Saturday, October 18, 2008

2:31 AM

October 16, 2008

Home sweet home or not. I returned today at about 3 in the afternoon, and it just didn't feel right. First of all, the temperature was 40 degrees warmer here in Philadelphia. And more importantly, for the first time in the week, I felt lonesome. I no longer had my close friends that I had made in the arctic screaming, laughing and talking all around me. I already missed the arctic.

The whole experience in the arctic was fantastic, and I can't be more thankful. I am thankful to all those who made this experience possible, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU Allison, Linda and Kristen for bringing this opportunity to my attention and seeing me fit and responsible, and trusting me for this trip.

THANK YOU Kathy, Matt, Bill, Lenore, Julie and Tim for all of the wonderful things that you taught me. Your presentations were great. You are the ones who made this trip a Leadership Camp. Without you, this trip would be nothing but a vacation.

THANK YOU funders and supporters of Polar Bears International for being so generous and making this trip Possible.

THANK YOU PBI ambassadors for being my family for a whole week. You were great friends, and I will miss you all. I hope we all get to meet again in the future. Finally, Good luck, I hope you all achieve great success in helping out the Polar Bears.

Last but not least, THANK YOU Robert Buchanan for organizing this trip. Thank you for caring. Thank you for instilling hope into me. Thank you for believing and having faith in me. I promise I won't let you down.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

1:25 AM

October 15

We didn't do much today. We had a video conference in the morning, and right after, we left for Churchill. The ride there alone was two hours. And guess what? I got to drive the Tundra buggy. I have never ever driven a vehicle before in my life. And the first time I drive one, it's a 10,000 pound tundra buggy. The path was a little bumpy, but I did fairly well. It is one of those first-time things that I will never forget in my entire life. It was amazing. After all, who gets to drive a vehicle that is over 15 feet in height, as long as a school bus, wide as two school busses combined and weighing 10,000 POUNDS on his/ her first drive?

Anyway, once we reached Churchill, we went straight to a souvenir shop, and then Gypsies (a really good restaurant). And within less than an hour, we were on a flight to Winnipeg. I was in a bit gloomy mood for we had left Churchill, but the flight itself wasn't too bad. I had found two really interesting Inuits to talk with. The older one, Luis, couldn't speak or understand English, but his son in law, Bradley (His Inuit name is Siakuluk), was a pretty good translator. It was really captivating to hear their life stories, especially Luis's. They both emphasized the importance of a dog team when Luis was young. After all, it was their only means of transportation and way to hunt. Furthermore, Bradley also talked about how his culture has thoroughly changed. I the past, his ancestors used to live in igloos, now he lives in a house. His ancestors used to get all of their food from the land; he has to depend mainly on processed food. It was especially fascinating to hear about his view of climate change and how it's affecting the Inuits. At one point in time, he just blurted out, 'It's just changing, eh. What can I say about it?' (His voice was so compelling that I couldn't help but to copy down his reaction in my notebook). The tone of his voice was utterly helpless. And when I talked to him about who I was, the organization of Polar bears International, what our group has learned and experienced in Churchill and how we are trying to create awareness of climate change, he was glad that there were still people out there who cared.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

10:12 PM

October 14, 2008

It seems like the coolest things happen in the night. Last night, during dinner two bears walked right up to the lodge near the kitchen. It was so inspiring. They were only five feet away from us. They came so close to our lodge only because Robert was cooking burgers outside on the grill. By the way, polar bears have a great sense of smell. I've learned that they can smell a Ring Seal through 5 feet of ice! That is amazing. Anyways, the bears stayed really close for more than half an hour. Then, all of a sudden, they started sparing. We then were treated to them growling at each other, but they soon retreated into the darkness.

Unlike other mornings so far on this trip, today was actually normal. I woke up at the right time, at 7:00, with the help of a few of my friends.

It wasn't normal for too long. Right about at 10:00, when my schoolmates in Philadelphia were in the Physics class, I was soaring in the tundra sky on a HELICOPTER! The whole experience was exhilarating. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole ride. I had adrenaline running through my veins especially when Chuck (Our really awesome helicopter driver) was nose-diving into the boreal forests simply to pass time. It was like a roller coaster, but only 10 times more crazy and thrilling. We saw the tundra from a birds' eye view. We saw the Western Hudson Bay, the rocky shoreline, the town of Churchill, the fort of Prince of Wales, the small lakes that dot this whole area. Our excursion only got better. We landed in a beautiful area next to a river to check out a Polar bear birthing den. It was smaller than I was expecting. I was surprised that a pregnant female polar bear can fit in there. I could hardly fit myself! It was one of the most beautiful and tranquil places I have ever been. It is one of those places that you have to be there to see; no one can explain it to you.

This is our last day at the Tundra Buggy Lodge. Tomorrow, we're going back to the town of Churchill and spending the day touring the town and buying souvenirs. I will miss this place, and the friend I made here.

