Driving on the wrong side of the road...

I can't believe it - my first semester is over, just one more to go and I will be all finished in America.  Time is just going too quickly, 7th January marks the half way point and I feel there is still so much that I want to see and do before I go.  However, after finishing my first semester, I rented a car and, managing to drive on the wrong side of the road (for British people, not Americans I should add) the whole way, I went and did some touring around.

  The only time I strayed onto the wrong side of the road actually happened as I turned into our local shopping mall on the day I picked the car up.  As I stopped at the traffic lights I kept telling myself 'turn onto the right hand side, turn onto the right hand side', unfortunately, what I thought was the right hand lane, was in fact one of the left hand lanes.  Thankfully, nothing came towards me until I was in a place where I could pull over onto the correct side, so all was well!

At Oakridge

  I then set off on Tuesday afternoon and drove north to Knoxville, Tennessee.  My director of studies at Wesley House is actually from Tennessee and her parents had kindly invited me up to stay with them for a few days.  On my journey up to Knoxville I did encounter my other problem with driving in the States - filling up with petrol (or gas as they say here).  I pulled up to the pump (after circling round the pumps as I realised my cap was on the other side) and noticed that they had an option to pay at the pump which I opted for.  Unfortunately, after entering my card I then had to type in my zip code for security reasons.  As my card is a British card, it is not linked to my zip code in the US and so my card was rejected.  Meaning I had to go in to see the attendant, who didn't believe it should be a problem, so came out with me to see me do it again.  Once again it was rejected, so I had to go back into the store to pay the cashier.  The system is that one must pay for their petrol before they take it, so I had to say how much I wished to put in.  Of course, I had no clue!  He suggested $75 which I accepted, paid and then went out to fill up the car, which I did and it only came to $25 - I was not happy.  While I was thinking about what to do an announcement came over the tannoy saying 'can the customer at pump 4 please come into the store' where the attendant had produced a new receipt for the correct amount.  Thankfully, after looking a bit dopey, I won't have to go back to that gas station!

Oakridge - the so called secret city

  I arrived in Knoxville safely after this and found my way to Doris and Bob's house where I received a warm welcome.  On the Wednesday morning I went to their church as Bob was singing in a musical concert put on by the church's director of music for the Fellowship Club - a group of older people.  It gave me the opportunity to look round their wonderful facilities which has space for youth and children, and also an organisation which works with those with dementia - definitely a much needed ministry within the church in this day and age.  In the afternoon Bob and I went up to Oakridge which is where the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were assembled.  During the war, Oakridge became the 3rd largest city in Tennessee when approximately 75,000 people were moved in - all in secret!  Oakridge also hosts a museum of science and energy which was very informative and interactive explaining everything one needs to know about nuclear power.  Unfortunately, we had hoped to go up into the Smoky Mountains on Thursday but the weather was awful, so instead we went on a driving tour of downtown Knoxville ending with a Mexican lunch.

A view along the Ocoee during my drive to NC

 

At Fires Creek

The Folk School

One house's Christmas lights

Waterfall at Fires Creek

  I set off from Knoxville on Friday morning and drove to Hayesville, North Carolina to visit friends Amy, Tim and Laura-Clare who live there.  The drive was beautiful following the Ocoee river for a large part of it, in fact going past the place where I white water rafted earlier in the year.  After a nice quiet Friday afternoon and 

evening in Hayesville, we went out for the day on Saturday.  We were driving past a glass blowing workshop and saw that it was open so popped in and were able to watch pretty much the whole process of crafting a beautiful dolphin tail ornament with amazing swirling patterns, it was so impressive the skill and patience that went into it.  We then went on to the Folk School which was established in 1925 and based on folk schools in Denmark teaching rural crafts and also engaging in community life and the tradition of folk story telling.  We finished our excursion with a short walk along Fires Creek which, no doubt due to the recent heavy rains, was high and fast flowing making a beautiful walk.  We returned home for my first experience of 'lupper' (a combination of lunch and supper), which consisted of a very nice Thai green curry.  The day finished with a trip out to see some of the Christmas lights and enjoy a Dairy Queen ice cream.  After church on Sunday morning and lunch back home, it was time to bid my friends farewell and head off back to Atlanta after 500 miles and a great time of seeing some of the surrounding area.

The end of Thanksgiving... and the start of Christmas

This post must start with an apology for the length of time it has taken to be written.  Unfortunately (or fortunately for those involved in my current education) writing essays has taken over from writing blogs!  However, now that the essays are all out of the way, the blog may resume!

Mesmerising jellyfish

  Those who have been following the 3 episode Thanksgiving post may remember that the previous post ended with us heading back to Atlanta, via the Georgia Aquarium.   This Aquarium is supposedly the largest aquarium in the world - and it is pretty amazing.  There are various zones to visit focussing on Georgia marine life, ocean, freshwater to name but a few.  There are places where you can put your hand in and touch some of the rays as they swim past and they even have a couple of Beluga whales.  It was quite an awe inspiring place because one realises the vast number of creatures and plant life that, without places like the Georgia Aquarium, we would never know existed - I really was reminded about the creativity of God, and that so much of it exists without us ever needing to know about it.

A content looking frog

  When I heard they had whales I was a bit sceptical as I couldn't imagine they could provide a suitable environment for the whales to enjoy life.  While I still can't be completely sure that they are happy, they certainly looked happy as they swam around and the tank was huge.  I also loved the frog zone as there were some amazing looking frogs.  However, after only a short time, it was time to go.
 

My Religious Education class

  After arriving back home, although my Thanksgiving adventure had come to an end, there was a sense of anticipation building that Christmas was on its way.  There is a tradition that people put their Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving so there were lights going up, music started playing and festive events started being advertised.  As term came to a close at Candler there has been time for some social activities, both on the same day.  My Religious Education class and my Texts of Terror class both decided that something should be organised for the class to celebrate the end of term.  The Religious Education class decided to go to a local pizza restaurant for a bit of food and a drink, while a member of the Texts of Terror class invited us all to their apartment for our final class where food and some finger food.  It was interesting that they were the two classes that decided on this, and they were also the two classes I have taken that were very focussed on classroom participation.  It made me wonder if our education systems need to do more to create learning environments where people can feel comfortable with one another in order to learn together.

"Merry Tuba Christmas!"

  The other experience I have had to point the way to Christmas was possibly the best ever - TUBA CHRISTMAS!  Over 40 years ago Tuba Christmas started in New York and, since then, it has spread around America and even into Europe - although sadly not as far as Great Britain.  In the middle of Atlanta there was a concert by about 150 tubas of all shapes and sizes.  Many of the players were youngsters bussed in from local schools, but also many older players (the ages ranged from 9-76 apparently) who all turned up on the day and, after an hour and a half rehearsing, performed for an hour.  They were mostly Christmas carols, but with Jingle Bells and We wish you a Merry Christmas thrown in as well.  It was a stunning performance (unfortunately I have not been able to upload a video of it).  Sadly the conductor did like to talk so there were long gaps between pieces, but it was a great event nonetheless.  While I was pleased to be able to enjoy watching and recording the concert, there was a part of me that regretted not having a tuba to be able to go and join in.  The sound was incredible to hear, so I can only imagine what it was like to play in.  Who knows, maybe one day it will make it to Britain and I could find out.  It was, most definitely, the best start to Christmas!