dimensional said:
Well out of those I would go for Japan been once before and loved it but I expect they are still having a hard time over there at the moment but if it was any country I would go for Antarctica next always wanted to visit there for some reason.
Can't really call Antarctica a country, the current generation of the treaty basically nullified all territorial claims so the entire place is essentially one big no mans land. Realistically whatever country you are from has control over you. I worked there over a summer, spent 6 weeks in McMurdo, about 2 months at Byrd camp, and 2 weeks at the south pole station. McMurdo is a bit scenic as its situated on the end of a mountain range and overlooks open water during part of the summer season. Once you get on the actual continent (McMurdo is actually on ross island.... not on the continent proper) and move inland a bit its flatter than a pancake, flatter than kansas, flatter than flat. And very white =). I don't even know how to express how desolate and empty the place is. What makes it really neat though is that you and 10-50 other individuals manage to survive in the middle of it. Deep field camp workers are the rarest bunch though, theres roughly 1k people working McMurdo and maybe 100 deep field camp staffers each year.
If you want to go, your best bet is to apply with Raytheon here: http://rpsc.raytheon.com/employment/
This is their last year on the contract, next year it'll be on to someone else. You should be able to figure out from the NSF website who the current contractor is and then locate their website to apply for jobs
The NSF contracts all the services on the continent, cooks, electricians, janitors, dishwashers, laborers, weather observers(my profession)... just about any job you can think of that needs done in a small town needs done at McMurdo. There is lots and lots of competition, and the pay is mediocre in most cases unless you have a special skill. But if you really want to just go, my suggestion is to pad the bejeezus out of a resume and apply every year.
The above only applies to Americans and New Zealanders, if you're from another country you'll have to figure out what their program is like or obtain the right to work in US or NZ. I'm always happy to answer questions about the place, shoot a pm.
