J1 summer 2011

xlou89x

Just looking for some advice on the J1 for summer 2011 I know its early to be asking but I want to get most of it sorted early due to been busy with exams next semester.
My boyfriend & I are planning to head over for the summer, would love to go to California, if any one could recommend any area which would be great to stay in it would be helpful, I am worried about the cost as I know for 2 people accomadation will most likely be expensive. I have been looking at areas like Santa Barbara & Hungtinton beach but I'm pretty clueless about it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks, Louise :P

xlou89x

41 views and no replys....come on there must be someone who has advice...

lil_lisa

Its not that no one has advice its just that Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach are both extremely popular and have been discussed before. Some are here, here and here. California itself is extremely popular for J1ers, I'm not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing. When I went on my first J1, I was surrounded by Irish people and all the jobs were gone before I got there (not many to begin with). You should pm some people who've been in Santa Barbara or Huntington Beach for a J1 before, they should be able to give you more advice.

Usually J1ers come to this forum before they go and we rarely hear back from them.

xlou89x

thx so much..for some reason I couldnt find any old posts on it...guess was looking in the wrong place..there very helpful, thanks

lukiej

Hey!
right well i spent the summer just gone in Huntington Beach. I can honestly say i had the time of my life.. its amazing.. a lot of people say on forums and stuff that its not a good place for a j1.. i think it is to be honest i visited san diego, santa barbara, san fran and LA and i wouldnt go to any of them.. Huntington is quite big and spread out, lovely beach there and main street is realy ncie with all shops bars and restaurants.. i would recommend u try find accom before u go out, we didnt and we really struggled ended up living in hotel for 10 nights! got a place in the end and turned out to be brilliant! a lot of the irish stayed there.. im going to go back next summer and i think im going to go to huntington again, job prospects there arent the greatest..but they are there.. its ina really good location less than half hor drive from LA, hour n a bit from san diego, 5 hours from Vegas ( you have to go there). i got work in hollister clothes shop and with a construction company. restaurants are always a good one too theres plenty of them there.. and the hotels for servers and valet parkers. i would highly recommend huntington anyway! feel free to ask me questions would be more than happy to answer!

xlou89x

Thx... ya i was just wondering where abouts did you get accomadation & was it expensive because ive been looking and everything seems way to expensive for me so i really dont think i can afford huntington beach! Also what kind of shops can you expect to find there, is there shopping centres and all that kind of stuff..as i'd be looking for a job in a shop.

lukiej

i stayed in Regency Palms Apartments, 6762 Warner Avenue.(look it up on google maps!) it was where a lot of the Irish stayed i found it great had 3 pools jacuzzis bbqs laundrette, everything we needed, bus stop was right across the road that brought u straight to the beach, although we cycled most days, takes about 20min if u going normal speed and its a nice cycle..from what i can remember our rent was 1400 a month but we had 13 people living in the house. the average in most of the irish houses was probably 7 or 8! Huntington Villas also kept a lot of Irish, they were the two main places up a good bit from the beach, at first we were a bit skeptical about living so far away from the beach, but once we bought bikes we realised it was only a 20min cylce or a 8-10 bus ride. bus was only $1.25 or $3.00 for day pass. Then theres all the houses down near and off main street which is the best place you could stay, rent down here though is more expensive and they arent as willing to lease for 3 months, we found a couple of places, but some of our group wernt happy about lying to the landlord about the length of our stay in return for losing deposit. Try sort accommodation before you go, its a bit early yet but maybe around February start emailing, craigslist.com is a great site for both jobs, accommodation and for buying stuff. We bought two couches and a tv for $50 off craigslist and the guy even delivered them for us!

me and a few of the lads got jobs in Westminster Mall which was about a 10 minute cylce from the apartments. We worked in the Hollister shop there, there are lots of shops and cafes and stuff there to get jobs, there is also another mall called the Bella Terra Mall, a little bit further away but good for job. Knotts Berry Farm hired A LOT of Irish this summer, they had to get the bus there though which took 50minutes but seemed to work ok for them! After that, the Hyatt and Hilton Hotels on the beach hired some Irish also. you need to get to them early though. Then theres the shops and restaurants on the main street, I know Dianes Swimwear hires a lot of Irish girls every year and a couple of other clothes shops, Jacks etc..Then Huntington hosts the US Surf Championships every year, attracting 100's of thousands of people and theres 2 weeks of work ato be got also, some of my friends worked doing night shifts as security on the beach patrolling the area where all the stands and skateparks were being set up so no one would damage them. got really well paid and it was soft work.Basically I dont think you will have a huge problem getting a job if you act immediately once you arrive. its quite difficult to arrange a job before you arrive but do try!

I have no doubt you will have an excellent summer in Huntington Beach if you choose to go there, you just need to go very well prepared, its a great place with a great atmosphere day and night, the beach really is amazing, shops and restaurants really nice, and so much to do. It's in a great location, Newport Beach is a ride away, only 20min if even for $1.25, theres so much to do and see there too. LA is only 40min drive, you'll see Hollywood, Universal Studios, Beverley Hills etc, Las Vegas is a 5 hour drive, or 6 hour bus for $60 bucks (its a must!), San Diego is just under an hour and a half south, worth seeing, loads of Irish there every year, and Mexico just 12 miles from there for the big party nights and cheap clothes factories!

I will be happy to answer any more questions you may have!