Would you go on a J1 visa now?

antisemite mobs at universities.

I guess you mean people opposed to genocide.

You seem to be a strong supporter of Israel, I wonder were you particularly delighted at the recent murder of aide workers by the IDF or do you prefer when they simply drop bombs on the refugee tent cities?

Nothing to worry about in the US unless you offend AIPAC...

Back to j1, there's been some recent high profile cases.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/11/german-tourists-ordeal-reportedly-ending-returned-from-us-detention

I'd say it's still the same as when I did j1. Hope for the best, most Americans are decent enough.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-s-supreme-leader-writes-letter-to-us-students-says-they-stand-on-right-side-of-history/3235511#

When you start protests before the Israeli response to Oct 7 and get a letter from one of the chief backers of Oct 7 who's regime is openly anti Semitic (indeed the twelver sect messianic creed believes the destruction of Israel is necessary) you might want to have an honest look in the mirror.

Hope thumpit and vance are not reading all the bollox here

Or stay and just work in Ireland. If you're still at home then accommodation is not an issue and it's a red hot employees market.

You'd see more of the US on a two week holiday than struggling to pay rent and work on a j1.

I did a campervan driving holiday in oz and at the end I stayed in a backpacker hostel in Sydney and I'd seen more in two weeks than all the working holiday visa crowd who'd been there for almost a year.

That's where Erasmus is the new working holiday visa, you meet people from all over Europe and beyond and all in a college environment.

Anyone not going based on hysterical social media content or "the political state of the USA" or anyone whos friends or family are advising people not to go are morons.

People had no issue going when Bush was killing millions and thus creating 20 years of sustained terrorism.

Date on that article is may 2024 or considerably after October 7th. Not that it matters much as Israel had regularly invaded Gaza doing what it called 'mowing the lawn' or others call mass murder. There's no justification for their genocide and sad to see the USA providing the funds and weapons for it.

I admit I grew up heavily influenced by US popular culture, but familiarity is not affinity.

Lots of classrooms have loads of kids with parents from other EU countries, other languages aren't a mystery for them.

Myself and a sibling have done the emigration to the usual anglosphere haunts but now I've nephews who prefer lives in Europe.

When I grew up in high unemployment priest infested ireland the USA looked like heaven, to current Irish youth it looks like a dumpster fire.

From a career point of view the USA is still the place to head for MMA.

I really don't think that holds true these days. Sure, there's a language barrier when visiting most of the EU but culturally and politically we're far closer aligned with our European neighbours these days.

The "closer to Boston than Berlin" line was always rather simplistic imho. As a nation, we are closest by almost every cultural measure to the British than anywhere else.

It's ironic in a way as the American colonizers did not respect the original people whom they slaughtered but get your point.

I think it's far less to do with media consumption and more to do with America's culture of extreme individualism.

Europeans are, for the most part (and certainly as Americans would see it) socialist to one degree or another. Their furthest left politicians would barely be considered left-wing here, probably more left-of-centre.

While certainly, the US has great healthcare and educational facilities if you're rich, their extreme selfishness means that unless you are, you're fucked if you get sick and are more than likely under-educated by a desperately underfunded public education system. It's an appalling worldview and doubly so from a nation where those proclaiming themselves to be "Christians" hold such power.

In that regard we are definitely more like the as Americans.

I've yet to see an election in this country where the party promising the largest tax cuts where shunned for the sake of the party advocating tax increase to fund such and such.

We love our homeownership, we love big gaudy Celtic Tiger era mansions.

Look at our city streets, where in Europe you see cycling and small smart cars or those new weird Citeron ones, in Ireland you see big SUVs.

We will sue at the drop of a hat.

We are just as individualistic as any American.

We love to think we are in some way altruistic like the way we perceive mainland Europeans are, but we are not.

I really don't think so. Independent politicians can get elected here simply by loudly protesting the closure of a local A&E department or the like.

The Irish are quite an altruistic people and it's not a new thing: we were the largest donators to Live Aid per capita while in the middle of a horrendous recession in the 80's, more recently we were the first nation on earth to legalise same-sex marriage by plebicite: something the vast majority of the electorate stood to gain no benefit from. We have one of the strongest social security nets in the world, education while touted as free is at least extremely low cost and of a high standard when you look at international rankings. Even the HSE for all it's many, many problems is, by international standards, a pretty good public health system.

The Irish people wouldn't stand to watch people who'd worked hard all their lives become bankrupt because of a cancer diagnosis. We wouldn't stand for watching kids die in mass shootings because it encroached on our "right" to own semi-automatic assault rifles. We're up in arms over a housing crisis where the number of rough sleepers is miniscule, a sharp contrast to the US where homeless camps exist in every major city and indeed some of them have actually achieved fame (Skid Row with it's estimated 4000 rough sleepers, "The Jungle" in San Jose until it's residents were forceably moved on in the 2010's).

I'm just back from a trip and to be honest I would have little to no interest in going back there. Its a totally different country from when I did my J1 20+ years ago.

That's quite an insinuation.

We get it

I guess you're part of an organisation now, Irishmen for genocide?

Being anti genocide and anti murdering of babies means that, it doesn't suggest affiliation.

Really sick of you defending the slaughter of children day in day out but appreciate this is boards.

Sadly, since 911, the USA seems less free and enlightened and more benighted. I was really surprised how dated the Radisson was when I stayed there in 2005. The infrastructure, everything seems to be getting worse than when I first went in 1999. It was still amazing on my j1 and I'd probably go again given my grá for American literature but given the amount of stuff on TV these days not sure if it would have the same appeal if I was growing up now. It was the home of electronics, space exploration, Hollywood, BMX, skateboards, surfing, music, now.....

They hardly control who sends them letters. The whole guilt by association thing is a clear fallacy.