Road Trip Blog!

I'm Road-Tripping from Andover MA to Atlanta GA, making several stops along the way! 

The trip route.

August 23, 2013 11:00pm

Leg #6: Chapel Hill to Atlanta

Today I left Chapel Hill for Atlanta, the final destination! It was a project 5 hour 45 minute ride. Some of the highlights of the trip:

1) Stopped by a "Cookout" in South Carolina. Pretty solid, very cheap. Hush puppies were pretty amazing. 

Cookout!

2) I did a fair amount of radio music listening this road trip. I listen to terrible music (top 40 all day). and Charlotte's 95.1 was probably my favorite channel throughout the trip, not because it was particularly awesome, but because of the coverage it had. I was literally like 2.5 hours past Charlotte and it still had great signal, which was huge because on a road trip you gotta switch it up as you pass each city.

Speaking of music, here's my analysis of my top 40 listening on the road. My new jam is officially Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop," despite my general dislike of Miley and the sluttiness/strangeness of that music video. I'm also a fan of Katy Perry's "Roar" (obviously), Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding's "Need your Love," andthe "Summertime Sadness" song. Most overplayed was definitely "Blurred Lines" (which I'm neutral on), "Safe and Sound" and JT/Jay-Z's "Holy Grail" (both of which I initially liked but find annoying) and "Clarity" (way too overplayed). Not enough Macklemore.

3) South Carolina takes the lowest gas prices crown away from Virginia, at an astounding $3.09 per gallon! It was more than a full dollar cheaper than southwestern Connecticut!

4) I also bought a $1 lottery scratch ticket in South Carolina, winning my $1 back. So I went back into the store, redeemed my dollar, and promptly bought another ticket and lost. 2 for the price of 1 though, not bad!

5) Got pulled over by a cop today. I saw him sitting on the side of the road, passed him, and then saw him pull was not speeding. When he pulled out i was thinking "there's no fucking way," especially because i was only 75 in a 70 zone. but as I pulled over into the right lane, hoping he'd pass, he didn't and just slowly waited for a moment to pull over behind me. Apparently I changed lanes too close to a truck... didn't know that was an offense. Luckily, he was nice guy though, asking me where I was going and what I was studying and the like, letting me go with a warning.

6) Drove through a thunderstorm while I was driving by Duluth... I see good ol' Atlanta weather welcomes me back!

A great experience overall! Surprised I actually made it! Thanks for reading!

-JTF

August 22, 2013 10:00am

Yesterday I left DC for Chapel Hill, NC, a 4 hour 15 minute drive. It was definitely the most interesting/difficult drive thus far. A few things to point out,

Leg #5: Washington, DC to Chapel Hill, NC

1) Virginia gas for the win. $3.22 per gallon. Although South Carolina apparently will give Virginia a run for its money. A cool website on gas prices here:

2) Driving with A/C, even in hot weather, isn’t horrible… unless you get stuck in traffic. Why they were doing construction on 95 just south of DC at noon? I have no clue. But sitting in the heat sucks. With dust and construction makes it worse.

3) On the reverse side of the spectrum, driving in the downpour rain and thunderstorms without A/C is also pretty bad. Can’t really see anything. Have to leave a window open to prevent care from getting too stuffy. Trucks drive by to splash mist in face. Fun times, definitely a character builder.

4) When I was 16, taking driver's ed, just about everything was useless. But yesterday when driving my old car, one of the few things I remember from those classes actually came in handy. Whenever the engine temperature of your car points toward "Hot," the way to successfully cool it down while driving is to turn up the heat. I'm pretty sure if I didn't remember that my car might be on the side of the highway right now. But I did remember, crisis averted.

5) Yes, I went to Waffle House. For all my friends up north, southerners do breakfast right, plain and simple. Sure, they might use lard or loads of grease or whatever, but once you try Waffle House’s hashbrowns there is no turning back.

The obligatory Waffle House facebook post

Anyways, once I got to Chapel Hill I’ve been staying and hanging with my bud Joey. Went to downtown Chapel Hill slash CARBERRO, had some burritos. Then we played some disc golf on a real disc golf course (with normal discs). Can you believe Joe has a disc golf course right outside his house? It’s pretty legit.

