Touching down in San Francisco!!!

Hi guys!!!

So, this is the second post I have made on this blog. In this I will tell you what to expect on your arrival. I will also give you some tips on what you should do before you leave.

Picture yourself standing in the arrivals lounge of SFO (San Francisco International) airport. You are after travelling half way around the world and are no doubt pretty tired. Don’t be relaxing just yet. You still have a little more to do. Some of you may have had a stop over in another city before arriving in SF, so you can picture your self in whatever airport you flew into. Well at this stage you will have to go through customs and immigration. I am not to sure if you do this on your point of entry to the US or at your final destination as I flew direct from Heathrow in London. I reckon you will do it at your final destination as you will actually be leaving the airport. Anyway, you will have to go through customs. You will stand in a queue for a while and then face the daunting figures in their little boxes who will check your visa and passports, take your picture, your finger prints and ask you some questions. Just stay calm, this is all normal procedure. Once through these you will have to go into a little side room and wait while they check all your documents. Again this is normal. My little bit of advice for this point is to be sure of yourself and not a dumb ass. If you get asked a question like “What are your plans for while you are here?” have an answer ready. Also have an address ready too…even a hotel address or hostel of where you are going to spend your first few nights if you don’t have accommodation sorted. I saw some real clowns there last summer that were grilled because they couldn’t answer simple questions and were giving stupid answers. “WE’RE HERE TO PARTY…WOOO HOOO”, like that is going to please the authorities. When finished with this part it is time to collect your bags and get out of the airport.

You have finally got through customs and all the travelling. Are you hungry? If so go up to the food hall in the departures lounge and go to “the burger joint”. This place is a beauty. It’s highly rated in the zagat guide too; I will probably talk more about this in later posts on restaurants. The “fries” are beast and, pardon the pun, the burgers are whopper.

You are fed and ready to go. You have options here on how to get to the city. You can get a taxi or BART. If you do go for a taxi make sure it is legit. We got one that turned out to be some random dude with an suv. We were lucky that he was cool enough. A taxi will probably run you about $50 to downtown or wherever you may go. Where as the BART will probably only cost you about $5. This will also bring you to downtown.

If you don’t have accommodation sorted before you go you will probably have to stay in a hostel until you do. There are an abundance of these all over the city. Just stay out of the Tenderloin and Hunters Point (I will discuss this in a later post on areas of SF). I advise you to book these in advance of your arrival as the last thing you want to be doing after that journey is dragging luggage up and down the hills looking for a place to stay. If you have some flash cash and are willing to part with a bit I recommend you spend your first night in luxury in the Hyatt on Fishermans wharf. The beds are so comfortable. Beauty down-feather beds. To get to the wharf you will take the BART to Powell street station then exit the station and get an old-school street car called the f-line to the wharf. Powell street station is right in the heart of downtown.

When you get to SF you will have something like 10 days to register with SEVIS and to go about getting your social security number (SSN). To register with SEVIS you just have to go to the website and punch in the number above the barcode on your DS-2019 form. After doing this I think you will need to print out the confirmation, this info will be in your handbook. You will then need to go to the social security office to get your SSN. There is an office at 939 Market Street. To get here you get a muni (this is the name of the transport system, will be explained in later posts) to Powell. At Powell, walk to 5th street. This is in the direction of the Castro. It is only half a block from the station. At 5th street take a left. A few hundred yards down on your right is the social security office. You will go in and take a ticket and wait your turn to be called. Make sure you have all your documentation with you. This social security office is a mad house. It is a great way to get to see the crazies of the city. They are all condensed into one building. This place may be a bit daunting. Just keep the head down and listen to all the mad stories you hear people telling each other. Some stuff is just hilarious. After you have taken care of this you should have your social security card within 2 weeks. If you don’t have a place to live by then you can just go back after a certain period and pick it up there. Make sure you ask about this if you need to take this option.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YOU REGISTER WITH SEVIS AND SOCIAL SECURITY. IF YOU DON’T YOU MAY GET DEPORTED. I SAW THIS HAPPEN LAST SUMMER.

Now that all this official stuff is taken care of, it is just about having fun. Go and enjoy the city.

WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO!!!!!!!


Here are just some tips on what you should try do before you leave. I left some of this out that could have been better in the first post.

When booking your flights and visa go with British Airways. It’s a direct flight from London to SF and has got quality in-flight entertainment. DO NOT FLY WITH U.S. AIRWAYS. They don’t have any video screens for you to watch. This is a major problem when flying that distance. Also you can get one free change to your flights with BA. This means you can change your dates at no extra cost should you need to leave earlier or later. This is only available before you leave though. It is nice to have the option though as I found out last year.

It is my advice to book a hostel or hotel before you arrive as you will be exhausted and won’t want to have to drag luggage around SF upon arrival.

Try and sort your housing before you arrive. This will save you so much hassle. I will discuss all this in a later post.

Keep all your documentation together in a plastic button folder. I.e. itinerary, insurance, DS-2019, passport, hotel/hostel/motel booking confirmations. Basically everything should be kept in this and with you in your carry on luggage. DO NOT PUT ANY OF YOUR VISA DOCUMENTATION IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE.

Try and sort work before you leave also. There will be posts on the j1online site advertising jobs. I will give some more about jobs in later posts.

BRING TEA BAGS

Do some research on the city and the whole bay area before you go. It will help you out a lot. Buy a travel guide on SF.

So that is all I have for you at the moment. I am sure I have left loads out but I think there should be enough info here to help. I might use my next post to talk about housing and accommodation. Stay tuned for a new post in the next few days. It may help you out a lot.