Here I go again …

Why is time running so fast?

My two month here in Vancouver are over and I’m really not ready to go back to Germany. I fell in love with the city and the people here. Even though I only had two month here I enjoyed every second. But this was something I couldn’t even imagine my first days:
I arrived here, saw the beauty of “Raincouver” and I was really wondering why people could say this city is lovely. Also my first impressions of Downtown were not that lovely. Getting the first time out of the bus and the only thing I saw was a crowd of homeless people standing in rain…I think it is imaginable why I thought about going back as soon as possible! I had this picture of Vancouver for three days: Vancouver, rainy and crowed by homeless people.
The turning point was my fourth day here. I had my first Pub-Night, so after work I went out to the “Mousse Down Under”. I was way to early, so I decided to check out Canada Place for the first time. It was sunny and I had this awesome view on North Vancouver, the Stanley Park, starting water planes and a few ships. In this moment I understood why people could like Vancouver. I got the opinion that Vancouver should get a second chance! I started to explore the city and my view on Vancouver changed day for day a bit more. This place has so much to offer. Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, Gastown by Night, the Harbour, English Bay, Granville Island or just the amazing view on the skyline. Please, don’t ask me about my favourite place, because every single one is beautiful in its own way. I had so many great experiences here: a whale watching trip, a stunning view at Vancouver on the top of Grouse Mountain, watching the sunset on English Beach, supporting the Canucks against Washington… If you ask me about my favourite experience?

I had two. The first was my trip to the Rocky Mountains. I’ve never seen such awesome places before and there is nothing comparable I know. The beauty of Lake Louise , the amazing landscapes of Jasper Nationalpark and the Rockies and Costal Mountains in general. It was a life-changing experience. The world has so much to give and to offer, we just need to take our chances! My second favourite experience was out trip to Whistler. We had an amazing time and I did something, which was on the top of my bucket-list for a long time: a bungee jump! This was so amazing! This feeling of being totally free. Flying like a bird for a short moment and just feel adrenaline! I’m still flashed!
But my time here was not only about the beauty of Canada, it was also about the people I met. My experiences made it a great time, but the people turned it in an awesome one! So many histories and different personalities, so many funny people and fantastic moments we shared. I’m glad for every one of you! I’m glad for every second we spent together and I just want to thank you all for everything! I wish you all the best and an awesome time here! Enjoy it!

I’m very sure that we will meet again some day!
Finally, I don’t want to waste your time any longer! Michael, over and out!
-Michael

How was your weekend?

This weekend was a special one for me. I went to the Rockies for a 4 Day Trip and it was awesome. Let me tell you a bit more about it: 

We started Friday in the morning at Waterfront, prepared to go on our journey. While sitting in bus we were listening to our tour guide introducing himself. He told us some information about our trip before he asked us where we all are from. It was very interesting out of which parts of the world the other guys are coming. We had a lot of Brazilians, Germans, Mexicans…It was a very diverse group, but this made it a unique trip and experience! However, back to the story. After stopping in Hope, Kamloops and Golden we arrived at the Mountain View Cabins for our first overnight stop. After having lunch, we stayed for a few hours near the campfire and started to learn to know each other.  The first day was going to an end, so everybody went their cabin and fall asleep after this long day of travelling. 

Saturday in the morning we wanted to leave the camp before the sunset, so we had to get up early. After having breakfast (it was sooooooo cold!), it was time to leave the camp towards Lake Emerald and this was by the way one of the most terrific views I had in my entire life. I saw the sun coming up behind the mountain, pushing away the fog and discovered the beautiful view on the lake. It was unbelievable awesome! After, in my opinion a too short, period at this Lake we went ahead to Lake Louise, where we had lunch. Lake Louise is also a very beautiful place with an unbelievable turquoise water. You could lose your mind in this colorful lake! In the Afternoon it was time to go Banff, where we took the Gondola to go to the peak of Sulphur Mountain. On top you had a fantastic view over Banff and the surrounding area. Back at the foot of the mountain we checked in the Hotel and prepared everything for this evenings Pub Night at the Devils Gap. We played billiard, had a lot of interesting conversation and I learned to know many new people.  So this was how the Saturday came to an end, a very long ending! 😀

