UMass Predeparture Meeting

Hello future exchange students! I already talked to some of you today, now here's the new blog post I promised you. First of all, if you're looking for housing and you can't find it through me (I already gave some of you my email adress, for all the others, please contact me through the facebook alumni group!) here's a website with some housing opportunities:

http://euroclub.mit.edu/marketplace

that's the MIT thing I was talking about... As for the house where I lived in, here are some pictures from the neighborhood. You can also find some posts by looking for "Boston" or "Savin Hill" here on my blog!

The house and the dog

Skyline view from up the street

The beach walk

View from up on the hill in the park

The way over to school....

Welcome to Boston :)

The fun thing about travelling is always the travelling part. When you're constantly moving and seeing different things, meeting new people... Or, as the postcard says that I've found today:

 

Exactly! That's why it's so hard to stand still ;) But it feels good to have arrived for now, though I'm already planning trips again... For my trip from Albany to Boston, I chose the Greyhound express and shocked my family with free wi-fi on the bus :) (yeah, welcome to America folks). I also took some pictures, but I apologize - it's my phones camera... 

So this is the Hudson River there in the back and down here we have the first shots right after the Massachussetts State border. I like it here... :) I also tried to take a picture of this one truck's bumper sticker, but my phone wasn't fast enough... "Life is good" it said. I'd have to agree... ;)

So, after six days of travelling in the UK, Canada and upstate New York, I've finally made it to Beantown :) My new "roommate" picked me up at South Station. I already liked Maureen from our emails and the one phone call on saturday and when I walked out of the Station and saw her waiting for me, waiving her arms trough the air, I knew we were gonna have fun :D She's a tour guide in Boston and even though it was her day off, she couldn't help but give me a quick little tour through the harbor and North End. Then we drove home to "my" new house. It's nice and cozy and the neighborhood is really nice too. Best part though: UMass is a 15 minutes walk from the house and I can walk along the waterfront *yay* The Atlantic is about 3 minutes from the house *YAY* and so is the next T-station! Needless to say, I'm pretty happy here... Couldn't help myself and already indulged in some of my favorite American groceries (Arizona Ice Tea by the gallon...omg!) but I've been trying to keep it pretty healthy :) first thing I bought in Boston was a new pair of running shoes, because with this neighborhood, I'm gonna do some serious morning running on my days off! The streets and the walk on the beach are calling me :) Tomorrow's the welcome day at UMass, I'll probably write more once that's through... 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. - what on earth are they gonna do with us? Well, we'll see tomorrow... Can't wait!

How to find a room in Boston

Ok, since this is also a blog for all future exchange students, here are some thoughts and tipps on how to find a room in Boston:

first of all, you should probably check the alumni reports for tipps or adresses of former hosts, because not only did those hosts then probably have a good experience with exchange students, the students can also tell you whether or not everything worked out and what you might have to take into consideration when chosing this particular host. I met the guy who stayed with my host last winter by chance, actually. I already had the room after I found out that another student from Frankfurt had stayed in it a year before  :) It's a small world after all.... anyways, we met at our universitie's USA exchange party and he gave me a few of his impressions on my host and my surroundings, which I really apprechiated.

I found my room via the MIT European Club website. They have a "marketplace" where students and Bostonians offer their home to exchange Students. This is very practical, since it is designed to be especially for students staying for a short period of time (apparently other appartments and rooms are only availably for a year's lease...) So, if you don't already have a personal contact, check out http://euroclub.mit.edu/marketplace and see if you can find something there!