Canada facts: 9 typically Canadian things

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Canada?
Certainly, there are some stereotypes and characteristics attributed to Canadians and the country. But are they true? – some more, some less so 😉

1. Canadian maple syrup
Since the shape of a maple leaf can be found on the Canadian flag, the Canadian maple and also the maple syrup is really symbolic for the country. It’s known and popular as a very tasty topping for pancakes or even on bacon 😉

2. Canadians really like to stand in line
Canadians are always very polite and friendly people, that’s a fact. This brings us to the point that perhaps amazes us as Europeans in a positive way at first. In Canada it’s the most normal thing to stand in line before you get on the bus. It’s common to talk to the driver, which means saying hello and bye when leaving the bus. Additional fact; don’t be surprised Canadians always say “sorry” no matter what.

3. It’s all about hockey
What’s the first sport comes to your mind when thinking of Canada? It is definitely ice hockey (or as Canadians say, just “Hockey”). So yes this fact may be true; Hockey is really popular and many many Canadians love to watch a game. As Canadians have a really high level of national pride the national anthem before every match is another important situation for them. It’s amazing to see how much these people love their country.

4. In Canada it’s always cold and snow is everywhere
That’s certainly just a clichĂ©. But it depends
 Canada is a country with high as well as very low temperatures. It depends on where you are but from my own experience I can say that the temperature in Vancouver is nearly the same as in Germany. Believe it or not there are even beaches to take a dip in the sea and there are really beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

5. A dream destination for hiking and beautiful nature
That is definitely not a stereotype, but a fact. The Canadian nature is breathtaking and unique in the world. So if you visit the country hiking is a must-do. There are thousands of hiking trails for every level that invite you to enjoy amazing viewing points, explore the country or spend a night in a tent on a camping trip. Side fact: Canada by itself has more lakes than adding all the lakes of the rest of the world.

6. It’s possible to have a bear in your backyard
Yes that’s a fact. Of course it depends on where you live but there are many places where this is certainly possible. If you are an animal lover Canada, especially the Rocky Mountains, is the place to be. You have a good chance to see animals such as bears or a moose on your journey in the wild. But be aware that these animals do not want to be disturbed and may also be dangerous.

7. Multiculturalism
Definitely! Canada and especially Vancouver is a real “multi-culti” city.
It’s kind of confusing but sometimes being in Vancouver feels like you’re in Asia. Canada is a country of immigration but isn’t it interesting to see how many different cultures can live together and learn from each other?

8. Tim Hortons everywhere
That’s a fact.
You want to try a fast coffee or one of the famous timbits, the delicious small balls made with donut dough and filled with cream? Let’s go to Tim Hortons.
I can assure you that especially in the big cities you will find one of their restaurants at every second corner. That’s the reason why every Canadian will tell you that you haven’t been to Canada if you haven’t been to Tim Hortons.

9. Poutine, poutine, poutine
Some of you may think what’s that; others say it’s the best food they ever tried.
Definitely, Poutine is a must-have when visiting Canada. This really popular dish is based on fried potatoes to which are added cheese curds and gravy. There are many other variations for every taste. Just try it 🙂

Happy Friday:)

– Tatjana


INTERNeX International Exchange
2005-689 Abbott St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 0J2
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

10 Reasons to visit Canada

1. You finally learn how to apologize properly and not offend anyone ever 

Canadians are probably the most friendly and polite people you will ever meet. Besides having super nice conversations in the grocery store, the elevator, or bus, they are also extremely regardful. They accidentally bump into to you in the streets – they will 49025347617_52a4eedbdc_o.jpgapologize! You accidentally bump into them – They will apologize. You steel their cap – they will apologize for getting in your way. Even negative things or rejections can be wrapped into words so nicely that you won’t even notice a “no”. Whereas our parents had to teach us in a long and exhausting progress to say please and thank you, Canadians come out of their mothers womb already saying thank you.
Therefore, come to Canada and learn to be a kind human being ;-). 

2. Canada has breathtaking landscapes that are absolutely Insta-worthy. 

48002917013_6d72a5d56d_h.jpgYou want to travel and see the world? Or maybe you want to start your very own Instagram career as an influencer and simply don’t have the right pictures yet? Well either way, your Instagram-community will be flashed by the beautiful pictures you’ll be posting very soon. And the best part is, it even looks breathtaking with #nofilter! So it is actually quite a good view without your phone screen in between. With the incredibly blue lakes, the wide oceans, the snow-covered mountains and never-ending forests with lots of wildlife, you’ll never get tired of the unique scenery. Wherever you go, you will be speechless and the happiest human alive to actually be right were you are.  

