How was the weekend?

Was your weekend as busy as mine? I feel like I need another one just to relax. 😀 But all the action was totally worth it!

It started on Friday after work. INTERNeX met to watch the Opening Night of ‘We Will Rock You!’ at Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park. Yes, the show was outside at the Malkin Bowl, so we enjoyed a bit of sunlight and later the night sky above us while watching an amazing show. The Musical features songs of the famous band ‘Queen’ and invited people to sing, clap, and interact which was really fun. We made our stay extra special by bringing some blankets and snacks for a picnic on the little hill. When it got dark the scenery lit up for a great ending! If you missed out on that, don’t be sad, there’s a lot more shows going on, so you have time to enjoy it yourself! I would definitely recommend it. Maybe you like their other show better? Next to ‘We Will Rock You!’, TUTS is also showing ‘Something Rotten!’.


On Saturday we had several groups go out for kayaking and paddle boarding at Deep Cove in North Vancouver. The weather was perfect with a cloudy sky and some sunlight shining through. It was the first time for most of us and in the beginning we were a little nervous to fall into the water, but we ended up staying dry(ish). I really enjoyed the peacefulness of the ocean and mountains with trees around us. We kayaked around little Islands and even saw a seal very close to us! It was a fabulous start into the day. Two hours of kayaking flew by and before we headed back downtown we strengthened ourselves with some coffee and doughnuts. 😉

Of course the day wasn’t over after that. In the afternoon we met to go to the Khatsalano street festival. A whole road was filled with vendors, food trucks, beer gardens and live music. It was really busy, but super exciting to walk around and check out all the different booths. After a while, we needed to go somewhere less crowded though, so we went to Kitsilano Beach where we had some food and drinks while watching the sunset.

The last day of the weekend was probably my favourite. INTERNeX went on a day trip to Victoria, BC’s capital on Vancouver Island. We were a small bus filled with 14 people and met very early in the morning to get as much time as possible in this beautiful city. On the ferry our tour guide Mike introduced us to a game called ‘man hunt’. One person is the hunter and has to count to 60 while the rest tries to hide. Then the hunter has to find everyone and catch them (no running though, only speed walking) to make them an ally and find more people together. We played this game on the ferry and it was super fun! Also a great way for waking up and killing time. 😀

Once we arrived in Victoria we did a small city tour on the bus, went to the colourful Fisherman’s wharf, then to a large pier where you have a wide view over the ocean and you don’t even feel like you’re in a city anymore. The highlight was on our walk back when we spotted an otter family walking around the logs on the sides of the pier. From here we went to grab lunch and enjoyed it at Beacon Hill Park which was beautiful. In our free time to walk around the city, Tim got a fun sketch of himself form a street artist. Camilo and I ran into a Mexican festival with traditional dancing on the street and then went on to see the little ally’s in Canadas oldest Chinatown. It was so pretty and very different from Vancouver’s Chinatown. In general Victoria seems more like a European city than a North American city. It has buildings in Victorian style, no high skyscrapers, lots of cute individual shops, pedestrian areas, etc.

If you haven’t been there yet, you should definitely go. The journey is long but it’s worth it. We were lucky to have Mike with us, to show us the nicest spots and drive us around. 🙂

How was your weekend?

Let’s chat about it next pub night!

Cheers,

Laura 🙂

How was your weekend?

There it finally was: our big camping trip to lonely Vargas Island!

Vargas BlogIt started off Friday morning at Horseshoe Bay from where we took the ferry to Vancouver Island. After a short snack (or better schnack) break, we headed to Nanaimo located on the other side of the island. Even though it rained pretty hard when we arrived in Tofino, everyone was ready and excited for the adventure. So, we packed all our gear for the next two days on a small water taxi boat and after a 15-minute ride, we reached our destination: Vargas Island!

