Keep Portland Weird!

It’s finally time again: INTERNeX’s next monthly trip is taking place! In 2 days, we’ll all be sitting in a bus. And not only are we going away, we are going out of the country! Goodbye Canada and hello USA. Portland is our destination.

We’ll meet on Thursday, June 7th, at 6:15pm in front of the Pacific Central Station. From there, we will take the bus. A super exciting and fun 11-hours bus ride is ahead of us! The perfect time to talk to your seat neighbour, to listen to your favourite music, to read a fascinating book, to have a good night sleep, etc.

Rise and shine, it’s 6am and it’s a new day. Welcome to Portland Ladies and Gentlemen. We’ll go to the hotel directly to store our luggage (because check in is not open until 4pm). And because it’s so early and we’re all most likely starving, we’ll fill our bellies at the hotel buffet. At 10:15am, we’ll gather in front of the hotel. Time to go to downtown! A 2-hour walking tour will give us a first impression of Portland. Afterwards, you’ll have the chance to discover Portland on your own for 3 hours. At 4pm, we’ll meet up again so we all find our way back to the hotel. At last, we can check in! And now that you’re finally in your hotel room, you can rest for a while and freshen up! The next meeting time is 6pm, where we’ll gather in front of the hotel (once again). We’ll go for a delicious dinner in a restaurant. We’ll end the evening relaxed by chilling in the hotel. Games, laughs and talks included!

Good morning dear candidates! It’s for you to decide at what time you’ll enjoy breakfast. As long as you’re in front of the hotel at 10am, it’s all good. On Saturday, everyone gets to choose an activity (the choices are: the Chinese Garden, Pittock Mansion or the USS Submarine). After the activity, everyone has free time, the whole afternoon. Try to plan in some time to get snacks and drinks for the bus ride the next day. We’ll meet at 6pm at a restaurant in downtown (which will be announced at a later time). After our tasty dinner, we’ll head to another activity. It’s for you to decide whether you’d like to go roller skating or play mini golf in blacklight. After that, the 21+ people have the chance to discover Portland’s nightlife. Yay!

On Sunday, it’s time to go back to Vancouver. It’s up to you again at what time you want to eat breakfast. Check out time at the hotel is latest 11am. We will also meet at that time to go to the Greyhound station, so make sure you’re ready on time! This time, an ‘only’ 9.5-hour long bus ride is ahead of us! We arrive back at the Pacific Central Station at 10pm.

Don’t forget to bring:

• Passport (must be valid)
• $6 USD in cash to cross the border
• Your documents to re-enter Canada (work permit etc.)
• Umbrella or rain jacket (unfortunately, the weather forecast doesn’t seem great)
• Your bikini / swim shorts (there is a pool we could use)

So, Keep Portland Weird! (That’s the unofficial motto of the city, by the way) And I’ll see you tomorrow for our PuB NiGHT at The Relish or latest on Thursday at 6:15pm!

– Nadine

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

HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND?

My weekend was pretty cool! Saturday we went to CandyTown organized by the Yaletown Business Improvement Association. It was a pretty small Christmas Market with local vendors where we got some inspiration about what to buy our loved ones for Christmas.

Yesterday a bunch of INTERNeX people went to Seattle for a sightseeing trip hosted by WestTrek. Once again I have to thank you for the awesome organization. Our tour guide did a great job and we could feel special since the weather was amazing too. And as you might know the rain probability in Seattle is even higher than in Vancouver, which is really unbelievable.

Furthermore all the border process went in a perfect way! We all could enter in less than hour and all of us came back even faster because we didn’t have any waiting time at all!! Anyways, let’s talk about what we have seen and experienced:

Our first stop in Seattle was probably the most popular attraction: the Space Needle. It’s a famous landmark of the Pacific Northwest and an icon for Seattle. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour (89m/s) and earthquakes.

Afterwards we headed to downtown Seattle where our guide showed us the Pike Place Market, which is the oldest farmer market in the States. You can find almost every kind of vegetables and fruits there. Other than that you can buy oils, gifts, flowers, vintage clothing and of course the super fresh fish. We almost had three hours to explore Seattle on ourselves. First of all we went to a fish restaurant and tried the super fresh fish because we were starving! It was really delicious! After lunch we went shopping, walked around in the streets of Seattle and took some pictures. The streets were already decorated for the Christmas holidays and in front of Nordstrom there just set up a big Christmas tree. Lee, our tour guide, asked us to make comparisons between the behavior of Americans and Canadians. Much to our surprise we found out that the folks in Seattle are pretty much the same: friendly, helpful, open, honest, interested, cosmopolitan, …

Visiting Seattle during your stay in Vancouver is a must-do!

