Boston, MA: Job Search Turned to An Adventure

Back in November 2014, I went to Boston in Massachusetts to attend an Asian Bilingual Conference Forum. It wasn't a successful event for me, though. So I decided to explore the city on the next day. I visited the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Taza Chocolate Factory, Frank Gehry's Stata Center at MIT, and visited a University of Michigan alumni at Harvard Business School.

This career fair is designed for bilingual students from Asia who are searching for jobs back home or surrounding area. I signed up through my business school and received the invitation, along with a travel scholarship. The fair was at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Famous companies like IBM Japan, Sony, Tata Consulting, UBS, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Apple were listed.

I picked to stay at Backpackers Hostels & Pub for $60 per night. Their service is good and they have taxi service from and to the train station. The train takes you from Sullivan Square to Downtown Crossing for about 8 minutes. Then you can take bus or walk to the Convention Center.

Asian Bilingual Conference Forum

Little did I know that there were only a few companies looking for Indonesians. Next to ABCF, there was Boston Career Forum hosted by the same organization DISCO. The second fair focused mainly for Japanese - English bilingual speakers. They do have initial interviews on the spot, but with Japanese customary. Realizing the event was not for me, I decided to change my plans. I was pretty lucky to get the travel scholarship and so, I wanted to make the most out of Boston.

Next Day: First Stop is MIT's Stata Center

My first stop was at Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT. I actually have been there with my family and so I focused on Stata Center on that day. The quirky architectural design was created by Frank Gehry in 2004. In 2007, MIT charged a lawsuit regarding design failure but it had been settled in 2010.

Second: Welcome to Taza Chocolate

I signed up for a $6 chocolate factory tour at Taza Chocolate located on 561 Windsor Street, Somerville, MA. Getting there was quite an exercise because I walked from MIT Stata Center against the cold wind.

Inside the building, Taza has a nice store display to welcome you. They have a variety of products from chocolate nibs, chocolate bar, and chocolate discs.

Taza focuses on dark organic chocolate (50%-85% of cocoa) using stone ground. What makes their chocolate different is the crunchy taste with unique flavors (Cinnamon, Salted Almond, Guajilo Puro, Chipotle Chili, Vanilla, Cacao Puro). Stone ground process and the flavors are inspired by Mexican traditions.

Last Stop: Harvard Business School

It's funny how I always get close to rivalry school students. I have friends attending Ohio State University while I was studying at University of Michigan. At Duke University, I also have friends who's studying pharmacy, business, and medical at University of North Carolina.

Now, Harvard Business School has a prestigious MBA program. But recently, Businessweek chose Duke's MBA program as number 1 in the US. Despite all that, I still went to visit my friend at HBS!

The List of Inspiring Indonesians Living in Boston

I got to meet some Indonesians who live in Boston because of my friend. Their experiences and passions are pretty amazing to inspire others!

• Reynold Wijaya: a University of Michigan alumni in Industrial Engineering. Together with his twin brother, they had a non-profit organization in Indonesia called "Let's Go to School". At Harvard, he and 3 other colleagues joined New Venture Competition. They are Shinta Nur Fauzia (a law student) and Johannes Ardiant.
  
• Azalea Ayuningtyas: although I didn't meet her, Ayu has always been an amazing alumni. She was the president of Indonesian Student Association (PERMIAS) at the University of Michigan for 3 periods (2008-2011). She's now in Harvard's School of Public Health. Ayu created a social enterprise called Du'Anyam that provides alternative employment for pregnant mothers in NTT, Indonesia. Du'Anyam recently won at Global Social Venture Competition at UC Berkeley.
  

• Adamas Belva Syah Devara: he recently graduated with an MBA from Stanford and he's studying Public Administration at Harvard as well. Mas Belva, so I called him, is the co-founder of Ruangguru.com. It's a website that connects people who wants to learn a certain skill with people who are willing to teach.