J1 2015 San Francisco

irishrachel

myself and a friend(two girls, 20 and 21) are heading over to SF and looking for people to get a place with to make rent cheaper and all that craic

well probably head to berekley but were looking into oakland a bit aswell just to see

if anyone else is in the same boat let us know

summer_2011

Hey everyone,
I went on a J1 to San Fran last summer. Such a great city to do a J1 in, not as big, dirty or hot as LA but still a great buzz to it. I lived in Berkeley, with the girl I went over with and two Americans. We didn't really want to do the Frat thing and I'm glad we didn't, I could go to the parties and still come home to a nice clean apartment!! Berkeley is about a 20 minute BART journey to the city, they go every few minutes so it's really handy but saying that you spend a good bit throughout the summer on the BART but the city is so expensive to live in so it's cheap when you think about it..If you go over without accommodation you will spend a good bit on hostels so be prepared for that. I stayed with my uncle outside the city until we got accommodation(that was 2 weeks) we were lucky but god knows we could have spent so much in hostels so maybe try and have viewings lined up for the day after you get over there so you wont be too long in a hostel. Craigslist is where we got the apartment so that's a good place to check. Another tip for job hunting is have your ONE page resume done and print 50/60 copies before you go over. Honestly you will use every single one of them and if you have to print them over there, that's more money gone out the window..I was a week and a half until I got a job, I handed out at least 80 Resumé and filled in application after application..so be prepared to fill them in when you call in. Oh I forgot as soon as you can go get your Social security number, you can expect to be a few hours in there getting it, I was 3 hours in Chinatown so bring a magazine or something!! :P you need this for filling out job applications but some are ok and you can just put pending in the space..I got a Job in a Café and an Irish pub, the irish pub was great for tips as is every waitressing job. The world cup was on at the time but one 5 hour shift I came out with 130 dollars in tips alone plus a pretty good hourly wage :O and all five of us got that so tips are great!!! A lot of J1ers get working at Pier 39, u need to be out early to get in there I think but again a lot work on market street or union sq. just in random retail shops. I'd recommend to try and get into a good 4/5* restaurant or bar or hotel if you can, your supposed to make a killing on tips..

So after all your working and partying during the summer make sure you take some time out and see a bit of the country. we rented a car for 11 days(You need a credit card to do this so make sure one of ye have one) and did a road trip, we hit off from San Fran, going along highway 1 stopping in Santa Cruz(ok, not much there only a seaside amusement park on beach), Moneray(really nice, deffo do aquarium when your there), Carmel(very posh but we didn't stay too long but i'd say it is a lovely town), San Luis Obiso( Hearst Castle is a must if your passing here, its unbelievable just do the tour!!) Santa Barbara (One of my favourite stops absolutely gorgeous, we did kayaking on the bay but also has a lovely town with nice shops!!) Santa Monica(just did the famous Malibu beach which was class) and L.A (Universial studios is a must, nearly 100 dollars but it is so worth it, go there really early like when it opens and go straight and do the first studio tour, it is so brilliant, you get to see all the famous films and shows and how they were made..get it out of the way as later on in the day the queue's are soooo long..We also did the Hollywood sign and some stars but really didn't stay long as it's not a great city) Then we drove over to Vegas(about 4 hour drive) Well OMG what can I say, just 3 nights of pure mayham, I've never seen a city before like it, very strict on ID in nightclubs or to get served so if your not 21 I would think its a waste of time and money going..and finally after 10 hours sleep in 3 nights we headed back to San Fran stopping in Yosemite National Park which has to be done some time during the summer, you will get amazing pictures and also Tahoe, a lot of Irish go there for 4th July wkend, if ya get the time off work!! so that's it, sorry for rambling on but just wanted to give ye all my experience and some tips for your summer of a lifetime!! Don't expect to come home rich, I didn't come home with much but in all fairness,doing the road trip was what you work for and also to party and drink so your money doesn't be long going especially with rent, food, BART and all the rest!! :P Enjoy its going to be a great summer, summer of your life time!! I just wish I was going back!!

stripeypaint

Hello all,

myself and 4 other lads all heading San Fran this summer hoping to stay in sunset district late may to late aug.
looking for a few other to share accom with.
We all study medicine and are very busy with our charity work at the moment. as a group we enjoy long walks on the beach and visiting wineries in our spare time.
Looking to work for first 10 weeks then travel afterwards. Interested in sports,working and relaxing by the seaside.

best regards,
Cyril Sorensen

ConorM15

Was originally heading over with 2 other lads but one of the lads is getting his accomodation paid for by the GAA, so basically 2 of us at the moment.. however we have hotel sorted in the city for 3 people about 300 or so a month each, just wanted to see if anyone is travelling solo that might need accomodation because were actually stuck for 1 person haha

Bojack93

How many people are staying in Berkeley? Myself and 3 mates just got ourselves a spot there.

kingkenny2012

Bojack93 a few of us lads planning on staying in Berkeley as well if we cant get a place in the city. How did ye get yer place? Is a frat house or something else?

