Boston 12 days and counting - nearly settled

Well, I've been in Boston for just under two weeks now and I thought I'd give an update of what I've been up to. Since I got here I literally haven't stopped - there's been so much setup to do and I've been determined to make sure I've got all my settling-in stuff (place, car, furniture, etc) all sorted out before the start of the program. So it's been very full-on, but the plus side is that I think I'm just about settled. Having Dad here to give me a hand has been great, it's cut down on the settling-in stuff. Thanks, Dad.

So here's a rough timetable of what I've done since I've been here:

• Wed 10th Aug - arrived Boston around 7pm. Checked into Holiday Inn Waltham.
• Thu 11th Aug - checked out Babson College, met Martha Snelling and bought textbooks. (Haven't read them yet.)
• Fri 12th Aug - checked out apartments in Needham and Newton. Got on the turps with future Babson classmates.
• Sat 13th Aug - checked out apartment in Chestnut Hill. Went to Church.
• Sun 14th Aug - returned Chrysler monstrosity and exchanged it for a Pontiac G6, still big but not as. Went on an unplanned tour of Boston city (ie got lost).
• Mon 15th Aug - checked out a dump in Newton, the Avalon at Newton Highlands (too expensive and too small) and Windsor Village in Waltham. Decided to take the Windsor Village place. Yay! One big issue resolved.
  
• Tue 16th Aug - signed lease, got the keys, and went to Natick to buy household stuff. Checked out beds. I start to get sick.
  
• Wed 17th Aug - moved out of hotel and into Windsor Village place. Bought a TV, VCR, printer and router. As we had no beds we roughed it and slept on the floor, on mattresses. Not fun. Especially if you're sick.
  
• Thu 18th Aug - cable TV and internet got connected. Bought bed and futon. Took the mattresses home and arranged to get the frames delivered on Sat. Still sick.
  
• Fri 19th Aug - for the life of me I can't remember what I did on this day, but I'm pretty sure it was important. I think we went back to Natick to look at furniture. Actually I remember what it was - I went to the DMV and waited 2 hours to take the test for my learners permit. Yes, learners permit. I pass with flying colours (actually I got every question right, and expected to. I've been driving for 13 years after all!). I still have to take the road test. Thank God Dad's got an Ohio drivers license so he can act as my sponsor.
  
• Sat 20th Aug - went car-hunting. Found one the first day - a 2001 VW Jetta VR6. Put a downpayment on it. Then back home to wait for my futon and bed frame to be delivered. It was supposed to be between 4 and 8pm, and true to form the delivery guys came at 7:50, just when I was starting to think they weren't going to show.
• Sun 21st Aug - church, then I went back home and crashed for the arvo. I think the sickness all caught up with me and I was buggered. Woke up to go to dinner.
• Mon 22nd Aug - can't keep a good bloke down. The car payment went through, now they just need to do a service and sort out the insurance. Went to Staples and bought a computer desk and a chair. Waiting on a writing desk, bookcase and printer cart to be delivered Thursday.

It's been a bloody busy week and a bit, but it's nearly over. Tomorrow I'm going to New Haven, Connecticut to check out IKEA as they're the cheapest place to buy stuff, and I'll try and haul as much stuff in my car as possible. I just need a coffee table, bedside table, TV stand, temporary shelving for the closet, and I reckon I'll be fully sorted.

Speaking of temporary shelving, it is impossibleto find IKEA style portable shelving here. In Sydney you had places like IKEA, Freedom, Fantastic and Howards Storage World which all stocked those temporary shelves. Here they only have Home Depot, and most of their stuff is semi-permanent (ie you affix it to the wall). Maybe I just don't know where to look, but it's been bloody hard to find.

Anyway, I should mention something about Boston. It’s pretty bloody hot here at the moment – it’s about 90 F (35+ C) and very humid. Apparently I should enjoy going around feeling sticky as in a few months it will be so cold I won’t be able to sweat (it goes down to -20 C in the dead of winter here). The people are generally friendly enough (though customer service in Sydney is still better) but they talk funny – they don’t pronounce their “r”s (bit like Ozzies) but they have long nasal “a”s and “o”s so the word “Lord” comes out as “Lahd”. Apartments comes out as “apaaahtments”. Think of Fran Drescher in the Nanny and you’re really close. Seeing as I don’t have either an OZ or a Bostonian accent I really stick out.

Driving here is a nightmare as you CANNOT buy a street directory and streets appear and disappear from maps. Interstates and freeways aren’t too bad, but if you’re driving in the city be prepared to get lost – often. And the drivers here are crazy. No wonder they don’t have yellow turn indicators on American cars anymore, it’s because nobody bloody uses them.

And getting a Massachusetts drivers license is sheer hell. The rules here basically ignore the fact that I’ve got 13 years of driving experience in Australia as I have to take a written and driving test to get a Mass licence. Unfortunately I need to produce my own vehicle for use in the road test, before I can get my licence. Even more unfortunately I can’t buy a car without a Mass drivers license, so it’s a catch-22. And if that weren’t enough, I need to have a residential address before I can do either! Basically, they make it hard for you. At least I can drive a year on my OZ license at it will probably take close to that long to cut through all the bureaucracy.

Anyway, this is heaps. I'll stop now but will check in later.