Is Sacramento a place to live for the summer? (Woodland: apartment, crime)

[Lussy]

Dear reader,

I am a 23 year old european student, coming from a small country called Slovenia. I am coming to US for working and studying purposes over a program called CCUSA. I will have a working visa J1 for the summer but the search for a job is quite difficult. I have sent many applications, but most of them would love to have an interview in person before hiring me, which you know is impossible. So, I decided to come to Sacramento and find the job once I'm there, therefore I have some questions, if you are willing to help me:
1.) Is Sacramento overall a safe and nice place to stay for a girl like me?
2.) Do you expect any difficulties with me trying to find a decent furnished apartment for 3 months?
3.) Do you think I will have any problems finding a job (Hotel, souvenir shops... - the position doesn't matter) once I am there?

Thank you very much for your help. Any other info is much appreciated.
I wish you a nice day, Lucija

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Lussy

Dear reader,

I am a 23 year old european student, coming from a small country called Slovenia. I am coming to US for working and studying purposes over a program called CCUSA. I will have a working visa J1 for the summer but the search for a job is quite difficult. I have sent many applications, but most of them would love to have an interview in person before hiring me, which you know is impossible. So, I decided to come to Sacramento and find the job once I'm there, therefore I have some questions, if you are willing to help me:
1.) Is Sacramento overall a safe and nice place to stay for a girl like me?
2.) Do you expect any difficulties with me trying to find a decent furnished apartment for 3 months?
3.) Do you think I will have any problems finding a job (Hotel, souvenir shops... - the position doesn't matter) once I am there?

Thank you very much for your help. Any other info is much appreciated.
I wish you a nice day, Lucija

1) Depends on where you are.
2) Possibly.
3) Yes.

Not to dissuade you, Lucija, but is there any way you could arrange for a sponsor family to help you out. Times are tough in California right now and I think a secure place to stay and people to assist you would enhance your experience.

Best of luck!

[wburg]

Do you like the idea of 40 degree temperatures every day? Typical Sacramento summers are very, very hot--like 35-43 degrees Celsius. They drop considerably at night, and it's a dry heat, but I think the last time central Europe got a heat wave like that people started dropping dead.

[edwardius]

This is a list of unemployment rates by region in the United States. If you were going to come to work in the US, I would try looking in a city with lower unemployment than Sacramento.

Table 1. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area

The people most likely to help you get a job are relatives living in the US or other people from Slovenia living in the US. So if there is a large Slovenian community living in say, Chicago or maybe Boston (I am not sure exactly where the Slovevian immigrant population is moving in the US, but I would start with the US city with the strongest ties to the Slovenia).

Second if you don't know where that is, then go for a large US city with substantial tourists from Europe with a relatively low unemployment rate on the list I listed above. Because the US is a huge country with one language spoken through out the country, most people in the US generally speak only English and if they speak a second language its either because they or their parents are immigrants or they speak Spanish poorly. Generally people from Europe speak mulitiple languages pretty well. That means for jobs catering to tourists from abroad (like working in a hotel), you are at advantage over most of the US applicants because you can probably speak a lot more languages than the US applicants and the hotels want to have on staff someone who can speak languages other than English. I would look at maybe Hawaii, New Orleans, Austin, Dalllas and maybe Houston.

Since you have legal eligiblility to work in the US, I would also check out some of the summer jobs working in the US national parks. The National Parks get a lot of visitors from abroad and they have the same problems finding enough US applicants with strong foreign language skills.

U.S. National Park Service Jobs for Students

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by wburg

Do you like the idea of 40 degree temperatures every day? Typical Sacramento summers are very, very hot--like 35-43 degrees Celsius. They drop considerably at night, and it's a dry heat, but I think the last time central Europe got a heat wave like that people started dropping dead.

35 Celsius is more like it. 40 is 104 F, which on average only happens during the worst heatwaves here.

Central and Eastern Europe can get very hot in the summer. Places like Minsk and Mockva are in a humid continental climate like the Midwest. As you go south there is a little less humidity and more heat.

I think most of Slovenia is somewhat elevated, so they don't have the heat they would have with the Mediterranean climate in the lower elevations in that area of Europe.

[Lussy]

@ Curmudgeon: I have payed for this program and so far got some help, but not more that I could help myself. I have already been to TX, The Woodlands, but the family moved to Thailand, so unfortunately I didn't have any other option.
@ wburg: I like the idea of 35 Degrees. I am a student of tourism so I have read everything about Sacramento before I decided. I am well aware of the weaher there and the crime rate, the politics bla bla bla...
@ edwardius: The unemployment, which is, to tell you the truth, a big problem everywhere, not just California. But I know that everyone who would like to have a job and really try hard to get one, would eventually get one... I am sorry but I don't quite understand the list of unemployment... Some unemployed people, in Europe and US, are getting used to the idea of getting some financial help from the country when doing nothing...I know you feel like I don't have a right to even look for a summer job there, but as I said, it will only be for 3 months, and you know that most job positions opens during the summer due to the tourism and high season... To travel to US is the reason to escape from Slovenians for a couple of months, don't you think... If I brag I speak 5 foreign languages and even though I am a student I have 5 years of experience in tourism sector... But to tell you the truth you are one of the few who knows English is not our mother language Austin, Dallas and Houston are one of my favourites, but I have already been there and I would like to experience some other state than TX. Thank you very much for the link for NP, I will consider that option too.
@ KC6ZLV: In the capital, which is somewhat in the middle of Slovenia, we usually get around 30 degrees, sometimes more or less, but in Primorska area where it is the Mediterranean climate it gets even higher, but off course because of the sea you don't feel such a heat.

I have decided not to come to Sacramento after all (I guess I wouldn't feel very welcome there), but I will sure come and visit it in September...
Thank you for your help.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Lussy

I have decided not to come to Sacramento after all (I guess I wouldn't feel very welcome there), but I will sure come and visit it in September...
Thank you for your help.

Lussy, please don't take it personally. It's the economy, it's not you.

[edwardius]

Lussy the local unemployment rate is more than twice as high in Sacramento (12.8%) as in Honolulu (5.6%). The reason I was telling you to look at other parts of the US other than Sacramento is that lots of them have a significantly lower unemployment rates than Sacramento. If I was going to move from Europe to the US to look for summer work, Sacramento just isn't the place I would recommend looking for work this summer. The reason I was suggesting Texas and Hawaii is those parts of the US just have much better local economies than Sacramento right now.

If you can speak 5 foreign languages then look for a hotel/hostel in an area that is likely to get lots of visitors who speak those 5 foreign languages. Like most Americans, I can't speak 5 foreign languages. If we are both applying for the same job at a hotel/hostel with lots of guests from abroad, you will probably get the position ahead of me. That isn't bragging on your part, you are just a lot more qualified for that type of position than I am.

[Lussy]

@ Curmudgeon: The main reason I decided not to was my flight schedule... I would need to go to 4 planes to go to Sacramento, it would take me a day and a half... Which isn't very good... Waiting for another flight would be around 12 hours, and I believe I would spend all my money at the airport
@ Edwardius: Ok, I understand now I have received some invitations from 2 Hotels in Baltimore couple of weeks ago for an interview. What do you think about that? Better climate I guess, and a lot of Hotels also. And it is also an advantage because Washington is not far, if I don't find any job suitable for me...

[wburg]

Pardon our grumpy-seeming attitudes--and good luck finding a summer job! I must admit that all I know about Slovenia is that one of my favorite bands is from there!