Taking Summer Courses @ HARVARD

One of the greatest advantages to be in a college town like Boston is that you can take classes everywhere you want. Well, since one of the best universities is right across the river, I just can't resist the temptation. Here's how it works.

Usually, what you'll be able to do is to apply the summer courses. For example, I applied for Harvard Summer School. Check out their website, and you can find all sorts of interesting courses they offer for a summer term, which usually lasts about 6~8 weeks. The application process is similar to the ones you had when you're applying for grad school here (TOEFL score, health condition and so on).BTW, the on-campus dorms' rent is as high as $4000/ six weeks. If you're thinking to take a summer course, I would suggest you come early and search the Craigslist for a short term sublet, and it usually cost between $600~$700/month.

I'm taking International Marketing and Cross-border Innovation this summer. I would say there is a lot of effort and work required as a regular four month semester class. The capacity for Havard summer school at Graduate level is huge, for example, for the marketing class, we have 80 students from various parts of the world, Germany, Egypt, Mexico, Denmark, Switerland and more. You'll meet with graduate students at the other side of the world, or business people who are seeking some new ideas from the prestigious university. It's been a week since the first class, and so far, I've been enjoying it.

Another great advantage besides having the classes is that you can access to most of the libraries in Harvard. The famous Widener Library is one of them. The Library is named after Mr. Widener (right), and the interior is more like a museum, as I may say. And I'm pretty about the place where I'll spend most of my July time.  See it for yourself! I wish I could take more pictures, but the reading area is photo-forbidden.

If you're coming here for your graduate program, I really suggest you take a summer course at a different university, and the credits are usually transferrable. Harvard is a good choice, and Boston University also offer some great programs, like the New Media Course by Professor Steve Quigley from College of Communication : )

Five Interesting Facts about BOSTON

I saw this from my friend Lauren's blog the other day, and find it really interesting. She shared with us some interesting facts about Boston, which still amazes me after a year's stay in the beautiful city. (If you want to read the post, click here). I've quoted three from Lauren, and added some I found from the Web. Enjoy.

From Lauren:
1. A three-story parking garage, that can hold roughly 2000 cars can be found underneath Boston Common.

And what's more amazing to me is that once you park and lock your car, you take an elevator up to ground level and walk out through one of the 4 small kiosks (shown on right) that provide pedestrian access to the parking garage, which otherwise is invisible. They have tried everything to preserve the natural beauty of the park by keeping the artificial building invisible

2. The nickname "Beantown" was given to the city by sailors because the smell of cooking beans would waft into the harbor.
This is new to me, and I can slowly connect it with a lot that's going on in the town, say the college hockey game between the big four Boston University, Northeastern University, Boston College, and Harvard University-- the "Beanpot" hockey game. (BTW BU claimed the 2009 Beanpot Title!)

 3.The Freedom Trail changes - not frequently, but it has. It once ran down Spring Lane passing the site of the fresh spring that enabled puritans to settle in Boston.

I'd like to walk around the "changing" freedom trail sometime in the fall when the weather is cooler and nicer.

Here some of the other interesting facts I found about Boston:

4. The famous "Citgo" sign in Kenmore Square contains five miles of neon tubing.
Really!? It's a sign I see every day when I go to my college, I know it looks good at night, but the fact that the neon tubing is as long as 5 miles still strike me a little bit. I'd definitely take a closer look at that in the future.

5. The Big Dig created about 80 miles of underground lanes in a 7.5-mile corridor.

Big Dig is the most expensive highway project in the U.S. history, costing about $2.8 billion in 1985. But in my opinion, it still didn't do much to change the city's overall bad traffic. (especially during game times in downtown).


I'm sure there will be more interesting facts about the city as I stay here longer. And I hope you find the city more interesting after viewing it. Also, what do you want to know more about Boston? Feel free to leave a comment, and hope to see you here in Boston!

Happy Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, known in Chinese as "端午节" (Duanwu Festival), occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. The focus of the celebrations includes eating the rice dumpling 粽子 (zongzi) and racing dragon boats.

Here in Boston, it's possible for you to spend a traditional Duanwu Festival with friends. HOW? Hear me out. Zongzi can be purchased from Chinese super markets like Super 88. You can choose fillings from pork, red-bean, beef, and even vietnamese style no-filling ones. It's really convenient, and they're pretty cheap too.

For racing dragon boats, you can go to the annual Boston-Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival that takes place down the charles river. This year, the Festival was on June 12th and 13th.
You can take the redline and get off at Harvard Square. It's located between Harvard Bridge (JFK Street) and the Western Ave Bridge, with most of the Festival activities on the Cambridge side of the river.


