No Piece of Cake

Not that I expected my last week of this internship to be a walk in the park or a piece of cake, but it seems as though my remaining days with SCAD are overflowing with challenging experiences to remind me that the learning doesn't stop. And I love it. 

It's funny how quickly you can adjust to living in a new place. But I must say that there is no place like California! One of the greatest things I have learned while being here is that I truly am meant to be in the field of college student development. Even though I love APU and it will always be "home," I am excited by the fact that I could work at any university and be fulfilled because college students are the common denominator of why I love this career path. 

I'm still soaking everything in while I can (and I'm not referring to the humidity). 

Time's-a-Tickin'

Where has the summer gone?! I have almost entered a state of panic, wondering how I can manage to squeeze in all the last minute things I have yet to see in Savannah. Creating an itinerary seems like the perfect idea... so, after I finish this blog posting, I will strategize for the week ahead. 

I thought it would be easier to update my blog daily, but with over 150 high school students to attend to, my schedule has been full and hectic. In the last batch of students, one student was bitten by what was thought to be a brown recluse. The brown recluse is the second deadliest spider in the entire world. She had to be taken to the hospital. We nicknamed her Spidey. Later, Courtney and I found out that it wasn't a brown recluse after all. Her nickname remained the same. I had to accompany another student, via taxi, to the health clinic because she was sick all week long. That was my first taxi experience... and hopefully my last. This is one of many reasons why I'm glad to be a Californian. We also had to deal with throwing together last minute back-up plans due to the incessant rain. I was very proud of our summer RAs because they proved to be flexible and proactive when our programming schedule had to be altered. The gloomy weather combined with some Grouchy McGroucherson's (what I like to call grouchy individuals) added up to an interesting week to say the least. The rebellious teens came out of hiding and gave us a run for our money. There were many moments throughout the previous session when Courtney and I both wanted to throw our duty phones against the wall whenever the obnoxious tone signaled an incoming call. After giving you a glimpse into my life for the past week, you can understand why Saturday (our only break day) was much needed. 

Upon completion of check-out and a short nap on Saturday, my friends and I went to Hilton Head Island. However, this experience in comparison to the first Hilton Head trip was a bright, happy perfect day as opposed to a day that we never wanted to relive. Courtney and I were beyond excited for one thing: The Salty Dog Cafe. If you haven't heard of it, well, that is a shame. It has been featured on the Food Network, so it must be special. 

 

The Salty Dog Cafe is not just any 'ol cafe though. It is an entire village with multiple restaurants, a Salty Dog T-Shirt Factory, and much more. Before we dined at The Wreck of the Salty Dog, my friends and I explored around the island and stumbled upon a practically deserted beach. If the cool breeze and the soft sand weren't enough to please us, throw in some dolphin watching (free of charge) and some starfish spotting. It was amazingly beautiful. It seemed as though we were always in the right place at the right time. For example, there was a 50 minute wait at The Salty Dog Cafe for dinner, so the hostess told us that there was no wait at The Wreck. So, we waltzed on over and we were seated at a table on the upstairs patio, overlooking the bay, complete with live music. Could it get any better? Then, we arrived at the Harbour Town Lighthouse just in the nick of time to catch the sunset. 

Courtney and I could not wipe the smiles off our faces. Talk about a perfect way to relax on a perfect day after a long week. Like Hoku once sang: "It's a perfect day, nothing's standing in my way, I could stay forever as I am, on this perfect day!" Yep, I just quoted a song by memorization from a one-hit wonder of the late 90s and I don't regret it. 

Twenty Three & Ten

I am now 23. And I only have 10 days left in Savannah. Sad face. 

For those of you who are my faithful blog followers, I am deeply sorry for not posting anything new and exciting in the last week. However, I must say that this past week (especially the weekend) was filled with nothing but excitement and fun! 

Here's a quick run-down of my holiday/birthday weekend:

Brady, Courtney, Nick and I departed for Atlanta on Thursday afternoon. After a four-hour long car ride, made complete with tunes from Miley Cyrus, we arrived in the city. Much to our benefit, SCAD has a campus in Atlanta, so the four of us were able to stay in one of the living areas free of charge! What could be better than free housing while on vacation?! Our first adventure in Atlanta was not on the itinerary. Yes, we had a legitimate, detailed itinerary. Driving through Downtown Atlanta was next to impossible. Brady turned into a raged backseat driver, yelling through the window at passing cars. We all came to the conclusion that all traffic laws in Atlanta are neither obeyed nor applicable when headed to a Braves Game. Brady yelled, "We're going to miss the kick off!" Ha ha ha. That's totally something I would say. After an hour of detours, angry drivers, and sightings of awkward bumper stickers, we reached a parking lot and headed to Turner Field, Home of the Braves. It was probably the best game I have ever been to... probably because I really liked when all 38,254 attendees did the "war chant" (aka: the Tomahawk Chop). Here we are, excited as ever: 

