Goodbye GRSP

Last weekend we went to Hilton Head for the Rotary District 6900 Conference, this was not my district but all the GRSP students were invited, and the weekend before that we went to Savannah for the Rotary District 6910 Conference.

We went down to Savannah on the Thursday and that night we went out for dinner and walked along river street. That evening we sat around talking for a while. The next morning we had to get up on stage introduce ourselves to all the Rotarians, and then we had some free time. We discovered there is a free ferry that makes a few stops so we rode on that. That evening we went on a river cruise which was very nice and the food there was very good.

We had a lunch on Saturday where there was this very amazing guest speaker who talked about teaching deaf children to read, I found it very interesting. That afternoon we were supposed to go on a dolphin sightseeing tour but it was cancelled because the wind was too strong. Instead we spent more time wondering around Savannah, shopping and frozen yoghurt eating. That evening we had the Governors Ball, which was a fancy dinner and a band performed at the end. We all had fun.

We spent time writing in each others year books and then we were all sad to say goodbye to each other, possibly for the last time as not everyone was going to the next district conference.

We managed to get a ride to Athens on Wednesday night and we went out for dinner with a few friends from the University of Georgia, we also walked around downtown Athens. The next morning we drove to Hilton Head. The first night we had barbeque (but not steak and sausages...pulled pork and mac and cheese). Then that night we went in the pool and spa (or Jacuzzi or hot tub like what everyone else there called it!).

On Friday morning I got up earlish and went for a long walk along the beach, then I helped with registration. We went for a swim at the beach and in the pool before we had a rehearsal for that evening's events. We had a buffet dinner overlooking the ocean and then later we walked onto the stage with our countries' flag and sang a song for the Rotarians.

On Saturday morning we assisted with a presentation and then we had quite a bit of free time. I went for a picnic lunch at a park with one Rotary Club and then later played mini golf with a group of students. We also filled the time by swimming at the beach or in the pool.

We had a great time, but it was rough saying goodbye the next morning. We have had such a fantastic year and you don't quite realise how close you are to people until you sense that you aren't going to see them for a while. Even though we have all this social media, my new best buddies are on the other side of the world and I know they aren't going to give me a hug in a few weeks when we would normally have a catch up. It is also harder to tease them and have a laugh if you aren't right there. I don't know how much I have changed, but I know that this group of people has become a part of me and I just want to take them all with me. I am going to miss them all dearly, and I want to thank them for all being a part of my life and for just being cool. I'm not the type of person who makes big speeches or sends great messages describing how grateful or appreciative they are, of course I am, but I hope it becomes evident in the things I do.

The Last Student Weekend

Another weird thing is that most professional sport is on at night during the week, rater then on weekends like it is back home.

On Tuesday night I went to an Atlanta Hawks game.They played Pheonix Suns at Phillips Arena. It was a really exciting. The play was very close, the Hawks were just behind most of the game when they picked up half way through the last quarter and won the game. The arena is so huge, we had really great seats and there is so much going on. They really do that kiss cam, and there were these guys shooting hoops with a mini trampoline doing tricks in the air. There was lots of entertainment during time outs and in the breaks, it was a great night!

On Wednesday night we went to a baseball game. We went down to Turner Field to watch the Atlanta Braves play the Washington Nationals. We were quite high up and got a great view of the field with the Atlanta skyline in the background. Although they lost, the game was still quite exciting! They had lots of little competitions and entertainment between the innings, and I ate a hotdog!

On Thursday we got the bus down with the other GRSP students to St Mary's, Camden County. We arrived and went straight off to our host families for the weekend. We had a lovely dinner and our family had a golf cart so we got to explore the area a bit at night which was fun!

The next morning we all went to the Camden County Rotary Club meeting for breakfast and a few of us talked about our country. I spoke, and ended up talking a fair bit about Surf Life Saving. Next we went to the Naval Base Kings Bay to take a group photo. We then split off into three groups for that day's activities. We could choose from skeet shooting, kayaking or going to a beach in Florida.

I was with the kayaking group and we had to start a bit later because of the tide. This gave us a bit of time to actually have a quick look inside the base. We had to show ID, then we had a look at a missile display which was interesting to see. I never realised how big they actually are. Then on our way out we saw an alligator on the grass beside the road, it went into the water and swam away when we tried to get a closer look.

It was nice paddling on the water, a bit windy which made it hard work, but it was sunny. We paddled through the marsh for about an hour and then stopped at a small landing for lunch. After our break we paddled into the main boat launch and moor area. There was a mast sticking up out of the water from a boat that had sunk, it was a bit eerie.

In the afternoon we went for a drive in the golf cart and got ice cream and went to the visitors shop. That night we all went to a pool party. We had pizza and there was a bonfire. It was a bit cold for swimming, but that didn't stop me! We also walked along a small jetty to look over the marsh and spotted a few small alligators in where we were kayaking!

On Saturday we all went over to Cumberland Island on several boats. We walked through the historic area of the island and looked at the remains of the buildings there. Then we went to the beach and stayed there for a while. We went swimming and went exploring along the beach. We found the remains of many huge horseshoe crabs, which I think look more like really hard stingray. There were many wild horses on the island, and even the beach!

On the way back from the island the boat I was in stopped at a different beach to look for fossilised shark teeth. It was hard coming into the beach because the conditions were a bit rough, but we came away with a few each.

That night we had burgers and hotdogs for dinner at a rotarians house. There was a bonfire so after dinner we all sat around talking. Then we saw blue flashing lights and a police car and we all got scared we were being too loud, but in the end they were there to get some of the yummy food we had!

We all went back the next morning, to school and to catch up on work.

Pelham Student Weekend

On Thursday morning most of the GRSP students boarded the bus to Pelham, which is in South Georgia. It is about a 5 hour drive from school.

We arrived late in the afternoon, had tacos for dinner with everyone and were ready to go off to our host families for the weekend. It almost went according to plan, but we had to huddle in a corridor for a while because we got a tornado warning. It ended up being fine and we were on our way.

On Friday morning we met up at the Pelham High School for a tour. It was very interesting as most of what we know about American High Schools is based on movies. It did not disappoint with the walls lined with lockers, their gymnasium, and their football field.

Next we went to the Autry State Prison. It was opened in 1993 and houses minimum, medium and close security inmates. We went right inside the prison and into a dormitory that held inmates. They had to stand at attention while we were there. It was an interesting and eye opening experience.

After lunch went past the Ethanol plant and went to an alligator farm, It houses over 100,000 alligators used for meat and skin. Then that evening we all had dinner together. The weather was very wet all day so we didn't get to play golf in the afternoon, as planned.

On Saturday we went to a camp where we kayaked, swam, played tennis, basketball and learnt how to play Danish Longball, which is a bit like rounders. It was a really fun day and everyone got a bit sunburned. I spotted a snake swimming when I was kayaking it was little and moved very fast, I'm not sure what it was. We also found a baby turtle stuck in the skimmer box in the pool. We got him out and put him closer to the lake.

That evening we all had dinner with the local Rotarians. We also put on a bit of a talent show for them where there were varying levels of talent.