View Boston Dragon Boat Festival Site in a larger map

You can enjoy drum dances, yo-yo performances, music, and Lion dances entertain crowds of spectators, making this one of the biggest Boston Chinese cultural events of the year. The races start early in the morning when the weather is still cool, and cultural activities begin at noon, with the "Eye-Dotting Ceremony" to paint the eyes of the dragons on each boat, accompanied by traditional Chinese drumming on both banks of the Charles. Here's a clip about this year's dragon boat racing.



Boston Dragon Boat Festival - Harvard Mixed Team Races.

It's a pretty cool opportunity to join when you miss the good old times in China. I'm in for the next year's Dragon Boat Festival, how about you?

College Tour = Harvard, MIT

New York City is the melting pot of immigrants from all over the world, while Boston is the melting pot of college students. Some of the finest colleges and universities locate here. College students from all over the world come here to pursue their academic career. It's not surprising to find out that it has fairly large population of Chinese students, from undergraduate to graduate and even PhDs. Besides its outstanding professors, one of the reasons the pretigious colleges can generate so much academic achievements, I believe, is because of the gorgeous campus. Among them, typical examples are Harvard University, and MIT.

Located on the redline subway station Harvard Square in Cambridge, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. As soon as you get off at the station, you will be greeted by an array of ethnic resaurants, coffee houses, museums, and theaters. Unlike most of the colleges in China, the college campuses in the US are totally open to the public.

I strongly recommend you to take the Hahvahd Tour by the Unofficial Tour if you are new to the campus, the tour is about 70-minute long and you pay after the tour (suggested $10/person). The tour guides are all current Harvard students who are charismatic and funny. From them you'll learn more about the rivalry between the cambridge government and the Harvard University, the statue of allegely Mr. John Harvard, and more interesting details. Here's a short clip to show you why you should join them.

Once finished touring around the Harvard campus, you can take the redline again and get off at Kendall/ MIT station, you'll be able to see around the MIT campus. For MIT campus, unfortunately, there aren't official or unofficial tours for you to sign up (I guess it's because of the pragmatic and practicable nature of it). But it doesn't prevent you from admiring both new and classic buildings on its campus. (The picture above is the famous MIT Dome, below is the new MIT Stata Center).

The beautiful and open campuses have provided students with better working and living environments, and contributing to the greater academic achievements. There are also great views across from the Charles River--BU Charles River campus. If you want a personal tour of the BU campus, feel free to leave me a message!

Have you ever been to Wonderland in Boston?

Don't get confused with the title here, I'm not saying the Wonderlands in fairy tales or the ones that in the Disney theme parks. In fact, the wonderland is here in Boston! There's a metro stop at the end of the Blueline called Wonderland. I. like most people, am curious about what exactly is the place. But unlike most people, I actually go there and find out what it is. So, let's check it out!

If you take the Blueline at Government Center, it takes you about fourty minutes to get to Wonderland. If you are looking for castles and princess, you'll probably be disappointed, too. Lying in the northeast of Boston downtown, wonderland is famous for the Wonderland Greyhound Park and close access to the Revere Beach.

 Hop on the train to Wonderland, R U Ready?

Getting off at the wonderland stop, you'll find yourself greeting by the "Castle" that will fit your original imaginization.

After walking for a few hundred feet, you'll find you on the famous Revere beach. It was not a good day that day, and the water was cold so few people were hanging out on the beach.

Founded in 1896, Revere Beach is the first public beach in the country. Every summer, huandreds of people are rushing to the beach to swim. From 1906 to 1975, Revere Beach contained a popular amusement park, that was considered by many to be Boston's Coney Island. Walking along the beach makes you wonder how glamous it used to be back in the old days. You can still see enormous resting areas built with a touch of classics.

 

It may not be as popular as it was twenty years ago, but you can still come to Revere Beach to join the annual Sand Sculpting Festival that takes place in July. I am actually pretty excited about the coming event and will sure come back again to take part in the event. Would you like to join me?

A taste of history and modern= Faneuil Hall Marketplace & Quincy Market

If you want to spend a quality weekend enjoying foods from various parts of the worldans well s well as street performance, Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Quincy Market is a good place to go.

Ever since 1742, Faneuil Hall has been a marketplace and a meeting hall for the Bostonian citizens. Samuel Adams used to gave speeches encouraging American people to get independence from Great Britain. Sometimes, it is referred as the "the Cradle of Liberty". Quincy market was constructed from 1824 to 1826 and named in honor of Mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt. 

You can choose from Asian snacks (Chinese, Indian cuisines) to local fresh seafoods, as well as typical American steak sandwiches in the Quincy Market food court. It's one of the most popular tourist sights in Boston, and it is usually crowded most time of the year.

