Antarctica Part 5: Winter is Coming

Antarctica Part 5: Winter is Coming-

One night the program showed karaoke in the club lounge following dinner and we, The Wolf Pack, were determined to bring life to the party. After about 20 minutes of fumbling around with the karaoke machine a Chinese girl named Joyce notices our ineptitude and steps in to save the day. I can’t help but find humor in the fact that an Asian girl had to come to our karaoke rescue, but that’s beside the point. After a few songs are performed with marginal feedback from the largely disinterested audience, I step up to the plate. If there’s one thing I learned from my days as a DJ it’s not so much the technical level of your performance, but rather the selection of the song. My pick; Sweet Caroline. It brings the house down, obviously. A few more half appreciated performances and I’m back up. This time it’s Lean On Me, and I pull people out of the audience to sing along into the single mic with me. Another rousing success. Following that song I retreat to the top deck to get some air. Out there is Mikel, the Russian who fell down the crevasse. (If you’re not sure what I’m referring to get with the program. The man fell down a frekin’ crevasse!)

That day of the crevasse, in an attempt to lighten the mood, I referred to him as the most popular man on board. After a few days of reflection had gone by the reality became apparent that instead of the most popular he was actually, far and away, the most hatted person on board. (Phil, the rescuer, was easily the most popular). Everyone I spoke with about it was bashing the Russian behind his back, to the point I actually felt sorry for him. Sure there is an air of arrogance about him as he walks around stone faced wearing the same grey velour track suit everyday, but who am I to judge, maybe he’s just in a constant state of deep introspection and likes being comfy, I mean come on have you ever actually worn a velour track suit before? Regardless, when I saw him on the top deck I tried to engage him in conversation, if for no other reason than everyone else was giving him the cold shoulder. “Have you ever been to Las Vegas?” I ask… “Nau, I doht gamble”… “Well neither do I, there is a ton to do in Las Vegas aside from just gambling”… “Like vut?”… “Well, Vegas has amazing shows, it’s great for shopping and has arguably some of the best restaurants in the world.” His response- “See thees is tipikal Amerikanz, you tink you are beast at ebryting”… I find myself stunned and in absence of a snappy response, awkwardly laugh it off, tell him to enjoy the rest of his night and went back for some more karaoke. Next up; Country Roads…I crush it. As I lay in bed that night an arsenal of snappy comebacks surface that I actually could have countered with instead of laughing off his asshole response. Some of which incredibly clever and cutting.

(The Following Day)
One of my cabin roommates, Michael from the UK, has like many a male backpacker, a one track mind. Michael’s very being seemed to be centered solely around hooking up with the fairer sex. After unsuccessfully testing the waters with a few girls in our direct circle, Mikey removes a few filters and expands his search. He meets a girl from the UK that’s seemed to take an interest in him. As has become the standard for every evening, our cabin was where everyone came back to watch the nightly Antarctica film and this time he invited this new girl. Before the movie (March of the Penguins) starts he pulls me aside and asks if I can leave him alone with her in the cabin for an hour. I was dead tired, but of course I would take one for the team. We developed a code phrase. If suddenly Mikey said “How about those cheeseburgers today at lunch, weren’t they delicious?” That was my cue to leave the room and take everyone else with me. Soon enough this cue came. And by soon enough I mean like 3 minutes. Completely unwarranted by any advances from her if you ask me, but whatever, Godspeed. I drag myself out of bed and say to the other remaining girl still there; “Judith, I seem to remember you owing me a game of chess”. We had actually spoken of playing before but considering the timing she looked at me perplexed. I gesture with my eyes and jerk my head in a way that says she needs to get up and follow me. It takes her a while to pick up on this, but eventually she stands up and follows me out of the room. With the door closed behind us I explain the situation and with nothing better to do we go up the the club lounge and break out the chess pieces. It’s about midnight.