And there we were: 11 people with a bunch of gear standing on a beach on a lonely island, in the rain, watching the water taxi driver leave. Time to get active – building up tents, setting up a tarp and collecting firewood. Well, lighting up wet wood was not that easy. But our man of fire Euler was hungry and managed to get the fire started. Yeah, our barbecue was saved! Meanwhile, a crew of architects built up a tarp, so we had a place to stay without getting soaked. We spent the night staring at the campfire, eating our hotdogs and being proud of our constructions. But before everyone could crawl into the tents, we cleaned up our campsite. All food had to be stored in a food locker some metres away from the tents. This, to make our home as less attractive to wolves as possible. To be fair, the start of our trip has been a challenge, but our teamwork made it all work perfectly. Good job, guys!

I woke up on Saturday morning with the satisfying sound of someone smashing wood like crazy. Satisfying, because that sound meant there was a chance of dry wood, which meant an easy fire start and fire meant coffee. With a great team effort, our man of fire and some patience, we managed to get hot water for coffee and ‘tea wotah’ for our English man. Even Nutella was offered on the buffet – it was actually a glamping trip! As the weather forecast predicted, it stopped raining and we could finally see the neighbour islands. Really pretty!

The guys spent the morning in the island-gym, which included smashing wood in all kinds sdrof creative ways. Good side effect of this workout was that we didn’t have to worry about firewood for the night anymore. After lunch, it was time to explore the island. We left our home beach, hoping we could find a hiking trail. What seemed like a trail, made us end up at a cabin that looked like a horror movie scene. We continued our way along some animal traps, under fallen trees and over stones and reached some beautiful spots. After all photo shoots were done, we returned to our basecamp. The sun was out, so we played some games at the beach and the bravest ones of us even went swimming! Later on, we could spot some sea lions passing by our coast. Burgers and potatoes were on the menu for dinner, so we enjoyed those and the beautiful view.

The evening passed by quickly with games, s’mores (yes, glamping) and loads of laughs. Suddenly, someone came back from the ‘washroom’ and noticed ‘wow, there are lots of stars out here.’ And yes, he was right! I think I have never seen a sky like this before. So we were just standing at the beach, looking up to the sky and getting excited for every shooting star that we could spot. That was just a perfect ending of the day.

On Sunday, we woke up early to get our breakfast out of the food locker and to break
down our camp. Everything was packed just before the water taxi came to pick us up again. We enjoyed the sunny ride back to Tofino, where we packed all our stuff in the cars again. Then, we headed to the beach. Our instructors were already waiting for us, NOVATEK CAMERAready to introduce us to the world of surfing! During a three-hour lesson, we learned how to get on the board and catch the best waves. At the end, some even managed to stand on the board like they never did anything else before. It was really fun! After this exhausting morning, we enjoyed lunch in Tofino and evaluated the weekend. Everyone’s favorite moment? Difficult to say, because there were so many good ones. Then, it was already time to head back to Nanaimo, where we took the ferry back to Vancouver.

It was a great weekend – I enjoyed this adventure with an amazing group to the fullest! A big thanks to all of you who joined and especially to our drivers Rick and Matt.

Catch up on some sleep guys and I will see you on Wednesday at Malone’s!

– Kerstin

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?

Wake up at 7:30am, check. Have a shower, check. Make breakfast, check. Get ready to go to work, check. As hard as it is to say goodbye to the weekend, we wouldn’t be enjoying weekends if Mondays didn’t exist. So let’s appreciate Mondays for once. But before we do that, let me tell you about my weekend!

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As the weather forecast predicted, Friday consisted of rain, rain and, wait for it… rain. Therefore, some of us decided to stay in and watch the newly released movie Love, Simon, at the cinema (definitely a must-see!). If you haven’t been to the cinema here yet, I recommend you to do so because it’s an experience before the movie even started! When buying a drink, you can choose between the normal version, zero-sugar, light, lemon/lime/cherry etc. And if that wasn’t exciting enough for you, wait till you sit down on your seat and discover that you can lean back! As you might guess, I had a great night!

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On Saturday I went to explore the city a little more with a friend I met at the hostel I used to stay at. Considering the weather wasn’t fantastic, we decided to turn it into a shopping day! So I can’t complain, really. Besides that I watched a livestream of the March For Our Lives, a march that took place in Washington (and all over the world), where over a million people fought for gun control in the US.