Personally, I recommend the Philly Steak in the market. It's pretty big and full of tasty steak. It's not that cheesy, which I think will be more acceptable to most Chinese. But be careful, it's very HOT! I also highly recommend the delicious dessert sold in the market, ranging from sweets to chocolate dipped apples. Ever imagine that you can dip the apple with chocolate and find it even better? If you're in Boston, you've got to try it!

After a good meal, it's always good to walk along the various little boutiques along the market or watch the street performance (usually on weekends). The video below is a two-female street music group Goli performing in front of their children audience. They will be performing a lot in the Faneuil Hall in the summer time. So if you're here for the summer, go and check them out!

If you're a car fan, there is a British Car Days going on too! From June to September, on selected weekends you'll witness the vaious British old cars presented to you by the Boston Area MG Club. I used to witness one last October, it was exciting!

So, what do you say? What do you want to know more about Boston? Let's meet at Quincy market some time in the future, shall we?

One thing you can't miss= Lobster!

When you're in Boston, or the new England area, there's one thing you cannot miss--The Lobster! The Lobster in Massachusetts are smaller than those from Australia. The best way to cook a lobster here is to steam it and dip it in butter sauce. I think one of the reasons why lobsters are so popular is because it's close to sea, so you can always eat it fresh. Yum.

I had my first lobster last september when I was joining the orientation activities held by the College of Communication here in BU. We went all the way up to Maine to have a fresh taste of the local Lobster. Maine claims to have the best lobster in the area. We were greeted by the sign that read "lobster served, no crabs allowed". Interesting, right?

The Maine Lobster Festival is around the corner (from August 4 to 8), if you're here in the early august, you should go and give it a try.

While waiting for the big red lobster, we were first served with the clams on the right, they're pretty juicy and tastes a bit sweet with the butter sauce.

For a good lobster, you need the have great tools. As you can tell from the right, the metal clamp helps you to crack the lobster shell open, the red little fork helps you get the lobster meat out, and last but not least, you can use the fork to dip the lobster into the mouth.

Finally, the BIG GUY! Fully cooked bust still looks pretty handsome. The big head of his doesn't contain that much to eat, the essence of the lobster locats on the clamps and his body.

Well, eating a lobster needs certain skills too. It's recommended that you start with the clamps, using the metal clamp to crack open and get the meat out. After that, you go for the body. Once you break the body from his head, and clean up the green testines, you should break the last but second of his tail shell, and try to squeeze the meat out. In that way, you'll get a complete fine piece of body meat. Enjoy!

If you need some more picture tutorial, please click here.

For those of you who are new in town and pretty flexible on the price, Legal Seafood is the place I recommend for fresh and nice lobsters, but they charge it dearly. Also, Barking Crab has got the nicest view of the waterfront of Boston and one of the best services in town. Well, if you can't afford the luxury to eat at a fancy restaurant, you can always wait for the SALE of lobster at chain supermarkets like Shaw's, or Stop & Shop. Get a free member card, and you might get a lobster at $5.99/lb instead of $10.99 in summer time.


Is there anything more you want to add to the lobster stories? What is your favorite food? Please leave a comment below.

The color of Boston= The Public Garden and Boston Common

Ever wonder what color of a city is? It's not the cold color of the steel skyscrapers, but how people can still grasp a sense of seasons in the heart of the city. New Yorkers are proud to claim that they have Central Park, where people can escape from the noisy-and-fast-pace life. Well, in Boston, we've got the Public Garden and Boston Common.

According to the City of Boston, the Public Garden (left) was created in 1837, Boston common (below right) in 1634. From its inception, the Public Garden was decorative and flowery, the Common pastoral and practical. The Common's walkways were for crosstown travel, the Public Garden's paths for meandering. The Common was America's first park, the Public Garden its first public botanical garden. 

The starting point of the Freedom Trail, Boston Common is the oldest park in the country.
The "Common" has been used for many different purposes throughout its long history. It used to be cattle feeding grounds and hanging place.  Celebrities, including Martin Luther King Jr., Pope John Paul II, and Gloria Steinem (advocate of the feminist revolution), have given speeches at the Common.

The leaves may be green for now, but by the time of november (the first time I went to the public garden was last november), the public garden will turn yellow with maple leaves. Grown up in a southern city in China (in the sub-tropical area), I can never tell the changing of the seasons, since trees are green all the year round. I am stunned by the beauty of falling leaves. From green to yellow, the color change resembles a life cycle of a leaf, it is also decorating the city with different color at typical times of the year.

The dry pond was filled with fallen leaves, making it a great "leafy pond" for children to play in. They chased each other and threw leaves at each other. Simply watching them made me feel happy.

I'm fascinated by the color of the maple leaf. I know you're laughing, what's so special about a reddish yellow leaf? To me, it's like an old man who's still trying to bring the best to the city--his beautiful and unique color.

