Maine

Since much of Maine is comprised of small towns that can be some distance apart, students say the best way to meet young people is through involvement in school and community activities. Teenagers in Maine participate in many school sports, the most popular in Maine being football, basketball and hockey. The University of Maine men’s and women’s ice hockey teams are two of the best in the nation. Sailing and fishing are popular summertime activities along the seaboard. Mainers may seem reserved and conservative at first, but once you get to know them, you will find them to be very open and friendly. Maine is also well known for its delicious seafood—especially lobster and juicy blueberries—producing the largest blueberry crop in the nation.

Tourists from all over the U.S. travel to Maine during the warm months to see its quaint seaside villages and beautiful rocky landscape, and in the winter to ski at its fabulous resorts.

Run the rapids of the Kennebeck River, one of the best sites for white water rafting in New England. Dare to plunge down Magic Falls, and do your best to stay in the boat!

The town of Ogunquit in southern Maine is a beautiful artist’s colony on the seashore.

Maine’s economy is still largely based on the fishing industry, and Penobscot Bay remains a major seaport.

The Penobscot Marine Museum, in Searsport, is the place for any sea lover to go.

Portland, in southern Maine, is the state’s cultural center and largest city. The Old Port is a tourist’s haven, with Victorian buildings, galleries, shops and many of Maine’s famous microbreweries. Fisheries and ferries line the waterfront.

One of the oldest and most famous lighthouse is the Portland Head Light. The Head Light was built in 1791 and towers 101 feet above the surf.

The Wadsworth Longfellow House, in Portland, is Maine’s most popular historic site. It was the boyhood home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a famous American poet.

The town of York, in southern Maine, is the oldest settlement in the U.S., established in 1623.

Acadia National Park, along the Atlantic coast shore line in northern Maine, is the only national park in New England. Every year the park attracts avid campers, hikers and cross-country skiing enthusiasts.

Southern Maine is more moderate than the harsh northern climate, where there is an average of over 100 inches of snow in winter. Spring and fall temperatures are cool, reaching 60ºF (10ºC). Summer has hot days and cooler nights, especially on the coast. EF Foundation students in Maine say to bring a sweaters and jackets as well as shorts and T-shirts, since the temperature can vary so greatly from each season.

• Stephen King - Novelist, author of Carrie, Pet Cemetery and other horror stories
• Patrick Dempsey –Actor know from Grey’s Anatomy and several blockbuster movies
• Edna St. Vincent Millay - 20th century poet and feminist
• Katie Curtis - Female rock singer
• Sir Hiram Maxim - Inventor of the machine gun
• Joan Benoit Samuelson –Marathon runner and gold winner of Olympic Summer games in 1984
• Anna Kendrick –Actress from Portland, Maine, known from the Twilight Movies