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Mittwoch, 10. August 2011
Opening a bank account and the first training session at Public Outreach
canadiantour, 09:17h
Tuesday, Aug 9
I got up at 8 am and had the spontaneous decision to have breakfast at the same sun again =D My appointment at the bank was at 10 am. It took about half an hour to settle everything with my new bank account with already 20 CAD on it xD =D i have to have some reserve money on it in order to be able to pay the monthly fee of 4 CAD. In this way I have 10 transactions for free. Otherwise I always would have to pay 1 CAD for each transaction... everything costs sth. in Canada! ^^
(In the evening I checked my internet banking and everything works fortunately =) ).
I dropped in to the SWAP office shortly to read some information about UNICEF ( the organization i will fundraise for when i got the job at Public Outreach). The farm near Whistler and the one on Vancouver Island have still offered to host me, by the way. That's why I had some difficulties to make a decision, as I had now 3 possibilities for the future time (fundraising job in Vancouver, farm near Whistler for a week, farm on V. I. For a longer time). I decided to try to postpone the fundraiser job in vancouver a bit.
The training at noon was quite nice and was pretty alike the one of the Bund Naturschutz in Germany. I learned lots about UNICEF and communication tools.
I talked to the manager whether it is possible to postpone the training for about a month and he said that its only possible for a week. So that means altogether, that i will work on the farm near whistler for a week and then come back for the fundraiser job in vancouver. At least i could combine two things of three =) =D But i still hope that i can go to that other farm on V. I. Someday.
I met Stefan again for a while, eating my first crepe with maple sirup, but we both went home quite early, as we were both quite tired =D I did some other stuff, like writing the blog and some postcards, until i finally went to bed – NOW =D
I got up at 8 am and had the spontaneous decision to have breakfast at the same sun again =D My appointment at the bank was at 10 am. It took about half an hour to settle everything with my new bank account with already 20 CAD on it xD =D i have to have some reserve money on it in order to be able to pay the monthly fee of 4 CAD. In this way I have 10 transactions for free. Otherwise I always would have to pay 1 CAD for each transaction... everything costs sth. in Canada! ^^
(In the evening I checked my internet banking and everything works fortunately =) ).
I dropped in to the SWAP office shortly to read some information about UNICEF ( the organization i will fundraise for when i got the job at Public Outreach). The farm near Whistler and the one on Vancouver Island have still offered to host me, by the way. That's why I had some difficulties to make a decision, as I had now 3 possibilities for the future time (fundraising job in Vancouver, farm near Whistler for a week, farm on V. I. For a longer time). I decided to try to postpone the fundraiser job in vancouver a bit.
The training at noon was quite nice and was pretty alike the one of the Bund Naturschutz in Germany. I learned lots about UNICEF and communication tools.
I talked to the manager whether it is possible to postpone the training for about a month and he said that its only possible for a week. So that means altogether, that i will work on the farm near whistler for a week and then come back for the fundraiser job in vancouver. At least i could combine two things of three =) =D But i still hope that i can go to that other farm on V. I. Someday.
I met Stefan again for a while, eating my first crepe with maple sirup, but we both went home quite early, as we were both quite tired =D I did some other stuff, like writing the blog and some postcards, until i finally went to bed – NOW =D
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Three interviews are exhausting – the first step to my first job – going to the movies
canadiantour, 09:14h
Monday, Aug 8
The next day I got an e-mail by the farm near whistler, where i wanted to stay the next week, saying that it might be that their current wwoofer stays longer than expected. That made me feel a bit uneasy again, as it seemed that everything turns out to be not working in the end. But well, trying to be still confident, i went to downtown vancouver by skytrain.
I dropped in a few more stores and shops my resume and i visited the address i was given by a fundraiser last week. I introduced myself at that office/company called Public Outreach, dropped my resume and they invited me at once to an interview at 01.30 pm. So untill it started some time was left and i went to a restaurant called “Soup Zone”; it was advertised on the internet that they might hire people. I found out that i am supposed to have a certificate for serving food. So again something i have not expected to be confronted with. Still i left my resume there and returned to Public Outreach for the interview.
It was an interview in a group of 4 and it was quite ok. I could use my experiences with the Bund Naturschutz job pretty good, so i hoped that it might work this time.
After the interview i met Stefan shortly untill i got called by the manger of soup zone to come along again for an interview. So i went there again. The summary of that interview is that he said that he actually has got a job for me, but i have to stay for 10 month at least. Well, that was a bit controversial, for i wanted the job of course, but couldnt lie to him that ill stay that long if i will not.
So i was honest and said that i will not stay 10 months, but rather 2 or 3. It was clear that i did not have any chance anymore – he said that he might keep me in mind for a part time job, indeed, but i dont think that he will call me again.
So i had to hurry a little bit to get to the 3rd interview near my new hostel at 5 pm. In the meantime I got called by Public Outreach, inviting me to the first training session at the next day at noon.
So that was the first start of getting my first job. Still i went to the 3rd interview of course, which passed by similarly like the one at Soup Zone.
