18/1-15: Leadership weekend with the GRSPs

The best food packing team! Mark, Lisa and Oscar

Lunch boxes at arrival with Martina, Michkel, Peigidh and Sofia

My (and Gracia's) sweet host family for the weekend, Patsy and Sam Allston 

The Allen's took us out for dinner Saturday night at the oldest town club in Atlanta 

There sure know how to cook at that town club!

The GRSPs after packing more than 10,000 meals for school children in 3rd world countries

Efter ikke at have haft flokken samlet siden november, var det blevet tid til endnu en GRSP weekend, denne gang i Atlanta på Oglethorpe University som er meget anerledes end Valdosta - det minder mere om en gammel borg/slot end noget andet. 

Temaet var Leadership, og i stedet for at lave forskellige turist-aktiviteter eller lignede som vi har lavet på andre ture, skulle vi denne gang udfordres lidt mere på vores Rotary-ånd. 

Vi brugte således lørdag på at have workshop om samtaleteknikker og snakke om hvordan man håndtere "svære" samtaler, og søndag brugte vi på at starte vores egen non-profit organisation og sidste, men ikke mindst, forberede måltidspakker til omkring 10.000 skolebørn i et udsat område. 

Derudover havde vi også forskellige indslag omkring Rotary's projekter, både i nærområdet, men også globalt.

Et af de bedste afspekter ved weekendens program var at det gav mulighed for at arbejde sammen med nogle af de GRSPere som man måske ikke havde snakket så meget med endnu. 

Ud af hele weekenden vil jeg sige at det mest overraskende, men også underholdende element var at pakke alle de her måltider som skulle sende ud i verden. 

Jeg har nok ofte haft den indstilling, at jeg har svært ved at se hvordan lille jeg dog skulle kunne gøre noget for så mange mennesker som har brug for det, men når vi gik sammen ca. 55 personer, så tog det også faktisk kun en time at pakke måltider til over 10.000 børn, hvilket ikke bare betyder at de får noget at spise, men også at de kommer i skole for at få det måltid, og derved bliver klogere. 

Ikke nok med at det gør en forskel, så var det faktisk også rigtig sjovt :-)

Hvert enkelt måltid kostede ca. 29 cent i råvarer, emballage og forsendelse som blev sponsoreret af Rotary.

::::

After not having the GRSP gang gathered since November, it was time for a new GRSP weekend. This time in Atlanta at Oglethorpe University, which is very different from Valdosta in that it reminds me more of an old castle than anything else. 

The theme of the weekend was leadership, and instead of doing touristy stuff as we have done some of the other weekends, we were going to be challenged on our Rotary mindset. 

We spent Saturday in a workshop on conversation technique and how to deal with the "fierce conversation", and Sunday we created our own charity organizations and, last but not least, managed to prepare more than 10,000 meal packages for school children in a 3rd world country. 

We also had a couple of presentations on some of Rotary's projects both in the close area, but also globally. 

One of the things I liked the most about this weekend's program was that it gave us an opportunity to work together with some of the GRSPs that we hadn't gotten to talk to yet. 

Out of the entire weekend, the most surprising and entertaining part of the program was packing all of these meals that were to be sent out to feed children in schools.

I guess I have often had the idea that it was hard for me to see what kind of a difference I could make for all those people who need it, but when we got together as 55 people it didn't take us more than an hour to pack meals enough for 10,000 children, which does not only mean that they eat, but also that they come to school and they learn.

Not only did it make a difference - it was only fun! :-)

Each meal costs around 29 cent for the supplies, packaging and shipment, and it was sponsored by Rotary.  

11/1-15: I don't wanna go back to school!

Fraternity house no. 1

Fraternity house no. 2

Fraternity house no. 3

Og i protest over at det var min sidste weekend inden skolen startede, skyndte jeg mig at få stablet en sidste udflugt på benene - denne gang med Logan, Adrianna og Zach og turen gik til Tallahassee - Floridas "hovedstad" - ca. 2 timer fra Valdosta. 

