Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
J1 San Francisco 2013
Options
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
Hi. Me and my friend have a frat house almost sorted in Berkely. We'd like to get a triple room as it works out cheaper plus its nice to get to know someone new. Message me on this if interested. A trip room works out at about 850 euros each all summer including bills. Girls only (sorry lads!! )
0 -
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
Hey guys I did my j1 in san fran last summer so can give ye a few tips which I would have loved to have known last year!
Accomodation
If your young, free, single, like to drink and party definitely go to Berkeley its a really nice area, rent is cheaper and only takes 30 mins or more to get into san fran on the BART, depending where you are living. Rent in the city is so expensive, you will definitely be sharing and unless you are really lucky you will be living outside the city. We were out by golden gate park and I had a communte of hour and half each way as I worked on pier 39, wasnt ideal but got a basement apartment with three others for 800 dollars each for the summer which is considered seriously cheap over there.
If you have no accomodation set up beforehand I would advise booking a hostel for at least 5 days if not 7 or 8 as it takes a while to get to know the area and find accomodation. In our hostel they offered free tours of the city so definitely do this if its offered.
With the areas I think as long as your not really near the Tenderloin your ok, stumbled through there one day and was a bit scary but if your with others and its not at night and you dont look like a tourist you should be ok!
Jobs
Id suggest getting over there as early as you can, late May, early June at the lastest. We went over around the 27th May, took a day off to recover and went down to Pier 39 on 28th and managed to secure a job that day and started work on the 30th. Dont wait around as litreally the minute I got a job down there the place was swarming with J1'ers looking for work and jobs were snapped up in no time. Do up a 1 page resume here and print off a load to bring with you. Keep it simple, especially for retail work just you name, contact details, previous experience, skills and references. It might sound dishonest but all employers want you to stay over as long as possible so if you only plan on being there until the start of August, tell them you are there till the end of August/start of September and definitely do not tell them that you are planning on travelling so can only work until August!
Id suggest looking for work at Pier 39 as there are so many shops down there and they usually take on a lot of staff and there are hundreds if not thousands of tourists down there during the summer months. Dress smart enough when you are handing around resumes as they really judge on first impressions and I also had to sell myself right on the spot, one employer asked me why I wanted the job and gave me an interview straight away so be prepared to sell yourself and why you are the best person for the job. Even if you are not very confident, just try and act a bit as Americans love confidence.
Other places to look for work would be blazing saddles, restaurants along the pier, shops/cafes in little italy, Westfield shopping centre in the city, sightseeing tours.
Just another thing, Americans love to work! They really work you hard over there, myself and my roomates would sometimes be working 50-60 hour weeks which isnt ideal but you might save enough to be able to leave job early and have proper holiday after it. Also try not to be late or appear hungover as employers there know about j1 students and are almost expecting it but still wont be happy if you stroll into work late stinking of drink.
Transport
This is generally very good in the city, I dont have much experience of BART but my workmates who did said it was pretty good also. When you know where you are working I would advise getting a MUNI card from wallgreens and you can top it up every month. It was 65 dollars per months last summer, not sure if it has gone up. It saved me a load of money as I had to get 4 buses in and out of work everyday. If you dont have a card try and have the correct money with you as they dont give change on buses, think it is 2 dollars and your ticket is valid for 90 minutes.
Try and avoid getting the F line if possible. Always tended to break down and not turn up on time or at all! It is more for tourists to get them to the piers than for public transport.
If you are anyway sporty getting a bike is another good option, loads of people cycle in san fran and it tends to be quite safe to do this.
Weather:
People told me beforehand that it can get very cold there but I didnt not really believe them as I thought how cold can California be in the summer compared to Ireland? Believe me it was FREEZING there in the evenings, much colder than Ireland in the summer. Around 6 or 7 the fog comes in and it really does get cold, I'd advise bringing a good jacket, especially if you are working late and waiting around for buses or if you are working on the pier the wind is freezing down there! in saying that though on the warm days its lovely to have a breeze there. At night I was wearing my pjs and a hoodie so bring some warm clothes. During the day the weather was mixed, some days it would lovely and warm and others overcast. It rarely rained though maybe 4 times in the 3 months we were there which was unbelievable coming from Ireland!
In Berkeley it is warmer than the city and the evening dont tend to be as cold either.
The expense;
Again I am not sure what it was like in Berkeley but in the city it is very very expensive for everything. If you go to a restaurant, you are charged for the food, plus tax, plus a food tax and they might put a service charge on the bill too. Four of us went out for mains, dessert and one drink each and was 150 dollars. Food shopping is very expensive too, depending on where you are living, there are a few safeway supermarkets, ask for a card as things are a lot cheaper with it, in saying that though food still is expensive, about 60 dollars a week for two people. Unfortunelty the bad food tends to be the cheapest over there but you might come across markets etc that will sell fruit and veg cheaper.