On Friday, our morning began with a much-anticipated trip to Einstein Bagel Company. The last time I indulged in an Einstein bagel, I was in Provo, UT with my amazing Utah lovers. First tourist attraction of the day: The Georgia Aquarium!!! Only the world's largest aquarium. Only 8 million gallons of water to (figuratively) swim through. Only 100,000 animals of over 500 different species to see. Only the coolest thing to do on my last day as a 22-year-old! In case you can't read through the lines and sense my excitement, I had a blast! We had the distinct privilege of seeing some Beluga Whales as they were about to mate. Awkward, to say the least.

An even greater thrill was seeing real artifacts from the Titanic in the Titanic Aquatic exhibit, where Brady, Nick, Courtney and I were given boarding passes with real names of people on the ship. In the end, Nick, Courtney and I survived, while Brady died a heroic death by saving his wife. 

After our aquatic excursion, we took a lunch break and then visited the World of Coca-Cola. I was never a huge fan of Coca-Cola... that is, until I experienced this whole new world! The best part of this world was the tasting room, where Coca-Cola products from other countries were made available at various stations for our thirsty pleasure. I also found a life-size bottle decorated with bunnies and it made me VERY happy. 

After stepping back into the real world, the four of us went to a Lasershow Spectacular at Stone Mountain. Forty-five minutes of music, lasers, fireworks, and fun! By the time my birthday had come to a close on the glorious day of July 4, I had already seen a Braves victory, Beluga whales mating, Coke mania, three fireworks shows, one laser show, eaten the World's Best Pancakes (according to the NY Times) and I'd been wished a happy birthday by Miley Cyrus. Beat that! 

She's Just Being Miley

The day began at 4 a.m. At first I thought to myself, why am I doing this again? But, I must have been excited because I think I only got about two hours of sleep. Altogether, there were 14 of us from SCAD that had signed up to be extras in "The Last Song." Courtney and I backed out at least three times, but in the end, our final decision was to go and hang out with Miley at Tybee. 

All the extras had to meet at a middle school at 5:30 a.m. Courtney struck up a conversation with a 56-year-old woman who claimed to have won a beauty contest in Georgia that offered her many positions as extras in films. Her name was Charlene. Because I do not want to spend this entire blog posting talking about Charlene, I will tell you this and then move forward. She followed us (all 14 in our group) around and would not leave! You know how some people just don't get the hint?! Well, she was one of them. 

We were transported via shuttle buses to the Tybee YMCA. I was asked to come prepared with two alternate outfits in case the wardrobe people didn't like my clothes. I passed the wardrobe check and hair check. But, then a lady told me to follow her because I had too much makeup on my face. Interestingly enough, I purposely wore less makeup than usual because I knew we were going to be at the beach all day long. My eyeshadow and eyeliner were both removed, leaving me looking younger than 16-year-old Miley. 

One more bus trip to the actual site of the set. I was under the impression that all the extras were going to be watching a beach volleyball tournament, but when we got there, the bleachers were already full. So... my friends and I got paid to lay out on the beach... Rough life, I know. Courtney and I couldn't believe it. We definitely did not regret making this decision! 

Well, there is only so much 'tanning' you can do before you get bored, so Courtney and I walked over to the volleyball area to see what was happening. We were told to stand in a specific area and cheer for the Red Team. Look for us on the silver screen in 2010. 

The PA's (Production Assistants) had informed us that we would see Miley today. However, we were warned that if we yelled her name or tried to ask for an autograph, we would be sent home. Around noon, I heard some of the extras making a fuss that Miley had arrived. Sure enough, she was there in a sage green dress and a messy bun. Honestly, I was more excited to see Greg Kinnear in his aviators. We watched them rehearse their lines. I observed Miley doing some annoying things. 

.... To Be Continued... 

(I am very tired from my 12-hour movie shoot)

Here I am two days later and I'm going to finish telling you about my movie debut. Sorry for making you wait. I just have so many fans now that I can hardly keep track of anything anymore! 

Back to Miley stalking... 

