New ‘kid’ on the blog

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing and welcoming a new candidate to our INTERNeX family. Let me introduce him to you:

This is Nikolai, he is 19 year old from Germany and he has recently finished high school and plans to do a dual studies within economics and logistics next fall. He arrived in Vancouver a week ago and plans to move to the Rocky Mountains next week where he will work at a ski-resort during the winter season. A winter in the Rockies must be so much fun – many hours of skiing in a magical world among forest, snow and all the crazy adventures that comes with it. He says he always wanted to explore more of Canada because he has already been here before for three weeks on a road trip last summer and now he saw great opportuniities to come back to experience a work & travel programme, especially now during winter since Canada is known to have a lot of snow in the mountains and he loves to ski. Canada is the place to be, right? We are so happy to have him here with us 🙂

I asked him what his first impression of Vancouver is so far and he says Vancouver is a really nice city and it was such a relief to come here because it feels like home. Last time he was here in Vancouver he experienced Stanley Park on a bike and he really likes the city-life here. 

What’s on your bucket list? He says it would be cool to experience Heli-Ski, which means you take your skis on a helicopter ride and they drop you off somewhere in the mountains where you can go off-piste to another destination, so cool! He also says he wants to ‘go with the flow’ and enjoy the time while he’s here Canada. I ask him what his hobbies are and he says he likes skiing and rock climbing/bouldering – doing what he love the most in a great enviroment together with friends. When I asked him what his favourite food is he replied that he loves rosemary potatoes with salmon and salad. After Canada he plans to work in Germany for a while and then travel to Asia before studies begins next fall. 

We really hope that he will have a great time here in Canada, but I’m pretty sure he’ll have his best time ever 🙂 Let’s meet him at tonight’s Pub Night!

Cheers

Ida 

How was the weekend

On Saturday INTERNeX went to a Holiday Market, a great event to get into the Holiday spirit. While we waited for the event to open its doors, we went to a cafe next door to buy some coffee and hot chocolate to get ready. The market took place in a building on two different floors where they had beautiful art and jewellery made by local artists. On the upper level they played Christmas music in the background and on the first floor they had live music performed by an local artist, so cool! At the market they had a lot of natural products like homemade organic soap & candles; great gifts to treat yourself or your loved ones. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy any candles or soap, but I did find a little Christmas present for my family – its a surprise, so I can’t tell you what it is, haha 😉 As I am writing about Holiday Market, there is another Christmas Market coming up the 26th of November and INTERNeX plan to go there. If you want to join, let me know and I’ll get us tickets so we can experience the Christmas Market together 🙂  

After the Holiday event, some of us went to grab a bite to eat before heading to Granville Island. Granville Island is known to be one of the best places to visit in Vancouver and I totally agree. The island is known for its public food market and also for its handicraft, gifts, art and more. This Island is a must-see while you are here in Vancouver and is located south of downtown, so you can easily get there by transit or by foot. I definitely have to experience this Island again, there is a lot to see. Let me know if you’d like to join, maybe already this coming weekend? 🙂 

I also want to remind you; this Friday INTERNeX is going to a Hockey Game. This will be my first Hockey Game experience here in Vancouver and I am so excited!! Lets get into the Hockey spirit together! 🙂

See you on this week’s Pub Night!

Cheers

Ida 

What to do on the weekend

Here is some inspiration of what you can do on the weekend, check it out:

On Saturday INTERNeX is going on a day trip to Bowen Island. Come and join us! 

We’re taking the bus from downtown all the way to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry that will take us to Snug Cove on Bowen Island. 

