Getting settled in San Diego
Report by Christian S.
A semester abroad is a challenging task for a young student and especially the first weeks can be tough. Finding a place to stay, unexpected cultural differences, the language, using public transportation or a simple trip to the grocery store are just some of the challenges you have to master while studying abroad.
One of the keys to successfully solving these problems is prioritizing: Start with your most urgent problem and try to solve it systematically. For most foreign students, the top priority is housing. Staying in a hotel/hostel is usually expensive and should always be an interim solution for the first couple of days or weeks after your arrival in the US. The most common options for long-term housing as a student are homestay, subletting a room / apartment or renting your very own place.
Homestay
Homestay usually provides you with several benefits, such as your own furnished single / shared bedroom, included meals, internet connection and a host family which can answer many of your initial questions during your first weeks in San Diego. If you want to live the “American way of life”, a host family might be the easiest option to get started since you will be involved in the American culture in no time.
Craiglist
As mentioned earlier, another housing option is to sublet a (furnished) room or apartment. The place to go for sublets, rentals or pretty much anything else you want to buy or rent in the US is the classified advertisements website craigslist (for San Diego: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/). Usually you contact the owner or agent via e-mail or phone and set up an appointment in order to take a look at the room yourself. If you find a place that suits your expectations and budget, you may be required to provide the owner with further information such as a proof of sufficient funds. But be careful: if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
First impressions of San Diego
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that looking for a reasonably priced room in a nice neighborhood can be stressful and discouraging, and therefore you should take a break every once in a while and enjoy San Diego. If you want to get a first impression of the city and the surrounding suburbs, Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument provide you with a scenic look at the skyline and the city. Point Loma is a hilly peninsula in the middle the of San Diego Bay area and houses two military bases. The Cabrillo National Monument on the southern tip of the peninsula is a touristic attraction and is a fun place to do a cliff walk next to the tidal pools.
There is a lot of fun stuff to do in Southern California, but nothing says “I live in California now!” like a sunny day at the beach. Pacific Beach is a neighborhood in northern San Diego with a beautiful beach that is populated by young people, surfers, other students and locals and P.B., as it is known by the locals, has a colorful nightlife scene next to the ocean and is therefore one of the best places to relax from the stressful room-hunting.