You can check out our flickr profile for more pictures.

Upcoming Portland trip

Only one month left until we’re going to Portland, so we want to give you some more information about what to bring for crossing the border to the US.

-Passport (Passports must be valid and be Machine-readable). All passports issued from 2006 and after are Machine-Readable. The date of issue is stated in your passport.

-Everyone must pay US immigration $6 USD at the border to process entry (please have exact change)

– Proof of medical insurance. Not required but definitely recommendable in case you accidentally get ill or injured (although the trip does not include hazardous activities).

– Any kind of proof that you’re going back to Canada. Can be a document proving that you’re participating in a study program in Canada, proof of work in Canada, or proof that you’re doing a practicum in Canada.

– In case your country is included in the visa waiver program you don’t need to apply for any other visa documents. A lot of countries are included in the visa waiver program. You can check the list here.

– Since we’re driving across the border you don’t need the ESTA tourist visa. This is only needed when entering the US on an air or sea carrier.

– Also important are some good walking shoes

Also remember to always have your passport on you when you go out in the US. Some places only accept your passport as ID.

A reminder what is included in the price of only $229:

• All Tips & Taxes
• Deluxe Coach Transportation
• 2 Nights Hotel Accommodation
• 2 Continental Breakfasts
• A Cool Canadian Guide
• & Much More!!

Hope many of you will join us for this great trip.

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: International Vancouver! American society

American culture transcends barriers. Their films are seen is small towns far away, how we eat is influenced by their fast food. Their brands, the most wanted. Their lifestyle attracts us, but what we know about them? How are the Americans?

American society is composed of a wide variety of ethnic groups and different cultures. One of the national watchword is “E Pluribus Unum” which means “of many, one”, referring to the integration of their states in a single territory, but as well for the diversity of its population.

The character and manners vary from the east coast to the west and north to south, but there are some common aspects in their character.

Since they are kids, they are individualistic, independent and with their own purposes and dreams. For the America society is really important to reach the personal success and at the same time they are really competitive that’s why many of them play instruments or sports since really young.

With Katie, our American PR

They usually realize debates in the school so they grow up being direct, honest and clearly and with no problems of saying what they think in public.

They tend to be punctual and they are very strict about it because they give a vital importance to time and its economization. They firmly believe that “time is money“. So remind it 😉
They are addicted to newness which is becoming a global tendency all over the world as well. Most of its output is designed to be short-lived and quickly be discarded because they associate the change with the progress. Who doesn’t like new clothes, technology and staff?

No matter the color of your skin, your sex or language … after years of slavery and racism time ago, nowadays the equality between the different ethnic groups is a reality.

So now that we know a little more about their character, why don’t we check if it is true in Seattle this Sunday?

Cheers,

Irene

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: Highlights of the Week

We started off the week by saying goodbye to our very own Marianne by having partying it up at our Pub and Club Night! It’s actually more of a “see you later” as I am sure we are going to see her again soon!

Irene and I are very jealous of seeing all of our hospitality candidates go off to the Rockies ski resorts because it will probably be the best time of their lives. Skiing and working with other young people just like you. What can be better?

On Wednesday, we decided to do something different than a regular pub night, because we were just at the pub not too long ago! Off to the Vancouver Christmas Market we go and it was this cute little village-like market with lots of little shops selling homemade German food and crafts.

A hot mulled wine or apple cider was the perfect drinks to walk around in the cold. Of course, we decided that we needed our regular fix of a pub night so we ended up at the Library Public Square which wasn’t too far away.

And, why not end this week off by going Paintballing with us tomorrow? You get to act like a kid again, but this time, with bigger guns! It’s going to be so fun so sign up here on Facebook! See you tomorrow at 11AM!

Finally, next week, we are going to Seattle and you don’t want to miss out on that either. Find out whether it is true or not that “everything is bigger and better in America.” You be the judge! Let us know here on Facebook by early this week that you are coming and we will contact you!

I hope you are having the best weekend!

Cheers,

Queenie

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