Vi havde pakket cykler på ladet af Logan's gamle truck (så er de trucks altså lidt handy en gang i mellem), da der skulle være en rigtig flot rute at cykle dernede, og så havde vi booket et billigt hotel. 

Der var to muligheder for cykelruten - "The Historic Trail" eller naturvejen. Den historiske rute var en gammel jernbane som var blevet asfalteret, så vi valgte selvfølgelig naturvejen som var en masse smalle ruter inde i skoven - ud og ind imellem træerne. 

Rimeligt hurtigt fik vi og cykelproblemer og Zach og Adrianna måtte falde fra. 

Logan og jeg fik cyklet omkring 12 km. på ruterne inde i skoven inden vi vendte tilbage til bilen - det var virkelig sjovt selvom vi nok ikke havde det rigtige udstyr.. :-) 

Om aftenen tog vi i byen, men her støder man igen ind i at alting lukker kl.02 (det er altså et underligt land det her...) 

Det betød jo så til gengæld at vi var friske dagen efter (næsten), til at gå en lang tur i centrum og ned til Florida State University, som har et af de største campus jeg nogensinde har set. 

Vi havde fået at vide at man absolut skulle se deres stadion, som så viste sig at ligge i den modsatte ende af hvor vi kom fra, så de vi endelig nåede derned, og fandt et sted at spise frokost, havde vi lige 5,5 km. gåtur hjem igen.. 

Adrianna læser samfundsfag/political science, så vi fik en masse gode og interessante snakke om amerikansk politik, socialisme, liberalisme, republikanere m.m. på turen derned - på turen hjem faldt vi ret hurtigt i søvn :-) 

De sidste par billede er fra området omkring FSU og et par af de mange "frat"-houses der er der. Der var også sorority houses modsat her i Valdosta hvor vi kun har frat-houses. 

Forklaringen som de andre kunne komme op med er at der i Lowndes kommune åbenbart er en lov om at der kun må bo 4 kvinder under samme tag før det bliver anset for at være et bordel?.. Eller noget..

::::

And as a protest to the fact that it was my last weekend before school started, I quickly managed to somehow arrange one last trip - this time with Logan, Adrianna and Zach and the destination was Tallahassee - Florida's state capitol a 2 hour drive from Valdosta. 

We had loaded our bikes on to the Logan's old truck (I must admit those big trucks can come in handy at times), since we had heard that Tallahassee should have some pretty cool trails for biking. We had also booked a cheap hotel so we could stay the night and make the most of the weekend.

There was two types of trails - The historic version and the nature version. The historic trail in Tallahassee is an old railroad that they have paved - so we of course chose the natural trail, which was a bunch of different narrow paths in and out of the St. Marks state park. 

Too quickly we ran into some bicycle problems and Adrianna and Zach had to go back to the car. 

Logan and I managed to go about 7-8 miles on the trails in the park before heading back - it was a lot of fun even though we probably didn't have the right equipment.. :-)

We went out at night, but once again you run into the problem that everything closes at 2AM (this country is so weird..) 

On the other hand it meant that we were well rested (almost) the day after to go for a long walk in downtown Tallahassee and all the way out to FSU, which has the biggest campus I've ever seen. 

Someone had told us that we absolutely needed to see their stadium, but it turned out to be on the very opposite end of campus from where we started. By the time we got there and found a place to have lunch, we had a 3.5 mile walk back to the car. 

Adrianna is a political science major and we had a lot of great and interesting talks about American politics, socialism, liberals, republicans, etc. on the way to Tallahassee - on the way back we pretty quickly fell asleep :-)

The last couple of pictures are of some of the many frat houses around FSU. We do not have fraternities or sororities in Denmark, so this is something very new to me. 

When walking around we noticed that there were also sorority houses, which we don't have in Valdosta. 

The explanation the others gave me was that apparently there is a law in Lowndes County that only 4 women can live together under the same roof before they consider it being a brothel?.. Or something like that.. 

2/1-15: Time to say good bye

Miami Design District - still under construction

Miami Design District

Orlando Downtown - Church Street

Orlando Downtown - Wauw! It's a train in the US!

