Where did you go on your J1/work visa?

jimmycricket

Right so now the summer’s over and most people that were away for the summer are home, I think it’d be a good idea for us to share a bit of information with each other about where you were for the summer and how you got on.

Here are a few questions and you can add your own questions and answers if you want:

Where did you go?

Where did you stay?

Did you get a job and was it easy to get?

Was there much to do?

Any good pubs/clubs to go to?

What did you think of the place in general?

jimmycricket

Where did you go?
Went to Toronto

Where did you stay?
Stayed in Whitney Hall in the University of Toronto. The majority of Irish people stayed in the University of Toronto residences Whitney Hall/Innis/Woodsworth to name a few. Then loads of other people stayed in Tartu/Ryerson and other residences and then a few others stayed in houses.

Did you get a job and was it easy to get?
Got a few jobs during the summer. Worked for a landscaping company, a furniture removals company and as a bus boy. Loads of people i talked to had got jobs in restaurants either bussing or doing background jobs. Waiter/waitress and bar jobs are hard enough to get bacause the staff get tips so all the Canadians were quick to snap up those jobs!

Was there much to do?
Touristy things to do would be going up the C.N Tower, go to a baseball game or football game, go to the islands, the zoo, get a bus to Canada Wonderland(theme park) or get a bus to Niagra Falls. Then theres plenty of shops in The Eaton Centre if you want to go shopping and there's a couple of cinemas around.

Where were good places to go out?
There were plenty of nights out that were orgainsed for the Irish or else the Irish just went there in flocks!! The main pubs/clubs to go were Brunswick House, Afterlife, McVeighs, O'Gradys, Einsteins, Dance Cave, just to name a few.
Brunswick house has a karaoke night on Mondays, Afterlife had a night out for the Irish on Wednesdays called Cheeky Wednesdays and then McVeighs is where most of the Irish flock to on a Sunday night.
Einsteins and O'Gradys were good for a few quiet drinks and O'Gradys has free pool.
We didn't really go to many nightclubs but the ones we did go to were good enough.

What did you think of the place in general?
Absolutely amazing place. It's just so big compared to anywhere here! It can be expensive for a lot of things that would cost barely anything here. Milk and dairy products were very expensive and grocery shopping was expensive enough. It was nearly as cheap to eat out than buy and cook your own food!

Try to stay around the University of Toronto or Ryerson. Ryerson is right beside the Eaton Centre and is basically in the city centre. Places around the University are a bit outside the centre but close to most of the bars where a lot of people go like Brunswick House, Dance Cave, O'Gradys and Einsteins. The best streets to stay on would be around St. George, Bloor Street, Bay Street, Spadina Ave or anywhere near those streets if you look on a map.

The public transport is great. The subway is the best way to get around and is a lot easier to find your way around than other cities like New York. It costs $2.75 for one way but that isn't too bad because you can use the buses and trams if you link up with them at stations.

All in all it was a great place and i'd definately recommend it!

BuffyBot

Good idea for a thread

Faith

Where did you go?

We went to Santa Cruz, CA, an hour or so south of San Francisco.

Where did you stay?

We stayed in a house about 3 or 4 miles outside of downtown, and about 2 miles away from Capitola. We were in a very residential area, but we had a decent house and everyone pretty much had a bed (there was 12 of us in a 4 bed house). The rent was cheap enough, and the house was fully furnished, with gardens and a hot tub.

Did you get a job and was it easy to get?

I worked in a store in the Capitola Mall, a 20 minute walk away. It took everyone about a month to start working though. A lot of that was due to a delay in getting our SS numbers. It was easy enough to get my job, but I got no other offers either. You'd have to be prepared to look further afield and do anything. Abercrombie and Fitch tend to hire anyone though.

Was there much to do?

Not really. It's the pot capital of the US, so most of the locals were stoners. It's a very alternative town, so people watching was amusing. If you had a car, it'd be fine, but it's difficult to travel by bus and there's very few cabs. You can easily travel to SF, Monterey, San José and a bunch of other places though. We didn't do a whole lot, tbh. The boys cycled around and explored a lot.

Any good pubs/clubs to go to?

There's very little choice. Pretty much everything is on the main street. We loved 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, where they had 99 different beers. The challenge was to drink them all! The Catalyst was good. Blue Lagoon's a dive, but not bad. There's no real clubs there, just bars with dance floors. Amuse yourselves with karaoke!

What did you think of the place in general?

It was lovely. There's loads of beaches, a huge surfing community and the weather was perfect. Never too hot. If you're looking for an adventure summer, it's not the best place. Irish people are a novelty though, and the locals are pretty friendly. If you don't want to be surrounded by hundreds of J1'ers like you would be somewhere like San Diego, Santa Cruz is great!

Bartronilic

Where did you go?
Montauk, NY

Where did you stay?
In a house with, at its lowest 13 and highest 21 (more than 40 went through it). House was 20 minute walk from town. Most irish stay in the hostels, only about 4 groups had houses.

Did you get a job and was it easy to get?
Yeah 2. Didn't like the first so got another job, very easy to get jobs easier if you're a girl.

Was there much to do?
Tons, one of the best beaches you'll ever sea, a lake with water sports, 3 hours from nyc, part of east hampton where tons of celebrities are. Also a lighthouse which no j1ers ever seem to go to, its worth it though. Also near a huge outlet store and theres 2 Skydving centres nearby (worth it). And moped hire and hiking if you're into that. 3 taxi companies so easy to get around. And theres beach bonfires!

Any good pubs/clubs to go to?
Ye, drink deals every sun-thurs in a different place. Then on Fri/Sat theres the best place Oyster Pond or Memory which has great bands and MTK where you can get free drink. Mondays is also one of the best nights, 20 dollars in to P.Diddy's club Star Room and free drink all night. Pubs/clubs close at 4am.

What did you think of the place in general?
No need for west coast, instead of having house parties and beach parties for 3 months this place has variety and jobs. Its was also voted most scenic town in america. The locals are crazy and the place is crazy in general, definitely worth it.