New week, new Kid on the Blog! Please welcome Cahya.
Let’s not make you wait any longer and introduce you to Cahya (he/him) from Winterthur in Switzerland. He’ll be volunteering at a business association where he has the opportunity to organize a festival amongst other tasks. After receiving his high school diploma and working for 9 months in the field of business back home, he thought it was time to gain some international experience to tune up his career which is why he’s here with us now. He decided to come to Vancouver because he wants to be as far away as possible from Switzerland in an English speaking country to improve his English skills and get out of his comfort zone to grow. Back home he wants to study economics in September. His first impression of Vancouver was not exceptional because he was nearly asleep when he arrived. Over time though, he thought that Vancouver is a huge and lovely city compared to all the smaller cities in Switzerland. On his bucket list is visiting Vancouver Island, watching different sports games, e.g. hockey, soccer, and otherwise go with the flow and see what’s there to explore. The INTERNeX events are perfect for this 😉As you might’ve guessed by looking at his bucket list, Cahya loves watching different kinds of sports on TV and he loves to work out in the gym which makes him an allround sports lover. Maybe some of you can give him a recommendation for a good place to work out or watch sports games together 😄
This weekend was full of different activities. Some people spent their time together, some enjoyed the first few days on their own e.g. at a lake, in Toronto at a concert, or elsewhere outdoors in the sun.
A few INTERNeXers went to a line dance lesson at The Yale Saloon. It takes place every Friday, so hopefully we will be there more often! The lesson was from 7pm to 9pm and everybody 19+ could join for free. Afterwards there was a party at the same location where you can show your new practiced dance moves besides other performances, like bull riding.
Saturday some of us enjoyed the nice weather at the beach, some strolled through the city or went shopping. In the evening we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of one of our INTERNeXers Stelle!! It took place at a beautiful restaurant at the Shipyards in North Vancouver close to the water and with an amazing sunset in the background. We had lots of good conversations, food and drinks.
Our weekend event turned out sooo good. Yeah, it was a photo scavenger hunt! Stay tuned for the upcoming video on instagram and tiktok to see some results! If you’re not following already, just do it, also to be up to date. First, we have to say that it was so hard to choose the winner of this contest, but it wasn’t impossible. Let’s start at the beginning: we all started at the INTERNeX office and randomly put together two groups for the scavenger hunt. Both groups got a sheet with different tasks on it e.g. building a human pyramid, solving a quiz about INTERNeX and taking a picture with an animal. Some took it a bit too seriously and they went all in for it – one bird wanted to be part of their photo and decided to dispose of their (pardon me) sh** on all of them which you recognize on their white stained clothes 🤣. Nevertheless after the hunt we all met at a pizza place where there is a big wall with lots of board games. We started playing immediately and ordered a few drinks with our delicious food. This was a nice way to end the weekend.
This weekend is gonna be so exciting and there is so much to do in and around Vancouver.
To begin with, every first Friday in the month you’ll have free entrance to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Why not use this opportunity? The Art Gallery is a not-for-profit organization supported by its members’ and different institutions of British Columbia. It opens at 10am till 8 pm. The free entrance is valid from 4pm till 8 pm. There are few exhibitions e.g. Fashion Fictions, Hard-Edge, Marie Khouri – I LOVE. We’re sure there is something for everyone.
If the Art Gallery doesn’t intrigue you we have another recommendation for you. The West Vancouver Community Cultural fest was formerly called Bridge festival which may sound familiar to some of you. The event is on Friday 4 – 9:30 pm and on Saturday from 11am – 9:30 pm. ‘The festival takes place in West Vancouver at Ambleside Park at the foot of 13th Street’. At the festival you can find different cultural pavilions, live music, international dancers and international lounge & food trucks. It’s definitely worth a visit.
Our last recommendation is going to attend the INTERNeX photo scavenger hunt on Sunday. We prepared a lot of exciting and fun tasks for you. We give you a little sneak peak: You have to solve a Quiz, take different photos and work with your team. And don’t be afraid of talking to strangers on the street 😉. Of course this scavenger hunt is a competition against other teams and in the end the best team wins a prize. So be excited about it and try your luck!
Hi everyone, my name is Anna. I am 21 years old and I spent the last three months in Vancouver. Going there was a rather spontaneous decision on my behalf because I wanted to get away for a little while. To be honest, Canada was not a conscious choice and more of a where-ever-my-organization-takes-me one. In the end, working with INTERNeX was a lucky coincidence.
My current home is in Berlin, Germany and I am doing my Bachelor in education. My main reasons for going abroad were work experience and taking a break from studying. INTERNeX found me a spot at a lovely preschool in Vancouver together with a homestay for the time being. Mainly, I assisted in supervising the children and all the other tasks that come up, e.g. laundry, dishes, clean up. The preschool I volunteered at is an inclusive one where classrooms consist of children with and without disabilities and/or special needs. Even as a volunteer I still needed organizational skills, patience, diligence and creativity. I loved that I didn’t have to be too strict but instead got the opportunity to play with the kids and experience their joy in learning new things. I consider myself very lucky to be able to work with colleagues who gave me a lot of freedom in getting to know the kids and how to best handle my work. Generally, everyone welcomed me with open arms and always stood by my side with advice and helpful words.
