I have always thought that the continent of Antarctica looked like this:
Then I learned this week that Antarctica isn’t at all what I’ve always envisioned. Beneath the ice that covers the continent, the actual landmass is not nearly as solid as I once thought.
It’s practically an archipelago, filled with islands, peninsulas, and inland lakes and seas.
How did I not know this before today?
Did you know this?
Have I been somehow left out of this fascinating bit of information?
Of all the people in the world who didn’t know this, I should not be one of them.
When I was ten years old, I received a globe and an atlas for my birthday because I asked for them. Instead of requesting an Atari 2600 or a skateboard, I asked my parents for maps.
I was, and still am, a geography nerd.
When visiting London earlier this month, I entered every map store I could find, and in London, there are many.
In high school, I skipped taking typing class in favor of a geography class, which led to a fight with administration, multiple meetings with the vice principal, and a front page school newspaper piece entitled “The Right to Write” about my techers’ demands that I type my term papers but their refusal to allow me to use the school’s typewriters because I had never taken the class, which they did not require.
You can’t ask me to type a paper if you can’t provide me with the equipment to do so.
I won that fight.
I still have that school newspaper.
Today, I type with about six of my fingers in a haphazard way, because I thought the study of geography was more important, not knowing I would spend my life writing books, magazine pieces, blog posts, musicals, plays, and more.
Millions of words, typed in the least efficient way possible.
Boy, do I wish I had learned to type properly.
But no, I took geography because I loved and still love the subject, and yet Antarctica’s actual land formation escaped me until this week.
I still can’t believe it.
