New ‘Kids’ on the Blog!

“New ‘kids’ on the blog” is back! I hope you have some time because today I would like to introduce you to our 5 (!) newcomers this week. Welcome to our INTERNeX-family! 🙂

Let’s start with Franca. First of all, she’s staying on Vancouver Island. So it’s even more exciting!

After graduating from High School she decided to see a little bit of the world. She has already travelled a lot in the last time and has been to London, Stonehenge and Scotland. Besides that she gained some work experience as a teaching assistant in Spain. This time it brought her to Canada for volunteering at a wildlife station. Reason for that is her interest in our beautiful country’s nature and she missed having animals around her at her previous job. I guess now it won’t be an issue anymore. 🙂
Franca chose Canada because she’s not so attracted by the US (good for us!).
Since she’s staying on Vancouver Island she wants to discover that (maybe with a friend she knows, staying in Victoria), but she doesn’t have any certain destinations on her travel bucket list, yet.

Next to our Homestay roomies, who are both part of our practicum program:

Our second newcomer is David. He’s 19 years old and from Germany. Before coming to Vancouver he has already been to Toronto for 9 days because he has family there.
Back home he’s really into outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking which also made him choose Canada as a destination.
One thing on his bucket list, is going to Yukon, a territory in the northwest of Canada. And he will have plenty of time to do that, because he already planned 4 weeks of travelling in the end of his stay.

Now let me introduce you to William. He’s 20 years old and from Denmark, where he’s living near Copenhagen.
William is really looking forward to get the experience to work here and furthermore to travel a lot, too.
Same as David he has some travel time after his practicum and Victoria Island is one place he already knows he wants to see, but he’s spontaneous so let’s see where his travels will lead him to. Another thing he already has in mind is doing a skiing trip in the next few months, since he knows a skiing instructor here in Canada – how practical!
His arrival is perfect timing because William is an Ice Hockey fan and he is excited to join our Hockey event at the end of March. Go Canucks! 😀

Our last two participants are work and travellers. These 2 boys came together from Germany and planned on working for a little bit in Vancouver and then buy a car for their 2 months travelling. Buying a car or van gives them the opportunity to start their road trip to Montreal from where they’re flying back home.

The boy on the left is Lukas. He just likes the idea of work and travel and trusted his gut feeling and decided on doing it in Canada. So far there’s a skiing trip on his travel bucket list for his time here in North America.

Last but not least, I would like to present you Oliver. Just like Lukas he trusted on his guts with his decision on going to Canada. But one thing he knew for sure was that he doesn’t want to go to New Zealand or Asia like most of his friends did and as a conclusion he chose Canada since it’s more rare. 

I guess these two might plan a skiing trip together because Oliver wants to go skiing as well – maybe in the Rockies! 😀

I wish you guys a really great time here! I promise you it’s gonna be unforgettable! 🙂

Hope to see you for Pub Night at the Yale tonight!

See ya! xx

Cheers,

– Alina

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 – Anni Volder

My name is Anni Volder, I’m 27 years old, from Denmark and study to be a kindergarden teacher.

I decided to go to Canada, because I like nature and have family there. My first impression was the people, who were very kind, helpful and polite. The things I liked about Vancouver were the opportunities to get around, I felt safe in the city and around people. I am very satisfied with my stay, thank you.

I was volunteering at a preschool for my studies in Denmark. It was very useful and instructive as I am doing a Bachelor project. I worked at a Developmental Disabilities Association. I had many options for how I wanted and needed to work related to my project. For this job it is important to be responsibly, patient and open minded. As volunteer in practicum it was very useful for my subject. The staff and children were very kind to me when I arrived. When I was asking questions they responded to their knowledge and helped if I needed it.

The trips that were organized were very good and I enjoyed them. For longer trips, I suggest better communication between those who arrange the trips. I went to Whistler and one or two pub nights. The trip to Seattle, I think could have been arranged cheaper.

I will remember the experience how to live there and to go to work. The nature and kind people. When I come home I will try to get over my jetlag and get my arms down from the experience. In the future I want to travel more, don’t know where yet, other than to come back.

I felt safe knowing I could contact INTERNeX anytime if I needed it. We met up with people all the time and had the opportunities to meet other people doing the same as you; being a stranger in another country.

– Anni Volder

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 – Andreas Bächler

 

My name is Andreas. I’m 21 years old and I’m from Denmark. I came to Canada in May 2016 and I am going home now one year later. At the moment I’m not studying anything but I plan to do so after the summer. Which education, I’m not sure about yet. The reason I came to Canada is that I went to Toronto to visit some family in 2009. Back then I fell in love with the country and decided then I would return one day.

Before I knew about INTERNeX I was in contact with a Danish travel agency, Travel Alott, who helped people like me – people who want to explore the world – to reach our dreams. They directed me to INTERNeX, who I was told operated in Canada and therefore would be able to help me out with my dream, which was to go abroad and work for a year in Canada.

I participated in the Work and Travel program, because I wanted to earn some money as well during my stay so I was able to go on small trips around Canada and the US without being worried about money. I liked it, even though I worked a lot I got to see everything I wanted to see when I came. Even a bit extra that I didn’t expect to do before I came. It was indeed a good mix of “Work” and “Travel” during my stay in Canada.

