Nicola Kean

“Oh, you’re from New Zealand? That’s nice, y’all too far away to offend anybody. You know when you’re in Nashville, you should go see some football….”

There’s nothing nicer, or more unexpected, than an immigration official talking about sports when you’ve gone 18 hours without sleep. I showed my documents, got my stamps, and walked on through to wait for my bags. After everything I went through to get here,  it all felt like a bit of an anti-climax.

Nashville was my first destination, where I would be staying at Vanderbilt University for a Fulbright orientation. Known alternatively as “music city”, “Athens of the south” or “Nash-vegas”, the Tennessee capital is famous for its country music, universities and churches.

I had forgotten almost everything I needed to get clean after travelling all that way, so a grad student who was looking after us offered to take me to the nearest pharmacy. It wasn’t far, she said, but a storm was coming and it was going to rain. The second we stepped out the door emergency sirens started wailing – a warning soon came over the car radio that a tornado had been spotted nearby. Jet lagged and sleep deprived, this information was all a bit too much for me to cope with. Later I read that the tornado had destroyed a house and almost killed a woman.

It was a rather bizarre introduction to Nashville, but things were about to get crazier. In between the orientation sessions about medical care, American history and leadership, we were taken to experience the city. The second night we went to the Grand Ole Opry, a live country music radio show recorded at the Ryman Auditorium – the kind with ads read out during the breaks.  Country music legend Little Jimmy Dickens played for us (between making crude jokes about his wife), resplendent in a cowboy hat and a sequinned red, white and blue jacket. Man, that guy was awesome

Little Jimmy Dickens

Carrie Underwood, of American Idol fame, also performed, causing many teenage girls in the audience to squeal and run to the front for autographs. She has the pop/country/Christian thing down to a fine art, but I’d have preferred to see a little more of Little Jimmy.

A dedicated group of us went to explore Broadway after that, narrowly avoiding purchasing cowboy boots and hats. I danced quite spectacularly to Folsom Prison Blues at a honky tonk bar named Roberts. While I was crossing the street on the way to the next place a homeless man snuck up on me and, to my horror, kissed me on the cheek. One of my colleagues thought it was appropriate at this point to give him $5, which was the source of some amusement the next morning.

Disclaimer: this is not me dancing, but I kinda wish it was

The rest of the week paled in comparison. There was a scavenger hunt around central Nashville (which my team won. Booyeah!), dinner at the Hard Rock cafe and a grill restaurant nearby, tacos, seminars, line dancing, Bud, and fun times with some really great people. Say what you like about country music, but Nashville is a very cool place. I’ll be heading back to get myself some proper cowboy boots really soon.

I’m off on Monday. Stay tuned for travel blogging goodness.

The week before last I went to Wellington to accept my Fulbright general graduate award. That’s right! In March, just days before I emailed to Columbia to tell them I couldn’t get the money together, I got a call from Fulbright saying somebody else had pulled out and I was first on the waiting list.

I’m really honoured to be selected, and it was fantastic to have the opportunity to meet the other grantees and swap war stories. As well as a fancy ceremony at Parliament attended by about 400 people, we met with Fulbright alumni who gave us loads of advice about life and study in the States. I feel a lot more prepared to hit the ground running.

Me and the Minister

I was also awarded the Rowling scholarship, which is a bit of additional money to undertake an internship relating to my course in Washington DC. Usually this is with a senator’s office or a NGO, but I’m going to intern with a media organisation – hopefully in the White House.

So, back in Auckland I’m working on getting my visa, booking flights and doing all that leaving-the-country-freak-out stuff. Next week is my last ever deadline at Unlimited (sniff!) and then I’ve got a week to set my affairs in order and get myself to Nashville, where I’ll be doing a short orientation course with some other Fulbrighters. And going to see some country music.

A couple of weeks ago I applied for an AMP scholarship. It turns out there’s a People’s Choice award, and whoever gets the most votes wins $10,000. So, if you’d be so kind to vote for me I will be eternally in your debt.

To vote go to http://doyourthing.co.nz/whos-applying, and search for me. And if you’d like to tell your friends or colleagues to vote for me as well, that would be awesome!

If you’ve got the time, this is a great essay about the state of the States.