På vores sidste dag i Miami gik vi en tur i det nybyggede Design District hvor alle de dyre butikker ligger - Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Céline osv. 

Distriktet ligger ca. 10 minutters gang fra vores hus, og man må sige det er noget af en kontrast!

Området er endnu ikke helt færdigbygget, og alting var lukket da det jo var 1. januar. Herefter fortsatte vi til Miami Midtown, som var lidt af en tilfældighed at vi overhovedet endte i, men et hyggeligt område, hvor vi fik 2$ tacos til frokost. 

Dagen efter satte jeg kursen mod Valdosta - først med Uber til Downtown Miami hvor jeg så skulle med bus til Orlando, for at tage en bus over til en tredje bus til Gainesville, hvor Jim og Theresa så ville hente mig. 

Jeg havde ca. 3 timers ventetid i Orlando som var en god mulighed for at få set Downtown og i øvrigt få en bid mad :-)

Ovenpå sådan en uge lykkedes det mig mere eller mindre at sove hele vejen hjem i samtlige busser :-)

::::

On our last day in Miami we went for a walk in the Design District where all the expensive stores are located - Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Céline etc. 

The district is a 10 minute walk from our little house, so it was quite the contrast!

The area is still under construction and everything was closed since it was January 1st. Afterwards we continued on to Miami Midtown, which was more of a coincidence that we even ended up there. But it was a nice little neighborhood and we found a place with 2$ tacos and a great salsa-bar for lunch. 

The next day I headed towards Valdosta - first with a Uber to Downtown Miami from where I took a bus to Orlando, from where I took another bus out to take a third bus to Gainesville from where Jim and Theresa would pick me up. 

I had about 3 hours in Orlando, which was a great opportunity to experience their cute little downtown area and get a bite to eat :-)

After a week like this I managed to sleep pretty much all the way home in all the busses I was on :-)

31/12-14: HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM MIAMI!

Tilbage på sporet af at få indhentet alt det som jeg ikke har fået delt med jer :-) 

Nytårsaften i Miami var speciel!

Det var vores plan at bruge dagen på stranden og derefter finde en måde at klæde om til vores pæne tøj på inden vi skulle ud og spise. Efter middagen skulle vi tilbage til stranden hvor der ville være fyrværkeri kl. 00.

På grund af nytårsaften var trafik og parkering en udfording, og vi tænkte derfor det ville være bedst at komme tidligt - det betød til gengæld også at det blev lidt en udfordring at gå fra at være på stranden, til at skulle ud spise på en pæn restaurant. 

(Især når man gerne ville have vasket alt sandet af sig..) 

Vi fik det løst ved at gå fra stranden i god tid, og finde en restaurant hvor vi alle kunne sidde og få noget at drikke, og så skiftedes vi til at bruge deres ENE toilet til at klæde om (og så var der drengene som på mystisk vis fik et jakkesæt på i bilen....) 

Jeg er sikker på at personalet på restauranten synes vi var lidt underlige da vi sad og ordnede make-uppen ved bordet, men heldigvis var resturanten jo tom (og jeg regner heller ikke med at skulle tilbage dertil), så det gik jo fint!

Imens vi var på denne restaurant slog klokken 12 hjemme i Danmark, og jeg kunne følge det hele igennem venner's billeder og videoer på nettet - det var lidt underligt.

 Vi havde en super lækker (og dyr) middag på en fin restuarant som i øvrigt bød på underholdning fra en lille jazz-trio - det var helt fantastisk!

Vi kom desværre lidt for sent der fra på grund af noget bøvl med betalingen, og endte med at skulle løbe de sidste 3-4 blokke for at nå ned på stranden inden midnat.

Med ca. 30 sekunder igen, nåede vi menneskeflokken som var parkeret på Ocean Drive, og kunne derfra se fyrværkeriet - som nu altså ikke kan måle sig med fyrværkeriet i Aarhus. 

Da fyrværkeriet var slut, blev stranden lukket (ja - lukket)! Politiet kørte simpelthen rundt på stranden for at smide folk væk. 

Heldigvis var der en mindre folkefest i gang på Ocean Drive fra alle barene som spillede hele gaden op :-) 

::::

Back on track to catch up on all the things I haven't shared with you yet :-)

New Year's Eve in Miami was special!

