Canadian way of life =)

Hehe ja bin es fliessigs... 


as i told you in my last blog, i went to the bank for opening a bank account. so on monday i had my appointment with Tissany and she advised me about the different accounts they have. 
first thing you have to learn about canadian way of life, you have to pay for everything you want (and sometimes even for the thing you can't do anything about it; for example an incoming phone call)
the transactions on you bank account are limited... for example i can do 25 transactions and for each more than that i have to pay. 
then instead of sending you a personal bank card you just get an impersonal one... they take on out of their shelves and that's it. further for you online banking you just need the number of your bank card and a password... very secure... :P haha 


if you want to rent an apartment in canada you don't have to make a contract. 
when we visited our apartment, the owner told us, if you want to rent it, you can do that, you were the first ones which wrote me, so if you want, it's yours. so no contract - no signature - noooothing. but we insisted on making a contract, just in case... 
because we were afraid of getting kicked out because of the olympics. several friends, without contract, were kicked out so that the owners can rent the apartment for more to make good money. 


canadian don't like contract, so you neither have one at work. after my interview at prospect point my boss said, oh you are employed, you will earn 9.50.- / hour and start on Saturday... that was it. no notice for quitting and so... by the way the normal wage here is between 8-12 .- sooo not really much. 


oh and if you use public transport, please line-up... canadians line-up for everything... waiting for a bus, get into a club, waiting for a table in a restaurant, waiting to get into a store on boxing day... i guess it's common to wait one or two hours just to get into a club... why not...


and if not today, then tomorroaw.... maaaybe... 
hunting for a job is really hard in canada.
sometimes you can just write e-mails because there is no phone number or name of the company... so if you write an e-mail you can't do anything else than wait... 
maybe they will write you, maybe not... and most times you won't hear anything... 


every time you enter a shop you will be warm welcomed and asked how it is going... =) 
most of the people here are very friendly =) 


aber canadier sind au seeeehr diskriminierend... es git jo eich vier maskottli fürd olympiade, aber isch üch scho mal ufgfall dass de mukmuk isch entweder nie uf de werbig oder den nur ganz chli :P isch doch fies :P 


to be continued... =) mue iz go volley spiele 

chile meets vancouver =) vs. ikea makes you feel home... =)

friday before a week we were lucky to welcome some guests from chile =) Arturo and Diego =) 
the same evening we had a party which was for once more hilarious =) sooooo great =) 
my friends are just awesome! 


on the weekend i had to work... and it was okay... 


on monday i went to school as usual. but i changed my planes. 
i will finish school this week and then i will work and go back to school in april or march for private lessons. so that i can get prepared for the CPE test. 


by the way by the end of this week or beginning of the next we will get our results from the CAE test. 


monday evening i met andre =) he brought me a gift from my lovely friends =) 
they sent me a looooot of chocolate, my favourite toothpaste and aromat =) 
you are soooooo great! i love you all! and i really miss you! 


ooooh on tuesday i went to ikea with mario to buy a bookcase for our den =) 
when i was walking through ikea i felt like home =) it was greeeat! 


ooooh i have some bad news... =( there is NOOOOO snow in vancouver... can you believe that? the mountains around vancouver are closed... and they are trying to collect all the snow from cypress to prepare the runs for the olympics.... 


on wednesday we took a yoga class with our class :P and honestly it was a bit exhausting :P 
and that evening it was the last day in vancouver for diego and arturo so we went to cambie to enjoy the last evening. guys you are great! ;) 


on thursday i just went to school and after that i slept the whole afternoon because i was soooooo tired and feeling blah, because since the january 3rd i haven't had one day off. so i am really looking forward to monday in a week when i will sleep all day long. =) 


on friday i got really depressed, when i went to the bank and just said these few words : hi i would like to open a bank account! the man behind the desk asked me if i was from germany... my accent must be soooooooo bad... =( but actually that man lived in switzerland for a few months... 
in the evening i watched "youth in revolt" in the cinema =) susanne and me really enjoyed that movie. 


yesterday i was working again =) 
so did i today =) 


(sooo wie immer föteli chömet de nu =) het aber glaub ned so viil) 

micha - THE kitchen helper

You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.

