20 Weeks in Pictures (Weeks 1-10)

MERRY

CHRISTMAS!!!

Has it really been 5 months already?  It’s strange thinking about the passing of time over here.  The more I think about it, the faster it seems to slip through my fingers.  The way I see it, it’s better just to relax and enjoy the ride.  And what a crazy ride it is: these last 10 weeks have seen me travelling from the northern mountains and lakes of Georgia to the islands of the Bahamas.  It really is the adventure of a lifetime.

The people of Georgia continue to amaze me with their hospitality.  Sure the Rotarians have pledged to be friendly, honest people, but they have really opened up their doors and lives to us over here in a way that is overwhelming at times.  There is also a culture in the south that is similar to small town New Zealand.  As you walk or bike Savannah’s streets people go out of their way to say hi to you, as if they know you.  Also unlike Wellington and Whakatane, conversations in elevators are very common (Wellington is more formal and Whakatane doesn’t have elevators...). 

That’s not to say that Savannah is perfect.  My university of Armstrong Atlantic is in the south of the city, which is an urban sprawl of strip-malls and residential houses.  For a student without a car, trying to get anywhere is difficult, and to get downtown by bus is over an hour.  On weekends the Armstrong ‘Pirates’ find themselves stranded on the (dry) deserted campus of AASU (see what I did there!).   Luckily for us, the campus caters to our needs pretty well, with a good dining service, full gym and plenty of sports teams on campus. 

I’ve found myself playing a lot more sport since I arrived here.  As a Kiwi I got talked into joining the University rugby team, which has been a great experience.  There is a lot of pride in the Armstrong jersey and we’re a good group of mates off the field as well- catching up for parties and weekend retreats.  Tennis is also a popular sport at Armstrong (we have the champion US women’s team) and I’ve had a lot of fun challenging friends to games after classes finish in the evening.  I have also just finished a golf class through the university (yes, we get academic credit for golf!), in which we spent 3 hours on a Monday playing the local course- not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

Anyway enough of the boring text, I’ll let the pictures tell the story!

Happy Holidays!

Craig 

Week 1: In front of the famous Chinese Theatre in Downtown Hollywood.  Jonathan (the other NZ student) and I stopped in Los Angeles for a few days on the way to Georgia and I jumped at the chance to see Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis at the premiere of the movie “The Expendables”

Week 2: This is the summer sun setting outside my host mother, Judy’s home.  Judy welcomed me into her household and made sure I was set up for University.  Her house sits on the Isle of Hope, a friendly community that’s surrounded by marshland.  

Week 3: Lightning strikes near our university campus.  I was at the beach an hour before I took this picture and saw how quickly the weather can change from a cloudless day to a lightning storm.  Warning sirens were going off telling residents to stay inside their homes.

Week 4:  Leading a haka at the Savannah Conclave.  The conclave was the first time we met the other GRSP students and it was a great weekend.  On Saturday night we had to perform a cultural item and I spent the day teaching three Welshmen, two Hungarians, two Australians, an Italian and a Kenyan the Maori Haka.

Week 5: My official presentation to the Savannah West Rotary Club.  I put together a short film and PowerPoint presentation about New Zealand and presented it to Rotarians.  They seemed to like it- especially my Australia jokes...

Week 6: We had another Rotary gathering this weekend, which included fun at an artificial lake created for the Atlanta Olympics.  We participated in challenges such as sand sculptures and sailing boats made from cardboard and masking tape. 

 Week 7: Treasure Savannah Day.  I helped volunteer for the school in helping to pick up litter around the central city.  This was a bit of a forced publicity shot (I was the only guy there) and I wasn’t really sure whether or not to smile for the camera while picking up trash rubbish. 

Week 8: This week I went to my first American football game: Georgia Southern vs. Elon State.  It was an unforgettable experience.  The guy standing up at the right of picture would do a chant and victory dance every time GSU would move downfield. 

 Week 9: This is the group from our trip to Helen, a replica Bavarian town in the middle of Georgia.  We camped out in tents and had a great time exploring the town.  By lucky coincidence there was also an Octoberfest beer festival on at the time we were there...

Week 10: This is Imogen (from Scotland) and I relaxing on a yachting trip around Savannah’s marshy islands.  These islands were used by pirates such as Blackbeard to hide from the British navy and we nearly found ourselves marooned on one of them when our dingy ran out of gas!

Weeks 11-20 Coming soon...