Before heading downtown again, I made an appointment at the TD-Bank for the day in order to open a bank account. I met Stefan at the Same sun and we went out to the Chinese Garden. Of course, it was already closed. Instead we watched some people playing professional Frisbee (in fact, there are Frisbee games) and went to the movies at around 8.15 pm. We watched the movie “Super 8”, which was funny and weird at the same time xD It ended at around 10.30 pm – time to go home and recover from the exhausting interviews ;) =)
The next day I got an e-mail by the farm near whistler, where i wanted to stay the next week, saying that it might be that their current wwoofer stays longer than expected. That made me feel a bit uneasy again, as it seemed that everything turns out to be not working in the end. But well, trying to be still confident, i went to downtown vancouver by skytrain.
I dropped in a few more stores and shops my resume and i visited the address i was given by a fundraiser last week. I introduced myself at that office/company called Public Outreach, dropped my resume and they invited me at once to an interview at 01.30 pm. So untill it started some time was left and i went to a restaurant called “Soup Zone”; it was advertised on the internet that they might hire people. I found out that i am supposed to have a certificate for serving food. So again something i have not expected to be confronted with. Still i left my resume there and returned to Public Outreach for the interview.
It was an interview in a group of 4 and it was quite ok. I could use my experiences with the Bund Naturschutz job pretty good, so i hoped that it might work this time.
After the interview i met Stefan shortly untill i got called by the manger of soup zone to come along again for an interview. So i went there again. The summary of that interview is that he said that he actually has got a job for me, but i have to stay for 10 month at least. Well, that was a bit controversial, for i wanted the job of course, but couldnt lie to him that ill stay that long if i will not.
So i was honest and said that i will not stay 10 months, but rather 2 or 3. It was clear that i did not have any chance anymore – he said that he might keep me in mind for a part time job, indeed, but i dont think that he will call me again.
So i had to hurry a little bit to get to the 3rd interview near my new hostel at 5 pm. In the meantime I got called by Public Outreach, inviting me to the first training session at the next day at noon.
So that was the first start of getting my first job. Still i went to the 3rd interview of course, which passed by similarly like the one at Soup Zone.
Before heading downtown again, I made an appointment at the TD-Bank for the day in order to open a bank account. I met Stefan at the Same sun and we went out to the Chinese Garden. Of course, it was already closed. Instead we watched some people playing professional Frisbee (in fact, there are Frisbee games) and went to the movies at around 8.15 pm. We watched the movie “Super 8”, which was funny and weird at the same time xD It ended at around 10.30 pm – time to go home and recover from the exhausting interviews ;) =)
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The beach and the beaver
canadiantour, 09:14h
Sunday, Aug 7
Well, on Sunday i took the chance to sleep a bit longer than the last days. Still settled a few things, applied for more jobs and recovered from the previous days ;) =D
In the afternoon I met the other Germans (Steffi, Tanja, Karsten and Stefan) at Granville Station to go to the beach (Sunset Beach) with them. Due to the windy weather and as well due to my bruises =P I did not go swimming this time. The most time we were lying in the last sun rays or played frisbee (at least the others; i was too lazy =P ).
As one is not allowed to drink alcohol in public in Canada, we decided to go to “The Beaver” the Samesun hostel to enjoy some alcoholic drinks ;) I got to know a new dish, by the way: Samosa with chutney (delicious =D ).
So in the evening we were hanging around in this kind of bar, chatting with each other and drinking some “ladies cocktails” (Malibu, Vodka, cranberry and pineapple juice). This time the taxes were included, but the tips werent – the Canadians really always find a way to let you pay more than it was labelled xD =P and i learned that there is a law in BC that says that you are not allowed to drink only, but you have to order a meal as well during your stay. Never heard of that before; again a little bit weird ^^ I went home at around 11 pm and went to bed almost at once =)
Well, on Sunday i took the chance to sleep a bit longer than the last days. Still settled a few things, applied for more jobs and recovered from the previous days ;) =D
In the afternoon I met the other Germans (Steffi, Tanja, Karsten and Stefan) at Granville Station to go to the beach (Sunset Beach) with them. Due to the windy weather and as well due to my bruises =P I did not go swimming this time. The most time we were lying in the last sun rays or played frisbee (at least the others; i was too lazy =P ).
As one is not allowed to drink alcohol in public in Canada, we decided to go to “The Beaver” the Samesun hostel to enjoy some alcoholic drinks ;) I got to know a new dish, by the way: Samosa with chutney (delicious =D ).
So in the evening we were hanging around in this kind of bar, chatting with each other and drinking some “ladies cocktails” (Malibu, Vodka, cranberry and pineapple juice). This time the taxes were included, but the tips werent – the Canadians really always find a way to let you pay more than it was labelled xD =P and i learned that there is a law in BC that says that you are not allowed to drink only, but you have to order a meal as well during your stay. Never heard of that before; again a little bit weird ^^ I went home at around 11 pm and went to bed almost at once =)
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