3. There isn’t just one culture to experience, but so many different ones. 

Canada has an impressive and super interesting history (further more), it’s always been a country where people got together. And travelling to Canada today, doesn’t mean everybody you see out here is Canadian. Especially by living in the bigger cities, you will 48002916868_bc67fe5dcd_o.jpgfind a very colourful, mixed variety of people from different cultures and with different beliefs. And since everybody is not only super friendly, but also very open minded, you will get the very unique opportunity to get to know so so much. In fact, maybe it even opens your eyes towards your own culture. For example as a German, I often heard that we are so well organized, always on time and efficient workers, but also that we’ve got no humour, are unrelaxed, have a stick up our a** and always look like we’re about to scream at someone. Nope I am not gonna pop someones bubble and tell you which ones I would subject as true or not true. All I am saying is 
 some of them might be true :-D. What I am trying to say here is – you won’t only get to learn a lot about so many different cultures, but also about your own and in fact about yourself. 

4. It’s the perfect investment for your life

Some people invest thousands of dollars in shares, properties, or clothing, but here is a much better idea. Why don’t you simply spent all your savings on yourself, by traveling to this beautiful country. It’s not only the best choice for an investment, but it will also 9474585256_ba00db2cec_o.jpghelp you to finally get rid of all the redundant money resting in your bank account and loosing value every day (Sounding like a bank manager here)! And trust me, Canada has figured out good ways to make use of the money
 #theyalesaloon #thecambie. Of course I am joking, it’s not that bad (or is it?!). No but seriously, wherever you go, you won’t get anything for free and instead of treasuring it up, you should get out there and see the world! Those are the experiences that are truly priceless. It’s an investment that isn’t risky, because you will never regret doing it!

5. You would have the most special 19th birthday you could have all around the world

In most countries it’s either the 18th or the 21st birthday, that is the one day every young human is desperately waiting for! Finally grown up and finally being allowed in Pubs and Clubs and drinking a beer or two. Well British Columbia for instance, isn’t only special because of the nature and the people, but also because the magical number here 49415873448_3113f39ccb_o.jpgis the 19 – not 18, not 21. It’s 19. Therefore, your 19th birthday in BC could be way more special than it would have been anywhere else in the world. Especially if you start your trip a little bit in advance, so you’ve got enough time to actually look forward to it and go big on your special day ;-). Who else could say that their 19th birthday was one of the craziest they ever had?! 

6. You’ll get to see the beautiful impressive wildlife 

Yeah I mean you get all these massive impressive animals here, all different kinds of whales, polar bears, black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, seals, otters, beavers, moose, eagles 
. (add a variety of amazing animals here). And yes of course it is pretty cool, just sitting in your car driving towards the next city close by and being forced to stop because this giant moose is in the middle of the road, giving you ‘the look’ to please move fromIMG_20190531_194523.jpg ‘his’ street, since he clearly was here before you.
But what I am referring to, is the other kind of wild life. I have to admit – I’ve never seen it before. The ‘wildest’ thing about this species is, how much it is actually being treated like a human. I am talking about the wild trolly-dog! Dogs in a handbag are so last season!! On this side of the globe, you gotta buy a trolly to “walk” your dog. Wait, wasn’t that the whole point of walking your dog, the actual walking part?!  Well what do I know right?! 

7. Canada has an incredible history 

As you might have known, at some point in history the Europeans decided to get on giant ships and try their best to get to end of this “world-disk”. By that, they accidentally made their way to the American continent and therefore also to Canada at some point after.  But long before that, you could actually find populations here – the Indigenous. Being here gives you the incredible chance of learning more about their struggles, perspective on life, and their beautiful, spiritual and inspiring knowledge of nature and how to live a life deeply connected to it. 

8. Third cleanest air in the world.

Just a fun fact on the side. It’s not only Vancouver that gets continuously rated as one of the most liveable cities on earth, but it turns out the air here is one of the best ones your lunges will ever get to breath in, too. Well if that is not a very strong argument for all the lung-tourist out there – I don’t know what is! 

9. Feel like you are part of ‘Riverdale”, I actually don’t know if that’s a pro or con argument

Having a milkshake at Pops, walking through the streets surrounded by dark green forests, fighting a grizzly (a la Archie) – everything is possible. Yes, now I will have to admit, that I actually watched ‘Riverdale’. For the ones that haven’t watched it, here’s a IMG_20190604_083244.jpgshort summary: A bunch of 17 year olds(?) is stuck between fighting drug lords, murder-dads, spooky fantasy monsters and, of course, growing up – the usual stuff, you know.  Even though I might be not the biggest fan of the show itself, I am a huge fan of Pops Milkshakes! And yes that is a very good argument to make your way Canada (trust me on this, it’s so worth it). In case you are a big fan, even better! Because the Riverdale cast hangs around Vancouver all (dramatic pause) the (another dramatic pause) time, so pack your bag and soon enough you’ll be fighting those grizzly bears together with Archie Andrews! 

