Biografias

By the end of December, the pace has slowed slightly. Many scientists have left McMurdo to be home in time for Christmas. The holiday in McMurdo is somewhat bittersweet. Most ofthe contractor personnel are happy about having two short work weeks in a row (Christmas and New Year's Day), since by now people are starting to get burned out. But most missbeing with their families.

On Christmas Eve, there's another station-wide party, with music and lots of food, but it's nowhere near as rowdy as Halloween. The Christmas Choirperforms during the party, which is usually held in the garage these days. In past years the party has been held in the carpenter's shop and, in 1990, in the unfinished CraryLaboratory.

After the party, there's a choir recital and carol sing-along in the dining hall. Despite the absence of family, there's something quite peaceful about celebratingChristmas in Antarctica. Perhaps it is the complete absence of commercials. (No one's trying to sell you anything, so the Christmas Spirit arrives unsullied by advertisements andcommercialism. It's very liberating.) Perhaps it is because you are a million miles away from everything else, away from the war, crime, and other problems of the world. Or perhapsit is because you are in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, just a few hundred of you in a frozen corner of the world, surrounded by as much white as any Christmas couldever want. Whatever the reasons, Christmas in McMurdo always seemed to me to be more peaceful than anywhere else I'd been.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day bring anotherstation-wide party, a myriad little semi-private parties, and another welcomed day off. Better yet, New Year's Day marks the beginning of the real Antarctic cultural season.