Off to Atlanta today! Longest leg of the trip at nearly 6 hours. Excited to be back home, can’t wait to see everyone!

-JTF

Aug 20, 2013 5:30pm

Yesterday, didn't do too much. Just hung out and made some food at Ben's place. Then in the afternoon, Ben and went on a bike ride around DC using Capitol BikeShare, which I think is a very brilliant idea, despite the fact that they jacked the prices up to $7 per day (I'm very proud that Boston has installed the very similar Hubway). Anyways, we biked around the main memorials on the mall--Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln, which was nice, especially since the weather was cool. The monument I was looking forward to seeing the most was the recently installed Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which I had yet to see. It was pretty solid, good quotes too.

MLK Jr. Memorial

My favorite quote at the memorial.

Anyways, afterwards we went back to Ben's place to make some food--pasta, surprise!--and my good buddy Tyler came over for dinner and to have a few brews and shoot some pool in the game room downstairs. Good to see another close friend on the trip.

Today was officially a bum day, where I did nothing except do some busywork, a light workout and hang out by my brother's apartment complex's rooftop pool. Yes, my frugal brother has a rooftop pool. I'm as confused as anyone.

A rooftop pool!

Anyways, off to dinner with Ty again tonight and then headed to Chapel Hill, NC tomorrow. I'm looking forward to heading further south, and super excited about the ride down with no AC in 88 degree weather!

--JTF

Aug 18, 2013 11:00pm

Today I attended the Chesapeake Invite Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Leesburg, VA. Many of the top teams in the nation were at the tournament, including Washington DC Truckstop (featuring my brother Ben) and Atlanta's Chain Lightning (featuring Christian and Byron from Emory). It was great seeing my frisbee guys (Joey too), and it was very interesting to watch ultimate live at the highest level of competition.

ah yes, an ultimate tournament!

Following the Tournament, I went grocery shopping with my brother in Virginia. More importantly, I bought scratch tickets in my quest to fund myself for Mixed Nuts Regionals--One for Virginia and one extra since I forgot to get one in Connecticut.

So the first one I scratched off, was unsurprisingly a loser, making me 0 for 4 on the trip with a net loss of $3 total. However, on the second one was more entertaining.

I won the lottery everyone!

So I scratched off the first two rows and the prizes I would've won--both failures. So then I scratched off the third row.. and I actually won, my first scratch ticket win ever!--but I didn't reveal the prize money for suspense. Then I scratched off the fourth row, confident I wouldn't strike twice on the same ticket... but what do you know, I won again! Twice on the same ticket?!?!? Is that even possible? 

But as I revealed the ticket prizes, my worst fears came true. No, I didn't win $1,000. Or $50. Or $20. Or $10. or $50. I only won two $1 prizes,or $2 total, meaning I broke even for the day That's a start though, $2 closer to regionals!

-JTF

Aug 17, 2013 10:00pm

Leg #4: Wallingford, CT to Washington, DC

I left Connecticut for DC this afternoon. a projected 5 hour and 15 minute trip turned into 6 hr 30 min including traffic and stopping. Nothing too noteworthy today, although my aunt sent me off with a delicious lunch! I did have a few things to point out along the way.

1) Gas Prices: Connecticut is over $4.00 right now. Sucks to suck. Delaware was okay on the highway at $3.59. New Jersey takes the cake of the cheapest with $3.49!

Lol. New Jersey

2) Other than the gas, New Jersey sucked. On the Garden State Parkway, there was a toll for $1.50. Not too bad. Until there was another toll for $1.50 like 20 miles later. And then when I switched on to the Jersey Turnpike it was another $7.25 to get to Delaware. Also the one rest stop I stopped at had only a single water fountain that spewed hot water. Gross! Definitely one of my least favorite states. This is all somehow Andrew's fault.

3) Speaking of tolls, here is the current toll count: Two $1.50 tolls in NJ. $7.25 on the Jersey Turnpike. $4.00 over the Delaware Memorial Bridge. $4.00 to get into Maryland. $4.00 to get through the Baltimore Tunnell. $22.25 from Connecticut to DC. Huge Rip-off! This is after hitting zero tolls in New England/

Delaware!

