Homestay in Magnetawan
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After spending a week in Toronto it was time for me to move to the countryside. So I did a homestay for three weeks at Philip and Louise place. They live three hours north of Toronto in a cottage atLes mer
After spending a week in Toronto it was time for me to move to the countryside. So I did a homestay for three weeks at Philip and Louise place. They live three hours north of Toronto in a cottage at the lake. Unfortunately I hadn't the opportunity to meet Louise cause she was in Edmonton visiting their son and grand children. So for most of the time it was just Philip, me and their cat. We heated the cottage with firewood and got our drinking water from a spring water place close by. When it's -40°C the water is still running there and it tasted so good.
For one week we got company from Tina a funny chinese girl. And for one weekend a former helper Yasaman from Iran studying in Toronto came up for visit with her friends Yasaman and Nick. We got the new bungalow painted and most of the electricity done. One afternoon Philip took us out for Bowling what was totally fun. They play it with just 5 pins and the small balls. After the game we went to the Schnitzelhouse an Austrian restaurant. The portions were huge and last for another or even two more meals. It was like having three Schnitzel on your plate 😅
I had a great time in the countryside and learned a lot from Philip. If I have time I'll go back to visit them next year again.Les mer
Last weekend Hannah and I took a rideshare to Québec City for visiting the German Christmas Market. We did couchsurfing at Antoine's place where I have been with Madeline before and Hannah knew him from couchsurfing too. When we arrived there were already a bunch of people Antoine had invited for vegetarian sushi. He did a really great job and it tasted delicious.
On saturday afternoon we went to the old town where the christmas market was located. We enjoyed the atmosphere, had the smallest mulled wine (4oz) ever and some roasted almonds too. In the evening we went to a friends place where we met some more travellers and played werewolf together which was totally fun.
Sunday we slept late and after a nice breakfast we went for another walk in the city. It was sunny but windy and quite cold.Les mer
"GO HABS GO!" - This is the fan chant of the Montreal Canadiens. "Habs" comes from Les Habitants which is one of the french nicknames for the team.
On monday they played against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Center. The stadion was almost sellout and the atmosphere was just great. Especially after the early first goal for the Canadiens followed by a second one in the first period. In the second period it got thrilling when the Blue Jackets caught up and dominanted the game. After the second big break the Canadiens were back and made the final goal in the last minutes.
It was a really great experience and probably not my last game I watched in Canada. Go Habs Go. :)Les mer
After two great weeks in Montréal I did another homestay in the countryside. This time two hours east of Montréal close to Sherbrooke.
My host Mathieu picked me up in Montréal cause he had a meeting in the city. When we arrived it was snowing a lot! His house was huge and so beautiful. Mat designed it himself.
In these two weeks I painted three walls. It was quite a bit of work. But Mat was really pleased with my work. :)
One day we went on a quad ride with his little son Attis to pick a christmas tree from his property. Afterwards I decorated the christmas tree together with Attis. I also was allowed to go for another quad ride by myself which was really exciting and a lot of fun. :) I spent an amazing time with Mat and Attis and hope to see them again one day.Les mer
After three great weeks spending quality time with my family and friends over christmas and new year I flew back to North America and had a two day stopover in Boston.
On my first day I was really lucky with the weather (sunny and 2°C) - perfect for sightseeing. My host mentioned me a cool spot where I had a great view over Boston and there were still floes on the water.
I did two selfguided free walking trails through the historical part of the city. I had to watch out for huge icicles falling down from the edge.
The second day I already had my luggage with me so I decided to go to the library where I could luckily leave my backpack with the security. The library had two buildings an old/historical and a new/modern one. The old one reminded me a little bit of Hogwarts.
After a view hours of sending resumes applying for jobs in the greater Toronto area I was tired of it so I decided to go to the airport early. When I checked in I was asked if I would like to take a flight earlier, it'll depart in half an hour. I was wondering whether I'll make it on time because of the security check. But this terminal (one of five) was so tiny the security check was just next to the Check-in area and just behind it was the gate. The flight took around one hour to Montréal.Les mer
Finally it's time for a new blog entry... It's going to be a long one ;) and while I'm writing it's snowing outside in april... Welcome to Canada!🙈
When I was back home for christmas I applied for jobs online in the Greater Toronto Area. Just before leaving to Boston I got a reply from a temporary agency for a packaging position in a pharmaceutical company in Burlington. The temporary agency is located in Hamilton so I looked for a place to stay for a couple of days to go in the office to complete my application. I stood with Lauren and Devin a great couple in their nice appartment. They are going on a trip to South East Asia and doing Work & Travel in Australia afterwards.
My account manager from the agency aranged me a training at the pharmaceutical company for the next week. So I had to find a new place to stay in Burlington for the next days. I stood with Tracey and Mac another wonderful and helpful couple.
But my biggest luck just happened afterwards when I arrived at Tom' s place the second available couchsurferhost in Burlington. He just retired and got his own house with 4 bedrooms. We came along really well from the first minute and I told him about my plan to work in Burlington for a couple of months. So he offered me to stay longer right away. I just had to chip in for utilities and help with cooking and cleaning. Regarding the room prices in Burlington it was the best that could happen to me and my plan to safe money. I can't tell often enough how grateful I am for Tom' s hospitality and generosity! :) I ended up staying 3 month with him.
