Year Review – Part 1

Finally a new Blogpost. I know you must miss the daily INTERNeX Blogpost incredibly over the holidays. And because we don’t want you to be too heartbroken, we have something very special prepared for you in the upcoming days:
As the year of 2019 is coming to an end, this is the perfect opportunity to take a look at what happened the past year. There were truly some great highlights and events, that made the year 2019 very special. So we should take a closer look at the past months and thank everybody who made it as special as it was.

First of all, we have to point out, what a great group of people joined the INTERNeX family this year. So many who decided to spent this very outstanding time in their life along side of INTERNeX, thanks for being as great as you are. We are sure the experiences you made here in Canada (or the ones you will be making) will stay for a lifetime!
Furthermore we had a great group of PR-Coordinators making everything possible, organizing trips and events and just making this time unforgettable. And of course, thanks to the partners of ours that also put in a big impact of this very successful year!
The year started with Jasmin, coming all the way from Finland and taking over the job of the first PR-Coordinator in 2019. Starting from there we had a lot of stuff coming up, to keep everyone busy and well entertained. Thank you for doing a great job. Unfortunately I never got to meet you in person, but I heard many stories :-D. You will never be forgotten <3.
As the weeks passed by there was one major highlight coming up. The INTERNeX-crew made their way to Seattle, to smell some American Air for a change. Together with West-Trek the INTERNeXer got to leave Vancouver and see one of the most beautiful cities ever (right behind Vancouver of course ;)). Since I am only summarizing this, you are more than welcome to check out the whole story around it, the following link, will bring youright away to the post about it (https://internexcanada.wordpress.com/2019/03/18/how-was-your-weekend-91/). Last but not least, the INTERNeXer got to attend a very special event in Vancouver. The Fashion Week, and I am not talking about just any Fashion Week, but THE Fashion Week. If you are all about it, this was definitely a very exciting event. As the year continuous any other highlights were just waiting ahead.
More photos will always be provided on the Instagram profile, so just in case you are not one of our followers yet, make sure to do so >> internexcanada 🙂

Our journey through 2019 will continue soon.

Until then, I hope you are having a great time and Happy Holiday everyone!

– Nadja xx

International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

 

215 days of action

215 days. That sounds like a long time. But I can tell you – my past 215 days passed by incredibly fast! Now, it is time to say goodbye to INTERNeX, Vancouver and of course, to you!

“Welcome to INTERNeX Canada!” How often did I hear this voice of our lovely orientation video? Many, many times! When I got to see the video for the first time in January, I did not know what kind of adventure was awaiting me. Every time I have seen the video from then on, I have met new people from all over the world. Some, I only saw once, but with others, I have spent so much time together. I am happy that I can call a whole bunch of them my friends now.

215 days – and I spent not one of them entirely at home. There was always something going on. At least one INTERNeX event per weekend and a long bucket list kept me busy. Skiing in winter was an absolute highlight for me. It’s awesome to leave the house in the morning in skiing clothes and just take a bus to the local mountains! Kelowna, Mount Seymour, Cypress Mountain, Whistler – all beautiful destinations to hit the slope. I am glad that I always had a cool crew with me who made these days even more fun.

But also when the snow had already melted, I spent much time outside. Hiking, biking, kayaking, ziplining, surfing… BC offers many great opportunities to do so and I enjoyed exploring pretty parks, beaches and lakes. I also loved to spend time in the city and to scratch the typical tourist attractions from my bucket list. The weekly INTERNeX events were always a fun way to spend the weekend and discover Vancouver together.

However, Wednesday became my favourite day of the week. Chats, drinks, bingo and karaoke – I loved meeting the gang with old and new members every Wednesday night. Not only during the week, but also in the weekends there has always been a reason to go for ‘a pint’ and discover Vancouver by night.

As part of the PR-gang, I was also responsible for organizing a couple of weekend trips for you. “Back to nature” was the motto of both of my trips. The first one brought us to Salt Spring Island in March, where we spent the weekend in a huge house in the middle of nowhere. I will not forget all the laughs we had in the cozy outdoor hot tub where we squeezed in 14 people and our cider tasting in a beautiful scenery.

The other island trip just happened in July – our adventure on Vargas Island. What a journey! Struggling with lighting up the campfire, looking up into the beautiful sky full of stars, eating loads of schnäcks, cheering for everyone who was able to stand on the surfboard for a second – these are memories I will take home with me. I hope you guys are going to wear your Schnäckqueen/king shirts with pride. And don’t forget: no matter what, we will always have Vargas!

During the past 215 days, I have learned a lot: about the polite Canadians and how they say ‘thank you’ when leaving the bus; the rules of hockey and of many international card games; the three different words you can use to order a beer in Swedish; how to dance to country songs and so much more. And of course, I have learned the most important rule as a future leisure manager: Expect the unexpected!

In- and outside the office, I enjoyed the past months to the fullest. I am very glad that I had the chance to experience my Canadian adventure with the people I met here. It would not have been the same without YOU! A huge thanks also to the INTERNeX team who made me feel welcome from day one. That was easy!

The first reunions are already planned and I am excited to meet you again somewhere in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Brazil or maybe even back in Vancouver. Until then, make the most out of your time in this beautiful country.

See you soon!

– 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

 

HIGHLIGHTS REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2015: April, May, June

APRIL

In our first review post last week we started talking about what was going on in the first three months of the year; let’s have a look what we did in April, May and June!

April started with another new INTERNeX-PR-Coordinator-face who joined the INTERNeX community: Natasja, a 23-year-old student from the Netherlands, who came to Vancouver for doing a practicum as part of her Bachelor study program. As a PR Coordinator she was responsible for organizing trips in and outside Vancouver, organizing Pub NiGHTS but also the contact person when a candidate encountered difficulties.

