This is a time to be curious
I read this in the Wall Street Journal and found comfort in reading their story.
Coronavirus Lockdown Lessons—From Antarctica
Deep in the Antarctic, Karin Jansdotter and her companions have been in isolation since November. This spring, much of the world joined them.
The staff at Troll, a Norwegian scientific-research station 2,350 miles from the nearest city, have watched for weeks as people from Australia to New York struggle to endure lockdowns placed to control the spread of the coronavirus. Friends and family are still adjusting to a life that those on Antarctica are well-practiced in—seeing the same people and rooms every day—for months at a time.
There’s one key difference: Those at Troll station feel lucky to be on the one continent that has yet to report a case of Covid-19.
For Ms. Jansdotter, friends who once said she was crazy for working in this environment are turning to her for advice on isolation.
“I would never have thought that the rest of the world would be doing the same as I am doing now,” said Ms. Jansdotter, Troll’s chef and team leader. “It is utterly bizarre.”
This time of year, as winter approaches in Antarctica, there is only a small staff at the station, manning equipment that collects data. In February, the summer crew flew out, and Troll’s airfield was closed down for the season. In May, the sun will set and not rise again until August.
In winter, temperatures fall to below minus 40 degrees.
On a recent evening, Troll’s six-person team put together a list of advice for those struggling with extended lockdowns. Among their suggestions for families cooped up:
Give people space…folks have to be allowed time on their own to read books, listen to music, watch television.
Don’t let problems linger and get bigger—talk about it from the start.
Stay active, and even if you are in a small place, move furniture and get fit.
Call a friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time.
Most of all, Ms. Jansdotter said, everybody has to slow down.
“Take a deep breath, this is a time to be curious,” she said.
Antarctica hosts around 70 research stations, including the U.S. Antarctic Program, spread around a continent that is around 5.4 million square miles.
At Britain’s Rothera Station, Kelly Hogan, a marine geophysicist, advises those locked down to keep up communication with friends and family—and talk with them about how they feel about their situation. “It is always reassuring to know that other people feel the same way as you,” she said.
Also: Get a hobby, she said. At Rothera, staff members have taken up knitting and crocheting, bringing special wools and patterns to follow from home. Staffers at both Rothera and Troll suggest learning to play a musical instrument.
Luke Keehan, an engineer and electrician who is in his second stint at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica, said it is essential to give people time on their own. “Not disturbing people in their rooms or if they have headphones on can be a good start,” he said.
Before lockdowns around the world took hold, Ms. Jansdotter, 33, would typically FaceTime her parents once or twice a week. Now it’s four times. Communication in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend—he is the Netherlands—just got easier. Most recently surfing in Mexico, he is now holed up in the Dutch city of Haarlem, and able to talk more, she said.
As everybody else’s social life declines, those at Troll station have never been so busy—with staffers able to be part of festivities that friends back home are now putting online.
Ms. Jansdotter joined friends in Norway and the Netherlands for an online party. Roald Klingsheim, an electrical engineer, joined the quiz team from the Gnu bar in Stavanger, Norway, that he drinks with when he’s back home.
“It was a neat opportunity to see friends,” he said. “Although peculiar, as they were all isolated in
their own homes while I was isolated down here.”
To beat homesickness, people bring reminders of where they come from. Alex Sola, Troll station’s electrician, brought Norway’s full national costume, the Bunad, including embroidered waistcoat, knee-length woolen socks and breeches.
On Rothera, Ms. Hogan said she has a toy bird from her young daughter, which tweets “in a strange drawn-out way” when you press its stomach.
A British-Norwegian group established the first base in 1899, and the U.K. did much of the early exploration of Antarctica. The Norwegians, though, beat them to the geographic South Pole in 1911.
The first known expedition to spend an entire winter isolated in the Antarctic did so after being trapped in ice in 1898. Two members of the Belgian-led group were certified insane on returning home, according to Michael Smith, who has written 10 books on polar exploration.
In general, polar explorers have dealt well with isolation and lockdown, by imposing routines on their lives, keeping fit and arriving well-prepared, he said.
For a 1908 expedition, Ernest Shackleton brought a printing press, so his crew could create their own book of poems, stories and humor, called the Aurora Australis. Fellow Brit Edward Parry took women’s clothes, wigs and makeup on his all-male expeditions to the Arctic in the early 19th century. That was to put on shows for what he called the Royal Arctic Theatre, Mr. Smith said.
Ms. Jansdotter first caught what she calls the “polar bug” in 2012, while serving as the chef on a cruise ship that sailed into the northern polar region.
She landed at Troll last November for a stay of about a year.
With winter approaching, the few birds that inhabit Queen Maud Land, the slice of Antarctica claimed by Norway, have left, leaving no wildlife around Troll.
People should take comfort from their surroundings no matter how hostile they seem at first, said Ms. Jansdotter, describing the beauty of the glacier she can see from her office window as “super turquoise” in the sunlight.
Ms. Jansdotter describes small hikes, when the weather allows, to places few have ever been. “You can see the earth curve on the endless ice, you can hear the ice moving, cracking and groaning, below you,” she said, looking from her window across Antarctica.