The Public Garden is also a common place of interest for marrying couples to take their wedding shots. I was lucky to bump into a couple last november. I wish I could take a set like this someday in the future.

Do you have a story with your city's garden? Tell me about it.

China Town= the Chinese Must-gos

In every major cities in the US, there's a Chinatown. It is a place where Asian population will gather and live. It is the place where you can enjoy authentic Asian food (for example, Chinese). Boston is the city with the largest Chinatown in the New England Area, which makes everything all the more convenient for us. : )

Located on the Orange Line, Boston Chinatown is the destination for all that want to find the flavor of China. It is the center of Asian-American life in New England, hosting many Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese restaurants and markets. Chinatown is one of Boston's most densely-populated residential districts.

You'll not only see restaurant and some street signs in familiar Chinese, but also find yourself surrounded by all the cantonese folks. There's an old joke that goes, in Chinatown, you don't have to speak, but you have to know Cantonese!

There's a large Chinese Supermarket located on 692 Washington Street. You can find pretty much everything from Old Nanny (老干妈) hot sauce to rice-cooker and other usual equipments that can help you settle your life here.
One piece of advice though, the vegetables are usually not as fresh as those sold in foreign supermarkets, so you might want to cook it as soon as possible.

When you're in Chinatown, don't hesitate to try out some of the best Chinese Food restaurants in town. Gourmet Dumpling House (南北风味)located on 52 Beach Street is one of my personal favorite. Although owned by a Taiwanese, you can have delicious mini stemed buns with pork and crabmeat (蟹粉汤包) for only $6.95. If you're a spicy food lover, they also have the pickled mustard with intestine and blood pudding(毛血旺) which originally is from Sichuan. If you 're going with a bunch of friends, say 3 to 4 people, the average cost per person to have a great meal is around $8 to $10.

Chinatown makes our study life much easier--given the supermarket and the numerous restaurants there are. It's also a great place to hang out with your foreign classmates, help them get a glimpse of the Chinese culture. So, leave me a comment, and maybe we can hang out in the Boston Chinatown someday. 

Exploring the Museum of Fine Arts

I must confess that I was not a big fan of art museums before I came to the US. I used to study and live in Beijing for 4 years, but I only went to the museum for twice or so. One thing I didn't like about it was because museums were usually crowded and noisy back in Beijing--I guess I should blame it on the POPULATION. The other was that the displays were the same for 4 years. There were very few special exhibits and most of the exhibitions stood there for a long time. I would blame myself on this one, since I'm the one who's always chasing after new trends and ideas.

But all of this have changed after I came to the U.S. You'll find numerous museums everywhere with multiple purposes: memorial museums, art museums, and more. The museum fee is amazingly low and you usually get student discount/ even free access. They are usually so big that you have to make several trips to just take a rough look at all that's in it.

Today, I'd like to introduce you the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), one of the most fascinating museums located in the Boston area. You can take the Greenline E train to "Museum of Fine Arts" stop, or the Orange Line train to the "Ruggles" stop to get to MFA. The admission fee is $20/adult and you get FREE admission if you are a BU student (Isn't That Something!?).

It is really large and it takes hours to really have good sense of the art pieces in the museum. After my 5-hour trip inside the museum, I've discoverd some amazing pieces.

The Secrets of Tomb 10A: Egypt 2000 BC is one of the most popular exhibitions in MFA. It unveils the secrets of mummifying the dead and literally shows two of the exquisite coffins that contain the King, and his wife. There are also splendid tomb statures on view. It's really worth spending a day indulging yourself in the ancient stories that the mummies are going to tell.            

I just checked out the website and find out that the exhibition is going to end on June 27. But you can always expect something interesting upcoming.

Besides the ancient Egypt exhibition, what amazes me the most is the well-preserved oil painting collections in the museum. Among all of them, masterpieces of Claude Monet  impresses me the most. Although I'm not a art major student, I'm captured by the peace and tranquilitly shown from the painting. Staring into the painting makes you feel like you're actually by pond with the Monet, experiencing the way that he enjoys.

Another painting that captures my attention for a long time is the one on the right. Yeah, that's me in the picutre standing in front of the painting, totally attracted by the painting.

The guy is mur-muring something to her ears, it seems like something sweet. Take a closer look at the shy girls facial expression, it seems like she's still holding herself from the attractive guy that she's dancing with. She might have a crush on him, but is too shy to show it out.
The painter has captured a perfect moment of the flirting moment of the two. It seems to me that nobody else matters in the couple's eyes. Despite the happy crowd in the background, they're indulging themselves in their own world of love.

Besides my favorite spots above, MFA is also showing some other terrific collections like the Art of Asia, Ocenia and Africa, Contemporary Art and so on. What are your favorite museums and collections? Tell me about it and leave a comment below.