When you think about Canada, the first destination that comes to mind is Montreal, mainly because it is a very student-friendly and active town. But my friends from Taiwan and the US told me that they had already been there and instead, we were going to Quebec City, I waiting the moment when everyone would be laughing. But they didn’t. We were on our way.   

 It took us only five hours to drive to get there and we drove though 2 different states including New Hampshire and Vermont with its beautiful nature along the road. Having fun in the car also make the time goes by very fast.

Once we arrived we were completely charmed by this beautiful town – it felt like an old town with a lot of personality. Everything was very particular and different from the US. We stayed in a very cheap, but high-quality hotel right in the center and could get around easily on foot.

The duration of our trip was only 1 day and 1 night so when we arrived around 8 pm, we decided to get ready for the dinner and after party. We went to the center of the town with a beautiful place center. We found a French restaurant and, being in the French-speaking part of Canada, it was a must-do for my Taiwanese and US friends.    

It was indeed a very classy restaurant with a wide variety of wine and an excellent service. Most of us took a 3 dishes menu with 2 different wines for the table. It was impeccable!   After this dinner, some of us (mostly the drivers) were heading back to bed because it took us approximately 3 hours to finish dinner as we had great conversations and fun, and some of us went to a nearby bar. People there were very friendly and there was live music. We ordered local beers, which were surprisingly tasty but strong.

The next morning was for tourism - sight seeing. We took breakfast at the hotel and headed to the town….by car! Indeed, it was April but it was snowing like crazy! It was very cold and none of us could stand more than half an hour in this cold. 

So the first part of our sight seeing was in the car, but we got out from time to time to get closer to what we wanted to see, took some pictures and quickly tried to find a shop or a coffee place to sit down and get warm. After few hours, we decided to get back home because most of us had work the next morning. The trip back was quiet as every one was tired and we had to wait about 40 minutes to re-enter the U.S at the border.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip of which I will keep a great memory. It is very nice to be able to drive few hours north, switch to another country and have a completely different atmosphere! Next trip => Montreal :) 

One of my biggest fears about coming here was facing the workload. BU is the 46th best school in the world, and it is with no surprise that with its excellent professorial team, you will have to submit a lot of papers. But there are actually a lot of presentations and assignments where students work as a team. It is a great way to understand how different people work and how culture can shape your viewpoints about the world.

Studies in the U.S. are based on readings that you do at home, followed by a discussion in class about the different understandings the students had. It is very interesting to see how the same reading can be interpreted in so many different ways. Therefore, there are no classes where the teacher is the only one speaking for 3 hours. You will be “intensively” solicited.   

My common workload is reading approximately 100 to 150 pages per week across four courses. It is even more difficult when English is not your main language, and when you are reading at a lower pace. One class generally requires two individual papers, two team presentations, and one project. It can vary greatly depending on the teacher.

The grades are usually calculated by a curve method. This means that 25% of students will have A or A-, 55% will have B+ or B and 20% will have B- or less. This is a very fair method of grading since it doesn’t take into account the difficulty of the tests, but the overall performance of students instead. It usually is very revealing of participation, which is 15% to 20% of the entire grade! You cannot just come to class and listen to the teacher; you definitely have to be active in discussion whether your answers are correct or not.   

In a typical class, you have a midterm and a final, which covers the presentations as well as concepts seen in class. There are no trick questions or traps!   

 My recommendation is to follow the readings each week and to not fall behind. If you miss readings for 1 or 2 weeks, it will be pretty hard to catch up. If you can do all the readings successfully, you will have no problem passing classes with a B+. An A- will most likely require full attendance and intense participation.   

Here is an example of my spring courses in my Master Innovation & Technology Program: 

• Innovation Marketing Techniques
• Operations & New Ventures
• Innovation Process
• Business Law & Regulations    

As you can see, it is a mix of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. I am very glad to have such interesting yet challenging classes.

I have been lucky enough to travel the US before. I have been to Los Angeles and Orlando and knew pretty much what to expect in Boston… 

What could a Fluffernutter possibly be? That’s a question you might ask yourself while reading this article.

You probably have seen Fluff, a marshmallow crème product, right next to Nutella on the gourmand’s aisle of your supermarket. The Fluffernutter is a sandwich that combines both peanut butter and Fluff! At first, I was like “Wow, this might be way too dry to eat,” but it is actually amazing! The reason why I wanted to share that with you is because it’s a must-do in Massachusetts because it originates from Boston.

Now let’s take a look at a desert which was declared the official dessert of Massachusetts in 1996. It’s the Boston Cream Pie! This delicious pie is not really a pie but more like a cake with a separation of vanilla in the middle and a chocolate glaze topping. You will certainly find this dessert at any Bostonian restaurant and it’s also a must-do or should I say, “a must-eat” in Boston.

But what do most Bostonians drink during a night out? My first impression after arriving in Boston was that people are very much into sports – especially running. You can consistently see people running whether it’s 6 a.m. or 3 p.m. So I would say that people don’t drink that much, but when they do, they do it professionally. Bostonians are very keen on what kind of beers they drink and you can see a very large selection of beers at any Blanchard’s that would make any European liquor store jealous. To my surprise, Bostonians also drink some cider like the very famous Angry Orchard that you will see at every bar. I hope I gave you a little flavor for what kind of foods and drinks are out there but my best advice would be to come out here and try them yourself! :)

“Have you ever heard about Suits?”

“No, I didn’t ask if you ever wore a suit. Do you know the TV show Suits?”

“No? Were you living in a cellar during the past year?”

That would be the main reaction people might give you if you tell them that you don’t know about this TV show. Luckily enough, Boston University was the favored host of a very private screening for BU students. Yes, my friends, we already have seen the first episode of the season 4, one week before you! Or if you are not in the US, a year before you…

At the beginning of the event, we were welcomed with free drinks, pizza, and several little games to win t-shirts and small giveaways. We were even able to take pictures with the whole crew… on cardboard! Don’t be too jealous yet, the best part is coming up.

After half an hour of eating free pizza, we were invited to sit for the private screening of the new episode of season 4. It was a great episode, and the fact that we could watch it before everyone else made it even better. But the highlight of the event was when Jessica and Rachel came on stage to answer a few questions from the crowd. Yes, R-A-C-H-E-L was about 30 meters away from me. She is even more beautiful in real life J

I hope this gave you a little flavor of the excitement in the room! Oh and by the way, at the end, Mike died.

Just kidding ;)

Hello everyone, my name is Alexandre; come from Paris, France, and I am 24 years old.

I am a graduate student at BU, enrolled in a master of Innovation & Technology - so you will see me walking down Comm. Ave. for 8 months - until August 2014!

In France, I am also a graduate student of International Business at ESG Management School and I am taking classes toward a Certificate of Strategic Management in Harvard Extension.  

Why did I choose Boston?

That may be the most common question I get asked when meeting new people. Well, Boston is an incredible town with so many things to do! It is world renown for its education quality, as most of the top universities are based here and BU is ranked the 41th best school in the world (pretty nice, huh?). It is a mix of so many different nationalities and the good part is that it’s full of serious students who are just like me and are looking forward to meet new people and party on the weekend.  

Besides the academic aspect, the other attraction for me in Boston is that I really like sports, especially rowing and hockey. What better place to practice or watch these 2 sports? (Btw, if any of you row as well, contact me for a practice on Charles River J).  

Please feel free to contact me on Facebook or at: ehrlacher.alexandre@hotmail.fr