theclementi Adventure: USA Summer 2014

Okay, because this is a long one, so I'm gonna separate them to each post for each city. This post will act as a overview and links bellow will lead you to the specific city post.

Basically I told my self that I need to escape from reality for a while right after my final exams on my final year. So I joined this

USA Work and Travel Programme/ Cultural Exchange

That's Andrew and Kens, who I spent the working months with

US had been on the top of my wanted to go list, and conveniently my friend introduced me to an agent who does all the arrangement for the programme. People have been asking these questions:

1. Who is the agent? Are they trust worthy?

My agent is Esther, she have been very helpful, arranged all things necessary for me like Visa application, travel insurance, flights, the job and etc. I was introduced to her through a friend who went for the same programme a year before me. So I guess its pretty safe.

2. What is Work and Travel Programme?

Basically during the summer, people would be hiring for summer jobs all over the US. Such as summer camps, amusement or theme parks, or any businesses in the service industry.

I worked at a premium supermarket called Roche Brothers well known for their quality product and premium customer service. I was paid USD10/h and USD15/h on weekends or holidays, and I get to work about 40 hours a week. It pretty much covers the expenses and have some leftovers for travelling.

Our host Denise(Right) and her son Jared (Left), dinner with students from Thailand

3. How much did your whole trip costed?

It started where I have to pay the agency for the package which includes visa application, insurance, job placement etc etc. Which is about SGD 1900. I chose Korean Airlines and it costed me in total of SGD 2200. And I brought about SGD 1200. I spent all the money I earned through the job and came back almost empty handed. So that means I spent only about SGD 5300 for the whole trip

4. What was your work about?

As mentioned earlier, I work for Roche Brothers supermarket. There were other students who were working there too in the various departments, namely deli, kitchen, bakery, produce, and as for me the meat department. Most of the time I was serving customers on the meat counter, sometimes I do some prep stuff like meat cutting, burger making, and stocking. The main thing we get to learn is the way we deal with different types of customers with different needs, as the company focuses a lot on it.

The meat department at Roche Brothers, tough guys!

5. What was your route for the whole 4 months?

So I started by transiting in Korea, and reached San Francisco where I stayed for a few days and met up with friends. Then I took as domestic flight to Boston and made my way to Cape Cod where I worked for the summer.

Over the off days during work, I went to Niagara Falls, Boston and the rest of Cape Cod.

The next day after my last day of work, I left Cape Cod and head for New York for 3 days.

Then to San Francisco, where I rented a car and drove down California Highway 1 all the way to San Diego for a week.

Then took a flight from Los Angles to Seattle, took a train down to Portland, and ended my trip back at San Francisco.

6. Your favourite stops?

Seattle, Boston and Niagara Falls

Those are most of the questions that people ask me frequently, any more questions feel free to ask at the comment section and I will reply. And here are the links to the posts:

(they will be clickable when they are ready)

East Coast