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I am Pedja, from Montenegro. I am a student and I may come to live and do my internship in Asheville. I already was in USA last summer and it was great so I am excited about this opportunity.
Now, I am writing here because I need to find a housing. I am open minded and I search for some decent place to live. I researched around about Asheville and it seems like a nice place to spend up to 12 months.
I dont mind having a roomate, actually I would maybe prefer that because I need to make new friends and meet new people. Also I can go with renting one furnished room. Can I possibly find something for 300-400$ per month?
Any other informations about living there or anything else would help me a lot. I would really appreciate that because I have never been on south. Thanks!
A furnished one bedroom in Asheville or just about anywhere in Western NC is going to cost you between $800 to $1000 a month. You would not even be able to rent an unfurnished single wide trailer built in the 1970's for $300 to $400 a month. $500 is about the bare bottom you will find in this area but when one comes on the market for under $800 it goes VERY fast.
I am Pedja, from Montenegro. I am a student and I may come to live and do my internship in Asheville. I already was in USA last summer and it was great so I am excited about this opportunity.
Now, I am writing here because I need to find a housing. I am open minded and I search for some decent place to live. I researched around about Asheville and it seems like a nice place to spent up to 12 months.
I dont mind having a roomate, actually I would maybe prefer that because I need to make new friends and meet new people. Also I can go with renting one furnished room. Can I possibly find something for 300-400$ per month?
Any other informations about living there or anything else would help me a lot. I would really appreciate that because I have never been on south. Thanks!
Pedja--check with the personnel office in the facility where you will be interning. They should be able to help arrange housing for you. Let us know where you will be working and maybe we can offer more--
I second, what Cofga said. The company, which is offering the internship, knows about your financial situation and will hopefully be supportive. Don't hesitate to ask them for help.
I work with an agency from US and they told me that the employer from Asheville is interested in interviewing me. Its a hotel, but I still dont know which one exactly, I will know more in few weeks after I fill out some paperwork.
I saw on roommates.com, internhousing, craiglist... that there are shared housing from 350-650 for one month.
I think that the employer will help me with this as well. I am just trying to look around and see possible options for now.
I think my top for housing is around 450 per month, because I my salary will 10$/hr, and I will get around 35-40hrs/week. So I wont make a lot of money, and because of that I am trying to find some cheaper option.
Thanks for your answers and suggestions.
not sure how it works here, but in europe there are certain grants, if companies are willing to hire foreign student as interns - more sort of a cultural exchange (especially for students from countries like the former yugoslavia) .
Since it's a hotel, a room offer should not be a big deal (especially in the winter ).
OP, make sure, they know everything about the required visa. usually only bigger employees do that, since getting a visa for a student/intern costs time, money and, after all, can even be denied.
since we went through a long visa process, I can tell you ...it's a JUNGLE.
for visa information you can go to this website USA Forum :: View topic - List of Visakategories (that's my 'other' forum besides this one ) - created for german expats who live in the US - everybody talks english, too.
As the link shows ... there are tons of visa possibilities and be aware, that it can take up to a year to get through the process.
If you already live here, then just forget about it.
as Booya said, unemployment is a huge problem in the Asheville area and I (sorry for being that negative) doubt, many employees will go through that whole process (with unknown end), when 100 interested people line up right at their front door (and will work for $ 8.25).
many things work differently here in the US and - hopefully no one is offended by that - my experience is, that there is a lot of 'hot air' and lots of hopes and expectations may be destroyed, because there actually never was a good chance, but someone wanted to be helpful and nice.
As I said, I don't want to sound too negative, but just be careful and focus on different possibilities at the same time.
Thanks guys, its good to know that somebody know where Montenegro is.
And I prefer hearing reality, I know that economy is still tough, I can handle 'negativity'
This is how all of this works: some companies participate in cultural exchange programs, and they work with US agencies and tell them that they want international workers, and then we contact the agency and search for job that matches my education and background. And also those companies which participate in cultural exchange programs get some benefits from the government. So it doesnt mean that there arent jobs for foreign people even if there is a high unemployment.
I worked last summer in one restaurant in Maine and I traveled a lot across northeast after I was done with my work. And that was really good experience.
Now I am a little bit worried about this placement, because I didnt want to go so south(I prefer north east, and my girlfriend is in Mass), and I know that the economy is tough and also I am aware that south isnt wealthy as noth eastern countries. But right now I dont have any other options, and this seems like a good opportunity to explore other parts of USA.
What about people? Young people? Night life? Is Asheville some slower city or a vibrant place? I live in capital of Montenegro and I asked to be in a city because there are more chances to meet new people.
I am aware that south isn't wealthy as North eastern countries.
I know Hollywood, the movies & most people who live outside of the south & have never visited the south want the world to think that the American south is poor & uneducated but that is far from the truth. The south is just as wealthy as any other part of the country, we are also just as educated as any other part of the country. The south has major universities like Duke, UNC, Vanderbilt, Emory, Georgia Tech, Clemson. Just to name a few.
The south is headquarters for many major Fortune 500 companies, In North Carolina there is Bank of America, BB&T, Lowes. In Georgia there is Coca cola, Delta Airlines, Rubermaid, Suntrust Banks, Aflac. In Virgina there is Norfolk Southern, Capital One, Freddie Mac, Smithfield foods, Tennessee has Fed Ex.
Those are just a few of the examples of major multi billion dollar companies in the south. Most of the countries financial companies such as banks, credit card companies & insurance companies are based in a southern state. We even have the center for disease control located in Atlanta. A lot of money flows through these state. There is actually a lot of money in Asheville as well. Right now there are 78 homes with an Asheville mailing address that are for sale with an asking price between one million & five million dollars.
How those people can afford a home like that is beyond me since the general pay for Asheville is nowhere near what it would take to have a house like that. Asheville has a very low pay scale. Not because there is no money here but because companies know they can pay so little & still have people fighting for those jobs.
Okay, I didnt mean to offend anybody.
I just know what I saw, experienced, read and explored. I know that I didnt see a lot of USA, but I researched a lot during past decade of my life. I know what statistic says, and also I know that statistic sometimes cant tell the right state of things. And that is why I am willing to take this chance and explore more during my staying over there.
I just want to gather as much informations as I can because I am about to come to a place where I know nobody and where I have never been before.
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) - created for german expats who live in the US - everybody talks english, too.
