EXCHANGE REPORT

CHUAH, Mi Ching

BBA in GBUS and ECON Boston College, The United States of America

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No Item Page No.

1. Monthly Activities Log 3

2. General Exchange Information 6

3. Items to Bring/ Checklist 9

4. Useful Links/ Contacts 10

Table of Content

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August I arrived in Boston College several days before the start of the mandatory Exchange Students Orientation. It was a good decision for me to adjust to the time zone and recover from the jet lag! Orientation started and we had a full day event to get to know other exchange students and international assistants. The boat cruise to see the evening-night skyline of Boston was truly one of the most memorable experiences to soak into the city. The cruise was prepared by BC for free but usually costs US$30 per person on tours, so it was a steal for students like us! We also had a free campus tour to familiarise ourselves with the school amenities and various libraries in school (you must check out the Bapst Library in BC! It’s rated as top 10 most beautiful libraries in America!!) August was mostly spent exploring Boston and getting myself adjusted to the amenities in BC. Recommended Point of Interest in Boston: Gasson in BC, Boston Commons, Harvard University Campus, Boston Waterfront

September It was a really happening month, I participated in many school events as there were many ongoing activities. I joined the Outdoor Adventure Club and participated in several outdoor hiking trips (they cost about U$10 each) in White Mountain, New Hampshire. It was a great opportunity to meet new friends as well. I also attended the Career Fair held at Conte Forum where various recruiters had representatives present to explain the open opportunities. On top of that, I was also a HKUST representative at the Exchange fair organised by BC for sophomore students in which I was privileged to speak to many interested students. BC also organised various events such as Stokes Set at which we saw Nico & Vinz perform live and RedSox Baseball Game at Fenway for really cheap or free tickets! I think it is important to follow closely of events held in campus because they are budget friendly and a great avenue to meet friends! Apart from that I took advantage of the relaxing semester to travel to places nearby like Cape Cod (small town in Massachusetts), Niagara Falls and Chicago. Recommended Point of Interest in Boston: Fenway Park, Hiking in Massachusetts area, Legal Seafoods (lobster)

Part I: Monthly Activities Log

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October I was busy with midterms in October so I did not take many trips as I had midterms and assignments. But I did not forget to have fun and visited many local attractions! Boston students have a great advantage of accessing all museums for free with the student card and I took advantage of that. I went to the Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (favourite!!) and the Boston Sea Aquarium (highly recommended for penguins lovers!) and the best part was they were all FREE for Boston students! My exchange friends and I rented a car to drive to Maine for the scenic falling leaves hike, stargazing at the Acadia National Park and lobsters, that was absolutely worth it! After midterms, I made a short trip to Washington DC to see the historical side of America. Recommended Point of Interest in Boston: Five Guys, Shake Shack, Mike’s Pastry, Little Italy

November I was not done with midterms because I had 2 midterms for all my Economics courses. I studied hard and played hard for the month. I took several trips to New York and not forgetting the week long Thanksgiving break (better plan ahead as prices of tickets really spike) to Florida. NYC was unforgettable and definitely a city that never sleeps and Florida was the perfect escape from the cold in Boston. I also went ice skating at Frog Pond in Boston Commons before

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the weather becomes unbearable and it was a lot of fun. Christmas markets and Christmas tree lightings were also happening all around Boston in this month so my weekends were filled with events. Recommended Point of Interest in Boston: Winter Market, Quincy Market Christmas tree, Frog Pond, Tea Party Museum, Prudential Centre Top of the Rock

December It was my last month in Boston and feeling a tad sad that I was leaving so soon. I prepared for finals but visited many attractions (one more time) in Boston to appreciate the city one last time. I also went out to try the famous restaurants and definitely had one of my best meals in Bronwyn. I also experienced the first snow in Boston at which it snowed for 16 hours continuously. After finals, I left BC with a very heavy heart for my travels even though the weather was brutal. It was time to bid farewell to my friends too. Recommended Point of Interest in Boston: Smoke Shop BBQ, Bronwyn, Cambridge Side (MIT)