Bowen Island is known for ‘One of the best days you can have outside of Vancouver’. It’s mostly because of the relaxing, ‘chill’ vibe this Island offers its visitors. Snug Cove offers cozy cafes with coffee and buns, pubs, restaurants and a bunch of outdoor activities such as hiking and mountain biking (summer season) and it’s also possible to jump into the cold freezing water for a swim if you are up for it. Please, remember to bring a friend or two with you 🙂 Since Bowen Island is know for its nature I was recommended that we should go for a hike. Killarney Lake is located about 3 km from Snug Cove where you can chill and relax and enjoy being in nature. There is also a 8 km well known hiking loop around the lake for the ones that wants to explore the forest around the lake area. Then there is Mount Gardner, a 6km hiking trail (moderate level) where we have the chance to see wildlife along the trail. At the top of the mountain we will have a stunning viewpoint meanwhile sitting on cliffs 🙂  Let’s explore this island together 🙂 

Then I would like to recommend Lighthouse Park. The park is located in West Vancouver and you can easily hop on the bus from downtown to Lighthouse Parking lot. The Park is known for the historical Point Atikson Lighthouse, as well as other numerous excellent viewpoints along the shoreline of the park. Here you have a great chance to see seals and dolphins!! This trail is about 6 km long, an easy route and it takes about 2 hours to complete. The park offers an awesome viewpoint, wildlife, ocean vibe and a mystical vibe as well, especially on a rainy day during fall season. 

Please remember to bring comfortable clothes, hiking boots and a raincoat, we’re in ‘Raincouver’ after all and the weather may vary a lot 😉

Last but not least: A light festival at Bear Creek Park is coming up – also known as The Bear Creek Lights in Surrey. ‘Celebrate Nature at night by exploring stunning light displays set along beautiful nature trails at Bear Creek Park’. Hidden within is one of the lower mainland’s finest show gardens which set the stage for Bear Creek Lights. This festival runs from November 4th-18th (closed Remembrance Day on November 11th) 4.30pm-9.30pm. Get your free tickets in advance and be ready to experience an incredible evening surrounded by lights and nature 😉

To get to the park you can take the Expo-line to Surrey Central Station – there are busses from Surrey Central Station that run past the park. It takes about one hour to get there from Downtown to Bear Creek Park. 

Whatever you decide to do we wish you a nice weekend 🙂

Cheers

Ida

New ‘kids’ on the blog

We have new members of the INTERNeX family and we are so happy to have them here with us 🙂 Let me introduce you to them:

Let’s start with Emilie, she’s 19 years old from Munich in Germany. She is volunteering at a craft association here in Vancouver for four months where her duties will include working within social media, organizing events and working in a gallery. She says she would like to apply to study Interior design at a university in Germany, maybe Hanover. 

She chose Vancouver because of the combination of city and nature. It’s seems like the city has an easy access to almost everything – city-life with a bunch of restaurants and shopping and then the nature, which is just around the corner where you can ski and snowboard. She says that she would like to visit Whistler, lucky you!! INTERNeX plans to go to Whistler in the beginning of December, if we’re lucky, there will be a lot of snow. Fingers crossed! 😉 Since she has got the motorcycle license she would like to do a tour in the mountains on a motorcycle, so cool!!

For an answer of what her first impression of Vancouver is she says Vancouver is a big city and so different from back home. The public transport is a lot easier here than in her home country, the busses seems to be on time and that’s a big plus 🙂 

I asked her if she has a bucket list during her stay here in Canada and she says she wants to ‘go with the flow’ and wants to visit Whistler and Walmart 😉 After her time here in Canada she plans to move out from her current accommodation and plans to move in with a friend of hers. She mentioned she would like to travel and visit Turkey some day. Hobbies? She mentioned she has about twelve years experience in track and field, two years experience of volleyball, motorcycling, drawing, and painting. Bagels and pancakes are her favourite food and since she is here in Canada she should try pancakes with maple syrup, which is a big must-try while you are here, what do you think? 😉

Next up we have Hanna, she’s 18 years old from Berlin in Germany. She is volunteering in Gastown where she will work within event management and social media management for four months. 

She says she wants to stay in Berlin and considers applying for University after her stay in Canada. She says she always wanted to do an exchange year, and here she is currently living life in Vancouver. It is so cool how dreams come true. She says she wanted something different from home and Canada offers a great outdoor world and offers a great bunch of adventures. 

