san fan

arcade1

hi all,
i know people are probably sick of hearing and answering questions on the j1 but i'm stuck. i want to sort out housing berore i leave ( may 30 ) but i haven't been able to find anything. i've beeing looking on craigslist and emailed afew other places. if anybody has any ideas i'd like to hear them.

its me and five others, if anyone already has a bighouse and is interested in sharing let me know.
looking mainly in berkeley.
thanks.

beserker

hiya, i stayed in a frat house last summer., worked out very well. Try getting the frat list off the college website and send an email to EVERY one:) i think the one i stayed in is all booked out already (they had a pool!:))

People also stayed in apartments in berkeley but i would recommend trying to get a place in sf itself to be honest. BART shuts down at 12ish and doesnt start again until 4am. getting to work in sf or marin county is a pain in the ass & costs 8 dollars return and getting work in berkely is tough unless you're very early arriving in america. i had to lie bout how long i was staying to get a job in the safeway on college avenue.

by the by, get a safeway card at the checkstand the first time you shop there. its free and you save loads.

dont get the cingular cellular dollar a day offer. it's balls.

try to get a lift to costco for rice/pasta/bog roll and that kinda stuff.

use **** loads of sun screen the first couple of weeks. dont feel stupid doing it, the americans wear it all the time.

try to catch an A's game. BART goes right to the stadium and tickets are cheap ($10 for bad seats but its a great evening out).

a bottle of kings bay rum is only 14 dollars:)

talk to the bums, they are great characters with great stories

a chinese in the "asian ghetto" is only 6 dollars

the hills behind berkeley (there's a path from channing and... durant i think) are great, you can see the gg bridge, oakland, the city itself and tons of pacific ocean.

go to yosemite national park for longer than 1 night. its AMAZING there. get a wilderness pass. climb the half dome even if it kills ya. mind the bears:)

skydiving is in Lodi ammmmm thats all i can be arsed writing down now but have fun there! i wish i could go back.

Dar

peeps78

everyone i knew got great places to rent. they got them by just walking around the city. landlords just put up flat to rent signs on the front of the buildings or you just go into the apartment buildings and ask to see the building manager and ask them if theres any flats to rent. this was in '99 before the net was as up to date as it is now but im sure this method still works. you will have better luck when your out there and can go directly to the buildings instead of waiting for emails. remember theres thousands of other irish students heading out at the same time so the competition for apartments and jobs is fierce.
we stayed in a hostel when we got there at first then moved to a crappy hotel (it constantly smelled of curry) we pretended like there was 4 of us even though there was 6.
the fillmore apartment centre was where a heap of irish were staying. but from the state they left those apartments i doubt they still rent to the irish.
dont go stay in berkely, its a lovely place to live but it is to far from SF and you will probably all be working in the city centre.
definatly go to alcatraz.
get a slice of pizza from blondies on powell and market.its the best pizza iv had in years.
visit the japanese tea gardens in golden gate park(if your into that kind of thing)
look into cheap trips to vegas, you just pay for the flights and you get the hotel room for free.

Tony Danza

I stayed out in Berkeley last summer, stayed in student flats, they were called rochdale, all of us had our own room, was a cool place to stay, and Berkeley is only about 30 min from san fran on train, buses run all night, if you want to go out as well. It was about 450 dollars or something like that a month, deadly place though, couldn't praise it enough. The frat houses everybody is sharing a room, you wouldn't find a nicer place for a j1. The number is (510) 848-1936 if your interested. They have no problem renting out to you for the summer, think all the places in san fran want you to take a years lease, unless you know somebody. Loads of accomodation for j1's in berkeley.