Living Abroad - Boston, USA

Living Abroad

BOSTON, USA

Every month we interview someone who has lived in or visited a foreign country. This month we are talking to Frederica, from Italy, about her time in Boston, America. Frederica, why did you go to Boston? Where did you stay?

I went to Boston to study at the university. I was studying English literature in Italy at the time, and I had to study in an Englishspeaking country for one year as part of the course. I was offered a chance to go to Boston University and I took it.

What were your first impressions?

As soon as I saw Boston, I fell in love with it. I study in a small city, and I’ve always wanted to live in a big city. Boston was exactly what I needed for my first time away from home. Boston is a big city but not big enough to make you feel overwhelmed. The weather is also great and you get to enjoy all four seasons in true New England style, with hot summers and very cold winters, which is good if you like skiing (there are ski resorts just half-an-hour away from Boston). I stayed with a family. There were four of them: Michael, June and their two kids, Robert and Mark. They lived on Commonwealth Avenue, which is one of the busiest streets in Boston. It was great to be there as Boston University is spread out along Commonwealth Avenue. The metro in Boston, which is called the “T”, comes above ground right by the university campus and runs all the way down Commonwealth Avenue. The only bad thing is that it’s a bit busy. One of my friends had to wear a cast for months after being hit by a car trying to cross Commonwealth Avenue - Boston is famous for its horrible drivers.

What’s the best thing about Boston?

Boston is a great place to live as a college student. There are lots of universities in Boston and its surrounding suburbs, including Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Berklee College of Music. College students make up twenty percent of Boston’s population, and in total there are about 250,000 of them. This adds to the energy of the city, making it a vibrant and fun-loving place to live and study. If you like nature, you can always take a stroll near the Charles River, or have a picnic in Boston Commons, which is a large park where you can go skating on Frog Pond in the winter. Boston is also the cultural center of New England, and it has museums, an entire theatre district, ballets, orchestras, Shakespearian theatre groups who perform in the park, an aquarium and lots, lots more.

Did you work while you were there?

Although I went to Boston as a student, I also did lots of jobs while I was there. I worked as a babysitter, bartender, shop assistant and chef. There are many job opportunities in Boston. In the Boston Globe, one of Boston’s main newspapers, there is a section called “Boston Works”, which has all the jobs listings.

Where did you like to go out?

When I wanted to go shopping, I used to go to Newbury Street or the little shops in Quincy Market. There are also many malls in the Boston area including Copley Place and Cambridgeside Galleria. There are lots of good places to eat such as the Fire & Ice, the Cheesecake Factory, the California Pizza Kitchen and any Italian restaurant in the North End. If you want a unique dining experience, you should try Dick’s Last Resort. At Dick’s the waiters and waitresses are deliberately rude. They make fun of you, throw your food down on the table and if it’s your birthday, they cover you in whipped cream. If you’re a fan of the American sitcom, Cheers, you should visit the Bullfinch Club on Beacon Hill, which is the pub they used as inspiration for the show. And for a fancier occasion, the Top Of The Hub is supposed to have one of the best views in Boston. I also enjoy going to clubs, concerts, and bars. Some bars I recommend are Modern, which is a trendy bar with low lighting and expensive drinks; The Cask and Flagon, which is the most popular bar to go to after a baseball game; and Kinvara, which is a college bar, complete with live bands, and an outdoor patio. If you prefer chilling and listening to some live music, you can catch a show at the Paradise Rock Club. For smaller, local bands you should head towards Harvard and check out T.T. & The Bear’s Place and the Middle East. The big name bands usually play at the Fleet Center, Boston’s huge multi-purpose arena.

What’s the worst thing about Boston?

For me, the worse part about Boston is that everything closes at 2am. It’s very different from European cities, or New York City. And because it’s a large city, it’s kind of expensive to live there, especially paying rent. Overall, Boston is a beautiful and culturally rich city. You never run out of things to do and once you’re there, you’ll never want to leave.

And finally, would you go back?

Oh yes, definitely, it’s a great town and I had a fantastic time.

Well, that was really interesting Frederica, thanks very much.

G L O S S A R Y

to feel overwhelmed exp to be affected strongly a season n summer, winter, spring, etc ski resorts an area in the mountains where you can ski a kid n a child a busy street n (superlative: busiest) a street with many cars and people a university campus n the area around university colleges that is part of the university: sports fields, residential houses, etc a cast n if you break your leg, they often put your leg in a cast (a white case made of plaster) to protect it a suburb n an area outside a city where people live to make up phr vb to be members of something to take a stroll exp to go for a casual and gentle walk skating n a sport that consists of running on ice with skates (special shoes with a blade on the bottom) a bartender n a person who serves customers in a bar the jobs listings n a section in a newspaper with job offers a mall n a large building with many shops a last resort n a desperate solution to a problem rude adj disrespectful to make fun of someone exp to laugh at someone in a bad way whipped cream n cream that is light and fluffy a sitcom n a comedy series on television about a group of people fancy adj (comparative: fancier) sophisticated trendy adj fashionable a live band n a band that plays in a bar/club, etc to chill vb to relax to catch a show exp to watch a show huge adj very big kind of exp more or less