And We Danced

While I have been here a few people suggested I see anything I can at the Fox Theatre, just to see inside. I got that chance when I said yes to seeing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It was not the normal venue they would perform at, but they wanted to do a small intimate sit down show.

Friday afternoon I met up with some girls at Oglethoorpe University. We got ready, walked to get fancy pizza for dinner, and then got on the train.

The whole exterior and interior was spectacular. The roof was just incredible, so much so that Macklemore got all the lights turned off so we could all see. The concert itself was just awesome.

Even though we had seats, we didn't do any sitting. We were dancing and singing the whole time and just having a really great time. It is a bit hard to sing along to rap, but that didn't stop us. It really was worth it. My favourite performances where Same Love, And We Danced, Can't Hold Us, Irish Celebration and Thrift Shop.

After the show we went back to Oglethorpe University and to a frat party. It was pretty packed inside the frat house and we had to wait out in the cold to get inside because there were so many people. It wasn't really my thing, but good to experience it.

On Saturday we spent some time exploring the Oglethorpe campus before going to stay at another student's host family's house. The house was huge! They had a pool, a pond, a room full of model trains, a theatre room, a bar and many bedrooms. It was nice to spend some time with some of the other students.

We went to another frat party. This one was much bigger and at a different venue, rather then the frat house. It was good, but not something I would want to go to all the time.

Savannah Take Two

Okay, here's another weird thing; I have noticed many people here seem to have about 17 different dressings and oils in their Subway sandwich instead of just one! I don't understand how the bread holds itself together.

A group of the GRSP students went down to Savannah to catch up. I went down on Thursday and we arrived early in the evening after the five hour drive. That night we went to a roof top bar which overlooked the river, it was really pretty. Then we went to a nice place for dinner, and to an ice cream place which kept me happy!

We had big plans for the next day but it rained so we had to make some adjustments. We went into downtown Savannah after a late breakfast and had a good wonder around. We had coffee and I had a cookie dough brownie which was yummy! That night we went out for dinner and then we went out dancing, we had a great time.

On Saturday we went to Wormsloe Historic Site, we drove and looked at the nice houses and went for a long walk. We also went to Tybee Island and went for a walk along the beach. It was so cold and windy! We saw the house and the swing from the movie The Last Song. We all want out to dinner at The Crab Shack and had a bit of a seafood feast. Then we went back and all watched a movie.

We all had a really nice time.

Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Weekend

For this long weekend we had a leadership conference in Atlanta. On Friday at noon all the students came together had lunch, and then explored the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. After, we had  a discussion about the things we saw and it was very insightful to get a perspective from other students. That evening we went to Slingshot Entertainment where we had dinner, bowled and attempted to conquer the Ninja Obstacle course. While some of us were more skilled, we all talked and had fun. That evening we all stayed with our weekend host families.

On Saturday morning I got Avengers waffles for breakfast before arriving at Oglethorpe University! There was also a continental breakfast before we started the days activities. We had a Fierce Conversations seminar where we talked about the principles, meaning and objectives of Fierce Conversations. “A Fierce Conversation is one in which we come out from behind ourselves, into the conversation, and make it real.” We learned about transformational ideas, The Beach Ball Model and how to coach conversations. We had lunch in the Oglethorpe Dining Hall, where we were well fed; I liked that you could make your own sandwich (peanut butter, honey and banana if you were wondering)!

Then we continued on into the early afternoon where we stopped and participated in the Stop Hunger Now service project. This involved us packing a vitamin packet, some dehydrated vegetables, some protein and rice into a bag to be sealed and sent to someone in need.  Each bag fed six people and we packed 10, 368 in two hours. Then that evening we all broke into smaller groups to have dinner. It was nice to spend some time together in a more relaxed setting.

On Sunday morning we were back at Oglethorpe University for the last activity before we were all off to our respective colleges. We had to come up with a service project that could win $10 000 to help implement our plan. We didn’t really win anything, the aim was to get us to work together in small groups to fight a problem connected to one of Rotary’s core values. It was facilitated by the Rotaract Club of Atlanta. It was really great to hear what everyone came up with.

Then today a few of us went for a big long walk to downtown Lawrenceville. Forty five minutes there and forty five back, it was really nice outside. It was sunny even though it was -1 degrees Celsius which is confusing! We got coffees and cakes and had a great time. I got a strawberry cupcake which was so good!

Orlando and HARRY POTTER

The first night in Orlando was cold for Florida, but much warmer then the last places we had been to. We landed early in the evening and were pretty tired from traveling so we had dinner and called it a night.

On our first full day we walked to one of the outlet stores which most people told us that we couldn't walk to. We didn't get anything in the first few shops and we started to worry, but that didn't last long as we made our way through and all came away with a thing or two. For dinner we went to this really interesting Italian buffet. I have never seen anything like it, they had salad, pasta, soup, pizza, bread and Italian desserts. The tomato soup was really yummy.

On Wednesday we got up early to get the bus to Universal Studios. I had made a game plan the night before and we decided to do all the Harry Potter stuff first. We had to clear security first and once we did we headed straight to the back of the park to Diagon Alley and went on Escape From Gringots. Even though we went on as soon as it opened, we still had about a 30 minute wait! It was really great though, the whole walk to the ride was inside the bank, and exactly like the movies.