Since Sundays are meant for relaxing and taking a break from the busy work week, I decided to take the ferry to Granville Island. And guess what, it was SUNNY. The forecast made us think we would have to stay inside watching Netflix all weekend, but thankfully Vancouver decided to surprise us. I strolled down the public market where I could find the most delicious food. We also had free entertainment! There was live music and a busker who juggled with machetes. . I’d like to add: don’t try this at home!

I hope you all had a great weekend despite the rainy weather!

See you all at Malone’s for PuB NiGHT!

− Angy

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

Ready for Salt Spring Island?

It is already this weekend! The countdown is on! The next INTERNeX trip to Salt Spring Island is just about to start. I hope you are already as excited as I am. Here is the last information to get ready for the trip.

We are meeting on Friday at 2.30pm at the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen. To get there, you can take the Canada Line to Bridgeport Station and then the bus 620. It will take you about 1.5 hours from downtown, so keep that in mind. We will check in on the ferry and enjoy a few hours ride on the sea. Once we arrived on Salt Spring Island, we are going to settle in in our house and make ourselves comfortable. Dinner and games are on the programme for the night. So if you have any fun games, please take them with you!

Saturday, we are going to start off the day with an awesome breakfast. With enough energy, we will depart for a hike or for a visit in a cider tasting room. After spending the whole day in nature, it is time to relax in the hot tub or on the terrace. Burgers will be on the menu this night, before we continue with some games.

Oh and by the way, the house you see in the background here is the real one!

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After a relaxed breakfast on Sunday, we will pack our luggage again and head to the ferry. We will be back in Tsawwassen at around 5pm. You might wonder what to put in your luggage for a weekend on an island. Most important: warm shoes and clothes in which you can hike well, games for the nights and bathing clothes (for the hot tub). You do not need to bring any bed sheets with you. Since are travelling by public transport, make sure that you can carry your luggage easily.

I am already looking forward to a great weekend! If you have any more questions, I am happy to help.

See you tonight at the Beaver Bar!

– Kerstin

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?

And it is Monday again! Wow, that weekend passed by quickly. Before we are preparing our backpacks for our trip to Kelowna next weekend, I will tell you what I experienced in the last days.

My weekend started off Friday afternoon, when the office was suddenly full of enthusiastic people, ready for our game night. We laughed a lot about the creative inputs while playing “What do you meme?” and “Pictionary”. The game “Boys vs. Girls” showed which gender has the best skills. Hot discussions and tricky challenges later the winner was clear (girls, of course). The international mall was already empty, when we changed our location to Blarney Stone’s to enjoy some drinks and live music.

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The next day started early, but with a nice surprise: it did not rain! So, we took the opportunity to explore the nature around Vancouver. Half an hour in the bus and 20 minutes on the ferry later, we arrived on Bowen Island. This island pictures exactly what I had in mind when thinking about British Columbia before I travelled to Canada. We hiked around a lake for three hours, enjoyed the amazing views and took hundred of pictures.

 

Trees, ferns, mountains, sdrwaterfalls, squirrels – we have seen all what you can expect from a proper nature day. We deserveda good lunch after this active day, so we visited a cute restaurant in the small village on the island. It got already dark again, when we arrived back in Vancouver. What a great day! I am still surprised how easily you can escape the busy city life here.

 

My Sunday morning began with breakfast, before it was time to depart to the pub. To a pub on Sunday midday? Yes, Super Bowl it was. Of course, I did not want to miss this received_10213862331466114American sports highlight when I had the chance to see it in the middle of the day. Many of you showed up at the Malone’s to see the game, the 7-minutes Justin Timberlake half-time show or to have a good reason to drink beer on a Sunday afternoon. Some of us even joined the game of chance the pub organised, but no one was lucky enough to win. Nevertheless, it was really fun to follow the spectacle with you. So, what team are we supporting next Sunday?!

I hope you also had a great weekend. See you all on Wednesday for our PuBNiGHT at the Beaver Bar!

– Kerstin

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