My name is Joan Bissdorf and I’ve been a Resident Alien since 2019.

My American story began, poetically, on 4 July 2016. I left Singapore on the back of my husband’s career switch and landed in Boston on an O-3 visa. I took the commuter rail out to West Concord that very evening and ate pizza for dinner, then woke up the next morning to extraordinary views of White Pond that stole my breath away.

I never thought that those first 24 hours would capture elements of life here in Boston, but they do. The commuter rail an epitome of antiquated systems. The pizza a representation of American stereotypes. And those extraordinary views? I see them not only in nature, but in ordinary acts of kindness, in the strength of a people, in the faith that underdogs could take down Goliaths. The magical moments exist.

I could say that I lead an amazing life now, but life wasn’t so amazing when I first arrived. I could still recall the struggles of setting up life here. No, it wasn’t the culture... it was the systems that are full of inefficiencies and energy-sapping Catch-22 situations. It was the times that one could not fathom why the fine print wasn’t instead capitalized angry red font on the first sentence of the page.

The Boston Alien is a splice of my love for my American home and my Singaporean ethos: efficiency. No I can't change systems, but I can shed light on the Catch-22s before you shed your hair.

I can give you an answer to the most optimal way of doing things here in Boston.

May you find this to be a great resource, and Boston a great place to live.

You got this!