Our plan was to spend the day at the beach, and then find some where to change into nicer clothes before going out for dinner. After dinner we would head back to the beach where there would be fireworks at midnight.

Because it was new year's eve, traffic and parking was a bit of a challenge, so we figured it would be best to come early - it did mean however that we had the challenge of going form beach wear to nicer wear without going back to the house - which was difficult because I really wanted to go sand-free.. 

We solved it by finding a restaurant where we could get something to drink while taking turns in their ONE bathroom to change our clothes (and then the guys of course just somehow put on their suits in the car...) 

I am sure the staff at the restaurant must have thought we were kind of crazy to be doing out make-up at the table, but luckily we were the only people in there and I am also not planning on ever going back to that place, so it was fine!

While in that restaurant, the clock hit midnight back in Denmark, so I could see all my friends posting pictures and videos of their parties at home - that was strange!

We had a wonderful (and expensive) dinner at a very nice restaurant where the entertainment consisted of a jazz trio - it was amazing!

Unfortunately, we got out of the restaurant a bit late because of some issues with the payment, so we ended up having to run the last 3-4 blocks to beach to make it before midnight. 

With around 30 seconds left, we arrived and had just enough time to catch our breath before the fireworks went off :-) I must add though, that the fireworks we have in Aarhus are better, but that's probably because 75% of all the people buy their own fireworks, so it truly lights up the sky!

When the fireworks were over, the beach closed down (closing a beach is very uncommon to me - I don't think I have ever heard of it before), and the police literally drove around making everybody leave. 

Fortunately there was a big party on Ocean Drive because of all the bars playing their music loud enough for people (like us) to stand outside and make the street out dance floor :-)

It's finally here - Topic: LIVING IN A DORM ROOM

After...

Before...

Her midt i min kavalkade af jule-ferie-oplevelser bringer jeg lige et sprit nyt indlæg: 

Jeg har nemlig endelig fået afsluttet mit sidste projekt på mit lille "kollegie"-værelse - nemlig billeder af familie og venner. 

Jeg synes faktisk at det er lykkes mig at gøre et ret trist værelse til et rigtig hyggeligt og hjemligt sted. 

På mange universiteter i USA er det obligatorisk at man bor i "dorms" (kollegier) "on campus" det første år du starter - altså når du er "freshman". 

Det er også obligatorisk for os GRSP studerende at bo "on campus", og jeg kan huske at det næsten var min største frygt ved at skulle afsted, da mange dorms herovre f.eks. har fællesbad og toilet med hele gangen, og du i mange tilfælde også skal dele dit soveværelse med en anden person - altså bogstaveligt talt sove en arms længde fra en fremmed... (Det er vist det man kalder "first world problems"...)

Derudover var jeg også nervøs over at skulle bo sammen med andre - jeg har aldrig haft en roomie før, andet end i én måned i sommers inden jeg skulle herover.

Heldigvis endte jeg i hvad de fleste mener er det bedste dorm på skolen, hvor man har eget værelse og kun deler bad med én anden person :-) 

Og så er der jo også den fordel at jeg har kunnet indrette og dekorere mit værelse fuldstændig som jeg har lyst til - og jeg er nu rigtig glad for resultatet og med billederne på plads føles det jo som om de alle er lidt tættere på :-)

::::

Here in the midst of my cavalcade of holiday experiences I now bring a brand new post:

I have finally finished my last project in my dorm room - which was hanging pictures of friends and family. 

I actually think I have managed quite well in turning a boring and sad dorm room into something homey, comfy and cozy.

At American universities dorm living is common, and obligatory for freshmen at many colleges. We don't have anything similar to that in Denmark!

When you enter the university you are responsible for finding a place to live, and you can of course decide for yourself as well. 

We do have something that we call dorms. They were built to provide cheap housing for students where you have a single room and share kitchen and bathroom with the rest of the hall, but they were not obligatory to live in. 

The dorms that are built today are typically slightly bigger and more expensive than earlier and now have own bathroom and kitchen, which makes them more like tiny studio apartments.