After having a very short night, we picked up some food at Tim Hortons and started our day “Lake”-Day. We stopped at Lake Two Jack, Lake Minnewanka, Bow Lake and the Peyto Lake. It was unbelievable to see all these wonderful places and none of them was waste of time! Afterwards we went to the Athabasca Glacier and especially for the South American Guys it was an unique experience. For some of them it was the first time they saw ice and snow and even when you know snow and you already have seen a glacier, it was a stunning view! Our last stop this day was Mount Robson. Due to the unbelievable weather conditions and the cloudless sky, we were able to the all of it. A very cool moment. Afterwards we had dinner and spend the evening sitting together and talking or playing soccer in front of our Hotel. In my opinion, a great evening! 

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Monday was already the last day, so we checked out, had an outdoor breakfast (-8 Degrees!!!) and started our trip back to Vancouver. After a few stops and a long journey we arrived at Waterfront. I had to hurry up, because I had an appointment in front of the Rogers Arena. It was time for my first NHL Game: the Vancouver Canucks against the Washington Capitals.  The result was not the anticipated one, but the experience was very cool!

To sum my weekend up: it was amaaaaazing! I only can recommend the trip to the Rockies. It is kind of life-changing activity!
While I spend my time in the Rockies, Lukas and Julia went out with some other guys to the Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver! They hiked along the trail, stopped at some viewing points, where thy enjoyed the stunning view. At there last stop they had some lunch together. It was a successful day!

I hope your weekend was great too and maybe we will see us today for the next Pub Night at Steamworks 🙂

-Michael

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

Candidate Exposé – Lukas Hug

My name is Lukas and I’m 22. I live in the Southern part of Germany and study economics there.

Timothy, the CEO of INTERNeX, visited our university and introduced the organization and all the programs. I heard about the beauty of Canada and wanted to make a new experience. My plan was to see the Canadian culture and their working life. I would recommend INTERNeX, it is a good organization. They helped me with my visa and they organized my practicum and host family.

I did a practicum in Vancouver. I really liked it, it was an awesome experience. I worked at a financial services firm. My colleagues were really friendly and they gave me interesting tasks. You must be interested in financial issues and you need analytical skills. Moreover you should be a team player. It is useful for my career goals because working in Canada is different to working in Germany. I made good working experiences that will help me in my future career.

I lived at a host family and I loved it. They were awesome to me. From day one, I felt at home. On my first day in Vancouver my host family organized a barbecue at Kitsilano Beach. We enjoyed the sunrise there and it was a really good start in this beautiful city.

During my time in Vancouver I saw many beautiful and interesting places and made lots of new friends. I attended almost every pub night. It was a good opportunity to meet new people. After every pub night we went to a karaoke bar, it was so much fun. I went on a Rocky Mountains trip, to the Joffre Lakes, Victoria, Whistler, Garibaldi Lake, Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park, Granville Island and to many more places. And I attended several sport events, e.g. a hockey, soccer and baseball match. I love this beautiful nature and the open-hearted people. The most memorable thing was going to the Joffre Lakes and feeding wild animals. Staying in the Rocky Mountains and sitting next to a bonfire at night was really nice as well.

The first thing I did when I came back in Germany was enjoying time with my family and friends. Hopefully I can go back to Canada soon.

– Lukas Hug

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: How was your weekend? ‘Rocky special!’

Hello there!

WOW… This weekend was amazing! With 19 other people from INTERNeX and in total 150 students we went to the Rocky Mountains with West Trek. The trip was special because we travelled with the party bus! There was a bottle of free champagne of all the girls and tons of good, loud party music!

