any take on employment and housing in London?
Since I have lived in London, am Canadian, had also looked at SWAP 6-7 years ago, I have some ideas.
Jobs for a person your age? You'll get paid between £4.5 to £7 per hour, although you'll likely earn between £4.50 to £5.50. If you get a job at a bar, rent will likely be free/included, but you'll get paid very little, and will likely have a curfew of like 10-11 PM or so. That curfew applies even on your days off. I don't know why, but I guess you may face such rules if you were renting a room in a family home.
If I were you, I'd try signing up with an employment/temping agency of some sort. I signed up with a temping agency aimed at the medical field (
Fairstaff Agency) because the jobs they were able to get paid quite well. I earned around £7.5 per hour, which is far more than my English friends earned per hour.
I also worked at a bookstore (Books Etc) in the stockroom, unpacking books from boxes. I earned £6.5 ph, which was also quite phenomenal. Sales staff at the bookstore earned around £4.80 - £5.80, but salary was based on experience and how long the person had worked at the store, which is understandable. If you can earn £5.50 ph living in London, consider yourself lucky.
Office temping jobs pay better than retail or bar work, so if you want to save up some money for travelling, office temp work is better (even if it's less fun).
Rent in London? That will depend on where you live. For a place that isn't so fantastic, in an average area, you're probably looking at paying £75-80 per week. Anything better than that will start at around £90-95 pw, and anything in a dodgy neighbourhood will only be slightly cheaper (say £70 pw). I was lucky with regards to my rent (average), location (you wouldn't believe it if I showed you photos), and my flatmates. I'm sure I wouldn't be so lucky again, but I think you're better off paying around £90-100 pw, because I saw what was available for £70 pw, and the difference was stark.
I wouldn't try working in a non-English speaking country if you can't speak the language. Its one thing to be a tourist and speak English, as local people are more willing to put up with tourists if they know they'll never see you again once you leave.
However, if you're staying somewhere for a while, and you expect other people to speak English to you, don't expect a warm welcome everywhere. It's rude on your part for expecting the world to conform to you, and I can understand why people wouldn't want to hire you. How would you work in retail, or an office doing temp work? You limit your choices, and if it takes you longer to find a job, you'll be without a paycheque for a longer period of time. If you get a job that pays you every 2 weeks, and they hold your first week's pay, you'll be scraping by for the first 4-6 weeks.
From the list of SWAP countries, which I looked into 6-7 years ago (it hasn't really changed other than the addition of China), I think Japan isn't really an option for you. France? Forget it....unless your French is great. French people love the "Canadian French" accent because lots of famous comedians in France are Canadian, and have funny accents. Germany? Not sure. Many Germans can speak English, but that doesn't mean you should go over and expect them to do so welcomely.
That leaves Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, or NZ. I haven't been to South Africa, but I've met many South Africans (in London) who all said they wouldn't move back there. If it wasn't safe for my S.A. friends, I wouldn't recommend it to you, either. Their stories were sometimes frightening. Funny enough, all the South Africans I met, even in Australia, are now in London.
Australia is nice, but you certainly wouldn't be coming here for the culture. It's not as different as Britain or Ireland is, but your choice depends on what you want to get out of the trip. However, people travel to Australia for the nature, not the culture. Things aren't interesting here in terms of culture. It's only interesting in terms of what you see. Parts of it are similar to Canada, while other parts are like a desert. Living in Australia hasn't been such a huge transition for me, and other than a lot of beaches (which are only great between Nov - March), being in Sydney is similar to being in Toronto (I don't live in Sydney though). New Zealand would be wonderful. Fantastic place, but I think I'd rather just visit the place rather than live there.
The funniest thing about SWAP is that I don't really know if they would help you. I found jobs myself, and I found a place to live by myself. I got my work visa by myself, so other than your 1st night's accommodation, what they do for you?
