i can't believe i'm moving to boston on saturday...

Whee! Blimey have fun, I'm sure it will all be great! Um, I think if you have a VISA debit card then you can get money out in the US no problem, but god knows if you don't :) I'm sure others here are more up to spec on this!

Take coedine, hem hem :)

i'll see you for the Boston FAP in october! do well. i MUST sort out stuff this week, and i've been a little paniced -- it's nice to know there are people with more reason to panic than me! thanks ;-)

yeah I had a VISA debit card when in canada and it was no prblem getting those canadian dollars. have a great time Toby.

would VISA debit card also be OK for when people ask for credit cards? -- i am specifically thinking of car hire.

I had no prblems. I bought loads of recs with it.

isn't visa to stay in USA? but you don't need one if you are staying less than 3 months?

Things you are forgetting:

Linens/sleeping bag
debit card
PASSPORT
Harpoon

He's gonna need a bigger boat.

ha yeah visa = to stay in US. they have turned me down once but my appeal interview is tomorrow morning... fingers crossed etc.

never use your visa debit card as a debit card in the usa, you will be charged a fee much like if you used an atm that isn't from the bank you have an account at. always use the credit option, that way you needn't even need to have any money in your account as it will not clear until the next day or later and you can pay 25 dollar overdraft fees.

You can use pretty much any card in a foreign ATM, if it has Cirrus or Maestro (or the equivalent Visa brand) symbols on the back.

toby! i'll be in cambridge this weekend visiting friends. if you'll be around and want to get a drink, call me. (i will email you my phone #)

i got my visa!! and it only took two hours. and my funding cheque arrived too. hurrah.

Convert all your British money into dollars/trav. checks and open a bank account at any boston bank asap. (some are better than others - geeta?)

You may want to have your current bank write a letter of recommendation or your current landlord to do the same before you head over. Make copies of your birth certificate and passport and stuff, and remember to bring all your paperwork with you on the plane.

Stock up on your prescriptions now. Many meds have different names in the US and could be more expensive depending on the insurance you will be getting.

Bring any british food things that you think you are going to miss, like Marmite or Vegemite or your special biscuits. Also, if you drink basic bog-standard english tea, you may want to buy a big box to bring with you as I am told there is no equal. Same with the Heinz Baked Beans.

Change the paper settings and keyboard settings on your Laptop (if you have one) to 8 1/2x11 and American. Oh and don't forget to remember to write the date the American way on your forms and things.
Bring a British Calander if you want to remember British holidays. Smuggle in some absinthe to impress your new friends.

Yes, BRING ABSINTHE.

Boston banks: I've heard many good things about Sovereign Bank. I bank at Fleet, and while many people have problems with them, I don't mind them. (They're also convenient when travelling to NYC due to the huge branch in Times Square; yay no fees for withdrawls!)

i am in cambridge!! in fact i am sitting in a computer room in the maths dept in harvard and i am meeting up with geeta in an hour hopefully. it all seems ace so far (though admittedly i've only seen a small bit of the harvard campus + nothing else).

How is Boston so far? Has anyone taken you to Toscanini's yet? I don't remember if there's one in Harvard Square, but there used to be one down in Central Square- and they should have pumpkin ice cream at this time of year!

yeah!! i took toby on crazy adventures around cambridge yesterday!!! he is super-cool!

yes, there's a tosci's right on mass ave. in harvard square - they have the best ice cream - there are also two of 'em around central sq. go go go!!

ok so geeta is the coolest person on the planet. have only got seconds available to me now, but suffice it to say that we saw a nintendo covers band and it was one of the best things i have ever ever seen. also i am super-jealous of geeta's past.

i love cambridge! (ok so i have been here for < 24hrs and this may change)

also wire are playing here on tuesday night!! i must get a ticket tomorrow!!

so this thread is going to turn into my blog if i'm not careful. anyway the other key thing i've done so far (apart from go to the best gig ever) is to sort out an apartment, and fingers x-ed i'm moving in tomorrow. then term starts on tuesday... somehow i have to get out of the mindset that i'm on holiday and into that of doing loads of work. i rather suspect that living 19 hr days is going to = the way fwd.

(also i have quite clearly not sorted the jetlag out quite yet hence the rambling)

ps so here's a question: any suggestions as to where should i go in cambridge/boston to buy a portable cd player?

Cambridgeside Galleria (last stop on the Cambridge side on the green line, or a 5 minute walk from Kendall) used to have a Best Buy on the bottom floor- you could check there.

The best way to Cambridgeside is the #69 from Harvard Square; should take about 25 minutes to get there. DO NOT GO TO TWEETER.

mmmm Pumpkin Ice Cream... So did Tosci's shut down the MIT location and open a new one in Central Square?

I will be in Boston on November 17th and 18th and am trying to devise a way to bring ice cream packed in dry ice back on the flight to London.

Also, I am going to attempt to replicate Mary Chung's dun dun noodles this week. I have done some clever web searches and feel that I may actually achieve this feat!

cool; i'm living about 25mins down cambridge st from harvard square, so it shouldn't be too hard to get there from my house.

am going to have to try that ice cream later i think...

Walk down Cambridge away from Harvard; you can't miss the mall. You're probably something like 15 minutes away from it by foot.