My name is Alyn Engelhardt, I am 22 years old and lived my whole life in Viersen, Germany. It is a small town next to Düsseldorf and Cologne. I just graduated from university with a Bachelor of Science in Business Chemistry.
Before continuing with the Master in Business Chemistry I wanted to do a break from university to get some practical experiences by doing an internship. I chose Canada because I was always interested in the nature of this big country and the mentality of the citizens. In addition, I heard that the companies in Canada are really small, that it is not even unusual to know its entire staff. This means, it is more familiar and you might get the chance to get a better overview and learn more than in a big company.
In Germany I worked with an agency, I sent them all required documents and they sent it to Internex who got in contact with me. I was convinced that it is easier to find an internship with an agency that already knows different companies and has experience in working with them.
I was part of two different programs. I stayed for 12 weeks in Vancouver. The first two weeks I went to a language school to do a language course (Business English). Right after that, I started my internship for ten weeks. I chose this program to get some practical knowledge. Right after high school I went to university, which means, I never got the chance to see how a company works.
I am doing my internship at a (non-profit) community engagement organization.
“It is a signature initiative designed to spark, nurture and restore community connections. More than a single place or program, it assembles the hearts, minds, and talents of diverse communities to promote inclusive, intelligent, and inspiring dialogue.”
I am the first international intern they have, but they already had a lot of experience with work students and volunteers. It was an amazing time. They organise different events for people who are interested in community issues.
Communication and teamwork are the most important characteristics you need at this internship. Everybody needs to know what the other is working on and what is still missing; otherwise the events might not become successful. You should be good in organizing, and be flexible in general. Plans might change right before the event. You should also be creative; SFU Public Square loves new ideas.
This internship is not part of my education. Actually, event management does not have that much to do with the education I had, but still I can say I learned a lot. I learned to be more flexible and what good teamwork can look like. Also, I learned a lot on personal level during my internship.
I lived with a host family in Vancouver, organised by the language school. I shared the basement with another student. We had our own living room, kitchen and a bathroom. A host family is a great opportunity for people who are not used to live alone.
When I arrived, my first impression of Vancouver was: Now, I know why they call it Raincouver. The weather was really bad. It rained a lot in March and April. But I refused to buy an umbrella. In May the weather got so much better, so we were finally able to enjoy some outdoor activities.
I attend nearly all pub nights organised by Internex. It is a nice opportunity to meet new friends and to plan weekend activities. We always had a lot of fun and saw different corners of Vancouver Downtown. Besides the pub nights I attend other events like visiting the Lighthouse Park or Fly over Canada. Other places I traveled to are the Rockies, Vancouver Island with a friend I met on pub night, Bowen Island, Seattle, Whistler and soon I will travel down the westcoast of the USA with some friends I met at the pub nights. Furthermore I did a lot of activities like watching an ice hockey game, celebrated St. Patrick’ s Day, went to a boat party and I did lots of hikes.
What I like most about Vancouver is the mentality. There are so many different opportunities here. On one side Vancouver is a city, but it is also surrounded by beautiful nature. One thing I had to deal with was the bad traffic. I think it is not working for so many people. It really feels like you live in a big city with millions of inhabitants. Busses are passing by because they are already to full and in the rush hour everybody is stressed out.
I have three big highlights of my stay here. The first is th event I helped organize during my internship. As second a beautiful hike I did to a crushed airplane in Tofino. And last but not least a stay at the first nations hotel in Chase during our Rockies trip with Internex and Discover Canada Tours. My stay here and the entire experience didn’t really inspire me to travel more, since I already did that, but I might want to see the East of Canada as well now.
I would highly recommend the services of Internex. This agency has great contacts with different companies. In addition if your organise everything through Internex, you will get to know new friends because of the events and pub nights they organise.
When I get back home I will buy some good German bread.