As a GRSP student it is obligatory to stay in a dorm, and I remember that it was one of my biggest fears before coming over here since many dorms in the US have shared bathrooms with many people, and in some cases you even share your bedroom with another student - meaning sleeping with an arm's length to a stranger... (I guess it's a good example of what's called "first world problems"...)

I was also nervous about having to live with someone - I have never had a roomie before except for one single month before coming over here.

Luckily I ended up in what is considered to be one of the best dorms on campus where you have your own room and only share your bathroom with one other person :-)

And another advantage is getting to decorate it anyway I wanted - and I am pretty satisfied with the result, and with the pictures in place it feels like everyone is just a little bit closer than before :-)

30/12-14: There's other stuff in Miami too!

Maria, Marie Ale, Aline, Me

Freedom Tower at night

Miami er fyldt med turister - i hvert fald hvis man sørger for at være de steder hvor turisterne typisk er. (Herunder f.eks. Lincoln Road, South Beach og Ocean Drive)

Jeg er stor fan af altid at prøve at finde ud af hvor de lokale i virkeligheden opholder sig når jeg er ude at rejse, så det var en lettelse da vi kom til Brickell området, og tydeligt fornemmede hvordan stemningen ændrede sig fra kaotisk familieferie til afslappet venne- og venindehygge. 

Marie Ale har været i Miami tidligere, og havde et par venner som anbefalede at vi besøgte området som bærer præg af at være tæt på universitetet samt det finansielle distrikt i byen. 

Da vi ikke havde en bil, og i øvrigt boede lidt langt udenfor byen (centrum er omkring 7th street - og vi boede på 56th street - og ja, de ligger i numerisk orden som det nu er i USA), måtte vi bruge offentligt transport til at komme frem og tilbage. 

Vi tog en Uber (se her) til nærmeste "MetroMover" station og kunne derfra tage det GRATIS metro-tog som kører ca. 5 meter over jorden, og således båder giver virkelig hurtig og nem transport, men også en fantastisk udsigt over de forskellige områder i byen. 

Fik jeg nævnt at det var GRATIS? - det kunne andre lære lidt af ;-) 

Efter morgenmad i Brickell besluttede vi at tage nogle af bycyklerne og cykle en tur langs vandet og havnen. Cyklerne kostede omkring 40kr. i timen, hvilket naturligvis er mere end den 20'er man skal smide i cyklerne hjemme i Århus, men til gengæld så kørte de altså væsentligt bedre :-) 

Udover at det var virkeligt dejligt at være på en cykel igen, så var det en rigtig god måde at se byen på som jeg klart vil anbefale andre besøgende. 

::::

Miami is full of tourists - at least if you make sure to only go to areas where tourists typically go. (Such as Lincoln Road, South Beach and Ocean Drive)

I am a big fan of always trying to figure out where the locals like to hang out whenever I travel, so it was a bit of a relief to me when we arrived in the Brickell District, and clearly felt how the atmosphere changed from chaotic family vacation to cozy friend-hygge (hang-out/coffee time/good time).

Marie Ale has been in Miami before and had a few friends who had recommended going to Brickell, which clearly is close to the university as well as the financial district.

Since we didn't have a car, and where now living a good bit outside the city (downtown is around 7th street and we were on 56th - Brickell was even further), we had to rely on public transportation to get around. 

Now, having been in Valdosta for 6 months where there is N-O public transportation, Miami was great!

We took a Uber (see here) to the nearest MetroMover station from where we could take the FREE metro, which actually drives about 15 feet above ground, and thereby provides quick and easy transportation, but also a great view over the different districts in the city. 

Did I mention that it was FREE? - perhaps others could learn from that ;-) 

After breakfast in Brickell we decided to take the city bikes for a ride around the water front. The bikes were 6$ an hour, which is more expensive than the 3,50$ you pay for a city bike back home in Aarhus, but then on the other hand - these bikes actually worked :-) 

Besides how nice it was to be back on a bike, it was also a great way to see the city and I would definitely recommend others to take those bikes for a spin  ;-)