But of course there was more then only party time. Let’s talk about this weekend, what we did, what we saw and why it was so awesome!

Early Friday morning around 7am we left Vancouver with one of the party busses. We drove via Hope and Kamloops to the Spagath Falls. On the bus we did some games, sang songs together and enjoyed the sceneries.

We spend our first night in Valemount. After dinner we had the change to play some real Canadian hockey on the parking lot.. Together with some beers this was a really cool first night.
Next morning we left early in the directions of the Rocky Mountains! Our first stop was Mt. Robson. This HUGE mountain is with 3954 meter the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. We took some cool photographs from the cloudless top.

Next stop Jasper. This was the last stop before we headed to the famous Icefield Parkway. There was some shopping time at the village to get some lunch and snacks. After that we drove into the bigger mountains. Endless peaks covered with snow and ice and light blue or green colored lakes makes this place one of the best on our planet. We stopped at the Athabasca Falls and the Columbia Icefields. From here we went on one of the big special busses all the way up on the glacier! When we arrived up on the ice  there was time to discover this place. If you brought a empty bottle you had the change to fill it up with some of the most fresh glacier water in the world!

After a funny ride back to the base-camp we boarded our own party bus again. With some nice music we stopped at Peyto and Bow Lake. At Bow it was time for some polar bear swimming! Almost the half of the people put there swimming suits on.. After a ‘wolf speech’ of Lee it was time to run into this 5 degree cold water! These experiences makes this trip so special!

Our last drive for today was from the lake to Banff! Around 8pm we arrived in this small and friendly city. After a hour of relaxing in the big hotel-rooms it was time to go partying!! First we went to the pub to catch some drinks and shots. Some of the group we’re wearing some crazy outfits.. At 11pm we left the pub for the big nightclub! That night was a big party for everyone!

Sunday morning and the whole bus with a hangover… 😉 We we’re lucky that the next stop was only 5 minutes away; the Banff Gondola! With a small cable car we went up the mountain! From the top you had one of the best views of the Rockies.
Next we’re some free hours in Banff to catch lunch and buy some souvenirs. In the afternoon we continued our drive up to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. These two lakes are absolutely stunning and one of the highlights of this weekend! The blue color, the snowy mountains and the endless trees makes these lakes one of the best in the world. (see the picture!)

It was already late afternoon so we drove as fast as we can to our last hotel in Golden! When we arrived we could eat some hamburgers fresh from the BBQ. At night we lighted the campfire and enjoyed some roasted marshmallows. Lee told us some cool stories about bears in the Rockies.

The next and last morning was a long day. We had to drive back to Vancouver so we made a lot of kilometers. We still had time for some funny, nice stops. The first one was at the flea market. Everyone on the bus had to buy something crazy for another person. It ended up with guys in dresses and girls in boxers!

Later we stopped at Othello Tunnels for a nice walk. After this stop is was time to go back to the city of Vancouver!

We had an awesome, amazing, funny, crazy and really great weekend with everybody!

Thanks guys for joining us and West Trek to the Rockies! The pictures and video’s are following (very) soon 🙂

Cheers,

Jelle

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 9N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Goes Rockies Summer 2013 Edition

Last week we INTERNeX, and West Trek announced the amazing 4 days Rockies trip in the beginning of August! Today we want to give you some more information about the trip, and the special price we have for you.

We will leave on Friday August 2nd from Vancouver with a big bus. The next couple of days we will visit amazing places like Jasper, Banff, Lake Louise and much, much more!! At night there will be time to party. We give you free entrance to one of the best places in Banff and other cities we visit.. On Monday evening August 5th we will arrive back in Vancouver after 4 days of FUN. 

Take a look at some awesome pictures to get an idea of this big trip:

• Price for INTERNeX clients will be: $355 
• Price for non-INTERNeX clients will be: $365

This will be a life time experience for everybody!!

Do not forget to keep an eye on our blog and Facebook. We will reveal more information soon!

Cheers,

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