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STUDENT JOURNALS
December 17, 2004
Geoff Green
Expedition Leader
35,000 feet somewhere high above North America
We're off! The journey begins!! In the next 24 hours we will travel across two continents en route to a third one - the big one - Antarctica! But before we reach our frozen frontier the cities of Miami, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Ushuaia await us! There has been a lot of excitement and good karma in the air this morning. Smiling faces, friendships forming, discussions unfolding. It is great to see our group coming together, and it will only continue to grow as we move south. Right now there are 34 of us, and by the end of the day in Miami we will have snowballed to 97! Once we reach Buenos Aires we'll be 103, and by the time we board our trusty expedition ship the Polar Star in Ushuaia, our team will be 110 strong!
In many ways this journey began months and years ago. The stories of how everyone has come to be a part of this expedition are as diverse as they are fascinating and inspiring. Some students have been doing endless fundraising. Some have won contests. Some have been selected and sponsored to participate through various programs around the world. It is great to finally put faces to names after so many months of preparation. Personally it is fascinating to see how dreams can and do come to fruition. How the cliché, "where there is a will there is a way", really can and does work! This is a very special group to say the least. And not only the students, our team of teachers, scientists and experts are an incredible bunch. Passionate, knowledgeable and eager to share it with the students!
So here we go… So much lies ahead. Adventure and discovery await! We look forward to sharing our journey to the bottom of the world with each of you…
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The Barrier That Hides Our Real Selves
The very barriers that break us down, build us up at the same time.
The meeting of new people makes us feel good inside and breaks down the racial barriers inside us.
This is our story-This is our life.
But it is just the beginning.
The very things we leave behind, in our own homes,
Keeps us secluded from the rest of the world,
However, inside ourselves we know that we reinforce our barriers inside our minds.
The only way we get to know ourselves is to step out of our barrier,
Step out of our the very thing that keeps us away from the world,
From different people,
From different styles and cultures and backgrounds.
By doing this, we actually reinforce what we are behind the color and governmental barriers
WE ARE ALL HUMAN
Written By: Malcolm Alexander
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Trudy and Ellen, Chaperones
What an awesome experience to meet students from across Canada, students whose leadership is already being demonstrated in their home communities.
Joshua, from Nain, Labrador, is the Vice President of the Rising Youth Council. This is a student group of 15 students from all over Labrador. Ask Josh any question about the treaty agreement about the Boise Bay Development.
Ashley, from Iqaluit, Nunavut, has already made plans upon completion of her grade 12 year to participate in the Cross Cultural Solutions effort to work with Tanzanian children who have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. On her return, she will attend university.
Bridget, from the Bronx, New York, is active in her high school and community. She is studying robotics and volunteers in her church, community cleanup campaign, and educating youth about AIDS.
Kelsi, from Port Hope, Ontario, participated in the Students On Ice Edge Flow Expedition to the Arctic in June, 2004. As a result, she was featured as one of ten students on an eight part Television Ontario documentary of the expedition shown on a program geared for teens called VOX.
Stay tuned for more about our talented expeditioners.
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Josh Pamak
Nain, Labrador
After starting two days ago in Nain Labrador, I must say the long and exhausting flights have proved to be only a small speed bump in my exciting journey from the far north to Miami. Even though we still have a few more flights to catch before we board our ship, meeting the new faces and sharing my culture and learning others has made the journey an even more fulfilling experience then I had imagined it would be. With another 2 weeks left in our expedition I am confident that I will learn much much more and experience things I never thought I would with people I probably would have never met if not for Students on ice.
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Kelsi Prince
Wow! We're not yet half way there but our time has been pretty awesome! Yesterday, the Toronto Group met at the hotel and then once all of the students had arrived from various destinations, we gathered in the Cabinet Room at the hotel for a briefing and dinner. Geoff welcomed us and then we had some ice breaker activities for about an hour. By that time, we were all tired from a day of traveling from different destinations. It was so fun…I enjoyed it a lot! We are all getting to know different people from the SOI team now and we're starting to feel like a closely knit group but that bond will only get stronger as we get farther along towards ANTARCTICA! I'm so pumped and it will be such an amazing trip. After having gone to the Arctic in June, I am very eager to learn and see how the two are different and what similarities they share. The people I have met are great and we are all hoping that we get to Antarctica soon!!!!!
At the moment, I am sitting in a ballroom in Miami after our flight just arrived at 1:30 p.m. We woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. at the hotel. Oh my goodness, we were all still exhausted. I guess that when you are this excited about an upcoming opportunity of a lifetime, you don't sleep as well as you could! But the thing is, we will all desperately need that sleep once we are so active and out in the fresh air. At 7:00, the three shuttles with students made the way over to the airport in Toronto so that we could board the plane. By approximately 10:00, we were off, and on our way to Miami. And finally…we've arrived! However, we're in this ballroom now, very excited to meet the rest of our SOI team and we anxiously await our two planes (the group out of Miami is being split up in two) that will take us to Santiago, and then Buenos Aires. This is so exciting! We are all so ready!!!!!