I was placed at a coffeeshop in North Vancouver. I was a barista and made delicious drinks for the customers. I liked the work a lot. Even though I had to spend an hour and a half in the bus to get there, it was worth it. The beautiful location was just amazing. From the counter we had a great view over the ocean and the mountains in the horizon. It was, more or less, always busy and the customers were so nice and polite and were always interested in knowing where you were from. I had the best colleagues and a good relationship with my boss. If I wanted some days off for a trip to wherever, my boss always did everything he could to make it possible. So to sum up, I couldn’t’ t have imagined a better place to have worked at.

To work at a coffeeshop you need to be good with people, have some good communication skills and be able to work under stress. Sometimes there were cues to the door and you might had 5 drinks lined up, so you should be able to keep yourself calm and still be able to work fast. Cooperation is an important skill as well, because you might work with two or three persons and you needed to be sure who did what and when, so you still would be able to make drinks for the customers but also do the different chores that need to be done, such as cleaning.

If you wanted to, you could also try out latte-art, which is a creative way to make the drinks better. You taste with your eyes as well and therefore a heart or nice flower in your latte will make the drink better for most people. It took a bit more effort than making a regular drink, but people always were so happy when they got it, which made it worth it.

During my stay I lived with a host family arranged by INTERNeX in East Vancouver and I absolutely loved it. I felt welcome from the first day till the last. My first impression of Vancouver was, how friendly and open its people were. I had chats with people everywhere I went, in the bus, on the streets etc. It was really cool, made me feel welcome to their city.

I still have the impression now that Vancouver has a really open-minded population. Its big diversity of people makes everybody feel like home, no matter where you are from. Besides that I just fell in love with the city after a while. If not for the people, then just for the beautiful location Vancouver has. Close to the ocean and the mountains and only one hour away from the US. It couldn’t’ t be any better.

I tried to participate in as many INTERNeX events as possible. Pub nights, trips, everything. I enjoyed them a lot. I thought it was a great place to meet people. And putting the pub nights on a Wednesday was the best idea ever, since putting pineapple on pizza. The PR-team was always good to help out new people and make them feel part of the group.

I went to the Rockies, Portland and Kelowna with INTERNeX. Besides that we went hiking a couple of times, had a Halloween party, saw the Chinese New Year Parade, celebrated Canada day and much more. Besides that I visited Whistler, Bowen Island, Sunshine Coast, Toronto and Victoria.

What I like most about Vancouver is the diversity of people and the beautiful surroundings. Canada in general I would say the people. No matter where I’ve been to in the country, I always met friendly and helpful people.

The only challenge I really had to face here was when it was winter and there was a lot of snow around, it was I’d say challenging to find a bus that drove so I could get to work.

It is really hard to find one really memorable thing so I will just mention a few.

• When I went to the Rockies with INTERNeX. We had such a fun time. I saw a lot of beautiful nature and partied with the best folks at night.
• When I hiked Black Tusk. We were with five people and it took us 10 hours from where we left the car till we got back. The view from he top of the mountain was gorgeous and incomparable to everything I’ve seen before.
• All the times I went to Whistler. When I went there with my parents during the summer and hiked on top of the mountains. Also the times I rented a car with friends and made a short road trip out of it.
• And of course all the times I’ve been skiing. I finally learned it, and now I miss it. Cypress Mountain and The Big White it was an awesome time.

INTERNeX really helped me to get started. They advised me about a mobile plan, bank and tax return. And if you ever had questions at all, about anything, they were always happy to help you out. So I would recommend the service of INTERNeX to others.

The first thing I will do when I get back home is just having a descent Danish meal with my parents and brothers. The trip definitely inspired me to travel more. This summer I’m going to travel a bit around Europe to visit people I’ve met in Vancouver.

– Andreas

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

Review: Queen Elizabeth Park

Last Saturday we visited the Queen Elizabeth Park. We were very lucky with the weather because, after three days with rain, it was sunny again. So we were totally able to enjoy the park.

Since the park is really beautiful and the second most visited after Stanley Park, many people come there to make their wedding pictures.
We saw people playing tennis or golf and the kids were able to flounder about in the water of the fountain.
First of all we went to the highest point in the park and took nice pictures of the amazing view over the city. Later on we just walked through the park and enjoyed the nice gardens with beautiful flowers.

We found a sunny place on one of the many meadows to sit down and talked about everything and nothing. It was really fun and relaxing. The time went by fast as we were talking a lot and after three hours we went home to appease one’s hunger.

It was great to see so many new faces and I’m looking forward to see you at the next Pub Night on Wednesday again.

Click here for more pictures.

 

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

New PR team member at INTERNeX

Cheeri0 from Denmark!

I’m the new member of the PR-team at INTERNeX, and I’ve really been looking forward to this moment. I arrived in Vancouver Tuesday July 22nd after a long flight, and I’ve been really excited to get this chance to visit Canada. I’ll be working for INTERNeX till December 12 which should give me plenty of time to meet at lot of nice people here 🙂  So here’s a little about me, who I am and what I’ve been up to before the start on this new adventure. My name is Henrik. I’m currently studying a masters degree in tourism, so my practicum is an obligatory part of my studies. I’ve always liked traveling but this is my first time in Canada, and I’m sure I’ll have a blast! This is not the first my first time living in a foreign country though. After living in England for half a year I was determined that this for sure was something I wanted to try again. While studying in Denmark I worked for a volunteer organisation that arranges internships around the world, a bit similar to INTERNeX … I guess that was the first time I really thought this is something I could definitely imagine myself doing for a real job in the future. In my spare time I’ve always had a passion for gymnastics, and I always liked being very active… so Vancouver is definitely the place for me 🙂  So here I am! Hope that you’ll give me a nice welcome.

Favourite quote: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

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