4) Delaware: No Tax on food! Although some lady did ask me for 20 bucks at a rest stop which i politely declined.

5) Car AC definitely doesn't work. Luckily it was really nice outside today, so the windows were a good breeze! Probably won't be as lucky later this week though...

Off to watch some ultimate frisbee the Chesapeake Open tomorrow! Hopefully Christian and Byron and Chain go and chump on some dudes!

-JTF

Aug 17, 2013 9:30am

Leg #3: Bristol, RI to Wallingford, CT.

Yesterday I left Kelley's place in RI headed towards my uncle's home in Wallingford, CT. It was a quick 2 hour drive.

Only a few noteworthy events happened on the ride there. Before I left Kelley's, I bought my second lottery scratch ticket, this one courtesy of the Food Mart next to his place in RI. I (unsurprisingly) did not win anything. What was more memorable was the clerk asked me for my ID because I looked under 18. lol. haircut for the win! 

I left Boston radio station coverage for the first time, so I was skimming through the channels to get some music on. Luckily I listen to Top 40 junk, so that wasn't too hard. I did hear Katy Perry's new single for the first time though. Apparently she's going on tour again too soon.

My AC definitely does not work anymore. 

Choate

When I got to my uncles (actually only my aunt was home), we went to dinner at a friend's house and had some good Chinese food. We swung by Choate Rosemary Hall on the way. CHOATTEEEEEE lol aka the place with the single-pole locker room showers.

-JTF

P.S. Would've stopped in Jersey for a night but Poon is #theworst.

Aug 16, 2013 1:00pm

Leg #2: Newton, MA to Bristol, RA

Yesterday I left my aunt's place in Newton headed towards my buddy Kelley's house in Bristol, RI. On the way down, I passed by the Gillette Stadium / Patriot Place complex in Foxboro, so I decided to stop by. I had never been to Gillette Stadium or Patriot Place, which is surprising given my open love affair with the Patriots. 

Gillette Stadium

The complex a truly amazing place. The retail area is huge and mall-like, similar to the ATL equivalent of Atlantic Station--it had a movie theater, several restaurants, and a lot of nice stores selling apparel that I would never pay for. Gillette Stadium itself is definitely the most beautiful football stadium I've ever seen. The architecture is stunning--the bridges and the lighthouse, etc. The proshop is awesome too: Pats stuff everywhere!

Tebow Jerseys at the Proshop

My favorite attraction at Patriot Place was the Hall at Patriot Place, despite the $10 fee I was initially reluctant to pay. The Patriots set up their museum amazingly with a variety of exhibits including a 17 minute clip of the team, the history of the team, a Sports Illustrated cover section, the Pats hall of famers section, an interactive section--where you do things like test your vertical, see your reaction time, and kick a field goal during the "Snow Bowl,"--and of course, the three Lombardi trophies themselves. Every Patriots fan should go to the Hall, its an incredible experience.

Conveniently, while I was there the Pats were having an free/open joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the last training camp practice f the summer. Tom Brady was back from his knee injury, and Danny Amendola and Aaron Dobson made some great plays. It was crazy seeing so many people there just to watch the Pats practice.

7-on-7. Brady Doing work.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has his shit together. How he commercialized the Patriots and Patriot Place is simply incredible. Kudos to him.

I then headed south to Bristol, RI to see Kelley. A chill evening in general--we watched some guy fix his car engine due to a loose wire, we made some delicious chicken broccoli and alfredo, and we had a couple drinks and went out to the bar. It sucked that we only saw each other a couple times this summer, but was good to catch up with Kelley before I headed south for the year.

Kelley eating alfredo?

On a bit of bad news, my A/C is acting funky again, even though I just recharged it just a few days ago. Gargh. Similarly bad, while Snapchat was updated this past weekend, not only can I still not access it on my phone, but the app now notifies me when I get new snaps, but I still cant open them. What a tease!

I also started collecting lottery scratch tickets from each state I pass, hoping to strike so I can fund myself for Mixed Nuts Regionals in September. I'm 0 for 1 so far, damn you Massachusetts. Rhode Island today though, wish me luck!

