J1-- San Francisco or Santa Barbara

Blackthorn1011

Trying to decide between San Francisco and Santa Barbara for the summer, the group going are the most indecisive people you could meet so any advice/opinions would be greatly appriciated.

McCant88

yeah im in teh same boat,was 100% set on SB but iv heard bad reports recently about people who went over last summer and found it VERY hard to get a job. they also said that there were a lot of druggies about the city. i was very surprised to hear that about SB because all iv heard were good reports about it.

on the house and job front iv been told by usit that san fran is probs the best place to go if you want to get job and work. i think its easier to get a job in san fran cos its bigger, SB is a small city......


im in the exact same boat as you not sure what were doin at the min, would really like to get it sorted soon!!!

sparkinlarkin

A group of my friends heard off the travel agents that it was virtually impossible to get a job in SB.

This isn't really true all of us got a job over there last year. If you want to get a job you will. I t might not be the best job but it's a job!!
DO NOT let these things put you off santa barbara.

the square

in the same boat! wanted to go to san diego but heard bad things about it, mainly the excess amount of j1's already there and the way the locals have begun to dislike them.
So next we thought san fran, but isnt the summer kinda cold there with its "fog" and all??
And we are all 20, will it b difficult to get served there??

galwygirlz

...have been reading the posts but am we've already decided on SB so was just wonderin is there anybody interstd in sharing with 4girls 4rm june 2 august?
....girls,boys,mixed....doesnt matter,as long as theyre up 4 a laugh!;)

[EMAIL="galwygirlz@hotmail.com<-----feel"]glwygirlz@hotmail.com<[/email]

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feel free 2 get in touch if so...:D

Faith

Both have their plus and minus sides. SF is a proper city, with great shops, bars, etc. There's LOADS to do and see. It can be on the cold side though, and is often foggy. It's also incredibly hilly!

SB is GORGEOUS and really typical of Southern California. The weather is perfect and the town is picturesque. You might find it a bit harder to get jobs and there won't be as many places to go out in. It'll also be crammed to capacity with other irish kids on J1s.

Jennym1986

I spent a summer in santa barbara last summer as part of j1 and id strongly advise anyone considering going to work ther to NOT go. It is worth a visit but thats it.
Santa barbara is an extremely conservative town, u may have heard they have had some problems with certain irish students over the last few years(http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=9922)we were greeted by huge hostility based on the fact we were irish. you will find very few places will want to even correspond with u in relatoin to accomadation if they know you are irish. the whole town is extremely wary of irish people, a far cry from the usual response americans give on discovering ur irish. Also, the police surveillance is unreal over there,and not in a comforting way, they cruise around the road searching for anyone who is possibly breaking the law. I was personally arrested and had to go through the court systems, I also know the majority of iriish people there for the summer knew somone who had been or received court order too. They are trying to deter irish students from returning.

It is however a beautiful place, they jus hate irish and police are on commission so its not ideal place especially if u want to have fun

Jennym1986

also we visited san fransico durin our time in cali, have to say i loved it there! fog is worst in city so go bay area or berkley and ul still get the california tan!

W1llz0rz

the square wrote: »

And we are all 20, will it b difficult to get served there??

Well from my experience in San Diego last year, if you're not 21 you won't have any hope in hell of getting served unless you have a very good fake ID. Never once came across any bar, offlicence or even supermarket that would even consider serving anyone underage.

We stayed in San Fran for one night last year, and I really didnt like it. It was a cool place to see and all, but the massive amount of homeless people in the city put me off, I just didnt feel safe at all. And it was freezing cold too. Bare in mind though we were in the middle of the city, so I cant speak for the whole of San Fran. Although if you want to work and have a proper job etc, it does seem like the place to go.

If anyone is going to San Diego though, you're probably guaranteed a job, since Sea World take on around 2000 people at the start of the summer. There are lots of places there that will take people on just for summer, but there will always be lots of Irish people there. We never found that the locals had any bad attitude towards the Irish, most of them liked us! And as well as that, theres an Irish lady living there, who will set you up with accommodation for a small fee, and will do anything in her power to help you in any way possible! (www.j1juice.com).

