I now know why the bar has a drink limit...

Well, our time on the ship is coming to an end in about a week. And even though we will be off by Christmas, the Captain decided to have a Christmas party for all the researchers and crew aboard the Amundsen with us. It was made up of three parts: a friendly hockey game between the researchers and the crew, followed by a nice dinner buffet with wine served, and finishing off the night for a party at the bar. I remember the first two parts...

The hockey game was fun. The crew made some pretty nice goals along with goalie pads for the two goalies. They used snowmobiles to plow an area of ice of. We didnt have skates, but worked up quite a sweat running around in all our cold weather gear and boots. If youd like to check out a clip from the game, go to www.thearcticexpedition.com and click on videos. Here's a pretty cool looking frame from the video

So after three 20 minute periods in -20 deg weather, the game ended in a 3-3 tie and it was time to go back inside and warm up. And what better way to warm up than hit up the bar! Now one thing I need to explain before going any further is that all the alcoholic beverages on the ship are dirt cheap. A can of beer is $1.50 Canadian (pretty much the same as US) and a shot of rum or whiskey is $1. They want to keep it affordable because most of the crew is on the ship for 6 weeks at a time. Now due to this cheap cost for booze, there is typically a 5 drink limit per night. Now you can get around it usually, depending on the bartender, but usually just get a few extra drinks. This was not the case for the Christmas party...

So after a few pre-dinner beers, we had dinner. I was pumped, the first thing I saw were mini pizzas, then chicken wings. Honestly, I was craving pizza ever since we got on, so this was awesome! So I pour a glass of wine, get up, and my seat is taken, so I sit at another table. Well Im the only one sitting there, so the guys make room for me at the original table. Of course, they insist I bring the bottle of wine from my table over, so I do. We go through two bottle between 6 of us, then find another stock pile. We finish off one more and people are startin to exit. Well, Hugo, one of the researchers just happened to have a bottle in room, so we snuck it down and finished that off between 3 of us. This is where things really begin to get blurry. My drink count is 2 beers + about a bottle of wine.
Now the bar is open and fully rockin out. Its about 8pm and we are drunk. So what do we do? Drink more. I have a few more beers, and then I decide to start doing shots. This will be the downfall for my evening... First shot, who better to do one with than the Captain of the ship:You can see the drunkedness come out in my eyes. Now honestly, this is the last point I remember of the night, so I figured instead of trying to write any more, I will just post a few more choice pictures that I woke up to to help describe my night to myself.

Keep in mind I have no recollection of this, only my camera remembers the evening



















I think I look good compared to that guy!















OK, I think I am beginning to scare her















And that must have been my outro...








So after an evening of festivities, I make it back to my room. Of course, even I couldn't make it back without doing something else stupid. According to one of the guys that was at the bar, my finale began with me buying a beer. I open it up, take one sip, and literally fall into a wall and onto the floor. Magically, I managed to not spill one drop, but he took the beer from me and I went straight up to my room. Also, I apparently held a conversation with Tony for a few minutes before crawling into bed. Once I woke up at 730am with a killer headache, I do the usual check; wallet, camera, watch, all there. Then I look down and realize I am still wearing one shoe. I scurry in my bed to look for the other one, of course it is no where to be found. Now I am like "Fuck, I only have one shoe". Fortunately it ended up falling off the bed and I managed to make it to the bathroom and down some Excederin. Let me just tell you, the next day was pretty horrendous. I had a stomach ache and headache all day, and today (2 days after the party) I still have a headache. All I have to say is the Cannucks know how to throw a Christmas party! Now, next goal, don't black out again until the New Year!!!