ice and tasted it! It tasted like fresh water, but was slightly salty because it had been in the sea. Our zodiac guide told us that the salt is pushed out of the ice when it freezes.
Camping on the Snow
After an early dinner, it was time to go ice camping! We rode on the zodiacs to an island, and watched the Sea Spirit sail away. The 2041 Team Leaders instructed us about how to dig out a flat platform in the snow and create a wind barrier. I teamed up with Robert Marks, Henry, and Ameera. First, we traced out an area for our sleeping bags, and had Robert lie on the snow to determine how large an area we needed to carve out. Then, we dug out some snow using spades, and flattened it out using our boots. We piled up the snow that we dug out around the boarder of the plateau to protect ourselves from the wind.
Soon after we had finished digging out an area in the snow and laying out sleeping bags down, it became dark. I taught Henry and Ameera “star tripping” - one person looks at a star in the sky and spins in a circle ten times. Then, another person shines a flashlight in their eyes, which throws off their balance. My group also attempted to do “light art”: you set the camera to a really high exposure, and then write / draw something using flashlights.
Soon after we had finished digging out an area in the snow and laying out sleeping bags down, it became dark. I taught Henry and Ameera “star tripping” - one person looks at a star in the sky and spins in a circle ten times. Then, another person shines a flashlight in their eyes, which throws off their balance. My group also attempted to do “light art”: you set the camera to a really high exposure, and then write / draw something using flashlights.
After a few hours, it started to get really cold, so my group decided to lie down in our sleeping bags. Earlier in the evening, Jason (a 2041 Team Leader), gave a hilarious demo for how to take off our outer layers and get into our sleeping bags. He showed us how to take off our outer pants while keeping them connected to our boots so that it would be easy to put them back on in the morning, but I wasn’t very successful at it. It probably took around half an hour to get situated in my sleeping bag, because I had put everything I needed for the night inside of it, and had to find everything with my flashlight. I put hand warmers in my socks, gloves, and pockets, and had a neck warmer, balaclava, and hat on my head. I also wore a pair of ski goggles because it started snowing. It actually would have been colder if it hadn’t been cloudy, because the clouds trap in heat. The view of the stars was really nice - I could see them intermittently, when they weren’t covered by the clouds.