Hope that helped anyway.

impy

Hi everyone. I went on a J1 summer last year for 13 weeks, ended up going to Santa Barbara. What can I say, had a ball there!If you want any chance of getting accomodation go to the college area of Isla Vista, its a 2 dollar fare out there from the main town of Santa Barbara and hit places like Abrego Road and Breakpoint for places to live, mainly places with college studens that you can rent off of. Accomodation wise your looking at paying maybe 1200 a month between how many ever is in your group, maybe even cheaper?i strongly suggest lookin at craigslist even for accomodation but the only way really to get lodgings is to go out and start asking around!The Irish arent really well recieved over in SB, due to loud, drunk students from previous years who just piss take on their drinking!Santa Barbara is lovely though, Isla Vista is on the beach, right off a college campus with computers if you need to use the internet, although i strongly advise bringing a laptop!The weather there is fabulous and its a really relaxed setting. In isla vista if you walk twenty minutes down the road there is a Kmart, a park for watching baseball etc and Albertons...kinda like Dunnes Stores, very cheap!ID wise if you are not 21 its not that difficult to get drink, by asking american students or other irish to buy you some but if you are caught by the police it can mean serious trouble. Street drinking could land you with a 300 dollar fine which happened to my friend so be vigilant!Breakpoint is an apartment block which holds a lot of college students but that was the main area of trouble last year with the police raiding it all the time and a couple of irish got thrown out of their apartment. it is getting harder to find accomodation in SB as americans are beginning to hate us but you can always try!Job wise......you wont get one!not unless you lie and say your stayin for a year....but really and truely you probably wont get one...they are scarce and really just not there unless you are lucky!
If you are going to california for a j1 summer....i strongly sugest doing stuff like Disneyland/Seaworld/Universal for a bit of craic!Granted its an expensive day but one's you'll neverr forget!If I were to pick 2 out of 3 i would go with disneyland and universal. Seaworld is amazing as well but if you are just looking for rollarcoasters and disney magic instead of shamu and dolphins then opt for the other 2!When we went to disneyland we went to Hollywood for 2 days and stayed in banana bungalow hostel where they organised transport for 45 dollars..but trust me it was so worth it!Hollywood is a ****hole in my opinion, once you've seen the walk of fame and the kodak theatre there isint much else, in fact there is a lot of weirdoes and its very dirty and cheap there...but go for a say or two just to say you went!Universal studios is very near hollywood so a taxi is dirt cheap to get there. Seaworld is in san diego and we there is an organised free bus to seaworld from the bus station which is handy. Las Vegas is amazing....!!!If you have a chance, go there, if just to see the lights itself. hotels are dirt cheap, and mccdonalds will do food wise!The lights are crazy and you can walk in and out of the hotels like the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Cricus Circus etc!It is severly hot there though, like walking around in a sauna in the desert!so have water on hand but its brilliant, even if your not 21 u can chance gambling at an electronic blackjack table or trying your hand at the slot machines!they also give u free drink in casinos!Grand Canyon is class as well....once in a lifetime chance to see it probably so if you have money u might as well!We went on an organised tour for 60-80 dollars but it was so worth it..the photos come out amazing!Also for getting around state to state...greyhound buses should be used...so cheap!Also went to New York for 5 weeks and lived in Queens in jackson heights, safe neighbourhood, your only way of gettin around new york on the cheap is the subway which is complelty safe, dispite stories I never had any problems on it!VVisit as many sites as you can in America...esp New York. its a very clean safe city, times square is full of fun and lights. If you have money to see a broadway show i highly recommend it!Went to see Wicked and thought it was amazing!So all in all J1 was best experience of my life, you learn to feed yourself(aka noodles and pizza! and budget!!I brought over 3000 with me and it lasted the whole summer, that included 2 months rent in Santa barbara and 5 weeks rent in Queens in New York, seeing Vegas, Grand CAnyon, seaworld, disneyland, beverly hills and hollywood and san diego!an still came home with 20 euro!went with go 4 less and they were relatively cheap and helpful!Never had any major problems with them!

I say go to San Francisco!

It's amazing. Big city (not New York or Chicago though) that has loads of shops, cafes, bars, clubs, etc. and loads of tourist attractions, as well as festivals -Gay Pride June. Easier to get around too, more transport. One thing missing a proper beach with HOT weather.

It'd definitely easier to get a job in SF than Santa Barbara, I've had friends who came home earl from SB.

I spent one summer in Berkeley, CA -the university town 20min by BART from San Francisco. The weather is a lot hotter than SF. Berkeley is really interesting and exciting too. I had the best summer ever there. The scene was mostly frat parties as opposed to going out to a pub/club. You get to meet Americans/students you're own age too, as well as other Irish on their J1s, -less than you would in Southern California though!

The whole homeless thing never bothered me in SF/Berkeley. When people say there are loads it sounds like you'll see one every 10 meters, you won't.