Coronavirus Lockdown Lessons—From Antarctica
Deep in the Antarctic, Karin Jansdotter and her companions have been in isolation since November. This spring, much of the world joined them.
The staff at Troll, a Norwegian scientific-research station 2,350 miles from the nearest city, have watched for weeks as people from Australia to New York struggle to endure lockdowns placed to control the spread of the coronavirus. Friends and family are still adjusting to a life that those on Antarctica are well-practiced in—seeing the same people and rooms every day—for months at a time.
There’s one key difference: Those at Troll station feel lucky to be on the one continent that has yet to report a case of Covid-19.
For Ms. Jansdotter, friends who once said she was crazy for working in this environment are turning to her for advice on isolation.
“I would never have thought that the rest of the world would be doing the same as I am doing now,” said Ms. Jansdotter, Troll’s chef and team leader. “It is utterly bizarre.”
This time of year, as winter approaches in Antarctica, there is only a small staff at the station, manning equipment that collects data. In February, the summer crew flew out, and Troll’s airfield was closed down for the season. In May, the sun will set and not rise again until August.
In winter, temperatures fall to below minus 40 degrees.
On a recent evening, Troll’s six-person team put together a list of advice for those struggling with extended lockdowns. Among their suggestions for families cooped up:
Give people space…folks have to be allowed time on their own to read books, listen to music, watch television.
Don’t let problems linger and get bigger—talk about it from the start.
Stay active, and even if you are in a small place, move furniture and get fit.
Call a friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time.
Most of all, Ms. Jansdotter said, everybody has to slow down.
“Take a deep breath, this is a time to be curious,” she said.
Antarctica hosts around 70 research stations, including the U.S. Antarctic Program, spread around a continent that is around 5.4 million square miles.
At Britain’s Rothera Station, Kelly Hogan, a marine geophysicist, advises those locked down to keep up communication with friends and family—and talk with them about how they feel about their situation. “It is always reassuring to know that other people feel the same way as you,” she said.
Also: Get a hobby, she said. At Rothera, staff members have taken up knitting and crocheting, bringing special wools and patterns to follow from home. Staffers at both Rothera and Troll suggest learning to play a musical instrument.
Luke Keehan, an engineer and electrician who is in his second stint at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica, said it is essential to give people time on their own. “Not disturbing people in their rooms or if they have headphones on can be a good start,” he said.
Before lockdowns around the world took hold, Ms. Jansdotter, 33, would typically FaceTime her parents once or twice a week. Now it’s four times. Communication in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend—he is the Netherlands—just got easier. Most recently surfing in Mexico, he is now holed up in the Dutch city of Haarlem, and able to talk more, she said.
As everybody else’s social life declines, those at Troll station have never been so busy—with staffers able to be part of festivities that friends back home are now putting online.
Ms. Jansdotter joined friends in Norway and the Netherlands for an online party. Roald Klingsheim, an electrical engineer, joined the quiz team from the Gnu bar in Stavanger, Norway, that he drinks with when he’s back home.
“It was a neat opportunity to see friends,” he said. “Although peculiar, as they were all isolated in
their own homes while I was isolated down here.”
To beat homesickness, people bring reminders of where they come from. Alex Sola, Troll station’s electrician, brought Norway’s full national costume, the Bunad, including embroidered waistcoat, knee-length woolen socks and breeches.
On Rothera, Ms. Hogan said she has a toy bird from her young daughter, which tweets “in a strange drawn-out way” when you press its stomach.
A British-Norwegian group established the first base in 1899, and the U.K. did much of the early exploration of Antarctica. The Norwegians, though, beat them to the geographic South Pole in 1911.
The first known expedition to spend an entire winter isolated in the Antarctic did so after being trapped in ice in 1898. Two members of the Belgian-led group were certified insane on returning home, according to Michael Smith, who has written 10 books on polar exploration.
In general, polar explorers have dealt well with isolation and lockdown, by imposing routines on their lives, keeping fit and arriving well-prepared, he said.
For a 1908 expedition, Ernest Shackleton brought a printing press, so his crew could create their own book of poems, stories and humor, called the Aurora Australis. Fellow Brit Edward Parry took women’s clothes, wigs and makeup on his all-male expeditions to the Arctic in the early 19th century. That was to put on shows for what he called the Royal Arctic Theatre, Mr. Smith said.
Ms. Jansdotter first caught what she calls the “polar bug” in 2012, while serving as the chef on a cruise ship that sailed into the northern polar region.
She landed at Troll last November for a stay of about a year.
With winter approaching, the few birds that inhabit Queen Maud Land, the slice of Antarctica claimed by Norway, have left, leaving no wildlife around Troll.
People should take comfort from their surroundings no matter how hostile they seem at first, said Ms. Jansdotter, describing the beauty of the glacier she can see from her office window as “super turquoise” in the sunlight.
Ms. Jansdotter describes small hikes, when the weather allows, to places few have ever been. “You can see the earth curve on the endless ice, you can hear the ice moving, cracking and groaning, below you,” she said, looking from her window across Antarctica.
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