So as I said, I am in Atlanta on a host family program for international students. I arrived here last Saturday, 19th December, by plane from Boston. After arriving at the airport, I took the subway to a station where the organizers would meet us after we call them to inform them when we have arrived since all 30 of us wouldn’t be arriving at the same time. Me and two other Japanese students who study at UNT who arrived from Texas around the same time I did from Boston, both went to check-in and register ourselves. I then met my host father, who at 9pm, brought me and welcomed me into his wonderful home and to meet his wife and two young daughters.
So, for my first 8 days, this is the house I am staying at:
After a nice bath, I mingled with the family a bit, got used to my new “home” and hosts, and played a bit with his youngest daughter, Laura, and their cute pet dog Skipper. Laura had fun showing me what Skipper’s fashion sense was:
The third day (first day of formal activities with the other students), we were taken downtown, and I met Santa who was trying to cross the road, ho ho ho:
Then, we went to the court house.
We were guided by this guy who is a Law professor in Atlanta, and we were shown a video about jury duty, the same video shown to the people who get selected for jury duty in Atlanta:
Then the fun part began. We went to a real court room, to witness a mock trial! We had final year law students to act as the lawyers and a witness, and we had a real judge.
I got to sit where the jurors sit, and for an hour, I was a member of the jury, so fun:
We were briefed about what kind of case we will be witnessing:
And then we had to rise when Judge Newkirk entered the room.
And he told us that if we misbehave, the lock-up room is just.. there:
And so the trial began.
The detective was at the crime scene, and he “thought” he took fingerprints, but his police report “seems” to have no record of it. Lawyer Smith (who is defending Mr Ferhad, a former policeman who is being accused of killing his wife) points at the detective, “you careless detective!” (or something like that):
As jurors (ehem!), we must observe body language:
An objection!
The lawyer on behalf of the State, trying to prove that Mr Ferhad is guilty (always innocent until proven guilty in the US), makes her closing statement.. “The proof is overwhelming… beyond reasonable doubt… just look at the evidence… don’t be fooled by a man… he killed his wife and you know it”:
“Don’t be stupid! (something like that!)… The evidence is flimsy… my client is innocent and you know it because… Are you willing to put an innocent man to life?… Just think carefully, why would he do such a thing….?
He did NOT kill his wife!
Jurors ARE YOU LISTENING?! (no that did not happen)
And because the burden is on the State to prove a man is guilty, she gets to speak one final time:
This was a reenactment of a real court case. In the real story the jury declared the defendant guilty.
The we went to the State Capital, to see the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Governor’s office:
And in the building, the 25-foot Christmas tree was being blessed with a stroke of natural sunlight, such beauty:
And in the building is also a museum.. with lots of random stuff.
Went to see Turner Field, where the 1996 Olympics games were held. The stadium was HUGE when they held the olympics there, but demolished a big part of it to cut on maintenance cost.
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