On January, 5th Fernando and me went to the cinema to watch Sherlock Holmes. Although it was really hard to understand everything they said, especially the chemical reactions, the movie was really good. 
There were some gripping scenes and blowing special effects. =) 


A day later I had my job interview at Prospect Point. 
I applied for a position as a kitchen helper... hahaha... 
Luckily everything went good and I am finally employed =) 
On my way home from the Interview, I must be mentioned that this restaurant is in Stanley Park near the Lions Gate Bridge, I enjoyed the beauty of this park. 
An hour later we were on our ways to Grouse Mountain, where I continued to learn snowboarding. It was hilarious. =) 
My aim was to be able to get off the chairlift by the end of the day. Unfortunately i didn't reach my goal. =( 
on the last run i fell really hard and I almost couldn't walk anymore not to mention sit. =) 
I've already posted the link of my great video of how I got off the chairlift =) 


on thursday I just went to school. that day i didn't feel very good because of my pain all over my body... 
so i went to bed in the afternoon and slept the whole day :P 


'hot dog eating contest' 
Tamwood's friday activity was the hot dog eating contest =) who can eat the most hot dogs in 10minutes?
i must say the first one was really good but after 3 more it tasted sooo bad... so i ate 4.5 hot dogs in 10min. 
but that was nothing in comparence with the boys. one mexican guy scoffed 11 hot dogs. 
you might think that i hadn't eaten more that day, but that's completely wrong.... =) 


that evening we wachted Scrubs, which is my new addiction =) 


and then i was time to face the real life, it was saturday and it was my first day of work in Canada. =) 
the people at Prospect Point are really nice. they are great =) 
the work i have to do is okay... but anyway it's fun to work there. 


i had to work the whole weekend. but whenever i work there i can eat their meals, which are soooo delicious =) 
this is the link, for those who want to know, what we are cooking: 


http://www.prospectpoint.ca/Prospect_Point/Restaurant.html


last monday i was playing volleyball with my co-worker from prospect point =) 
i was sooooo much fun, then i recognised that i miss it really much. 
from now on we will play volleyball every monday =) wuuuuuhu 


the day before yesterday all the renters of apt.2301, 602 citadel parade, went to cinema together, which was nearly a 'once in a lifetime exprience' =) because it's really seldom that everyone is at home as all of us have to work.
we watched the amazing movie 'leap year'. it was an absolutely romantic film =) but soooooo good =) 


yesterday evening was terrific =) 
our neighbours and all of us went to cambie for a drink =) 
when we got there it was already sooo crowded that we had the pleasure to share a table 
with two awesome canadian guys. 
we were having a great time and then it happen. 
one of these canadians peed into the pitcher right at the table. and when they left they just told us not to drink this 'water'.... haha soooooo gross. 


(wie s letscht mal scho, bini au jetzt z fuul zumd föteli ufe lade will ich muen iz umbedingt is bettli =) aber die chömet de schono ) 

mmmmh... ja die erste sind nu fein gsi

nachene ischsm au neme so guet gange

eeeeen guete =) 

sooooo geseht mer nachene us! haha gell susle =) 

Lions Gate Bridge 

hehe... cambie =) 

hmmm... irgendswie sind die arme chli komisch :P

i wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year =)

wow the holidays were great =) 


on christmas eve had an international christmas :P 
we organised a buffet in our apartment and everyone who joined our party brought specialities from their own country. so we have a huge variety of different kind of foods. it was great =) 
and of course there was a big party in our apartment.... (as always...) 