Anyways, that's the scoop so far…
Hello to everybody back at home. We're all doing well at this point in time. Love you all and I'll try to write again. I've got to go, hope you are all doing well.
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Yesenia Esguerra
Yesterday afternoon I and the rest of the kids from New York arrived in Toronto, Canada at 6:45 P.M. It was almost unreal that I was out of the United States. We met up with Jen that was waiting for us wearing a Students On Ice hat and name tag. We went to the hotel and met kids from all over the place. It was exciting to talk to them and try to learn a few things about them. We played games that made us laugh so much. It was fun! We went to bed to wake up bright and early at 5:30 A.M. We had some yummy breakfast and headed out to the airport were we would take a flight to Miami, Florida. Now here we are a lot more of us. I can't wait to see Buenos Aires, Argentina tomorrow. I am really looking forward to the rest of the journey. Bye for now…
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(Previous postings below)
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Geoff Green
Hello from the Toronto AIRPORT ...
Good Morning everyone. A quick update from the airport - we are about to board our flight for MIAMI. Everyone is well and happy! It’s a sunny day here in Toronto - great day for flying! Check in later today for some photos ... believe it or not - could not find a wireless connection in order to send them from the new Toronto terminal! We’ll call from Miami!
A quick hello from ‘Moe’ (Mosesie Arlooktoo) from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada: “This is AWESOME! And, very different from home --- Toronto is so city-urban. I’m looking forward to heading out - It’s my first trip outside the country!”
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Earlier entries below ...
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Geoff Green
Hello from our Toronto Hotel!
The fifth annual SOI Antarctic Expedition has officially begun!
It was a big day! All the gang is tucked into bed. Things went relatively smoothly. Students and staff arrived from all across Canada - literally from coast to coast to coast! From Labrador to Nunavut to Vancouver Island, our group all made it safe and sound!
We enjoyed a pizza dinner, and then some introductions, a briefing about the long journey ahead of us tomorrow, and then a few icebreaker activities, before crawling into bed.
Tomorrow's [today - Friday] wake-up call is 5:30am!! Here we go. Antarctica or bust!
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Ciara Foster ...
I arrived at the Holiday Inn not really knowing what to expect. I had been looking forward to this moment since I had applied in January but now that it had come I was slightly nervous. However my nerves were soon dispelled by the incredibly friendly welcome I recieved from everyone.
Everyone was in the same position as I was, eager to make friends but also slightly anxious. After dinner we all participated in a few ice breakers and after a few amusing games like bird in the pirch the ice was broken. I look forward to the next two weeks even more now than I did yesterday and I even await the plane ride with anticipation.
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Emma Stinson ...
I arrived at the hotel after driving three hours in a snow storm from Napanee, Ontario. It was amazing to meet thirty new people from all over Canada and parts of the U.S. I'm in a bit of shock that I am actually here and on my way to Miami.
When I sat down in the conference room I got to meet several people from New york City and England, then Geoff told us about the next couple days. It is going to be great to meet up with the rest of the group in Miami and meet even more people who all have incredible stories about how they got here today. I'm very excited and can't wait to get on the plane and eventually get on the MV Polar Star.
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Erika Lackey-Ruwald ...
Yesterday was the onset of this amazing adventure. Some arrived early, and some late, but the point is that we all arrived. We came together at dinner to meet and, as is usual with strangers, most were quiet. But when we sat to eat our pizza, connections were made and friendships too. I have always laughed at the thought of being shy, because in the end I know that the girl I sat next to last night will share in some crazy adventure along the way. It's weird to think, but I am going to be friends with these people for the rest of my life.
Last night we played games to help break the ice... which is pretty ironic considering our destination eh? This is only the first chunk of my new family, the Canadian and Northern US company, and we'll meet some more today in Miami. This is so great, and it's only the beginning. I'm ready. Antarctica, here we come!
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WEBMASTER NOTE: Hello to everyone “Following the Journey” ... To make it easier for you all to know when best to visit the website for our ‘Daily’ updates ... we will try to POST new journal entries, photos and expedition leader updates 2 x a day ... once in the morning (somewhere between 8:00 and 10:00 am ET, and again later in the day (somewhere between 5:00 and 7:00 pm ET). Knowing ‘flexibility is the key’ - updates may take place at other random times (so do visit often) --- though we will attempt to streamline the process. Also a reminder ... do check out our ‘Armchair Expeditioner’ Antarctic information and take a few minutes to visit our supporting PARTNERS page! Welcome aboard!
Angie Mac Donald
(angiemac@magma.ca) |