Spending three months in a different country is a bold decision. Nonetheless, I made that one very easily. I have wanted to go abroad for a few years now and finally took my chance. I knew that living in a homestay would never be the same as living at home. For me, that was exactly the point though — experiencing a different culture, living situation and work environment. It also sometimes means that not everything will work out perfectly. Problem solving is definitely a quality everyone should expect to use during that time.
Vancouver is a very diverse city with many possible activities. Downtown and also the rest of the city provide many opportunities for going out to restaurants, bars, clubs and activities like bowling, golfing, shopping or movies. Its location on the west coast of Canada means that there are several beaches with access to the Pacific Ocean. There is also a lot of nature to be found in Vancouver and surrounding areas. Many parks like Stanley Park or Queen Elizabeth Park are right by the city. Just an hour outside of downtown you can find forests and mountains which can be walked or hiked on numerous trails. Lastly, further up north are several snow topped regions during winter. Especially outdoor-lovers have a plethora of possible activities right next door. Personally, I loved the togetherness of all of those things. I could go out for drinks and dancing on Saturday and then meet friends for a hike on Sunday. The diversity of people living in Vancouver means that there are lots of choices concerning food, music and entertainment.
Additionally, INTERNeX provides students with at least two outings per week. On Wednesdays there is always pub night, allowing people to meet and connect with each other and make plans for the weekend. Moreover, there is usually a weekend activity. In the past, those included fashion and art events, festivals, hikes, movie nights or sports events. During my time there we also took two weekend trips to Whistler and Sasquatch Mountain. All of those opportunities made it so much easier to make friends and find people with common interests. Without that I wouldn’t have met so many people my age that were as willing as I was to go out and do stuff. I have spent many nights laughing, dancing and having a great time with amazing people.
Let me tell you, INTERNeX makes it really easy to take part in excursions to see Vancouver and find people you like. I encourage everyone to spend some time abroad. I gained more work experience, learned many new skills, got even more independent and found a confidence I didn’t have before. I would do it all over again and stay longer if I could. So be brave and take that step!
Orcas, stunning sunsets and beautiful evenings with friends… Is there anything that sounds better to you? That’s exactly how our last four days went.
Let’s begin with Thursday. We met early for our pickup, got to know the other people that joined the trip to Vancouver Island and started our tour. After a short break at the grocery store – where we bought the necessary goods for breakfast and lunch – we took the Ferry to Vancouver Island and enjoyed the good weather on the deck and played ‘cards against humanity’. The 1.30h ferry ride passed by so fast and we started our journey to Tofino. On our way to Tofino we stopped at three different locations. We went for a hike, saw a waterfall, enjoyed our lunch in the sun and went swimming! Well, not everyone went swimming cause the water was freezing cold, but at least it was refreshing. As soon as we arrived in Tofino we went to a small restaurant and grabbed dinner. At the Hostel we moved into our rooms and went to the pier to watch the sunset 🌅. You would never believe what we saw there! It was an Orca family swimming really close to the pier right into the sunset, that was just unbelievable and truly magical. Afterwards we came together in a nice bar and had great conversations before just falling into our beds after this long and exciting day.
On Friday we had some free time and we were able to book different tours like whale watching, bear watching, kayaking or surfing lessons. All of us booked one of those tours and really enjoyed it. In the evening we met at a restaurant where we started telling all the stories of our eventful day. Back at the hostel we played a few rounds of pool and some card games with the group to top off the second amazing day on the Island.
Saturday morning started early when we headed to Victoria. On the way we made some stops. One of them was Cathedral Grove Rainforest where we saw an 800 year old tree. We also visited the village of Combs with heritage constructions, gift and antique shops. Fun Fact: In the village of Combs goats live on the roofs. At the last stop on our bus ride to Victoria we were at a lake where we jumped into the clear refreshing water. Arriving at the Hostel we ate dinner and strolled through the city. Some of the group went to a bar, the others went back to the hostel for some awesome chats and card games.
The next morning started with a short optional bus tour through Victoria with our guide. The guide gave a lot of interesting historical facts about the city and places to go for our free time in the morning and noon. We definitely used our spare time by visiting the parliament of B.C., Beacon Hill Park (there are a lot of animals e.g. turtles, ducks, deers, squirrels and peacocks) and Chinatown. In Chinatown we ate something and watched the lions parade of a local group with traditional clothing and dances. In the afternoon we headed back to the bus and drove the ferry. At 8 p.m. we arrived in Vancouver and everybody started their way home.
It was such a beautiful weekend. We’re still impressed by the stunning things we were able to see. What did you do on your weekend? Tell us about it next Pub Night 🎉. We hope it was as great as ours.
INTERNeX Canada 