as the amercian tradition we unwrapped our presents on christmas day... on the 25th in the morning there were a few gifts beyond the "christmas tree".
later that day i was invited to have dinner with my ex host family. 
it was marvelous.... =) we started to eat at 3pm and ate until 11pm =) but it was sooo delicious. and the relatives are soooo nice. 
i felt (almost) like home =) 


and then... the biiig biig day... haha 
december 26th.... booxing day. 
okay it wasn't that special, i thought i would be like hell, like everyone would run around and fight for clothes and shoes ( like in the movies)... 
the stores were crowded and in front of brand stores there were huge line-up's, but the prices weren't that good actually... 
just a some items were reduced... so we didn't spend as much money as we expected. 


on sunday we went to stanley park with our neighbours (mario and claudio) and our Swiss friends, Michaela and Urs. 
we hired city cruisers... funny bicycles... :P 
and our aim was to find raccoons to feed them with chips. 
so that wasn't a really hard task. if you found one, the whole family came to you. and they were anything but shy... once they touched marios camera... haha :P 


for the first time of my life i had to go to school between christmas and new years... 
it was strange... but that's why the time flew... 


so new years eve was knocking on the door. 
we had a Swiss party =) there were 6 Swiss people, Andrea, Fabian, Mario, Claudio, Thomas and me, and there was Katie =) our German friend. 
we had a mouthwatering raclette for dinner =) it was yummy =) 
after this excellent meal we played some games (6nimmt oder so) and drunk a bit of alcohol. and listened to the agahte bauer songs... =) (wenn au mal wötsch lose, gan uf youtube und sueche agathe bauer geschichte, isch dr hammr) 
we had a lot of fun... it was a unforgettable evening... =) (some know more from the night and some less... :P ) 
even some people did sports that night... they played tonsil hockey... =) haha


during the first day of the year we didn't do anything exhausting, we just hung around and talked about our amazing times here in canada. 
to finish that lazy day we went to the cinema to watch "the chipmunks" they are great. i can recommend that movie =) 


yesterday was Andrea's and Fabian's last day in Vancouver. so we went out for dinner =) 
ah by the way i got a snowboard from Susanne, another Swiss friend, she bought a new one and gave me her old one. so i just had to buy the bindings, because Andrea gave me her snowboard boots since she didn't had enough space in her suitcase to take them back to Switzerland. 
back to the evening. so after our dinner in White Spot we went back to our apartment.
and in front of the other Spectrum Tower were around 3 ambulances, 2 firefighter cars and around 4 or 5 police cars. some men sat on the flower with handcuffs. 
unfortunately i don't know what happen, but after 20 minutes all the police cars, ambulances and fire fighers drove away... :P 


today i went snowboarding on Grouse Mountain. =) 
the view was breath-taking. we saw whole vancouver, parts of vancouver island and even some mountains from the united states. =) 
since i am still not a profi snowboarder i fell down many times and now everything hurts :P 


soooo it's midnight i have to learn for our test tomorrow and go to bed :P 
ou, i forgot something important... on wednesday I will have my first job interview... =) 


and last but not least, i just want to say hello to all who read my blog =) thank you... 
liebs grüessli as grosi =)

juuhu wienachte

esse bi de gastfamilie

da isch de nebel langsam chu

und nachere hets so usgseh =) 

hmm fatamorgana... oder isch dete würkli es huus im hindrgrund =) 

velo fahre im stanley park =)

herzigi waschbärli =) 

sogar am claudio essets us de händ...

schöne guete morge =) 

silvester =) i like your moustache =) 

mmmmhh... raclette =) 

gschenkli us de tischbombe =) 

so chönd chnüü usgseh nachem boarde...