Monday, October 13, 2008

10:14 PM

October 13, 2008

Last night, I finished my blog, ran to my bunk, put on my hoodie, jacket, two pairs of gloves and a hat, and ran outside onto the deck. In the sky was an amazing show of northern lights. It was like a giant curtain full of colors waving in the sky. It continuously changed from flames to circles and many other shapes. We are so lucky ' we got to see all three of the major colors: red, purple and green. It was freezing but I still stayed outside until 11 to see the incredible and beautiful once in a lifetime show of lights. The lights were spectacular.

I can't believe anyone didn't wake me up today. I overslept, and didn't wake up till 8:45. I missed breakfast, but I at least got enough sleep. I didn't miss much anyway. We later had a video-conference with a school in Pittsburgh at 12:15. It was pretty cool. The kids had a lot of good questions, and we had equally good answers.

At about 1, we saw an informal presentation from three of the local fur trappers. They were really nice people. Their stories really showed me their emotional and spiritual connection with the animals they trapped. Their presentation really opened up my eyes to the reality. Before, I thought trapping animals for their fur was totally wrong and all of the people involved with trapping were evil. Now, I know that trapping is a way of life. Trappers trap and 'harvest' animal fur just how farmers 'harvest' cotton. Jim, Betty and Parker also talked about how they only trap in a sustainable way and stop trapping a species if its population is stressed in anyway. I wish more trappers would follow in these people's footsteps.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

9:27 PM

October 12, 2008

Last night, I saw one of the most passionate presentations I've ever seen in my entire life. The whole presentation left me speechless just how it left other ambassadors empowered and motivated. Robert Buchanan, President of Polar Bears International gave the speech right from his heart. He truly meant every single word he said. Although I am already aware of the plight of the polar bears and the impacts of climate change on the world, I was simply left with an amazing mix of emotions that rendered me speechless.

His words are still echoing in my brain, 'Put that down in bold- WITHOUT ice, we CANNNOT have polar bears! They CANNOT locate their mates, the CANNOT breed, they CANNOT care for their young, and most importantly they CANNOT find food without ice!' And what he said was exactly right. With arctic ice in its record low levels, polar bears' lives really are in danger. And like he said, I can get stressed out over this situation, I can become sad, I can get into a state of denial, or I can do something about it. And that is exactly what I will do. I will be the voice for these great, amazing creatures who themselves cannot speak and tell us about all of the trouble that are in.

I woke up at 7:20 today, and felt so refreshed. After a full day of kitchen duty yesterday, all I needed was a good nights rest, and I got each and every second of sleep that I needed.

I wasn't even done brushing my teeth when Erica screamed,' Guys, I'm not kidding, this time there's seriously a polar bear outside!' I finished brushing my teeth, and quickly ran out with my camera. Like I've done every time at this camp, I ran out without even putting on my coat. It was so cool. He was walking right alongside our buggy. I guess it really liked the smell of the bacon that Robert George (my really nice friend and our cook) was cooking for breakfast. I bet the bear has been on his way here ever since yesterday evening when Robert was cooking dinner. Robert even said, 'I'd be very surprised if a polar bear doesn't walk down here within a day or two.' And just like he said, we had a bear right outside of our kitchen window this morning. He has been hanging around the camp all day. As a matter of fact, it is 9:20 pm right now, and he's still out around our camp.

The clouds have also cleared out, and the reflection of the moon on the Hudson Bay looks so beautiful. I'm going to have to leave now, I'm hearing that the northern lights are showing up outside. I'm so EXCITED!

Friday, October 10, 2008

9:53 PM

October 10, 2008

We finally flew into Churchill today. I had been looking forward to coming here for months. It felt great. We were greeted by a biting, cold wind and rain drizzle. And it was the actually the wind and the drizzle that made it so cold, the ambient temperature itself was only 35 degrees. Fortunately, we were given really warm parkas last night. They really kept us warm. As for the airport, it was wonderful. It looked more like a museum or an exhibit than an airport. It had a big preserved polar bear and a lot of little cool and very interesting things that the Inuits use in their everyday lives. There were also little stone statues of polar bears and walruses. It was very captivating. Right after, we left the airport and had amazing experiences of the day in front of us.

At around one, we saw our first polar bears in the wild. They were a football field or so far away from us, so it was a little hard to see them. Nonetheless, the experience was amazing. Like Tim (one of our really nice facilitators) told everyone, I will never forget that experience in my entire life.

Soon afterward, I had the best view of polar bears that I think I will ever have on this trip. Our whole team was on our way to Tundra Buggy Lodge when we saw three tundra buggy vehicles just parked alongside the pathway, and we instantly knew that there were Polar bears there. We went closer and to our amazement, there were three polar bears curiously walking towards our buggy. There was a mom and two cubs. It was really cool. The mom was closely looking out for her cubs as they inquiringly came closer and closer to us. I went out of the buggy onto the deck, and I was so excited that I even forgot to wear my jacket. The cubs walked even closer to our buggy, and one even stood up on his feet and put his front paws on the giant tires of our buggy. It looked like he wanted to climb up on the buggy. I got an amazing video of that incident. We just waited there till the three bears went onto the next buggy and then disappeared into the bushes. I froze out on the deck, but it was worth it. The whole encounter was fantastic. Even some of the facilitators who've been coming out here for years admitted that they've never witnessed such a sight.