– Alyn
The Museum of Anthropology houses one of the world’s finest collections of First Nation art from the Pacific Northwest. Besides that they also have big collections from different cultures from all around the world and a wide range of temporary exhibitions.
great hunting dog. After the campfire we had a little party in the hotel room where I introduced a drinking game I often play with my friends back home. And this is actually really funny since I don’t like drinking games at all, except for this one. So back home we call it “Skull” but we made it into a more English version here and called it “cheers”. So we all counted to 21 or cheers and made up the most ridiculous rules along the way. Maybe we can try to do it again sometime on PuB NiGHT. ☺
glad to sit in the bus again. We went for lunch, just before we went to Lake Louise. It was quite a new lunch for me since I tried the Elk / Wapiti stew. I thought it would be a really different kind of flavour then the meat I am used to, but it actually kind of tastes like beef. After this new adventure I was ready to walk all across Lake Louise. I think it is really amazing that the lakes are still frozen this time of the year, but it also gives you an awesome perspective 
when you stand in the middle of it. It was a long and slippery walk to the frozen waterfall and of course I fell down on the ice, but once I reached it I was really amazed by the view. Oh and from that point you could also see the Fairmont Hotel really well, which really looks like a Disney castle to me haha.
really cute town, with the beautiful mountains surrounding it. I really liked we all went out for dinner together because you could really feel the bond of the group. After some quick clothing changes and a view pre-drinks we were ready to party! I was so excited, especially because my friend was able to go too since there is another drinking age in Alberta. It was so good to finally be in a place where you can dance and just be a little bit crazy. I really laughed my ass of and stayed till the really end.
Because it was such a long night out for us, we didn’t had much time to sleep really, since we had some horseback-riding to do in the morning. When the alarm went off I thought “ Nooo please” but once I had some breakfast and saw how nice the weather was outside I was super excited. And especially when we drove up the ranch and we saw the horses, I knew it was going to be a great day. And it was! The only thing I was thinking every five seconds was “WAUW”. Those views were truly amazing and the horses were really nice. Along the way we even saw an Elk standing behind the trees and I really felt sorry for eating it for lunch the day before, but luckily it is normal to eat it in Canada.
up there the very
After this beautiful scene it was time to say goodbye to Banff and go to Golden, our final stop. I felt a bit sad to leave this amazing town but I was also excited for the campfire and to end the trip in good harmony. When we arrived at the hotel I first chilled out in the hot tub for a little while. When my hands started to look like a grandma and my stomach started rumbling it was time to get out and get some take-out pizza. After going to Boston Pizza, my roommates and me joined the campfire with some drinks and very delicious slices. We played the counting game again and we all had a big laugh. It was just the perfect ending for me and I was very happy I had enough time to catch some sleep on the bus the next day.
After that we continued our journey to Kamloops. In Kamloops we went to the BC Wildlife Park where I learned about the difference between a spirit bear and a polar bear. I also had time to do some shopping in the souvenir shop with my $5 gift card. A bit later we got into the bus again and drove up to Chase. We spent the night at a First Nation’s hotel. It was a beautiful hotel with hot tub and a swimming pool. We quickly settled in and went up to the lake to make beautiful pictures. After exploring the surroundings a bit, we went up to the campfire, made smores and listened to stories of the First Nations. As I am not really handy at all, I already expected that my s’mores would not turn out to be that great. The first one was not melted enough and on the second one I just had too much marshmallow. However, it was great to try it out. It was pretty cold at the campfire, as we were sitting next to a lake. So we ended up going to the hot tub and the swimming pool to warm up. Here we got to talk with a few people from our bus and learned about the different cultures. In the end we all went to Janel and Danielle’s room for a few drinks.
Most of them were mainly built because of the train passing through it. It was great getting to know more about Canada and its cute little villages. Along the way to the Rockies we had to change our time on the watches as we got into mountain time. This meant that the clock would go one hour forward. It was really strange to hear about mountain time. I first did not believe our tour guide and thought he was fooling everybody in the bus. However, my phone proved it to me that mountain time actually exists. We drove all the way up to Lake Louise where we could either walk to the other side of the lake or go to the Fairmont hotel. The choice was not that hard to make anymore when our tour guide told us that we could see a frozen waterfall. It was a bit strange that the lake was frozen enough again, as our tour guide told us that they did it a few weeks ago too and then they heard the ice crack underneath their feet. Many people walked on the lake, so we were not that scared that the ice would break. Luckily it was solid ice again and we did not have any troubles on our way to the frozen waterfall. After we reached the frozen waterfall we walked back around the lake and back to the bus. I think this walk was a good practice for my ice walk the day after, as it could be slippery at and around the lake too. Then we drove to Banff and checked in at our second hotel. A lot of us were hungry again so we went back into the city to find a good restaurant. We all had a great laugh at the bus stop, as we were with so many people and it took forever to get onto the bus. When we were in the city, it was quite hard to find a spot for so many people. However, we managed to fit us all in Earls. After we filled our stomachs again, we went to Janel’s room and waited for cabs. We did not want to make the bus drivers in Banff too annoyed, right? We ended our night with a great night out at one of Banff’s clubs.