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Visa Procedures In order to process visa, the BC letter was very important and it is VERY CRUCIAL to make your appointment way ahead of time to make sure that you get your visa in time. I only managed to attain the earliest appointment which was one month away so it is recommended to start early for visa application. Documentation and photo requirements is super important to make sure you don’t have to go more than once to the embassy. It also takes about half of a day to process all the documentations at the embassy so I was required to take leave during my internship. Orientation The orientation was a day of talks for international student about the rules and regulations in the campus. It was also good for mingling sessions during lunch time and breaks. The boat cruise organised in the evening is highly recommended as it was stunning to see the Boston evening sunset view. International Activities &Services There is a day especially for interest groups to parade their booths so we got to see all the available groups (up to >100 of them). I took part in the Outdoor Adventure club where I took trips to do outdoor activities such as kayaking, hiking and paddle-boarding. It was also a great place to meet friends of similar interests. The international assistants were helpful so it is good to connect and meet up with your IAs to catch up/ ask them for tips. There are also cultural and religious clubs where you might meet people from similar background as yourself as they organise free retreats outside Boston during the weekends/ on breaks. Accommodation I stayed on upper campus at Welch Hall. It was a traditional double room similar to HKUST. It was a pretty comfortable dorm in fall and winter. The dorms did not have fans or air conditioning but was fine in fall and winter. There are heaters which are centralised and turned on during colder days. I liked the experience there because I got to make some friends and my Resident Assistant (RA) was kind to help me settle in. Course Registration We needed to go to the Student services office to add/ drop courses. Fret not if you cannot attain the classes you want before arriving at BC because you can speak to the professors to show interest if you really want the class. I was privileged to get all the classes I want and managed to fulfil the major requirements. Teaching & Assessments Method I took 4 Economics courses and 1 Psychology course in BC. 3 of my Economics professor were part-time as they were full-time professors in Harvard University. I loved learning with them and never once dread learning in BC. It is definitely the best semester I had all my

Part II: General Exchange Information

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university life because the interactive learning really helped me grow and gain tremendously. I also loved the small classroom environment and I highly recommend ECON courses in BC because they are the best! (no exaggeration) I had assignments, homework and exams. They were weighted very fairly and allowed me to travel freely too because there were no projects at all. The courses I took were EC2228 Econometrics: Stefan Hoderlein, EC3372 International Finance (Bruce Watson), EC3361 Monetary Theory and Banking Policy: Kazemi Hossein, EC2202: Macroeconomics (Ryan Charour) and PSYC1111 Psychology as a Social Science: Michael Moore. Sport and Recreation This is probably my favourite part about BC. There is a ton of free classes when you sign up for membership at the Plex. I met many amazing people from fitness classes and the variety is insanely vast for free. I enjoyed my fitness journey there very much and it was a big part of my university life in Boston!! Finance and Banking The school organised Bank of America representatives to help us set up bank accounts during the orientation. Since most places in the US accepts card, it was almost not necessary to carry cash and I believe that it is wise to store the cash in the bank for safety. It was very convenient to withdraw too since the machines were everywhere. Venmo is also a very convenient app and widely used by students to transfer money easily. Expenditure for the Semester No Item Amount (USD) 1. Accommodation 5,698.00 2. Meal Plan 3,166.00 3. Medical Insurance 1,793.00 4. Books and Other Study Materials 500.00 5. Miscellaneous (Travelling, Shopping,etc) 2,000.00 Total 13,157.00

Social Clubs and Networking Opportunities Like any other place, it was important to reach out to people at events and put yourself out there. I recommend to participate in events organised by the CAB of BC / interest groups to meet people of similar interest. There are also career related events planned by the Career centre which are great opportunities to be exposed to the professional scene in America. Health and Safety Medical insurance is mandatory in the US because medical fees are super expensive. There is a university health centre where we could see the doctor if we were unwell. I also got vaccinated for free (because of insurance) during my semester there. Students can walk to the UHS easily on weekdays to consult the doctor for free.

