My J1 experience in Chicago

I spent my Summer of 2014 living and working in Chicago. I stayed with some great friends, made amazing new ones and had the best time of my life. If you are in college at the moment and are on the fence about going on a J1, I could not recommend it enough! You grow so much as a person, gain independence and have an amazing time! This is my J1 experience. It starts off with one bad experience that I think everyone should be aware of and then I'll talk about the fun stuff. Hopefully it'll help anyone going to the US or Chicago :)

Accommodation

We had a slight problem with our accommodation before we got to Chicago. By slight problem, I mean hundreds of other Irish students and I were conned out of their money by Amir Attaie and his company 'J1 Summer Living.' We were all saved by the hero of J1 Students in Chicago, Daniel O'Donnell. He paid for our apartments and didn't expect anything from us in return. He really saved our Summer! 
Now I've gotten the bad stuff out of the way, heres the fun stuff. We stayed in 777 South State Street in the South Loop of Chicago. We couldn't have chosen a better location. We were one street over from Michigan Avenue and Grant Park. It took a twenty minute walk to get to the very centre of town and a train station was just outside our building. the apartment was fully furnished, with wifi, tv and cable, a sundeck, laundry room and a gym! If you have to funds to pay for accommodation in full before you go, I highly recommend 777. It also means one less stress during the Summer because you aren't worrying about saving for rent.

Work

I got my job through a company called Hop the Pond. They organise jobs, trips and accommodation for J1 students. They are a great, friendly company and Kev Egan, who started up Hop the Pond, went above and beyond to make mine and my friends Summer the best it could be! It wasn't necessary to get a job before I went but it was just another thing checked off the list so I could concentrate on having a great Summer. I worked as a server in Lizzie McNeill's Irish Pub. There were about 12 other Irish working there and they were all lovely! Thats us below having a group hug on our work night out. The wage is terrible in America but tips are amazing and they certainly are enough to keep you going for three months.

The Lizzies Crew

Lollapalooza

If you are going to Chicago in the Summer, GO TO LOLLAPALOOZA! Ireland do not do music festivals like America. It was in Grant Park, literally a five minute walk away from our apartment. We would go to an act and run back to grab lunch before another act. It had a brilliant lineup including Eminem, Kings of Leon, Lorde, Arctic Monkeys, Rudimental, Kodaline and Hozier. My favourite was tied between Duke Dumont and Kings of Leon. Duke Dumont because it was a couple of hours of dancing like no one was watching with the sun beaming down on us (and probably the perfect level of alcohol in me as well ) Kings of Leon were amazing! The talent they had playing live was unbelievable and they really knew how to put on a light show. Lollapalooza really was the highlight of the Summer. My friends and I loved it so much, as soon as we heard it was coming to Europe, we booked our flights to Berlin.

Nightlife

I don't know about other cities in America, but Chicago was prepared for the Irish. They had an Irish students night nearly every night of the week in different pubs and clubs. Some of them are terrible, but some we they best nights out of the Summer. Tuesday night was reserved for Joe's on Weed Street. $2 pitchers. Do I need to say more? My friends and I also took a liking to a blues club called Kingston Mines. It didn't have an Irish night but it was so different from the other clubs playing the chart songs. 

Being Tourists

Spending a whole Summer there, we got to feel like locals. But we still wanted to see every bit of Chicago that we could. If I listed everywhere we went in detail I would be typing for days so I'll try keep this brief. Firstly, we bought the CityPass. This was a booklet that got us entry to five of Chicago's attractions including Shedd Aquarium, Skydeck, the Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry and Adler Planetarium. You save over 50% so I would definitely recommend it. Lincoln Park Zoo is a must see as well. Its free entry and probably even bigger and better than Dublin Zoo. I even got a selfie with a Rhino standing no more than ten feet away from me. There are so many festivals, like Taste of Chicago, and attractions around every corner in Chicago, there is always something to do.

Me with my Rhino friend

To summarize, I had the best Summer of my life, I don't know anyone who didn't fall in love with the city of Chicago and anyone thinking of going on a J1 should consider Chicago. I luckily didn't get in any fights with my roommates, well one fight with the boyfriend at the time but that was bound to happen. But living with the six friends I went with made us grow closer and I don't regret a second of it! Talk soon!

Uiscebawn x

Bonus Photo!

If I could describe my Summer with one photo, it would be the one below. I've always loved this photo, as awful as I look. After work or a night out, we would get pizza, eat too much and literally pass out from a food coma on the couch. Shout out to Bebhinn who came home from work and found me on the couch like this!