The deployment team 2015/2016 is safely back in California and ready to enjoy the Christmas holidays. While -- as true scientists -- we are all eager to look at the data and how the stations are performing, there has to be time to relax and enjoy the warmth. Well, actually Southern California seems to be broken, I am wearing a sweater right now ...

We are back in McMurdo! And clearly everyone is happy to be back! We were even greeted with fluffy snow.

It is quiet unbelievable, but even in remote places as Antarctica you develop such as thing as a routine.

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We get to travel the world, go all the way to Antarctica and make amazing discoveries. Or something like that is at least what a lot of people expect from our work.

Sorry, to disappoint but currently, science might not be so glamorous at all times.

And my arms are sore. The minute the weather improved, we were out digging. Station 15 is now upgraded and back in the field and the same goes for 18. And 18 is special! Why is 18 special? It has been longer out here than the other stations, and since snow accumulates to about one meter a year, digging that station up was a major excavation mission. We had to excavate so much that we started to hope to find dinosaurs, but that did not work out, unfortunately.