Fresh from Antarctica, nurse reflects on a season at the edge of the world

Last winter — or summer depending on where you see it — Kim Hee-soo’s mornings began quietly, wind brushing past, snow crunching underfoot and, at times, the soft shuffle of penguins crossing her path. Near Marian Cove, where an icy bay teems with wildlife, the 30-year-old nurse walked each day to a small clinic at King Sejong Station on King George Island, one of South Korea’s two Antarctic research bases, located about 120 kilometers from the main land mass of Antarctica.