Neighborhood Review - Part One: Dorchester!

Once coming to Boston, the big question is: Where shall i live?

Boston offers many nice neighborhoods and I chose Dorchester as the perfect place to live for me, so here some facts about Bostons biggest neighborhood!

Dorchester is known as the part of Boston with the most diversity of different cultures and influences and that is what makes living in Dorchi so interesting for me. You can find endless vietnamese shops and restaurants as well as different grocery shops, irish bars, polish cafe´s and typical american burger places. You can also find a real community (I saw people wearing a OFD-Originally from Dorchester shirt!)

If you`r planning to visit UMass Boston I would definitly recommend to look for a place close to the stations of the red T-Line (the subway system in Boston) like Savin Hill, Ashmont or JFK/UMass, which is the one closest to your school. I found a great place next to JFK/UMass and I love the fact that my way to school just takes me ten minutes :-)!

Living in Dorchester is relatively cheap compared to other neighborhoods and depending from what your looking for you can find places for about 600 $ rent per month and utilities are often included.

You must confess that there aren´t always only good news about Dorchester and when reading the newspaper you find some stories about people beeing robbed or even of shootings. But in my opinion it depends on how you personally behave and where in Dorchester you live. If you avoid running around alone at night and look for a place close to main streets and the T-line, I am convinced you won´t see Dorchi´s ugly face.

I began to love my neighborhood very fast and I hope once you are coming to Boston and start looking for a place to live, you keep Dorchester in mind!

Useful links for studying in the US and Boston

Hey guys, today we want to share a collection of links that some of you might think are useful.

First things first: Universities & Visa

• You want to study in the US, but you don't know anything about it or have any idea where you want to go? Try this site: Study in the USA.
• If you are a German student you might wanna check the following German site out: College Contact.
• Here is a list of Colleges and Universities in the greater Boston area:  Colleges & Universities.
• If you need information about the visa process visit the  U.S. Department of State.

Arrival at Boston & What has the city to offer?

• We just want to recommend Hostels where we actually stayed, so we can give you just two     adresses: H.I Hostel and YMCA Boston.
• Of course you need a place to stay. Try Craigslist Boston or Roomster to find the right room.
• In a big city like Boston public transportation is important. Try to find a place that's near                        a T-Station: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
• You might want to familiarize yourself with what Boston has to offer, so that you can do as much sightseeing as possible: City of Boston, Boston Guide and Boston.

Traveling! 

• Use your opportunity to explore the country! We can recommend the following buses: Fung Wah Bus, Megabus and Greyhound.

Of course this list is not complete! We will update it regularly and if you want to share any links to useful websites feel free to do so!

What's hot in Boston!

Have you ever seen a burlesque dance show? If you are interested, you should definitely go to one of the Boston Babydolls Burlesque troupe's show. They were named "Boston's Best Dance Troupe (Sexy)" by The Boston Phoenix 2010 and "Best Burlesque in Boston" 2011. Some of us saw their new Halloween show called The Wrathskellar and we all really appreciated it! You can get more information about their upcoming shows on their website! But here's a preview of their current show playing until the end of October:
http://bostonbabydolls.net/newintro.cfm

Our own "Welcome to Boston" Video

Thank you Melissa and Marianna for starring in our little "Welcome to Boston" Video.

View in 720p HD for best results :)

Enjoy and feel free to share your thoughts and opinions about studying in the US and Boston!

Explore Boston!

You are interested in studying in the US but you are not sure where you want to go? Or you've already decided to go to Boston and are curious what the city has to offer? Well, either way I want to show you guys this cool video about Boston that I found when I was looking for information about Boston. Enjoy!

Welcome to Boston!

Why are we doing this?
Why are we leaving our friends, family and hometown behind us with knowing we won´t see them for months?
Why are we coming to this country and the city Boston where we have never been before and that is completely strange to us?
We probably all asked ourselfs the same questions before we left our home and came here without knowing anyone and even without having a room to live...
But now our first weeks in this beautiful and thrilling city Boston have passed and we started to feel home a little more every day.
We are three exchange students from Canada and Germany and one true Bostonian who study at Umass Boston, and we think it is time for the first survival guide for all exchange students in Boston and those who plan to come here!

Within the next months we will share our experiences and all the exciting things we discover with you to help you plan your stay here in Boston and have the time of your lifes as we have!

After arriving at Boston you will have to take your first steps in this new city and we will let you know where you can find good places to life and which areas might be good future neighborhoods. We will also share our experiences with you how to survive your first week at school.
Umass Boston is an amazing university with many great things to do except just studying and there are some great activities you shouldn´t miss!

And of course you want to get to know the city Boston and see all the exciting places and events this city has to offer! So we will let you participate in our trips to Boston, if for shopping or sightseeing and of course partying!