Hi guys, let us introduce two new faces of the INTERNeX PR department for the next 6 weeks. 😇
We are Selina and Daniela who study together at the University of the Federal Employment Agency in Mannheim, Germany. Within our dual studies in labour market management we have the opportunity of either doing an internship in Germany or abroad- OF COURSE we chose the second option and now we’re here at INTERNeX, excited to spend the next few weeks with you 💕
My name is Daniela, I’m 20 years old and live in the South of Germany about 20 minutes from France -after 11 years of studying French at school it’s at least enough to order a pain au chocolat and a cafe au lait. 🤪 Jokes aside, I really enjoy learning new languages, get to know different cultures and taste different cuisines. So I hope to experience all of that with you guys. In my free time I enjoy cooking and baking but when the weather is nice – thankfully it seems so this upcoming week ☀️ you’ll find me outside enjoying a long walk.
Vancouver is a city full of people from all over the world and especially the INTERNeX family seems to be pretty mixed, so I’m looking forward to get to know you guys. Honestly, when it came to the preparations for the internship I wasn’t quite sure where I wanna do it. I just new one thing for sure-DEFINITELY getting out of Germany and most preferable even out of Europe, so now I’m here 😊
I’m super excited for the upcoming time of meeting you guys, and having fun trips while exploring the beautiful nature of Canada and of course all the other things Vancouver has to offer.
See you guys on Wednesday! 😊
– Daniela
Hello together,
My name is Selina, I am 23 years old and am excited to be a part of INTERNeX. 😁
I’m from Germany and love travelling and meeting new people. So I think we will have a very nice time together. Hopefully!!!! 🥰
I chose Vancouver because I’m a person who loves nature. I love Mountains, seas, the wildlife and all the animals that don’t exist in Germany, like bears and so on. So I’m praying for to meet the Bears!!! ⛰🌺🌻🐻
I think Vancouver and in general Canada will be a big and exciting challenge for me. I hope to find out more about myself with this experience and gain new different perspectives. I also very much wish to improve my English skills. Of course I hope to meet cool new people as you hopefully ;)))
That’s why I think that INTERNeX fits me very well and is a good opportunity for me to do an internship here. Not to forget, I am here together with my very close and beautiful friend Daniela from Germany, who study with me together.
In my free time I enjoy playing handball and going to the gym. I love to go out and meet my friends and new people. I also really like to experience new challenges and enjoy life fully. 🌞
Yeah, I think that’s it for the beginning. I look forward to seeing you and hope to learn about you, face to face in the next weeks and wish us an amazing and wonderful time together!!! 😀
I hope everyone’s enjoying the weekend so far! I have a wonderful new ‘kid’ on the blog that I wanna introduce you to sooo let’s get right into it! 😊
This is Carmen (she/her)! She’s 20 years old and from a small town near Freiburg, Germany and she’s here to do a bunch of our programs! She’s actually gonna document her journey here in Canada on her TikTok, so if you wanna check that out, go follow her @Camibiega !! First she’s gonna go to a language school for 2 weeks. Then she’s gonna go to 2 different volunteer stations, starting with RAPS, the cat sanctuary. After that she’s gonna go to a ranch stay for a few weeks to also explore the Canadian lifestyle outside of the big city. She’s super excited for all of the projects and she’s looking forward to exploring new things and getting to know a new culture! :)) Before she left back home she finished school this past summer and then traveled to Ghana for 5 weeks. She also filmed all of her awesome experiences for that journey, so if you’re interested, check her out on social media! 😄 One of Carmen’s main hobbies is dancing! She’s been doing Hip Hop and Breakdance ever since she was little and to her it seems like she’s been doing it literally forever lol! Some of her other interests are videography and photography, which is why she’s so passionate about her awesome content on all her social media! She now chose to come to Canada because a) she wants to improve her English skills. And b) she looks forward to exploring all that Canada has to offer. Since it’s the second largest country in the world, there’s sooo many cool things to explore! I definitely think one one the best things to see is all the nature around here because it’s literally just sooo insanely beautiful! 😍 There’s so many awesome spots that are super close to Vancouver and easily accessible via public transit! The first thing Carmen noticed here is the water, which is quite different from the German water because it tastes more like chlorine. She also thinks the people here are very open-minded and super friendly, which I definitely agree with! :DD Once she’s finished with all her adventures here in Canada, she plans to go back home start studying digital media and design. While she’s in Vancouver though, something that she definitely wants to do is go bungee jumping! That honestly sounds like a looot of fun and I think I just might organize a bungee jumping event soon, eh? 😉 She’s also really excited to go to the Rocky Mountains and she wants to see the local animals, especially bears and moose! Fun fact: Carmen has an obsession with key chains! She collects one from every place she goes, which is why she always needs a bigger bag to fit her entire keychain!
I hope you have an amazing time here in Canada and I wish you all the best for all of your awesome projects! I’m super excited to create lots of awesome memories with you and most of all: have fun and enjoy this experience! 😊
Good news, we made it back safely from the Rockies without any bear attacks – well almost, let me tell you what happened.
Let’s start from the beginning though. Friday we made our way to Valemount with multiple little stops along the way. To make it more interesting our tour guide Ryan gave us a scavenger hunt to complete throughout the entire trip. We had to solve riddles and take photos of certain sights. The first one was Bridal Veil Falls followed by a stop in the town of Hope. It is known for its yearly chainsaw wood carving contest and features multiple wooden figures like Rambo from the movie which by the way was filmed in the town as well. 😉 Another highlight on the way was a stop at Spahat Falls with amazing views of a green valley and a huge waterfall.
The next morning started in the little town of Jasper with good coffee and pretty souvenir shops before visiting another (my personal favourite from the trip) waterfall, called Athabasca Falls. We had the opportunity to walk on a real glacier at the Columbia Icefields and fill our bottles with fresh, clear glacier water, most of us wouldn’t miss out on that amazing chance! The ride onto glacier was already an adventure, riding down the steepest unpaved road in Canada with a 32% incline. On the glacier the wind was freezing and obviously it was very slippery, but we all managed and now we can say we’ve walked on a glacier. B-)
We warmed up on the bus ride to Peyto lake, one of the most beautiful ones I’ve seen so far. The sun was already starting to set painting the lake into a dark blue colour surrounded by mountains. The last stop of the day was Bow lake which was beautiful and not as crowded as all the other spots, so I definitely recommend coming here. Some even took on a challenge and jumped into the ice cold glacier water! You think the day was done by then? No, it wasn’t because we just arrived in the famous town of Banff with lots of options to go out and celebrate, especially for all our 18 year olds. Banff is located in Alberta where the legal drinking age is 18, so it was their chance to go all out!
I was surprised to see so many after that crazy night early in the morning for our 6.30am sunrise hike up Tunnel Mountain. It was quite challenging in our condition, but we made it on time and were blessed with orange morning skies and mountain views.
We definitely deserved our breakfast afterwards! Almost everyone had another stunning mountain view at the Gondola on Sulphur Mountain and then enjoyed free time in the town to go shopping, or try Canadian specialties like Beaver Tails. 🙂 Sunday was Lake Day, after enjoying Banff we hit all the well-known spots including Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Emerald Lake, with time for hikes, swims and photos. There were actually four people who jumped in every lake we’ve been to! Kudos to them!
Now, here comes the part with the bear. Our tour guide decided to do a hike that was a bit longer and after some time we received a message in the group chat that he’ll be late at our meeting point because of bear sighting. He arrived panting and sweating, telling us he saw the back of a Grizzly Bear! That’s so scary, but apparently not scary enough for him. When we were at Moraine Lake there was another trail where bear sightings have been made just a few days prior to our trip, but his curiosity made him go anyways. Thankfully nothing happened and we all only saw bears from our bus windows along the streets. 😉
For our last night we went to the tiny town of Golden where we had dinner and s’mores. Since there’s a fire ban in effect right now because of the dry hot summer and high risk of wildfires, our guide came up with the amazing idea to take out a microwave and heat up the marshmallows there. Not classic, but let me tell you, it was still delicious. 😀 I’m happy we could make it work and not miss out on that experience before leaving the Rockies to come back to Vancouver again.
Overall the trip was packed with sights, action and breathtaking views. We sure will be back for another trip. 😉
It’s Wednesday again and a lot of new Kids arrived this week. Of course you want to get to know them. So, we will not keep you waiting, let’s get right into it!
Let’s start with Lena (she/her). She is 26 years old and lives in Germany, near Erfurt. She came here to Vancouver to do a volunteer practicum for 10 weeks. She is going to work at a disability association, so she is going to work with little kids with a disability. After her practicum she has 2 weeks left in Vancouver to travel around. Back in Germany she studied Psychology and worked afterwards at a kindergarten as part of her masters degree. So, she already has experience working with kids. Besides, she is a very creative person e.g., she likes drawing, but she is also interested in sports and horseback riding. It’s her first time here in Canada and she always wanted to come to Vancouver to gain experience abroad. So far, she really likes it but she also had a bit of a culture shock with the area she lives in when she arrived here, because it’s so different to her hometown. Besides her internship she wants to go hiking, explore nature and go on a river rafting tour to experience a real Canadian adventure, but she also wants to explore the city and find some nice small cafes and special unique shops.
The next candidate is Bastian (he/him). He is 18 years old and comes from Düsseldorf in Germany. In Vancouver he´s volunteering at a wildlife rescue center for 4 weeks in order to collect some experience abroad. After that, he wants to study Biotechnology in Germany. It’s his first time here in Vancouver and so far, he really likes the city. He wanted to come to Vancouver a few years ago but Corona prevented it, that’s why he came here now. He is impressed by the nice skyline and the big city of Vancouver, but also likes the vast green areas and sports parks here, which was also a reason why he chose Vancouver. He is a huge ice hockey fan and loves playing himself in his free time. Fun fact: Ice hockey is kind of a tradition in his family because his father and grandfather also played. Since it´s unfortunately off season at the moment he wants to watch at least one football game instead of Ice Hockey. He also wants to explore some cool restaurants and have an unforgettable time here.
Let’s move on with our next candidate Niklas (he/him). He’s 18 years old and from a small German city called Steinheim which is 2 hours away from Hannover. He’ll stay in Vancouver for the next six weeks. During his time here he’s doing a volunteer practicum in the IT sector. The practicum here is very similar to his studies at home as he is studying IT-Assistant. Therefore, it’s surely a good opportunity to try out his skills in another country. It’s his first time in Vancouver and he really likes it because everything is much bigger than in Germany, typically American. 😉 He doesn’t really have a bucket list with specific sights, but he wants to go hiking, do a bike trip and chill on the beach. Sounds good! At home he really likes playing Badminton, hanging out with his friends, and of course programming. He picked Vancouver for his practicum because of his friends (they live in Vancouver and Victoria) he met on the Internet. They programmed a game together and he wants to meet them in Canada, next week is finally the time! We hope to see you on Pub Night tomorrow and get to know you better! Enjoy your Vancouver Trip!
Our next new candidate is Liam (he/him), 20 years old, from a German town called Aachen. His English is very good, so at first, we thought he’s a native English speaker. Maybe it’s because of his mother, she’s from England. He’s doing a volunteer practicum for two months where he’s organizing events for certain political causes. This sounds amazing, have a lot of fun there! Afterwards he’ll return to Germany where he’ll start his studies in Business and Politics. It’s his first in Canada/Vancouver, but he has been to other English-speaking countries (USA and England). His first impressions were that the people here are very friendly and open minded. He always wanted to go to Canada before but couldn’t do it because of covid. Now it’s your time, have a lot of fun here! At home Liam likes playing tennis or soccer, his favourite club is Schalke 04. Besides that he workouts in a gym if he has time.
Raffael (he/him), 19 years old and from Berlin, is volunteering at Stanley Park for five months where he is helping preserve the park among other tasks. After his volunteering he plans to travel around Vancouver for another two weeks. At home he wants to study, but doesn’t know what in particular yet. He just finished High school and wanted to go somewhere no other part of his family has been. You must know that every member of his family did a practicum abroad somewhere. Besides that, he wanted to leave Europe and improve his English skills. So, he had only Canada on his list. 😉 Unfortunately, the first two days were very rainy, nevertheless Raffael likes the city. It was the first two rainy days of the month, the last few weeks it was sunny all day long, so we’re sure the good weather returns shortly! Raffael doesn’t have a bucket list yet, but he thinks it’ll develop over time here. One thing he wants to do is go hiking here. He really likes to take photos, which is also part of his practicum. Furthermore, he loves sailing. Raffael also wants to get a sailing license for Canada.
Moving on to the next candidate… Here is Nicole! Nicole is 22 years old and lives in Germany, near Stuttgart. She will be here for a month working at a cat sanctuary. It’s her first time ever in Canada but she always wanted to go because of the beautiful landscape and the recommendation of a friend of hers who has already been to Canada before. Another thing that convinced her to come was the TV show ‘How I met Your Mother’, which she really likes and which was partly recorded in Canada. She is excited to visit Vancouver Island, especially because she loves to go hiking, which she also does at home. Furthermore she wants to try the different kinds of food from the variety of cultures Vancouver has to offer. She describes her first impressions as positive, she really likes the open-minded and friendly people as well as the big city. She also noticed that the packing sizes in the shops are completely different from Germany. When she gets back home, she’s planning on studying Business Administration. She already did an apprenticeship after she graduated highschool in 2020.
Here is Luc (he/him)! Luc lives in Hamburg, Germany and is 22 years old. He will be here for six weeks in total. During his first 2 weeks he will visit a language school in order to take English lessons. Luc was looking for an English speaking country in order to improve his English, which he already did twice by visiting school lessons in Malta and London. So this time he felt like coming to Vancouver where he will also go fishing at some local spots around the area. Fishing is one of his favourite activities. Back home he goes to fish regularly on his own boat at least 3 times a week :). Other than that he is playing volleyball at a local club in his hometown. During his 6 weeks stay he will work at a wildlife rescue centre in Burnaby where he will join Bastian and a few other candidates :). His first impressions of Vancouver were pretty mixed, he watched the fireworks on Saturday which he really enjoyed and went to Metrotown in Burnaby where he noticed that everything is pretty expensive compared to home. Overall he is happy to be here and is looking forward to exploring Vancouver. Back home he did an apprenticeship after finishing school and will start studying for a masters degree in heating construction when he is back in Germany. He also mentioned that his favourite TV show ‘Trailer Park Boys’ was recorded in Canada which is another reason for him to look forward to during his stay.
Meet Katharina (she/her)! She is 18 years old and lives in Germany, near Frankfurt. During her time in Vancouver, she’s doing a volunteer practicum in sports management at a gymnastics facility. She does gymnastics back home as well which is also a reason for her choice of this practicum. Katharina isn’t really sure what to do for work back at home, especially because she just graduated highschool in her hometown, so she hopes to get some ideas for it during her stay in Vancouver. One of her favourite things to do is visiting different cities all over Europe with her friends. So, even if she hasn’t got any first impressions of the city besides it being rainy, she will have a great time exploring Vancouver and the area around it during her 3-months stay. While she is here, she wants to go to Whistler, on the one hand to go bungee-jumping and on the other hand to go skiing in November. Another thing she wants to do after her practicum is visiting parts of her family in LA, which sounds like a great idea! Welcome Katharina! We’re looking forward to seeing you in the upcoming weeks 🙂
Another Monday, another week has passed… which means it’s Blogpost time :).
This weekend was pretty adventurous, but we’ll get to that later.
First of all Elias and me (Roman) want to give you an insight of the bubble tea festival we visited on Saturday.
The festival took place at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby and was active for the whole weekend.
The event itself was mainly designed for children since there were some “olympic” competitions like a race or a drawing challenge that’s why there were mostly families. Nevertheless the event was pretty fun. There were a lot of bubble tea stands where you could get all kinds of tea as well as some food stands that offered some delicious food. The most fun part was bubble soccer where you could climb into a huge bubble and bump into each other. To be honest it is way harder than it looks because the balls are quite heavy to lift :).
Our main event of the week was the trip to Lindeman Lake that we did on Sunday. We started off pretty early at the University of British Columbia where our 2 hour bus ride began which was really fun (shout out to Hunter who gave us access to the bus radio so we could play some music on the ride). The ride itself was scenic. We were going along a nice river in the Chilliwack area.
Speaking of that, a quick reminder that we will be going to this same river for our big INTERNeX trip in two weeks. We will go river rafting and enjoy an awesome time together, including a night of camping, hopefully with campfire and s’mores, so make sure you join :). For further information stay tuned, we will be posting more details at the group chat.
So we got to our starting point for the hike to Lindeman Lake and it was a surprisingly difficult trail. The path itself was only about 3,5 km long but it got very steep at some point. Nonetheless all of you made it to the top, so hats off, you did amazing!
We then got our well deserved reward when we got to see the lake. It was so beautiful in its turquoise, green and blue colours. It was very clear, too, so you could see until the bottom of it. Most of us went into the lake, though it was freezing cold. But I think it was also a really nice refreshment after the hike :).
When we got home from our trip we decided to play some football at UBC. We played a game of 5-a-side, which was so much fun, but quite competitive at the same time, which made it an even better time.
To sum it up, it was a very exciting but also exhausting weekend, which was definitely worth its time.
INTERNeX Canada 