10. Poutine!

There is not a lot to say. The argument is simple – Poutine! A mixture between the beautiful juicy gravy with a bunch of yummy cheese and those, kinda smashed, but still slightly crunchy fries underneath. A traditional Canadian food you will love!

That’s it for today! I hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll see you all tomorrow! 

Cheers, 

— Nadja xx 

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

 

 

New ‘Kids’ on the Blog

Half the week is already over and once again it’s finally the day of Pub-Night.
And Wednesday, also means you get to meet the new INTERNeXer, that joined us at the beginning of this week. 
IMG_0289
And this week you might have to take some notes, as we got 5(!!!) new people joining. 
Therefore lets not loose anymore time and let’s talk about our Newbies! As a group, I would like to refer to them as “the Islanders” (I’ll explain that later on).

The bright smiling sunshine on the right hand side, is called Anton. Anton is 19 years old and from Germany. He actually made a very brave step moving from a small village to our beautiful Vancouver, intending to find out if he is made for the city life. And yes, some of you be like “Vancouver isn’t even that big”. But as a person moving here from a small village myself, I absolutely get it. And I think it is quite a decision to make. So welcome from one ‘villager’ to another. I hope you will have a wonderful time here and you will hopefully fall in love with the city, as fast as we did.

Moving on to Maria. With her sweet 18 years, she is the youngest one out of the Islanders. Luckily, tonight, your age won’t stop you from meeting the INTERNeXer, as the Two Parrots welcome minors as well. Maria was looking for an english speaking country to improve her language skills. Because of a family recommendation she decided to come to Vancouver and from here, this lady is ready to go on some adventures, like traveling to Seattle and doing Bungee Jumping (soo cool!).  

Next one in line is Lina. She has been dreaming of this for such a long time. But because of university and life always getting in her way, she wasn’t able to do it earlier than now. But hey, I am actually very glad it worked out this exact way. Otherwise we might have never met you, so let’s call it faith. Plus she got to finish her masters in psychology, which is (just after meeting us) also a pretty good turnout :P. She also mentioned, that she is here to meet new people and is open to new experiences – well Lina, it seems like you are a perfect fit to our group then :).
 
The young men on her left hand side is Felix and yes you might have guessed it – he is also from Germany. And I get the feeling, that we can learn a lot from this one, as he proved to have a very creative mindset! The reason why Felix is here, is everything but one of the regular stories you get to hear.
As we all have had a job interview before, we know the struggle that comes with it.  Technically it’s all about presenting your best possible self and Felix here, is clearly a master in that! As he got asked why is only applying for the job in 2020 and not 2019, he clearly couldn’t admit that he might have missed the time slot for it. So mentioning a planned gap-year seemed like the perfect excuse instead. And once it was said, he was being a men of his word, got in a plane and now joined the INTERNeX gang for a practicum! Felix is very interested in sports and can’t wait to see the Super Bowl. I promise you, you will meet our enthusiasts tonight, that will be very happy to watch it with you! 
Last but not least is Theresa. Guess where she is from? 
 Ha, got ya – she is from Austria. Anyways Theresa here also just graduated and is now gaining some practical experiences here in beautiful British Columbia. Theresa didn’t really feel like working yet, so she said goodbye to her previous job and to Austria, packed her bag and made her way across the ocean to have an incredible time here. And fun fact, I think she has the coolest voice ever! I am sorry, for pointing that out like this, but I love it!

Anyways as we where sitting together getting to know each other, it turned out all of these guys have Vancouver Island on their bucket list. As this is a classic, please pass on helpful tipps and tricks as you have already been there or simply sign up to the adventure-bus of the ‘islanders’ to see Vancouver Island together with them.
However now that the snow is gone, there won’t be anything getting in the way to get together at tonights Pub-Night at the Two Parrots.
To the Newbies: don’t be shy, everybody is already very excited to meet you! 
Have a wonderful day/night. 
See you soon, 
Cheers, 
— Nadja xx
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