Off to CT today, a 2 hour trip. May or may not have AC though. Til next time!

-JTF

Aug. 15, 2013 11:30 AM

Leg #1: Andover, MA to Newton, MA

On Tuesday the 13th I (finally) departed from Andover for Newton, after several weeks there. I was lucky enough to catch up with my man Faiyad for lunch in Burlington, MA on the way down. Pot Belly, pretty mediocre/expensive food, but its the company that counts. 

I then took the T and walked over the Mass Ave bridge into MIT to return to the kids day camp I worked at last summer. Got to see some of my old kids, some of them remembered me! I played some pickup ball with the guys after work too. It was good to play some ball with PJ, who decided to join, like the good ol' days. There was an Asian guy on the other team who was a complete douche, but his overall doucheyness was easily explained by the Phillips Exeter t-shirt as he was wearing. He wasn't that good either. Classic Exeter.

View from the Mass. Ave Bridge

I then returned home to hang with my cousin Larry, and we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Newton Centre's No 1. Noodle House, for dinner. Yum!

No. 1 Noodle House!

On Wednesday the 14th, I pretty much sat on my ass and did some busywork, filling out forms, making phone calls, doing some Emory Juice work. I had my last Mixed Nuts club team practice that night at Teddy Ebersol's Fields downtown. A sad goodbye, but they're making a pretty hard push to convince me to return for Northeast club regionals. Can't make promises but we'll see what happens!

Today, I depart Newton midday. I'm headed to Foxboro to experience Gilette Stadium and Patriot Place for the first time ever (I know, you'd think I would have made it over by now, right?), and will be conveniently passing while the Pats are having a training camp practice. Then off to Kelley's place in RI. Should be fun!

-JTF

TAing at Andover Summer Session

Phillips Academy Andover

Andover, also known as Phillips Academy, is a well-known and relatively prestigious independent high school located in Andover, MA. I was fortunate to graduate from Andover in 2010.

This past summer I returned to my alma matter and worked at Andover Summer Session, a summer school that is self-described as a "premier summer academic enrichment program in the country helping students from across the US and the world to achieve their educational goals." 

I'd like to share the some of the things I've learned from my experiences at Andover Summer Session.

1. Commons--the Andover dining hall--is amazing. 

The combination of Commons' high food quality, convenience, and great service is simply unmatched by any dining service I have ever had. The food--the omelette station, the fruit bar, the pizza oven, the sandwich bar, the desserts--was top notch. The Commons workers and self-serve service are friendly and quick. The ability to wake up and walk to Commons to eat high quality food is convenience at its best.

Commons sure as hell beats either (a) eating 2.5 french toast sticks off of a noticeably dirty plate at the Emory DUC after waiting in line for 15 minutes because I'm on a terrible meal plan, (b) overpaying for a Chick-fil-A sandwich or poor-quality sushi at the Emory Cox Hall Food Court, (c) rushing out the door with a bagel or pb&j as I go to class, or (d) having to spend at least a half hour prepping, cooking, and cleaning so I can make a decent of my own. 

2. Dorm Life. 

Despite the fact I lived as a student at an Andover dorm just a few years earlier, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised at how much easier it is to manage high schoolers at Andover are than college students. Andover dorm residents obeyed rules such as dorm sign-in times and quiet hours, openly offered pizza slices to their peers, and worked together as a group doing "dorm duty," which consisted of taking out the trash, cleaning up the common rooms, etc.

The most encouraging part about dorm life at Andover was the state of the bathrooms, which were significantly cleaner than those of dorms at Emory. Granted, there aren't many 14-17 year old piss drunk residents, resulting in them puking up blood all over the bathroom floor, pissing on seats, and shitting on the ground.

But in general, yes, 14-17 olds are significantly cleaner and more respectful than their 18-20 year old counterparts.

3. Five week Relationships: 

It was rather unfortunate, especially from a teaching assistant and house counselor perspective, that we only had 5 weeks to get to know our students and faculty peers. Just when we started to get to know and become comfortable with the people we had been interacting with, the session was over and everyone was off on their own way. It would have been nice to get to know peers on a deeper level and to have a larger influence on our students. That said, it was still amazing how quickly people at Andover Summer Session were able to develop relationships in such a short time, although it might have felt more rewarding to have the opportunity to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships.