Bojack93

kingkenny2012 wrote: »

Bojack93 a few of us lads planning on staying in Berkeley as well if we cant get a place in the city. How did ye get yer place? Is a frat house or something else?

Myself and then lads applied to the Co-ops in Berkeley,cheapest one goes for about 1300 for the summer each. The place we got was Stebbins Hall for 1700 each for the summer, which will either have our own single rooms for us or two doubles between the 4 of us.

The payment is fairly handy cause the first $850 payment isn't due till mid June with the second one due mid July so we'll be living there two weeks before we have to pay anything.

Definitely give it a look and give me a shout in PM if you need anything else

KildareKing

Bojack93 wrote: »

Myself and then lads applied to the Co-ops in Berkeley,cheapest one goes for about 1300 for the summer each. The place we got was Stebbins Hall for 1700 each for the summer, which will either have our own single rooms for us or two doubles between the 4 of us.

The payment is fairly handy cause the first $850 payment isn't due till mid June with the second one due mid July so we'll be living there two weeks before we have to pay anything.

Definitely give it a look and give me a shout in PM if you need anything else

Hey man , i was just wondering, when did ya apply?? and was stebbins hall your first choice??

stracks

hey, 2 NUIG lads here, heading out on the 19th. Looking for a frat/apartment in Berkeley. I've got a job sorted in an ice cream shop so there's free ice cream in it for anyone who wants to share with us!

discodunne

I'm 28 and going to San Francisco solo. Heading over this Friday the 15th. On the hunt for a place to stay long term beyond the airbnb place i'm staying for the first week (22nd onwards).

Not really interested in staying in a frat house or place where there'll be loads of sessions. Looking for others to stay with.

ConorM15

Stracks theres 2 of us and we have hotel in the city sorted... its about a thousand a month between 3 but we might be able to fit 4 in

ConorM15

stracks wrote: »

hey, 2 NUIG lads here, heading out on the 19th. Looking for a frat/apartment in Berkeley. I've got a job sorted in an ice cream shop so there's free ice cream in it for anyone who wants to share with us!

Stracks theres 2 of us and we have a hotel room in the city sorted... its about 1000 a month between 3 so we might be able to fit 4 to lower cost even more

sgabriela123

Hi! I'm currently a UC Berkeley undergrad who's studying abroad in Holland. I'll be staying in Europe for the summer and am in need of someone (1-2 people) to take over my room in Berkeley! It's part of a house that's located on the southside of campus and is only a 20 minute tram (BART) ride away from SF. The room is a single room, but it's spacious and has a double bed, couch, and could fit an air mattress or spare mattress as well. It'll come with a desk, chair, mirror, nightstand, and lamp also. I'm willing to negotiate the rent but for now I'm asking for $600 for one occupant and $750 if it is used as a double room.
If anyone's interested and has any questions, send a reply and let me know! thanks!!

nicketeen

Hi lads,

Myself and my housemate are looking for accommodation for the J1 summer in San Fran. We are both in UCC, love the craic and sports, and are not fussy. If anyone needs people to share a place with or trying to gather a crowd for a place, pm me. Sound out.

Bojack93

KildareKing wrote: »

Hey man , i was just wondering, when did ya apply?? and was stebbins hall your first choice??

We applied in Feb/March and nah we had Rochdale as our first, put we all wanted to be put together so we ended up in Stebbins.

Bojack93

KildareKing wrote: »

Hey man , i was just wondering, when did ya apply?? and was stebbins hall your first choice??

We applied in Feb/March and nah we had Rochdale as our first, but we all wanted to be put together so we ended up in Stebbins.

Duff

Myself and 4 others are flying out tomorrow for San Fran. Have accommodation but the lease doesn't start until the 1st June so we've 2 weeks of homelessness. Any one any ideas of cheap hostels that'd take us for 2 weeks? They're all crazy expensive from what I've seen online.

TimeToShine

Flying out late next week and similar to the above have nothing sorted for the first two weeks. If anyone wants to get a group together and try and work out a deal with a hostel or something or has any plan that we could contribute to financially I'd be game. $40 a night for a hostel for 2 weeks is just scandalous.