Lake Oconee

Okay some more strange things- so many people write in pencil not pen. I'm actually one of the few who write in pen! It is also really easy to spot an international student at the dinner table- they will be using a knife and fork, not just a fork!

I went to The Municipal Court of Lawrenceville to write a report for an assignment. It was very interesting. There were lots of traffic offences and people were even in court for home maintenance violations!

I helped out with some yard work at a nearby YMCA. It was nice to be able to see their facilities, I put out pine straw, did some weeding and cleaning up.

I have also discovered that I can in fact throw an American Football, I can even make it spin. We also go rock climbing on Thursday nights. This is fun and a really great work out!

This weekend we went to Lake Oconee with some of the GRSP students in my area. There were twelve of us all together. We stayed in the homes of local Rotarian's. The house I was at was surrounded by a gold course!

On the way there we took a scenic route. We saw huge distribution centres and homes. We also stopped in a little town called Maddison for a late lunch.

On the Friday night we all had a southern BBQ dinner together and then listened to an opera singer who lived in the area. It was really personalised and he had an amazing voice.

On Saturday we worked with Habitat for Humanity. This meant we were putting frames for houses together for those less fortunate. They have a program where people must apply for these homes and they have to help build it and pay back the cost of materials over a period of time. Their motto is "We provide a hand-up, not a hand-out."

That afternoon we went to the lake. The weather was not the best, but it did stop raining for us, and the weather never stopped me anyway! It was great to spend some time together. We played a bit of volleyball and Frisbee, and got dragged around behind a boat which is always fun!

That night we had burgers for dinner and then listened to a talk about the local area. We then did some karaoke. Which was great fun and by that point we were all exhausted.

On Sunday the four of us at GGC all went to a BBQ hosted by one of my host families. We were pretty tired, but had a really nice time. It was a good chance to meet some of the other host families.

The Lake House

So the bikes in America are different, and I learnt this the hard way. I slammed on the front brakes thinking they were the rear ones going down a hill and went for six (no one here gets this expression!) The brakes are around the opposite way here.

  Monday 7th is Labor Day here and we were invited to someone's house by Lake Lanier. We had a great time paddle boarding, kayaking, jumping off stuff and getting towed behind a jet ski.

This past weekend all the GRSP students got the opportunity to all meet up again. The student weekend was hosted at Clayton County, about an hour and a half from GGC.

We got together on Friday evening, had dinner and then stayed with host families in the local area for the weekend. There were three or four students with each family. The family I stayed with were very nice and had a cute little dog, similar to mine back home. 

On the way back to their home we spent some time with a small group of students at another home, it was a great chance to have a good chat with some people.

On Saturday we met back with everyone for team building activities. In groups, we had to build boats out of cardboard and duct tape. These boats had to not only float, but carry someone a short distance. Only two boats didn't sink, ours wasn't one of them.

The event was held at the same place The Hunger Games: Mockingjay was filmed, so that was pretty cool. There was a little water park too, so we got to go on watersides and a trampoline in the water.

We all had dinner together that night and we had a Model UN and then there was a DJ. It was really interesting to hear different perspectives on current issues like refugees and technology.

On the way back to the weekend host family's house we stopped for ice cream, so that kept me pretty happy! Then we were back the next morning to all go back to our schools. It was all over very fast.

Dragon Con 2015

Today I learnt that all the cons I have been to in Perth are tiny. Dragon Con is huge. It spans across several hotels and there are people absolutely everywhere.

We got there early to buy tickets to get in, you could only buy tickets online a year in advance. The line for registration, or to get your entry tickets, wrapped around the building and down the street. Luckily we all decided to pay cash and the line moved quite quickly. I got a badge to get in, instead of a crappy wristband.

I had pre-purchased a photo with Robbie and Stephen Amell, so we raced over to another hotel to get there on time. We went up and down different floors until we finally found where to go in the giant maze.

They were both really nice and even a little bit shy, especially compared to Nathan Fillion and John Barrowman! I thought it was funny we all had hats on. The line to have that photo moved really fast and it was over too soon.

There was a room called the Walk of Fame, full of booths where you could meet celebrities, have a chat to them, get autographs and sometimes photos.

They had a huge parade which went on for a few hours, we didn't stay and watch, but got a few glimpses of it as we walked between hotels.

We then wrestled our way through people to get food and pretty much picked the place with the shortest line. We walked over to another hotel to look at the vendors. This was two huge warehouse sized levels of people selling toys and games. We were packed in there like sardines. When we left the line to get in there was even longer then what it was to get in. I did enjoy looking at everything.

There were cosplayers everywhere and we got a chance to sit against a wall in one of the hotels and just watch people go past. I got a bucket, which is just a cocktail in a small bucket. I don't even know what it was, but it was pink and yummy.

We also walked through where all the artists were, which was a huge area too. About the size of the whole show floor in Perth. Some of the art was really incredible. I bought a Firefly and an Agent Carter print.

By this point our feet had had enough and we called it a day. While there were so many people, we were very lucky with lines and didn't have to wait long.

It was a great day and a totally new experience! I'm sure there are a few people back home who are at least a little bit jealous!