4. TA Group: 

The group of teaching assistants that I was privileged to work with was certainly the main reason my summer was so awesome. The people make the experience, and I was fortunate enough to have a group of peers that I actually sorta liked. Not that I've ever worked a real job before, but I find it hard to imagine that I'll have many jobs in the future in which I'll like my coworkers as much as I liked them this summer.

5. The Transition from Andover Student to Andover Faculty:

It was definitely an interesting experience seeing things from the other side of the spectrum. Making the switch from seeing "Mr. Jackson" as your teacher to seeing "Bill" as a peer is a bit uncomfortable and awkward. Similarly awkward is when students are told to refer to me as "Mr. Feng" as opposed to "Josh." Not my cup of tea quite yet. Of course, the most awkward is when students/staff/faculty think you're a student and ask you what you're doing printing out 50 sheets of paper and you have to explain to them "I'm a teacher here making copies..."


6. Summer Session vs. the Andover school-year:

Two very different ballgames. Summer session is more relaxed and less stressful as kids aren't directly influencing their college prospects. Thus, Summer session kids aren't as motivated. The six day weeks--five of which consist of 90 minute classes--in summer session are brutal. Summer Session had significantly more international students. There were not any forms of seriously competitive athletics. Summer faculty seem a bit more disorganized. 

7. The Lack of Organization of Teaching Classes:

As a student, you always believe that your teachers are well organized and have their shit together. Not true. I was surprised of how many lessons or assignments/assessments we planned late the night before class the next day, or the morning of classes that day. Teachers are like those procrastinating students after all! 

The lack of organization is not necessarily a bad thing, however. It was such a planned and organized chaos that it was incredible that it worked, and it was through this process that we were better able to teach freely and adapt to our students' needs. In the end, teaching was sort of like a show, as long as it looks like you have your shit together once you're on the stage the students will believe it.

And if all else fails, I've learned (humanities/social sciences) teachers always have that "get out of jail free" card in our back pocket: Show a movie--the surest way to avoid actually teaching for a class period or two!


8. Improved Bicycle Riding Skillz: 

This summer while on campus I figured out how to ride a bicycle with no hands on the handle bars. I can now confidently self-declare myself cooler than I've ever been before.


9. Lack of Asians in Teaching: 

Along with most other prestigious high schools and colleges, Andover takes pride in its diversity. One of Andover's mottoes is "youth from every quarter." While Andover students, especially its summer session student population and its representation of 50+ countries, certainly hail from every quarter of the world, the faculty was not as diverse and had a glaring lack of Asians. 

While there were a handful of Hispanic and Black faculty at Andover Summer Session, I was the one and only Asian teaching assistant (out of 35-40 TAs) and the only Eastern/Oriental Asian in the 150+ person summer session faculty as a whole. This fact is particularly disturbing given the fact that about 30% of the Andover student (and summer session) population is Asian.

Why so few Asians teaching at Andover Summer Session? Is it a result of the low numbers of interested Asian applicants? Or maybe Asians aren't as qualified in teaching positions? How representative is the lack of Asian teachers at Andover compared to the greater teacher population in America? Is it a social class thing? A cultural thing? Just some thoughts.


10. Andover Takes Care of its People: 

Whether it was the gift duffle bag consisting of goodies including a beach towel and a camelback water bottle as we checked in for the summer, the catered closing dinner that featured lobster ravioli, prime rib, jumbo cocktail shrimp, and an open bar, or the reasonable monetary compensation for taking on extra jobs such as tutoring and chaperoning field trips, it was very clear that Andover cared about and was appreciative of the people that make up its community. It's no wonder I kept finding myself returning to Andover's campus.


Closing

Overall a great experience. Definitely the best summer job I've had. I learned a lot about teaching and schools, created some memories I'll never forget, and might have even made some friends.

Thank you to everyone--students, faculty, house counselors, admins, staff, friends--who contributed to my summer at Andover, it would not have been as awesome as a summer without you all!

Sincerely,

-JTF