I lived through many many winters and the temperature is not really bad particularly in southern California. What really kills me is the time, it gets dark at 430pm and there's really not much you can do after dark in terms of travelling/sightseeing. That additional 4+ hours of daylight makes a huge difference. Oh also in places like NYC you can forget about free outdoor performances in the park, street fairs etc. Those are spring/summer events only.

So yeah I would recommend the summer program too.

You can definitely survive in the US on less than US$1k per month (room rental + food + transportation). Do your own research, go to craigslist and look up some room rental rates. Then go to webvan.com and see how much your groceries will cost. Or check out http://tinyurl.com/nobumenu and see how much a decent dinner costs.

There is a lot of info out there. I guess your friend is just rich

My B1/B2 visa is valid for 10 years, multiple entry. It could be as limited as single entry only too.

dettol cream for smelly leg? wah?

I can concur about the toiletries, bring some medication as well (Panadol and the like). It doesn't make sense to spend that kind of money if you're just there for a short period of time.

SeLrAhC do you get a SSN when you're doing your work and travel? Or you just get a taxpayer ID number?

btw where are you in the US? I'm seriously thinking of redeeming my freq flyer miles now that Malaysia airlines has their promos again. First Class to NYC woohoo!

That SSN is valuable, I should recommend some of these young kids to go for WAT simply to get that SSN.

Anchorage is a bit out of the way for me, I'm mostly in the northeast but I might chance it. I've always wanted to go to alaska after reading Travel's with Samantha more than 10 years ago...

US doesn't have VAT, it's called sales tax and it's not refundable. Sales tax is calculated on your billing address and depends on the state, some states don't have any sales tax eg. Delaware or Oregon.

Why buy laptops in the US? Regular stuff may not be that great a deal but most stuff on sale are far cheaper than in Malaysia. Besides you get stuff that are simply not available in Malaysia. The only thing I would never buy in the US is mobile phones

soccergod mentioned most of it already. On top of that, if you buy a low end phone it's usually 850/1900MHz only plus there are many phones that are CDMA only. Best place to buy a phone is still LYP or Sg Wang, unlocked, lots of choice, lots of used ones if you need one cheap...

btw SeLrAhC are you stuck with the jobs offered during the job fairs only? What if I have friends who are willing to hire me for the summer for say more than minimum wage? Is there a limit on what type of work you can do? I googled around and the jobs are mostly temp/seasonal jobs, good for experience in dealing with people but not much career wise.

Haha no it's not for me. I know about the age limit and I already have a job in the US So the job has to be seasonal. I guess putting something like legal secretary wouldn't work even if it pays $20 per hour

Also how and where do you get your W2 forms when you need to file for taxes? Are taxes taken out of your paycheck and you claim them back later?


This post has been edited by tishaban: May 12 2009, 11:17 AM

I personally would never go to a private/commercial website, always go to the official US embassy website. You never know what sort of data they're keeping about you. I know the CIA is probably keeping data about me but why the hell should another company be doing so

The official website is http://malaysia.usembassy.gov/

Travelling to the US is very expensive this summer, did it in May but decided not to do it in July/August since it was way to high (~RM6k return).

Do your research using kayak.com or bing travel.

Yes I bought my tickets last November, January, May and July from kayak. I also compared with regular travel agents in November and May, the agents were all around RM1k extra.

Tipping is a culture in the US so people working in the service industry are paid slightly lower than minimum wage and make it up based on their tips. Tips are usually between 10-20% of the total bill, most customers will tip but there are those who don't. In my experience customers in big cities eg. NYC will tip more than those in smaller kampungs.

You're supposed to pay taxes on your tips but ...

Like it or not the American accent does help make you feel more integrated. You also need to be able to understand your customers but realistically you should be able to pick it up very quickly especially if you can already understand what you watch on TV or on Hollywood movies.

I've never worked as a server but I know people who have. It's physically demanding but if your tips are significant then good luck!

Did you even try to search first?

Slight correction it's the Empire State Building

Not sure if there'll be any major discounts after Sandy and the cleanup.

Not the right forum to ask, but you don't have a choice on the length of your visa. Pay one fee, if you qualify, you get the automatic 10-year multiple entry visa. I've seen people get 1-year single entry visas too. All based on the documents you present and your interview.

A US visa also doesn't mean you're allowed entry. I've seen people deported back at the airport as well.