Then we went on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade which was located inside Islands of Adventure, and went on Forbidden Journey, the walk to the ride was through the Hogwarts Castle which was really cool. Both rides showed video while you moved around in a car on a track and wore 3D glasses.

Next, my sister and I went on Flight of the Hippogriff, and the Dragon Challenge. Both were roller coasters and I liked them both. We walked around Hogsmeade, went in and out of the little shops and had some Butterbeer. It tasted great, but very sweet. it was just like we were there. Then we went back to Diagon Alley on The Hogwarts Express and explored. There was a dragon on top of Gringots that actually breathed fire!

We went on the Men in Black ride which was very cool, you actually got a gun and had to shoot aliens. We went on The Mummy ride, which was like the one in Singapore-an indoor roller coaster. That was our favourite ride. After that we watched the parade which wasn't as cheesy as we expected. There was Dora, Minions, Spongebob and even dancing fish on roller skates, which impressed us!

An early start for the next day, Mum, my sister and I went straight on the Rock It roller coaster. I didn't really like it as it banged my head around too much. Then we went on Shrek 4D, and on the Transformers ride, both the same as the ones at Universal Studios in Singapore, but we still liked them, We walked through Springfield which was cool, went on The Simpsons Ride and my sister got a giant doughnut which we shared. We also went on the E.T. ride which, while for little kids, was really cool and there was so much to see on it. We saw the Terminator show which I thought was pretty cool.

Then we went over to Islands of Adventure and all went on Flight of the Hippogriff. Dad and I went on Ripsaw Falls, which is a log ride and we got soaked, then we all went on The Spiderman Ride, and Doctor Doom's Fear Fall, which I really liked.

Another early start the next day, and our last day at Universal. We went on The Mummy ride twice in a row, then the Men in Black ride and E.T. It was raining a lot so we had to try to dodge the rain a bit. We went to Islands of Adventure and saw a stunt show called The Lost Voyage of Sinbad. Then Dad and I went on the Jurassic Park River Adventure were we got wet, but we remembered spray jackets this time so it wasn't too bad.

My sister and I convinced Mum to go on Doctor Doom's Fear Fall and she did like it. Then we all went through Seuss Landing where Dad made us go on this really lame train ride. We also saw another show called Poseidon's Fury which had special effects with water. Then Dad and I went on Ripsaw Falls again, we stayed dry, but our shoes did not!

My sister and I convinced Mum to go on the Dragon Challenge, but she didn't like it that much. We also spent some more time in Hogsmeade drinking Butterbeer. Then my sister and I went on Doctor Doom's Fear Fall for the last time before we left Universal for the last time on this trip.

On our last day in Orlando we got public transport to have a look at Disney. We went to Disney Springs for some food and shopping. We got the free Disney public transport to try and have a look at some of the parks, but we couldn't see anything. When we went to get the bus back to our hotel it was raining, and when we got to the bus stop it was closed and we had to walk to the next one. A bit of a disaster, but a funny story.

Now it's back to college for me and back to Australia for my family, wont be long before I'm back home!

New Orleans and Dad's Bloody Gumbo

We left Memphis on New Year's Day and headed for New Orleans. The traffic was pretty quiet. On the way through we stopped at Jackson, Mississippi and had a look at the state capital. The town was really quiet so we had lunch and then we were our way. We stopped at a rest stop and all thought it was far more exciting then any rest stop back home- there was a big park, with benches, vending machines, flushing toilets and even a security guard!

We all found it amazing driving in, all the roads were high up on stilts as it was all surrounded by water. We arrived in New Orleans late in the afternoon and the hotel was pretty busy as the Sugar Bowl was on that night. We were exhausted and glad to watch it on TV as it was very cold.

The next morning we drove into town. We parked near the water and then went for a long walk around The French Quarter.  First stop was coffee and a sports shop where we did not walk away empty handed! We then walked around the area and down Bourbon Street. The whole place had a lot of atmosphere. There were many people and street performers. All the buildings were really cool to look at, it also seemed like it was totally okay to just walk around with an alcoholic drink in hand!

We then went for a drive around and had a look at the Hurricane Katrina Memorial where they had 108 graves for those who were unidentified or unclaimed. We then drove down Saint Charles Street which was lined with  old wooden mansions which were really pretty. We went to a park opposite Tulane University and had a bit of a look at the university too. It was big and old and actually reminded me a bit of Guilford Grammar School back home.

Then today we drove about an hour and a half to Oak Alley Plantation, a sugar cane plantation. The main house was surrounded by oak trees which were over 300 years old. The house itself was originally owned my a Frenchman called Jaques Roman and it was built in 1837 by slaves. It was interesting to learn about the home and sugar cane production of that time. The plantation is still used today.

On our drive back it was incredible to see these huge boats that seemed to just drive beside the road. There was a big levee that separates the road from the Mississippi River.

We then drove with the intention of going to the Louis Armstrong park but dad wasn't wearing his glasses when he put it in the GPS and we ended up in this really sketchy part of town! We eventually found it and just had a look from the car. We also had to wait for the bridge to be lowered as a boat went by, and we all found that pretty exciting-we don't have them back home! We then went to Saint Charles Street for dinner and dad finally got some gumbo that he had been going on and on about.