All of the extras had to remain uber quiet while Miley and Greg rehearsed and then, of course, while they were filming. My least favorite thing to watch was when Miley had to jump up and hug her sweaty lover, Liam, after his team "won" the volleyball tournament. Liam was probably the worst volleyball player I have ever seen. But, his team wins in the movie... I probably gave away some secret. Don't tell anyone I told you. I had to witness and re-witness Miley give Liam an awkward hug and kiss after Liam's victory. But the grossest part of all was when I saw Miley kiss Liam's chest (and I must say that the cameras were not rolling at that point). I was close enough to hear her call Liam, "Baby" and to hear her say, "I'm flashing everybody." Her short dress kept flying up when the breeze passed by. At one point, Miley was on her way back into her VIP tent and I had just stopped at the water station and I was no more than 10 feet away from her. I told Courtney and she was so jealous.  

After a much needed lunch break back at the YMCA, we were all bussed back to the beach to finish filming for the day. One person had said we'd be there for another five hours and the thought of that made me cringe. Thankfully, we were only back on set for another hour and a half before we were dismissed for the day. I must admit that I enjoyed the roles that the Production Assistant gave to Courtney, Nick, Brady, and me. In a nutshell, Nick and I were told to pass by Courtney and Brady repeatedly, acting as though we had just "bumped into our friends on the beach." And we were instructed to "walk with a purpose." For example, we glanced to see the volleyball game, but we acted like it was no big deal and just kept walking. By this time in the day (after 4pm), Miley was already gone. Finally, we got the 'OK' to start heading back to the buses. We did it! 

I left the set with some unforgettable memories:

1. A sandy body

2. A darker shade of skin

3. A Greg/Miley/Liam stalk session

4. A paycheck in the mail

5. A chance to be discovered on the big screen

6. A ton of laughs that made everything worth it! (Special thanks to Brady, Courtney, & Nick) 

Definitely an experience of a lifetime! 

Inside My Head

** A great first week of Summer Seminars. 

It is amazing to me how much you can learn in one week by being proactive and positive. 

** Urban Campuses (such as SCAD) are awesome. 

The city is the campus. The campus is the city. 

** I have no idea what to do to celebrate my 23rd Birthday next Saturday. 

Orlando vs. Atlanta vs. Charleston vs. Savannah

** Three weeks down, three weeks to go...

How can it already be the halfway point of my internship? 

** Should I endure the 99˚ heat, sitting on hot bleachers, just so I can say I was an extra in the Miley Cyrus movie? 

Pros: Some extra cash and a chance to make my debut on the silver screen. 

Cons: Did I mention we were going to be sitting in the 99˚ heat on metal bleachers? 

** God keeps showing me how much He loves me through the new people I meet. 

Encounters with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ take me by surprise and I love it. 

** I have gained a new appreciation for APU (even though I was already in love with it before). 

What can I say? There is no place like home!

** I saw the first Utah license plate yesterday and I screamed with excitement. 

And yes, I took a picture... 

** After a lovely lunch today, I spent a good 30 minutes in the Savannah Bee Company store. 

I'm mildly obsessed with honey, which explains why I was so content sampling the award- winning flavors at the Honey Bar today. 

You Know You're in Savannah When...

... Carriages escort people by day and hearses escort people by night.

... Thunderstorms begin at the drop of a hat.

... You still sweat outside and it's after 9pm.

... Roaches roam the streets at night (and this is the reason why I could never live in the South).

... Fried Chicken and Sweet Tea are on every restaurant menu.

... You spot Girl Scout Troops three times a week (the founder, Juliette Gordon Low, lived here).

... People are allowed to walk around in public with alcoholic beverages in cups.

... There's a church on every street corner.

... Miley Cyrus comes up in conversation daily (she is filming a movie at Tybee beach as I speak).

... It's not unusual for a pesky bug to be a mascot for a school or sports team.

Broadway + Country = Jam Session

Yesterday afternoon I took up a new hobby... co-hosting a SCAD radio show. That's right, you read correctly. My new friend Jennifer invited me to be her sidekick for a two-hour specialty show featuring country music (my forte) and broadway musicals. We had listeners in California, Rhode Island, and even in India! I wonder if Ryan Seacrest has listeners in India. Take a step back, Seacrest... your catchphrase, "Seacrest Out" may become your new fate. 

This morning, Jennifer and I went to Canvas Church after a quick coffee fix at Starbucks. The church service is held in a movie theater and I was delighted to hear a familiar Hillsong song playing as I walked through the doors. On our way home from church, Jennifer and I were talking about California (home sweet home) and lo-and-behold, the vehicle in front of us had a Cali license plate. Imagine finding your favorite box of cereal misplaced in the pasta aisle. Even if that doesn't make sense, just play along with me. It was that level of excitement. So, I creepily took a picture of the truck and here is proof: 

**I hope this isn't awkward or illegal**