> Eventually I realized it was an upper-crust blue blooded Ivy League thing, a bizarre hybrid where people are intellectually open minded but socially unbelieva

> Eventually I realized it was an upper-crust blue blooded Ivy League thing, a bizarre hybrid where people are intellectually open minded but socially unbelievably reserved Huh, I'd always thought Boston was widely known to be an intellectually liberal, upper-crust, blue-blooded, Ivy League city. My guess is that this isn't news to a lot of people in the US. I really have to disagree with your characterization that people don't socialize much & keep to themselves. People may seem cold here at first, but once you make friends here they'll often be great friends for life and see each other often. I've heard just the opposite from friends of mine that have moved to the west cost, i.e. that it's easy to make friends there but it's often not a long term thing.