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1315159765790&ref=mf

amaaaazing... =) rocky mountains....

last tuesday we were on a few job fairs, but as always we didn't hear anything until now... 
it's getting a little bit depressing. but we won't give up... tomorrow we are going on tour again... one day we must be lucky... 


on wednesday i was at school... and in the afternoon we went to stanely park to see the "beautiful" christmas lights. 
unfortunately i forget my camera but i was typically amercian like always. =) 


on thursday after school we booked our snowboard lessons for the rockies =) and i had to pack all my things because we left on friday. 


friday morning at 7 o'clock we left for a awesome rocky mountains tour. 
it was great. our first stop was in a village named "hope"... in this village they filmed the movie rambo... it's a cute little village. it was exactely what i expected from a canadian village in the country side. soooo beautiful =) 
after a few more hours driving we arrived in kamloops where we ate lunch. 
then we drove through the canadian desert and yoho national park. 
in the evening we went snow tubing. it was sooo funny =) 
the tubes were sooo fast =) 
after an hour fun we checked-in in our first hotel in golden. 


on saturday we had to stand up early because we drove to lake louise. 
lake louise is sooo beautiful... amaaaazing...
some of us skated on the lake and the others walked around the frozen lake. 
i walked through the snow and on the ice =) 
we made "schneeball schlacht" against the spanish boys. it was soooo much fun! 
later we continued our journey to banff. =) 
in banff we took the condola to go to the top of the mountain. it was a breathtaking view. 
and the weather was sooooo nice. the sun was shining =) and i got my first sunburn in Canada. 
the gondola was made in Switzerland =) wuuuhu... but it was soooo funny. the had to abut on the gonodola that it moved. haha =)
in the evening we went out, to the only night club in banff =) 
after some hours dancing we had to go home because the disco closed at 2 o'clock. 
tamara, natalia, pili and I waited on the street for a taxi. 
then a white car with blue and red stripes was about to drive past, so tamara an me stand on the street that it stops so that we can get in. 
so we called the others that a taxi is here and we wanted to go to the car. buuuut suddenly the car drove away, so i thought it was an idiot of a taxi driver. 
we were claming and grumbling... but then tamara recognised that it wasn't a taxi but a police car... hahahaha 
when we arrived at the hotel we were soooo tired that we wanted to go to bed imediately. but the door of our room was closed.... but why that... 
hehe.... sometimes boys and girls are going come together... :P 
so we waited a couple of minutes in the lobby and when we came back we could go to bed, fortunately =) 


the next day our trip was leading us to the most beautiful village i've ever seen, to Panorama Mountain Village. 
It's a cute little, little village. In the rental shop, the man who rented me the snowboard things was a Swiss guy =) what a coincidence. =) 
so we made our way to the mountain to try us on the snowboard. it was my first time. 
but it was great. i really like to snowboard although it was very exhausting. 
after this hard afternoon we unwound in the local hot spring. it was awesome. 
we were supposed to have a bonfire and delicious marshmallows =) but the hotel forgot to make a fire. so we went back to the hotel and drunk a little bit of alcohol :P 


and on monday we drove back to vancouver! it was a really, really great experience. 
i love the rocky mountains =) soooo awesome. 


today katie, marielle and me went to the botanic garden. hehe unfortunaltey there were not many flowers. koooooomisch =) but it was amusing. =) 

cute village

hope

last spike

kicking horse

golden

wuuhuuu snow

lake louise

=)

sooo nice

chateau of lake lousie

banff

snowboard profi =) haha

panorama

bye host family - welcome b. apartment =)

last wednesday we had had our big exam... 
i think it was okay... i don't feel like it was very bad but also not very good... 
so i have to wait to the end of january to receive my results :P 


after the exam we went to the old spaghetti factory with our class. together for the last time.. =( 
certantily we went out that evening but everyone was so exhausted from the exams that we went home early. 


on thursday was my first day in general english classes :P 
it is soooooo different from the CAE classes. but we can learn a lot :P 
in the evening i went with my host family for a walk to see the "beautiful" christmas lights on the different houses in our neighbourhood. 
(i will upload a video, if it works :P ) 


on friday we had our big big big party =) 
it was great and our apartment was veeeery crowded :P i think it was the greatest party ever in vancouver =) 
it was loads of fun =) 


the day after we went to the airport, again =( 
our philipp left, to go back to beautiful switzerland. 
i hate good byes... 


later that day another hard good bye...

i had my last dinner with my lovely host family =) 

it was soooo good =) marta cooked potatos, peas and carottes for me and a big steak. =) 

but i can always go back to my family and they said that i will be always welcomed with open arms. 