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Food Food options on campus are limited to McElroy Commons, Lower Corcorran Commons and Hillside Café. Students on campus are required to buy a meal plan which is quite expensive to have meals on campus at a cheaper price. The meal plan is a big amount to finish so I ate on campus frequently on week days and non-travelling days. But it was convenient even though options are quite limited. The food is very healthy and vegetarian options are available so I enjoyed that aspect of the campus food. There is also special Tuesdays dinner in McElroy when they serve fancier dinners like grilled lobsters, steak, etc. Transportation The public transport system in Boston is very established and we can navigate easily with a Charlie Card (get it for free at any T station). There are 3 T stations near BC: Cleveland Circle, Reservoir and Boston College which are all on the green line and the D line (Reservoir) is the fastest way to get to the city. Public buses are good to get to places nearby. BC also provides a free shuttle that can be tracked using Rider App to get around campus and to the T stations! Climate The climate in Boston is cold compared to Hong Kong. It gets cold in November – it started to drop to negative by end of November and whole of December so do prepare sufficient winter wear such as gloves, heat tech, hat. The fall in Aug-Oct is bearable and I liked it. Fall is also the better time to go out and explore because you won’t be freezing in the winds. The winds in Boston is really quite crazy! Communication I was assigned a BC mail when I arrived and it was the main means of communication with school professors/ offices. But to speed up communication, calling up the phone numbers or meeting them face to face was highly effective. In terms of telco, AT&T was the best carrier and the school also arranged the representatives to be there to help us set up a free sim that was given to us during orientation. Cautionary Measures/ Tips

• The cold weather in Boston is brutal so bring all necessities like snow clothing from hats, gloves, heat tech, coats and snow boots! You can also buy them from Primark in Boston (super cheap store) if you are from a tropical country like me.

• Plan your trips ahead to save money if travelling is one of your priorities during exchange!

• IAs are very good resource to confide in for course enrolment tips and finding out which professors are better.

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Other Notes • Boston has a lot of places that are worth visiting and please take advantage of your

student status to get the free passes for museums, aquarium and the science museum! You will never be a student there again anytime soon!

• Yelp is a great app to hunt for amazing food places in Boston but to name a few of my favourites in Boston would be: The Smoke Shop BBQ (Cambridge), The Hawthorne (Fenway), Seoul Solongtang (Harvard Avenue), Bronwyn, Daily Catch (Little Italy)

• Lyft and Uber are amazing transport options in Boston to get around easily instead of using taxis.

• Please sign up for Amazon Prime to maximise your student privileges and buy stuff quickly

• You will be experiencing Thanksgiving, Black Friday & Cyber Monday (super cheap stuff and good steals for American goods and electronics) and Christmas sale!

No Item 1. Clothing

• Winter wear: Scarves, Coats, Windbreaker, Gloves, Hat, Mufflers, Snowboots

• Athletic Clothes (if fitness is your interest) • Fall attire • Home clothes/ Pyjamas

2. Stationaries • Notebook • Calculator • Pencils, pen, eraser

3. Electronics • Laptop • Camera • Hair Dryer • Chargers • Plug converter (US uses 2 pin)

4. Cosmetics • Lipbalm • Moisturiser • Mask (very expensive in the US) • Body lotion and hand cream • Other make up

5. Others • Sufficient Cash • Credit Card • Medications

Part III: Items to Bring Checklist

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For on campus Emergency BC Police 617-552-4444 Exchange Information hamc@bc.edu Course Information & Schedule https://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/courseinfosched.html If more information is needed, get my contact from SBM Exchange Team by emailing at bmugexch@ust.hk.

Part IV: Useful Links & Contacts