of sleep. However, it was good that I was forced to get out of bed, because the fresh air and me being active really helped. Another guide picked us up at the hotel in a small bus. On the way to Johnston Canyon he talked about the nature of Canada. He also did a small quiz with us. If you answered the questions right, you would get a cookie. Everybody was actively participating in it and tried their hardest to come up with the answer. To me that was quite logical, because who does not like to get a cookie? When we reached our final destination we had to put on spikes on our shoes for the really icy parts. Of course I was the person who got two different sizes. As I already asked to change the size, I did not want to bother him anymore and therefore just let it be. He already mentioned that it did not matter if the spikes would not totally fit and therefore I thought it would not matter for me too. On our way we walked passed frozen waterfalls, fossils and even some animals. I was acting like a tourist again and kept asking questions. The whole walk was sometimes a bit rough, as we had to walk up and down on hills and had some icy parts. According to our tour guide you can even be short of breath if you are fit, as the altitude in the mountains is way different than the altitude in Vancouver or even the Netherlands. This gave me a much better feeling, as I already thought I was not in shape at all. Our guide also showed us how to hike down an icy hill. He said that you have to bend your knees and stamp your feet into the ground. In the end we all looked like tiny elephants walking around at Johnston Canyon. On the way back we could enjoy the scenery again and look if there were any animals. In the
afternoon we decided to do a hike on the Sulphur mountain. We were supposed to be at the top in one hour, but were only able to get half way because of all the ice and snow. However, the views were still really great. Every time we kept looking down to see how much we already completed to keep us motivated to get to the top. At the end of our hike we walked 16.7 km in total, so we were definitely able to make up for all the unhealthy food we have been eating. After being so active, we were happy to sit in the bus again for our journey to Golden. Here we spent our last night around the campfire. It was really cosy and warm around the fire. Sometimes it was so hot that I had to switch with others to let my legs cool off a little bit.
some time. The BC Wildlife Park was a great start of our weekend. We got to see Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Cougars, Coyotes and many more. Sometimes I felt bad for some of the animals because their cases are pretty small, but we were told that they all got hurt and are being looked after in the park, so that’s great. After the wildlife park we continued our journey to Chase and ended up at a beautiful hotel next to a lake. They made a campfire and someone from the First Nation was telling us their stories and legends. I don’t know a lot about the First Nation, so it was very interesting to hear all the stories. Unfortunately it was getting really cold really fast, so we decided to go inside and have a little party in our room. In the end we had 14 people in our room and we were drinking, playing games and having fun. It was a great night to start of our weekend.
pictures there. Then we walked back on the side of the lake, which wasn’t any easier than walking on the lake itself. We got back to the bus just in time and continued our journey to Banff. When we got there we first had dinner at Earls and then headed back to the hotel to have a little pre party before going to the club. The club night was amazing, almost everybody came along and we were all dancing and having fun. We also met up with 2 INTERNeX guys who are working in Banff and it was great to see them again. The night was really good and I didn’t come back to the hotel until 5:30 am.
Luckily I didn’t have any optional activities on Sunday morning, so I got to sleep in. After checking out of the hotel Sebastian, Max and I went to get some lunch in town and decided to eat it outside in the sun. After lunch we went up with the Gondola and the view was just amazing. We walked from one peak to the other and the view was incredible. After spending a good amount of time on top of the mountain, it was time to go back down again. We spent our last night in Golden. When we got there everybody just crashed on the bed and felt really tired. Most of you went in the hot tub to relax for a little bit, but we decided to get some food and get ready for the campfire. At the campfire we started playing our game again and a lot of people joined in. The game is that the whole group counts to 21, with everyone saying just one number. When you reach 21, a number becomes a rule. In the beginning the game is easy, but as you get more rules (and more drinks) it’s hard to remember all of them.
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