Alcohol is not that expensive at all over there, got a 3 litre smirnoff vodka for 15 dollars which is ridiculous but might please some people! Even to go to bars, the drinks are not that dear, just down by the Pier or anywhere it is touristy prices go way up. I'd recommend going to the Marina some time. They have nice bars and its pretty cheap.
Other tips
If you are not 21, you will probably not get into pubs/clubs in the city. They are so strict over there, my roomate who was 21 forgot his id and wasnt even allowed to stand with us in the pub he had to wait outside until we finished our drinks! Also if your buying drink in the supermarket they usually ask for id. My friends was 28 and looked it and got asked everytime for id and would not accept his driving licence either so bring your passport when buying drink.
go to alcatraz if you can!! I cudnt because I left it too late to book tickets, there is usually a 2-3 week waiting list so book early. Also bike across golden gate bridge the experiece was just unreal! I also regret not going to vegas, if you get a few days off work together,, GO!! Flight tickets only tend to be 100 dollars or bit more and its a very short flight. From what others have it is well worth going. Chinatown was brilliant, really cheap touirst things, good for food too.
Like the Irish Immigration Pastoral Centre San Francisco on Facebook and check out their website and get them to send your thier booklet for J1's. I found their info way better than USIT. They have an office in Richmond I think and are really nice and helpful, they have seminars too on how to find work/accomodation when you are over there and have free internet to look up jobs etc. I found two of my roomates through their Facebook page so would recommend giving it a like!
If anyone wants to know anything else feel free to ask and enjoy san fran it is an amazing place and i'd love to be going back! 0 -
-
ok.....
myself and my friend heading over the start of june (probably 2nd/3rd) im 22 and hes 20 both from galway. problem is that he has to go home in july for repeats (the joys of being in nuig) so were gonna have to find people to share accom with, lads/girls doesnt matter which, or how many!! hate having to try market myself to randomers over the internet but we are genuinely good lads, get on with pretty much anyone and up for pretty much anything for the summer
thing is...
still cant ****ing decide between san fran and berkeley
from what i gather these are what either place has going for it:
Berkeley
Cheaper, easier to get accom, frat houses meant to be unreal, lots of house parties, loads of irish (not sure whether this is a pro or a con !), better weather..
but
**** all jobs supposedly, have to commute half an hour to the city, waaay less places for goin out (only a couple of bars supposedly) and the BART stops at 1am so would make goin out in the city pretty much impossible..
San Fran
Would have a lot more going on in it, waaay easier to find jobs in (and wouldnt have to worry as much about the commute), meet more americans (dunno if this is a pro or a con either!) and of course one of the greatest cities in the world blah blah blah
but....
obviously accommodation way more expensive plus way harder to find, weather meant to be fairly ****e, would have to settle for fairly ****ty accommodation and most likely have to con the landlord that theres less people (had to do it in chicago few years ago and it can be stressful enough!!)
ok so if theres anyone here reading this and they think they might be on the same wavelength, and is looking for people to share send me an email at m.higgins16@nuigalway.ie and let us know how your own plans are shaping up
cheers!0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
House hunting while job hunting might take its tole, especially while doing all that other immigration sh*te. Id feel better knowing the accommodation is sorted(if I at least knew where) while looking for jobs.
Ya, but u'll be staying alone in the sense that the people u'll be staying with wont know you. At least they won't be irish!
I've a job sorted in the city which is why I want to stay in there so much, just the handiness for commuting to work. I've everything pretty much sorted besides housing for the three months I'll be there.
Well I will be out there about a month ahead of the rest of the J1ers so I'm not gonna be with Irish for that time anyway. You don't go to France or Spain or China to go and stay with fellow Irish and get hammered and play gaelic or hurling. You go to new places to meet new people and do new things! 0 -
I've a job sorted in the city which is why I want to stay in there so much, just the handiness for commuting to work. I've everything pretty much sorted besides housing for the three months I'll be there.
Well I will be out there about a month ahead of the rest of the J1ers so I'm not gonna be with Irish for that time anyway. You don't go to France or Spain or China to go and stay with fellow Irish and get hammered and play gaelic or hurling. You go to new places to meet new people and do new things!
You're right but it would still be good to sort of have one anchor person. How did u manage to get a job. Was there a skype interview involved, or was it because you were out there before? What sort of a job is it??0 -
Advertisement
-
Advertisement