Adopt the Beach 09/18

Today I attended the first beach cleaning of the ESSO, Adopt the Beach. There were 12 students in this trip. We went to Hampton Beach at 1PM. We were divided into small groups because we had to collect data in addition to collecting trash. We had to state the type of trash and how many we collected.

The most abundant trash there was cigarette. But the most interesting one is the "polluting sieve." It is a plastic that is used in agriculture but accidentally spread throughout the entire New England beaches. One adult told me that initially there were millions of them.

Polluting Sieve

The weather today was very nice. It was sunny in the afternoon so we did not experienced much windchill from the windy beach. There were many seagulls along the beach. Many of them were only tiny birds that were very cute.

Bike to Exeter River

Today I had class only in the morning. In the evening, I decided to ride my bicycle to Exeter River at 5PM. It took about 20 minutes to reach the conservation site where I could walk. The water of this river is quite brown. Last time I met a couple who went fishing there and they told me that they could catch fish from this brown water. 

There is a short walking path in this conservation area. It took me about 5 minutes to reach the end point. There were nothing much along the way except dead trees that fell into the water. The sight of those trees is the charm of this river. It makes the river different from what I've seen in Thailand or in Wolfeboro's lakes. 

During the way back, I stopped by a farm because I spotted a horde of strange birds. They looked like emus but the color was different. 

During this trip, I was attacked by many mosquitoes. It was the first time that I encountered mosquitoes in the States. They were not afraid of movement at all. The only way to repel them was to hit directly to them.

The First Week

In the first week at PEA, I was very busy unpacking, adjusting and studying so I did not update my Blog at all. Here is the summary of my first week.

My life at PEA began with International Students Orientation that took 3 days. I lived in Peabody Hall during this orientation. I met a lot of international students who come from different countries. We did not do many things; mostly did some activities together such as went to an Arcade and Bowling. It was the first time that I played 'candle bowl.' It is similar to regular bowling but we use a very small ball and candle-like pins instead.

Then I went to my permanent dorm, Dow House. It was a very small dorm of total 12 students. I met my roommate Jimmy S. Yun as soon as I arrived my room. He is an American-born Korean. He is a football player (the only Asian guy in the team). He is a very nice guy.

I had a lot of free time in the first two days but I had to unpack my stuff and socialize. I met a lot of people here in PEA. Then on Friday, the class began. I had only math class that day. On Saturday, I had all four classes and got tons of homework.

I also got a bicycle. It makes my life a lot easier. I can travel to very far places that I cannot walk to. This really helps me because the closest natural attraction is 9 miles away.

**Please note that I'm now living with Americans who do not take pictures. From now on I may take less pictures from when I was with other TSs.**

Chapter 2: Fall Term Begins!

After the longest summer in my life (6 months: 3 in Thailand and 3 in USA) ended, my fall semester began immediately. My school is now Phillips Exeter Academy. It is a huge school with the total area of more than 600 acres. In this school, I have to study seriously in order to get into a good university. No more break! The reality begins now.

New York Trip

After the graduation at Brewster Academy, I had about one gap week before the orientation at Phillips Exeter Academy started. At first, I planned to visit New York in 28th August but the Irene delayed my flight to 30th. I went to Boston Logan airport in the morning of 30th August to get on the 10.30AM flight. The flight took only 50 minutes. I arrived JFK airport and immediately met my mom and aunt at the baggage claim station. 

We stayed in Stay Bridge Hotel on 40th Street in Manhattan. It is a very busy city with a lot of traffic (Even more than Bangkok's). I went to many places in Manhattan before went back to pick up my luggages at BA and headed to Exeter town to prepare for my new school.

Empire State Building

At the Top of the Empire State

Broad Way

The Statue of Liberty

The MET

Columbia University

Overview of Manhattan from the Top of Rockefellar