I asked her what her first impression of Vancouver is and she says its a beautiful city, nice view of how the city is surrounded by incredible nature and she also Imagined it to be more crowded than it is.  One of her goals is to explore the city as much as possible so one day she can live without google maps, haha 😉 She wants to experience Canadian lifestyle, go hiking and she hopes to have a great time here and wants to enjoy every second of what Vancouver has to offer. I am sure you will have a great time here, as members of INTERNeX we’ll make sure you’ll have the best time 🙂

Her plans after Canada: explore the East of Europe together with friends for about one month. She has about six years of experience in gymnastics and she likes to workout at the gym, reading, spending time with friends and family, thrift-shopping, visiting cozy cafes and partying with friends.  When it comes to her favourite food she says she likes sushi, Italian food and she loves all different kinds of bread, especially bread with hummus. Yummy yummy 😉

Last but not lest we have Vivienne, she’s 18 years old from Düsseldorf in Germany. She is volunteering at a Radio Station here in Vancouver for six months were her tasks will include hosting and she said it might even be possible for her to have her own ‘morning show’ at the radio station. How awesome is that?? 

She says she likes to travel, New York and Italy are two of many she has visited, with many more to come. After Canada she plans to either do an inter-rail trip together with her best friend for one or two months, or a work and travel somewhere in Europe next summer. She plans to apply for journalism in Cologne or in Berlin starting next fall. Travelling before school start is a great idea 😉 She chose Canada because the country seems to have it all – city-life, nature, ocean and all activities that comes with it. She says she always wanted to live in an English-speaking country and voila, here she is 😉 I won’t forget to mention, Vancouver is near the border of US and she sees many opportunities to see new places, not only in Canada, but also in the US 🙂

She always wanted to live abroad and this is proof that she followed her dreams. We at INTERNeX are so happy to have her here 🙂  I asked her what her first impression of Vancouver is and she mentioned that it feels like winter is around the corner. Yes, winter is coming. She mentioned that they had 20 degrees celsius in Germany last week. Such a huge difference, hahaha 🙂 The city itself is beautiful with cool architecture and a stunning view of mountains surrounding the city. 

I am sure many of you would like to know what’s on her bucket list: she would like to see a hockey game. Luck, INTERNeX is going to see a hockey game the 18th of November, let us know if you’d like to join!! She says she wants to skiing and explore the incredible nature we have in our backyard. She would like to go on a whale watching tour and to see an American football game and sometime during her stay here in Canada she plans to do a road trip together with her mom. She also wants to visit Seattle and Vancouver Island and I am sure she’ll see many beautiful places during her stay here in Vancouver 🙂 Hobbies? She likes to run, she has about ten years experience in track & field, she also likes to work out in the gym. What about her favourite food? She loves sushi and every kind of noodles and she wants to go with the flow when it comes to try out new food, food that she won’t find in Germany, such as poutine and Canadian chocolate during her stay here 🙂

These are our new kids on our blog, make sure to meet them at upcoming events and pub nights 🙂

Cheers 

Ida 

How was the weekend

Happy Halloween everyone! Another week has come to an end and I am so excited about everything this new week will bring us. But first I want to tell you about my last weekend:

Since it’s Halloween INTERNeX met up at a bar downtown last Saturday and had a costume contest where the candidates had the chance to win a pitcher or a shot for the best costume. It was hard for us to decide so we all won a shot, haha 😉 It was so cool to see how Vancouver celebrates Halloween. Everyone wore cool costumes and looked like they were in an act or something 😉 We had some drinks and fries to snack on while having a nice time celebrating 🙂

Around 8pm we took the skytrain to Burnaby to experience a Halloween event known as ‘Pumpkins after Dark’. It took place next to a stadium in a big park. The event presented a huge amount of carved pumpkins in which well-known characters glow in the dark, it was like walking through a museum with some music and sound effects that fitted the carvings, some of which were quite spooky! It’s Canada’s award-winning outdoor event with over 6000 hand-carved pumpkins and it was definitely a cool experience. Today is the last chance to see them, so if you missed out, you should go and see it for yourself!

The rest of the weekend I was mostly in the area where I live. I was recommended to go to Main Street because of its shopping and great food, so I decided to go there. I found some second-hand stores along the street. I really love the small, cozy stores and I ended up buying a shirt 😉 If you are into second-hand shopping, please, let me know if you know any other second-hand stores here in Vancouver!  

I hope you had a great weekend, I can’t wait to hear all about it on Pub Night this Wednesday 🙂

Cheers 

Ida