yesterday thomas and i went shopping in metrotown :P 

we needed to buy clothes for the cold cold rocky mountains :P 

wuuuhu i can't wait to go to the rockies. today i heard that we will be around 30 students from tamwood. i will be sooooo much fun and sooo cold :P 

a swiss friend of mine is in the rockies now and she just wrote me, that they have a lot lot of snow and around -25 degrees :P 

by the way, we still couldn't find a job =( 

but tomorrow we are going to go to a few other job fairs... maybe we will be lucky this time. 

soooo have a nice day =)

lovely CAE class =)

boys boys boys =)

cheeeeeese =)

paaaardaay

my host dad =)

my host mum =)

bitterly coooooold =)

this week i wasn't lazy at all... 


on last tuesday we had a speaking exam with our school manager =) 
my roomy natalia was my speaking partner and we did very well.
we also decorated the christmas tree unfortunately our teacher couldn't find popcorn without butter. so we had to decorate the tree without popcorns. =( 



then on wednesday was our big day. the real speaking exam was on the program.
we had to wait in a class room until our names were called and then we could go an show off with our speaking knowledge =) 
fortunately i was in the first group. and what a coincidence, natalia was my speaking partner =) we had a lot of fun during the speaking =) 
that evening we wanted to go to ceilis... but like always the line up was sooooo long that we didn't go. 
so we stayed at home and had our own home party =) 


on thursday we only were 5 students at school =) 
so we chilled out more or less the whole day :P 
in the last lesson we went to Blenz coffee to enjoy a great caramel latte =) 


a day later on friday, was our graduation =) 
which was great =) but also sad. 
i am not leaving tamwood but i will miss my class so much. 
my classmates were the best which you could have wished.  (ken plan öb de satz richtig isch :P  ) 
after school, pili and me went to grouse mountain with some other students =) 
it was sooooooo coooold up there =) even though it was great. for the first time in canada i have seen snow =) that made me so happy, because i really miss the snow and i was told that we won't have any snow here downtown =( 
so we rented skates and went ice skating on the frozen pond =) 
as when our toe's were frozen we changed our skates with our boots and walked to the beaver tail stand =) where we enjoyed a hot cider and a beaver tails. :P
soorry i can't explain what it was like, but it was really delicious. yammy yammy =) 
after a few hours we took the gondola back to the valley :P 
it seemed that we were lucky because the bus was waiting there and was supposed to leave in a few seconds, but unfortunately pili and me hadn't had enough coins to pay the ticket and they don't accept bills. so we had to go to starbucks to break a bill... 
but the bus driver was sooooo rude and drove away. so we had to wait an hour only because we didn't had 2.50 in coins right then. 


the whole week we have had beautiful weather with sunshine everyday. 
soooo we took advantage of this weather and went to capilano on saturday. 
in capilano is the suspension bridge and a little rain forrest =) 
it was amazing. =) have a look at my pictures =) 


on sunday was the santa claus parade. 
it wasn't very weihnachtlich... =) more advertisement than christmas. andere länder andere sitten :P 
but to keep a swiss tradition i baked some "grittibänz" for my roomies and me =) 


yesterday we stayed the whole day at home and "studied" =) haha... we tried to... :P 
in the evening we were invited to have dinner with the host family of Philipp another swiss student. they cooked some really delicious swiss food =) 
i felt like home =) it was great. 


today we went to a few job fairs. it's soooo hard to find a job here. i didn't expect it to be soo hard. i hope we will find something soon. 


as you may know tomorrow is our big CAE exam, the written papers. 
=) so i will let you know how it was ;) 


have a nice day =) 
und meld di mal =) wöött au wüsse wies ide schwiiz so lauf und üch so goht ;) 

our lovely teacher =) and pili and me

beaver tails

our christmas tree

graduation

on the way to capilano

that's fernando =) 

the bridge

the rainforrest =) aaaamaazing

our gaaang :P haha

santa claus parade :P