As we begin playing, Mikel, everyones favorite Russian, sits and watches with invasive interest. If you’ve ever played chess you’ll know how inappropriate it is for bystanders to make comments or otherwise gesture about the moves of the players. As Judith and I played our game he hovered over the board and would either “uh huh” in approval or “hmmmmm” in disapproval at every single move made by either of us. Finally Judith asks him to be quiet if he wants to watch. He ignores as if not hearing and continues. Every once in a while I would pause to think about my next move and at once he said “Ammerikans so lazy, take foreber at ebryting.” I give him a sideways look, shake my head, tell him he’s free to leave whenever he wants and continue with the game. Comments like this happened a few more times. Little anti American jabs here and there. A clear antagonistic attempt to push my buttons, so transparent and off-color that everyone in ears shot is uncomfortably taking notice. Finally I stop and and ask. “What exactly is your problem? Is there something you want to say to me?… Without skipping a beat, almost as if he was waiting for the formal invitation to say it- “Yes, I hate all you Ammerikans” then stares at me awaiting a reaction… I know with every fiber in my being that the best response is “Well, I still like you”, somewhat like blowing someone a kiss that’s giving you the finger. Instead I allow the blood boil from my toes to my head. I lean in closer so there’s no mistaking my sincerity, and only a few inches away while maintaining direct eye contact what comes out is “Well, go FUCK yourself then!” He raises his eyebrows and lets out a grand exhale in apparent surprise. “Ju take to neixt lebel” he says. I sit back in my chair and the chess game went on, now with 1 eye on the board and the other anticipating a KGB prison shank. Despite this now palpable tension, he continued on as antagonist to both my german friend and I. Things like when I took one of Judith’s pieces it would be “Berry berry sad, Hermany like 1945 again.” She took a piece of mine and he says “Another Ammerikans soldier dies in battle”… I have nearly all my attention now on him instead of the game and therefore allow my commanding lead to end in a stalemate (draw). It’s his turn to play. I want nothing to do with this guy, nor does Judith for that matter, but I refuse the game so she reluctantly plays him. As his queen gets taken in the fist 5 moves I stand over and say in my best Russian accent “Jep, cannot tink more den tree mobes aheed, this is reason Mother Russia looses Cold Vor”. He takes a series of deep breaths composing himself and retreats into his own mind. I can tell this strikes a deep, deep cord. Eventually, after he suffers a quick chess defeat, I offer an olive branch and suggest we retire to the roof deck to squash any differences. My main interest wasn’t to befriend this prick, but more so the chance of engaging in what would surely be a conversation like none other I’ve ever had. Maybe as a bonus I could work in the fact he’s never even thanked any of the 10+ people, myself included, for helping to pull him out of a crevasse.

We speak candidly. He talks about what Russia was and is no more. The pride he had as a child in his country and how he witnessed it washed away. The corruption that’s swept the government and maintains its stranglehold over the people. I tell him I wish more Americans had a broader view of the world, how few Americans have a passport, nor have any desire to visit other countries to experience other cultures. How I get treated differently when I travel just because I’m American and if someone wants to judge me without getting to know me personally then they are too ignorant for me to bother trying to change their mind. (A subtle, but direct jab at him). He goes on about how his entire country is fed up with the entire Western World, the U.S. In particular. He says “Winter is coming.” I pause with a searching look to remember where it was I heard this phrase before. He asks if I’m a fan of Game of Thrones. THAT’S where I heard this before. He repeats it again “Winter is coming”… Game of Thrones, for the uninitiated, is a volume of books written by George R. R. Martin that was recently made into an HBO series. In the series this ominous phrase “winter is coming” means the destruction of life as we currently know it. A prophesy of sorts that’s instinctively felt by all. A change on the horizon and a dark era upon us. (This is my humble interpretation of the meaning, I’m sure if you’ve read the books you could give a much more eloquent definition). So I ask him; “What does that mean? Are you saying we are heading towards war?” He doesn’t answer this. He’s quiet for a while and seems choked up. I pause and allow him time to respond, which he eventually does by rewording what he already said- “I lost a great country, it’s nothing now, WE lost a great country, MY people. Everyone is angry, people are starving… He stands up, turns to walk back inside, but stops just long enough to echo it one more time- “Winter is Coming” and closes the door behind him. We still had a remaining 3 days left on the ship together, but that was the last time our paths had crossed.

Bob