I left the Netherlands the 11th of Januari 2017. A date I was freaking out, and a date that was going to change my life forever. I didn’t realize this really around that time, but I do now, and I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to come to Vancouver to flip my life around.
A few days before that exact date I threw a party, to say goodbye to everybody. My friends gave me a book then, full of stories about our friendships and me. A book I was going to take a look at a lot during my time in Vancouver. A book that gave me two guidelines for my time here, and maybe for the rest of my life:
“ Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.”
“ Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it”
And although my suitcases are packed full of new clothes since shopping is just cheaper for me here, I do really think life is all about adventures and taking risks. Doubting? Just do it! This international experience has only done me good and it would not have been the same without Internex and what Internex brought me.
I learned so much in the office and it is all because the people there are always very supportive and gave me the opportunity to reach goals I didn’t even dream of yet. Together with the team I organised many PuB NiGHTS, weekly events and monthly trips for you! Some of them were really good, and some of them were just great! The success of our events is all because of you, our candidates, who always make it even more eventful for us. I really want to thank all of you for always being there, showing up and even do stuff together aside of Internex events. In the end that is all we want, for you to make friendships and to have an awesome time here together.
Me myself made friends for life here as well, friends who made my time a blast here! I can’t believe what activities and weird stuff I all did with you. Like the time Nicola and me thought it was a great idea to go snowboarding while being hungover. I laughed so much that day and in the end I was going down the hill circling around, which was pretty cool since I’ve never done that before. I also think we went on like 3 goodbye dinners, since we were not that good in leaving each other! I’m sure I will see this girl very soon again.
One of my other best memories is a surfing trip I made with Iris and Merle to Tofino.Catching those waves all together on a lovely Sunday morning was one of the best feelings I ever experienced, and I am happy they were part of that. Or just always having lovely Miriam and Sebastian around, who were here almost my entire stay. I adored the time I spend with you! And our lovely Mexican girl Blanca, who made everybody tostada’s on Danielles birthday party. It is really those little things I appreciate the most and you all contributed making my adventure so remarkable.
“Havo stories to tell, not stuff to show”
I had the honour to catch al our candidates stories and experiences through my project: the Candidate Exposé, which you might already have seen popping up on this blog. I am thankful that I was able to build this project and to execute it, and to always read your kind words about the work Internex is doing. Our stories together are captured in a few yearbooks, which you can find on the tables at Internex. I hope the book and the blogs make people decide to come to Canada for an experience similar like ours, since I am convinced it will be really good for everybody to have an international experience.
Vancouver and mostly you stole a piece of my heart. It’ s so hard for me to put my experiences on paper since it is just beyond words. I have a hard time saying goodbye to all of you, and unfortunately I already had to say goodbye a lot of times over the past months, which is also a part of this adventure. I do know though it is not going to be a goodbye for a long time. I will see some of you soon, and some later, but I am convinced our journeys will cross again some time. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it, so always go for it and get the best out of everything! I am curious what life is going to bring you, and me, because what the hell are we going to do when we are back home?
I am sure everything will fall into place very soon and I can look forward to my next adventure, meet even more people and create new experiences, but I always have a big one to look back to.
I will never be completely home again, because part of my heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price I paid for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. Thank you lovely candidates, Internex, Vancouver and Canada for stealing a piece of my heart.
– Tess
INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com
INTERNeX Canada 