Especially our weekly Pub NiGHTS give our interns the opportunity to meet new people and extend their social network. Pub NiGHTS at Blarney Stone, Marlone’s, The Lamplighter, Steamworks Brew Pub and The Cambie are always popular. Therefore we certainly had to show our new arrivals the ‘hottest’ pubs in town.
MAY

The long weekend in May offered our candidates the perfect opportunity to join the four-day trip to the Rockies. INTERNeX usually goes to the Rockies with West Trek twice a year; once in spring and then later in the year where we experience a part of the Canadian Rockies. The itinerary is basically the same: we first stopped in Hope, Kamloops, then Valmont, Jasper, Golden and Banff. Among others we visited Mount Robson, the Last Spike, Lake Louise and many other highlights you need to see when you are in the Rockies. To make a long story short we saw tons of gorgeous places and had an amazing time with our tour guide who we called Papa Wolf. To get more information about our Rockies trip, click here for INTERNeX goes Rockies – Part 1 and here for INTERNeX goes Rockies Part 2.

Other than going to the Rockies we also set up Pub NiGHTS every week. For instance we participated in the Trivia Night at Moose Down Under. Surprisingly, we did not know a lot of answers, but I don’t think that affected the fun we had!
JUNE

Vancouver is a very multicultural city therefore it has a lot of cultural diversity to offer. In the middle of June the annual Powel Street Festival, a special Japanese-Canadian festival, was on and exhibited Japanese art, culture and heritage. I know … doesn’t sound that interesting but you get the chance to learn something about the Asian culture in the heart of Vancouver. AND, as you probably already noticed, Vancouver has a huge Asian community that means a lot of people are proud to present a part of their history.

Additionally one of Vancouver’s largest and most well known festivals called Celebration of Lights, an annual musical fireworks competition with an estimated attendance of 1.4 million people each year, started in June.

The forecast for the last weekend in June promised good weather. And there we go! We had sun, blue sky and around 30°C the entire weekend. That called for a BBQ! Everyone brought food, drinks and snacks. Chris brought a volleyball and Laura a Frisbee so we could throw around. Proudly I can say that we enjoyed the summer to the fullest!

Another highlight in June was the appearance of Amiel, a 24-year-old student from Germany in his senior year working on his Bachelor in International Business Administration, who supported Natasja with the different tasks a PR Coordinator has to face. Hey Amiel!

HIGHLIGHTS REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2015: January, February, March

JANUARY

2014 was gone … and 2015 was packed with a lot of great trips and events!

The last four weeks of 2015 have been starting and that means it’s time for us to start reviewing the highlights of this year. Within the next four weeks we will weekly publish a ‘highlights of the year review’ in which we’ll summarize the four quarters of 2015 full of awesome activities. I’m sure it’ll be quite a lot of fun remembering all the crazy and awesome trips, events and PUB NiGHTS we had planned and experienced with people from all around the world. So DON’T MISS this time journey through 2015.

Among others we checked out several restaurants and pubs such as The ROXY Burger, Star Wings & Ribs, the Noodlebox and The Famous Warehouse.

The very first day in January the Vancouver Canucks started in their second half of the season 2014 / 2015. The excitement was obvious all over town! As you probably know, hockey is huge here in Canada.

 

FEBRUARY

Besides of going to several good known restaurants and pubs such as The Old Spaghetti Factory, The Morrissey and The Black Frog we also didn’t miss the Super Bowl. It’s THE BIGGEST sport event in the world. This year the Seattle Seahawks played against the New England Patriots in Arizona and therefore we met up to watch the game together. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks, 28–24, to earn their fourth Super Bowl title. We actually cheered for the Seahawks since Seattle is so close to Vancouver and the folks there are so similar to those here in Vancouver. Friendly, openminded, helpful, honest, interested, cosmopolitan, … Anyways the win was pretty close.

MARCH

As the cherry blossoms and many other flowers filled our streets, parks, and yards with pink confetti, March arrived and by association spring. And as always there was a lot going on in beautiful Vancouver.

Vancouver hosted the 37^th Vancouver International Wine Festival and an International Dance Festival. Our INTERNeX group regularly met up for our weekly PUB NiGHTS. We decided to have a look what other pubs have plenty to offer. So we took our new arrivals to pubs like the Manchester Public Eatery, The Bismark, The Doolin’s and the Yaletown Brewing. Of course we also had to show them Blarney Stone.

 

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 9N9-
Web: internexcanada.wordpress.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

Review: Stand up paddling, Granville Island

Last Saturday we went to Granville Island to do stand up paddling. So, what is stand up paddling? Well, basically it’s you getting equipped with a big surfboard and a paddle, and then off you go to the water trying to keep your balance on the board while paddling. Well, actually it was a bit more than just that.

We met up in front of the Ecomarine Paddlesport Centre at Granville Island half an hour before doing the stand up paddling. We all had to sign a few documents, change to proper clothing for the activity, and of course get equipped with a paddle. After this we went to a small habour where we got our life wests and boards. Since we were nine people for this activity, we had to split up in two groups. However, this didn’t matter. When not doing the stand up paddling yourself, it was great fun to watch the other group.

Before paddling out on our great adventure we had a quick tutorial in how to stay calm and keep control while paddling in the area of Granville Island and Sunset Beach. As we went out on water it was definitely exciting and sometimes a bit challenging to navigate in between some smaller boats. However, almost all of us managed to stay on the board. This was definitely a fun experience. For those of you who didn’t have the chance to join this activity surely it can be recommended to try it out! Also remember that you’ll have the opportunity for joining another great activity this Saturday, September 13th, as we’ll be playing laser tag at Laserdome in North Vancouver.

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