PuB-Night Review

Isn’t it weird how the night from Wednesday to Thursday always feels so much shorter than any other weeknight?! 
IMG_5648.JPGAnyways even though I am bit tired, I had a pretty good night last night again! 🙂
We went to the La Casita, which doesn’t just sound Mexican, but actually took us on a little trip down to Mexico right away. The music, the decorations, the drinks – everything was just perfectly getting you in the right vibe. 
So after some fantastic food, we made our way through the margarita menu. So that even our Danish margarita queen found something new to experience ;P. 
But there is still one massive question that has been bothering me ever since and unfortunately I couldn’t find an answer last night 
 so when do I get sugar and when do I get salt on the edge of my margarita glass?? So if anyone could please get me out of this sinister hole of cluelessness, please leave me a message. IMG_5638.JPG
Anyways Pub-Night wouldn’t be Pub-Night, if we wouldn’t have moved on to a different location to continue the celebrations of togetherness. Out of the two big favourites, we chose to go to the Cambie this time. Sorry Yale – Saloon, but you will probably see us soon enough anyways.  
A very exhausting game of Pac-Man, brought me closer to nervous break down than I ever wanted to be. Maybe it’s not really who we play against (literally any game), maybe it’s the Cambie itself, that brings out the most competitive side in everyone :D. (Careful, this was an inside joke and might test your loyalty to this blog).
However, afterwards we moved on to the Dance Floor and since we’ve got it all to ourselves, “dancing like nobody watches you”, wasn’t a phrase anymore :D. 
And I won’t lie, we learned some incredible and unique dance moves to show off at the next club visit. Usually you get three types of people on the dane floor. Type 1 would be the “right-tip-left-tip” type, so more the classical “I like to dance, but I am not going wild tonight” kind of A1488CFB-1F64-47F7-B4C9-BA97CC3DF34C.JPGdancer. Type two, which is the “move-your-hips” type, clearly knowing what they are doing and actually looking good doing it, simply born with rhythm in their blood. And then you get the “getting-jealous-looks-because-their-dancing-looks-like-so-much-fun-but-you-get-funny-looks-for-doing-it” type of dancers. (Wow what a handy and short name, well done Nadja.. getting right to the point here!).  
So I think all of us just transformed into type number three and honestly I don’t think I can ever go back from there! 😀
Thank you guys for honouring me with your presence :D. 
See you next week! 
Cheers, 
—Nadja xx
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

New “Kids” on the Blog!

New Year. New Week. New “Kids”!
So let’s send out a warm welcome to the first 4 candidates of 2020.
Yes 4 candidates, a fantastic start into the year, even if we are still trying to get over the heartbreaking goodbyes we had to face just before and after Christmas.
Heads up to the future:

8ca54f1d-eab8-4e40-b3d5-f4da7ff71410Starting of with our lovely Laura here (first on the right hand side), 24 years old and from Germany. Laura is taking part in the Practicum Program, but not just in any placement 
 nooo, all I am saying is, it’s got a lot to do with chocolate! So besides being everyones new best friend, Laura is planing on keeping herself busy and get to see as much as possible. In fact she already spent the last 5 months in Ottawa, so almost a Canada expert I’d say! So now the Rocky Mountains, Vancouver Island and many more are still on her bucket list. And rumours occur she is still looking for some travel companions ;-). 

Next up are the twins. Okay well, maybe not exactly twins, maybe not even siblings, or even the same age – but I like it, so I’d say we just go with it.
Nathalie and Victoria are also from Germany and came here to take part in the Practicum program as well. These two power-ladies came here together and are gonna stay for the next three months. Also they are working in the same placement which is a child development centre. (Do you see now where I am coming from?! :P). Victoria has actually been here in our beautiful Vancouver before, but as 3 days just weren’t enough (I think we all agree on that with you Victoria), she decided that she had to come back. I am glad your plans have worked out ;-).
From there these two are planning on doing some travelling and already have a very exciting trip planned to Hawaii at the end of their stay 
 I am very very jealous! So if you guys find some space in your luggage, I’d be more than happy to squeeze in! 

ee2630a6-0a4a-47ec-80d0-6a711b864a69.jpg
To complete the German squad of the week, we’ve got Christian joining us as well. He is one of our Work&Travelers and therefore obviously up for facing some great adventures.
Christian got inspired by his French-teacher to come and visit this beautiful country, oh yeah right he also speaks French, as he has lived there in the past 3 months. Very impressive! So if you are lucky, you might get to catch up with your french skills in the upcoming 5 months. Unfortunately after that he will have to go back to Germany to go to University. 

Therefore guys, don’t loose any time and meet these 4 fantastic newbies at tonights Pub-Night at the La Casita.
Same as always – 7pm, two pieces of ID and minors are welcome! 

Can’t wait to see you ❀ 

Cheers, 

— Nadja xx

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

 

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