My name is Anna, I am 21 years old and I am from the UK. I am studying Geography in England and am about to enter my fourth and final year.
I decided to come to Canada, because Vancouver sounded right up my street and very similar to Scotland (where my parents live), but on a larger scale. I found INTERNeX via an Australian travel agency. They put me in contact with INTERNeX, who then put me in contact with the tour company I ended up doing my placement at.
I absolved my placement at the tour company. I loved it! I met amazing people, friends for life from all over the world and learnt a lot about sales in general and British Columbia. This practicum was a part of my university program. Even though it was not that useful for my career goals, I still thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
When I first arrived in Canada, it looked very dull and grey since it was raining, typical Raincouver. So, it looked like it lacked character. However, I knew of the beauty surrounding Vancouver, so I didn’t let this cloud my judgment. At the start of my placement, I felt very lonely, especially in my work place, but this improved quickly. I lived in a shared house in Vancouver. It was a good base to commute and participate in my daily activities in downtown. I didn’t want to leave Vancouver anymore, when I had to leave.
I attended some of the events that INTERNeX organized. They were good! I went to a handful of the pub nights, for example. Other than that, I did a lot of activities in Canada – hiking, skiing, cycling and surfing. I mainly went with my placement company. I also traveled to Whistler and the Rockies. It was nice to do something every weekend. Work hard and play harder! It is very hard to pick a most memorable thing I did in Canada, but I will definitely remember cycling round Stanley Park and the Rockies.
I like the cultural diversity in Canada. I found it very hard to meet any Canadians, which I thought was nice and made me feel less like a foreigner. Plus it made me more culturally aware and I learnt more about places like Korea, that I didn’t know much about before. This trip to Vancouver inspired me to live abroad as I have traveled a fair bit, but Vancouver was the first place I had lived in for longer than a month, besides my home. I would love to travel to Australia, since I met a lot of Australians in Whistler.
The first thing I will do when I come home, is eating a big plate of the classic English dish: beans on toast.
– Anna
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 