2009 Expeditions › Completed Expeditions › Bering Ecosystem Study: Early Spring Plankton and Benthos › Ask the Team
What's it like to be home?
April 16, 2009 - 8:59am
Hi Deanna.
So, you've been home for a few weeks now....what's it like to be home?
Janet
Virtual Base Camp
- 2009 Expeditions
- Completed Expeditions
- Bering Ecosystem Study: Early Spring Plankton and Benthos
- Ocean, Atmosphere, Sea Ice, and Snowpack Interactions
- Geologic Climate Research in Siberia
- Bering Ecosystem Study: Spring Plankton and Changing Ice Cover
- Prehistoric Human Response to Climate Change
- CReSIS Greenland Ice Sheet Studies
- Bering Ecosystem Study: Summer Ice-free Conditions
- Greenland Education Tour ‘09
- High Arctic Change ‘09
- Seabird Ecology in the Bering Sea
- Alaska Climate Variation ‘09
- Polar Bear Response to Sea Ice Loss
- Microorganisms in Antarctic Glacier Ice
- Antarctic Undersea ROV ‘09
- IceCube: In-ice Antarctic Telescope
- Dissolved Organic Matter in Antarctica
- CReSIS Aerial Survey of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
- Ice Core Drilling in West Antarctica
- Completed Expeditions
- 2008 Expeditions
- Bering Ecosystem Change
- Bering Sea Benthic Studies
- Drake Passage Opening
- Greenland Atmospheric Studies
- Greenland Education Tour '08
- Arctic Tundra Dynamics '08
- Changing Tundra Landscapes
- Bering Ecosystem Study '08
- High Arctic Change '08
- Nuvuk Archaeology Studies
- Ocean Dynamics Beaufort Sea
- Kuril Islands Biocomplexity '08
- Lake Ecosystems in Antarctica
- Ancient Buried Ice in Antarctica
- Antarctic Undersea ROV '08
- Erebus Volcano Antarctica
- Oden Antarctic Expedition '08
- Measuring East Antarctic Ice Sheet Stability
- 2007 Expeditions
- Oden Antarctic Expedition '06
- SEDNA Beaufort Sea Ice
- Bering Ecosystem Study
- Greenland Snow Studies
- Bering Sea Predators
- Arctic Tundra Dynamics
- Greenland Education Tour
- Greenland Seabird Ecology
- Climate Change Svalbard
- Alaska Climate Variation
- Kuril Islands Biocomplexity
- SIMBA Antarctic Sea Ice
- Antarctic Undersea ROV
- Human Impacts in Antarctica
- Antarctic Ice Sheet Studies
- Oden Antarctic Expedition '07
- South Pole Ozone Changes
- Antarctic Weather Stations
- TREC Expeditions
- Photo Gallery
- Project Maps
- Related Programs
- Journal Archive
- Podcasts
- Polar Profiles








Hello Janet-
When I first came home, my senses were confused. I left a white, noisy world filled with broad horizontal spaces and re-entered a many colored world filled with vertical spaces and various sounds. It did take a couple days for my body to adjust to no rocking and noise at night.
Now I feel that I must pinch myself to remind me that it wasn't just a dream. I did walk on the frozen Bering Sea; I really saw walruses in their natural habitat; And I didn't cook or do dishes for almost a month. It was lovely. I do miss the skies, ice, people, and science.
My family was just as overjoyed to see me as I was to see them. We spent most of spring break together playing, coloring eggs, visiting the cherry blossoms, cooking, and talking. It was wonderful.
At school, my students and co-workers creatively transformed my classroom entry into an igloo with a picture of me dressed in traditonal clothing. What a grand homecoming.
It is good to be back.
Deanna