Hey, has anyone ever tried that SWAP thing? (Students Working Abroad Program) One of my roomates in Banff was from New Zealand and she said it was really good, they take care of your visa and everything. I think I might apply for it for Ireland. They provide constant guidance throughout your stay in whichever country you go to, provide accomodation for your first 2 nights, too. sound like your cup of tea? www.swap.com

crio

This linky no worky... :crybaby:

oops, silly crio. try www.swap.ca

my bad.

I'm thinking of doing it this summer, maybe throught next year...it sounds good to me. I know someone who did it and I heard good things about it. Where are you planning on working?

its shaping up to be sweet, but the application process is a little rocky! I am in the process of applying right now, and on the surface it looks all organized, but be prepared for some waiting to get all the right forms and what not...
Oh well, I should have my application off my this afternoon, or tomorrow morning, and then I can sit back and plan some things.

Even though it is a long process (for me at least it is!)I'm sure it will prove worth it!
So GO FOR IT! :cheers:

i'm still in the deciding stage. once i hand over that registration fee i can't go back! lol, i've been invited to stay with several people in england and a friend in ireland, so i might just pack up the old rucksack and head out. :)

i decided against swap for aus. I applied for my working holiday visa online and it took a few mins to fill out and then the next day it was approved. It wasn't any hassle at all. The swap cost for aus. is $450 bux I just can't justify paying that much for "help" or "security". I don't think it can be that hard finding a job. I mean everyone needs a fruitpicker right? ;) But for a first time traveller I think it's a great idea with added support.

Just reading through this thread, seems as though SWAP is kinda like what i was offered for the uk.

For a lazy $500, you can have a job lined up, complete with over the phone interview before you leave your own country.

For me, this was just too much money, and two much unpredictable. 4 sure its security, but who wants that these days ;)

Dio, did you say that you filled out your visa application for online. Im going to look into that, cuz ive been reading through my british via application (all 16pages of it) tonight, and thinking damn, this is big.

Night guys.

^yeah I applied online. It was about 8 pages, but didn't take that long cuz alot of the questions were yes and no or didnt apply to me at all. It was so easy. 16 hours later I was accepted!

yeah dio that is a really good point. shelling out a couple hundred for the off-chance that you might get a job. i think i'd like more stability.

crio

Dio, do you have the link for the application? I'm not planning on doing it right now, as i already have France lined up, but it is something I really want to do in the near future!

Just to clear up, SWAP does NOT line up a job for you, that still is your responsibility. What they do do (for European countries) is help you get a working visa which is very hard for someone outside the EU to get. (Dio, I think you're right, for Oz/Nz its probably just as easy to get a visa on your own). But they also help you set up a bank account, and inform you of anything you should do to begin living in a foreign country. I think you are right though, for an experience backpacker it might no be necessary. And could save you some dough. My application fees for SWAP France were 200$ or something.

Ah well, wahts done is done (i got my application off finally yesterday!) Paris here I come!!! :stoked:

Australia working holiday visa

That's the australian government page. It gives some info on who can access the visa and then there is a link on the page to the online visa application form..

hey fedfe ya speak french then since your working in france? How well can u converse?

yeah, je peux parler francais!

whoa! i just realized that is the first thing i have written in french for so long!!! i was in french immersion from kindergarten to grade 11 1/2, so I havn't spoken french for 3 or 4 years. But I'm hoping it will all come back when I get over there...i'm sure it will. I have been doing a little french reading lately, and i can understand it just fine. My grandpa is french, so when he was here over christmas i got to speak with him a little bit, its a little rusty, but manageable!

i wish i could speak french...even though my ancestry is french i can't speak it at all. In fact my grade nine french teacher said "hey do u plan on taking french next year?", i replied "no, i'm taking japanese instead" and then you know what that biotch said...she said "yes I think that is a wise decision" aaaargh i hated her so much. IT's because of her that I sucked at it :) ANyways yeah it will come back to you. I went to france with two of my friends who happened to be in FRIMM and they could totally converse with everyone there no problem. I was so lazy that I made them order food for me all the time..hehe suckas

Hey Fedfe...That's great! I was in english immersion in secondary school,*and it helped a lot...I have a bad accent in english but I can have a normal conversation...They offer french immersion?! Where are you from?

Si tu as besoin d'aide avec ton français, tu peux me poser des questions, je serai heureuse de t'aider, mais je ne crois pas que tu aies besoin d'aide...c'est bon de savoir que je ne suis pas la seule personne ici qui parle français! Ahahah! ;)

Yeah, what she said!

yeah moc we have french immersion (frimm) over here. My highschool was half french immersion and half english studies. So a bunch of my friends were in french immersion and almost all their studies were in francais..not moi though. I can barely get by in english :rolleyes:


hmm what the hell did u say something about (let me decode some words i know)

You with help french, you ask the questions..... it is good i don't know how to speak french in person..

yes that's what i think u said and it makes nooooo sense....see i could not survive in france alone hahaaaa.

i think she said something like "you can ask me questions and i'll help, but it looks like you are doing fine with your french. it's good to know i'm not the only french speaker here".

am i right?

crio

HAAAAHAAAAA crio your waaaaaay better than me... :rolleyes:

hahah thats great moc.
yeah we have french immersion here (in BC) , like dio said (although i've never heard of it as frimm) but i was in it since kindergarten. there was the french immersion kids and there were the english track kids and us frenchies were always way better behaved for some reason! it was really bizarre! yeah, my writing isnt that great, and my grammar is probably terrible...oh well.

its fun to speak in french...although at school we never did, or we never thought it was fun. i'm really glad that my parents forced me and my sister into learning french, especially since we live in a bilingual country.
okay, i gotta go, i can bare;y type anymore...so hungover....so tired...guh.
:sleepy: :mellow: