How was your weekend?

Rise and shine, a new week has just started. That means getting back to work and look forward to the next weekend. But before we talk about the next weekend, I will first tell how my weekend was.

On Friday my weekend began with ice-skating at Robson Square. Since I am Dutch, I enjoyed the time on the ice. After a while, we decided it was time to get off the ice and do some real sport: dancing in the club. And that is exactly what we did. We first drank a beer with my 62-year-old neighbor, since it was her birthday the day before. When we learned her a lot of new things she might or might not wanted to know, we moved to the Yale Saloon for some line dancing and bull riding.

The next day my alarm went off. What? On Saturday? Yes, it was time to get my parents from the airport. I went with them to their new temporary place to get a drink before I showed them around on Granville Island. We had a really nice dinner and because they were beginning to fall asleep because of their jetlag, it was the right time for them to head back to the hotel. That also meant time for me to meet the others to go to a hardstyle party. Everyone really enjoyed this music (“How do you have to dance on this?”). After a while, I headed home to prepare myself for a busy Sunday.

Then Sunday was there. I went back to my parents’ hotel to have breakfast. When we walked out of the hotel, the hop on hop off bus was waiting for us to get in. We drove around Vancouver and saw Gastown, the lookout tower, fly over Canada and Stanley Park. At the end of the day, the bus brought us back to the hotel. We did some games (which I won of course) and had dinner. I invited them to my Jacuzzi on the roof to end the day relaxing.

I can say I had a really nice weekend. I am already counting down to the next one. But first, there will be a pub night in between where you can tell me all about your adventures during your weekend. So I hope to see you all at TAPshack this Wednesday!

– Bart

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: Casual Friday – Tips for renting a car

Hey there,

Friday, the last day of the week so almost weekend!
Today I want to talk about renting a car in Canada. There are several option you might wanna know about! I discovered that there are a view things you should know before you rent one.

First of all you there are a lot of company’s around the Vancouver Airport area. Examples of these are Alamo, Budget, AVIS or Hertz.. It’s really easy to rent a car online from one of these companies. But, because of most of us are under the 25 you have to be aware of the age surcharge. This is a charge $25-30 each day you rent a car if you are under the 25 years old. Another thing is the damage collision waiver. If you do not select this extra insurance you are unprotected for accidents etc. This is also between the $25 dollars.

In other words, you have to expect a lot of extra costs on top of the price you see online. But to make it more easy Alamo has a special under age package. All the things I discussed above are included so you are fully protected. When you pick up the car you have to pay a full gastank and that’s it! If you do not have a lot of money this is the solution.

 
The other option for car rental is with one of the sharing car companies. The first one is Zipcar. This is a car sharing company that gives you temporary access to a car if you are +21. You can rent cars for $8 per hour (excl. yearly membership fee). All you need for this is a membership, your driver’s license and your driving record.

The second sharing car company called Car2Go. This is an easy option if you want to travel from point A to B. There is no return time or location. You look on the map, pick up the car, and when you’re done you can just park it within the home area of that car. Everything you need is included in one price, really easy!

This Sunday I have rented a small car via Alamo just for 1 day. It’s easy and close to Vancouver to make a daytrip to Whistler and the waterfalls!

Hope you have a great weekend as well,

Jelle

INTERNeX International Exchange
Suite 200 – 211 Columbia Street
Vancouver BC -V6A 2R5-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Phone: +1 (604) 662 8149
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Canada: Culture Shock

PEOPLE ARE SOOO NICE HERE!!!

Let’s explore our impressions of coming to a new country and finding Canada a little bit different than our homes…

Nice people – this is probably the very first Culture Shock experience when foreigners arrive in Canada (especially Europeans 🙂 ). Already at the airport, when you are still lost and disoriented, people suddenly ask you if you need help with your bags. You, even more confused, are wondering why they talk to you, those strangers?!

While back home people are busy with their own business, always in a hurry, in Canada all they seem to care about is smiling and helping you. When you walk around in the city bumping into crowds while looking at your map, Canadians apologize to you because YOU are in their way. To say sorry for things they didn’t do, well, this is polite! Here, you won’t ever enter any building without a “Hello, How Are You” or leave a store without a “Thank You, Have a Nice Day”. Have you ever been in a bus in Vancouver? On my first ride I sat in the back in one of those extra-long busses and watched people yelling “Thank You” to the driver while they got off the bus through the very last back door!

What about you? Have you had similar experiences with this Canadian kindness? Tell us your stories!

Have a nice Sunday, be nice and hug somebody!

Xenia

INTERNeX International Exchange
Suite 200 – 211 Columbia Street
Vancouver BC -V6A 2R5-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Phone: +1 (604) 662 8149
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Canada: Picture of the Week

Today we have something SPECIAL to share with you all. Victoria has sent in a picture of the week and WON a free ticket to the Museum of Anthropology. The picture (below) is made at the International Airport Vancouver and is special to her because she had to say goodbye to a friend that she met here in Vancouver. Victoria says that this picture ‘shows the love INTERNeX creates between people.’

Thank you Victoria for sharing your picture of the week with us.

You want to be the next who wins a prize? Sent it in and Win.

WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN

Make it + Mail it = WIN it a ticket to the Vancouver Maritime Museum*

Make a video, pictures or just write about your experiences in CANADA. 

MAIL it in and WIN WIN WIN  tickets to the Vancouver Maritime Museum

*Only INTERNeX candidates can win the price.

WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN_WIN

Greets,

Petra

INTERNeX International Exchange

Suite 200 – 211 Columbia Street
Vancouver BC -V6A 2R5-

Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Phone: +1 (604) 662 8149
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

Exposé of the week – Seattle

Since Seattle is the nearest big US city from Vancouver and I spoke to a lot of candidates who will love to go there, I would like to tell you more about this city. It is the biggest city in Washington. Microsoft has his headquater located in Seattle and aircraft manufacturer Boeing has major production facilities in Seattle and the region. The last thing is really nice to visit.

Other things that you should visit are:
The Space Needle – Built for the Universal Exhibition of 1962, and determines the view of Seattle. The revolving restaurant offers a view over the city.
The Original Starbucks -The very first Starbucks coffeehouse opened in 1971 in Pike Market

I have to admit that Seattle has a well-deserved wet and rainy reputation but who cares? Seattle is THE place for shopping and that’s usually inside! Seattle is only a 3-4 hour drive from Vancouver! They have an airport as well and sometimes it’s even cheaper to depart from the airport in Seattle.

Sounds like Seattle has a lot of advantages! Have you ever been there? Let me know what you think about it 🙂

Cheers,

Elvera