There was also Kei a japanese guy living with us. I had a fantastic time with them chatting about our travel experiences (Tom had many interesting stories to tell) and other stuff, sharing meals and a beautiful trip to Niagara falls Tom, my friend Tina and I did.
Almost every day there are buses going to the casino for 15$ including a buffet lunch. Mostly there were just grey-headed on the bus going for gambling at the casino. But we used the offer to visit the falls at a beautiful sunny day. ;)
For Easter we had a delicious dinner. Tom cooked ham, potatoes and broccoli and for dessert I baked a carrot cake. We also played scrabble and had a few drinks - such a fun night :)
Now a bit more to my work experience in Canada. I started end of january at a pharmaceutical company producing hot lemon relief as a line packager. I ended up working a few weeks continental shift means 12hr roatating days or nights. The good thing about it you just had to work 3 days a week for getting payed 40hrs and had 4 breaks. Time went fast, so not too bad at all and you were switching positions every 15min. One day the woman who was training us told me I would be a good line inspector when I pointed out a mistake to her on the documentation sheet she was filling out. She recommend to drop in my resume to the QA Officer cause he was looking for someone right now. So I applied for it and the interview and test went pretty well. After a few weeks the QA Manager got back to me and offered me the position. The week after I was trained and the next week I was already on my own doing the quality control on the line. But unfortunately after two weeks I got a call from my agency after my shift on wednesday telling me that I shouldn't return to my next shift cause the company got financial issues and can't pay their pay checks. I heard before from a coworker that the investor, a billionaire, got killed in december with his wife in their house in Toronto. Unluckily the visit from a potential new investor the friday before came too late and the company went bankrupt.
I applied for new jobs right away and was lucky to start with a new temporary agency at an automotive company the coming sunday on night shift. There I did small parts manufacturing on different machines for four weeks.
I also tried working in a buffet restaurant. But it wasn't that kind of work I'd liked to do and it wouldn't work out with my shifts at the pharmaceutical company anyway.
Many people at work ask me why I do this kind of job and didn't work as a pharmacist where I could earn much more money. Well there were mostly two main reasons. First of all it would take a while to get my canadian license as a pharmacist including taking courses, writing exams and spending a lot of money. In fact I wouldn't stay in the country it was no option for me.
Second reason was I wanted to use this gap year to try some jobs I probably wouldn't do back home as well as getting some work experience in positions my future employees may will have to get a better understanding of their possible concerns.
The work life here seems quite different to me. All information are just about my experience in Ontario. It differs in each province.
At first there is no real work-life-balance at all if you're not working for the government. You get just 10 days vacation and two sick days a year per law and the minium wage just went up to 14$/hr in january. Most time you get payed weekly or every other one. In general there are two different kind of working conditions either you work full time or on contract which gives you a certain time of work without any vacation or sick days at all. So at the places I've worked for I've met many people they're working just for living and not seldom they have to take a second job or do overtime which is mostly payed 1.5 times.
That's why I really appreciate the way it is back home. At last two fun facts I've recognized:
1. Nearly every second one comes in the shift with a coffee to go from Tim Hortans or Mc Donalds. The line up at the drive thru in the morning was amazing when I drove past by bus.
2. Many people are wearing sweatpants or leggins at work especially on night shift ^^ and obviously at school too at least fridays like I just saw it.
On Family Day weekend in february I rent a car together with Richard a german guy I met in one of the Facebook groups and we drove up to Bruce Peninsula NP for the weekend. The first day we did a walk to one of the water falls in Owen Sound and the next day we did a beautiful hike in the nationalpark. We were really lucky with the weather it just stopped raining when we stepped out of the car and it wasn't too cold at all for mid february. Cyprus lake was totally frozen and the edge of lake Huron, too. This nationalpark is mostly popular in summer time known for it's turquoise water but it was still beautiful in winter and less crowded.
End of february Philip my host of my first homestay and his wife Louise invited us (Tina and Yasaman) to a Mandarin Restaurant in North York where we enjoyed a buffet dinner together. It was so good to see Philip again and getzing introduced to his wife and daughter Kathrin. We spent a fun night together :) Earlier the day we three girls visited the ice sculpture festival in Toronto but it was so warm and sunny that they were already melting and falling apart except of the big castle.
Now it's mid april and we just got snow again... I can't wait for spring and start the next round travelling! :DLes mer
End of April I went back to Pulkit's place in Toronto and stood almost two weeks again. He had many funny stories to tell about his Southeast Asia and Europe trip which made me wanna go back to Asia again. :)
The first sunday I went hiking in Rouge Park with Tina, Victor and his friend. It was a nice park but unfortunately not green yet. You could see spring is just about to start in Ontario.
Tuesday I finally bought my train ticket to Vancouver cause tuesdays the tickets are cheaper. So I payed 438$ for a 3 day / 4 nights economy ride. It's going to be an adventure. :)
This week I also made a post in a few Facebook groups looking for travelbuddys going to Vancouver Island with. One of the girls who replied was Jen and after texting for a while we found out that we both know Pulkit. Jen was the girl who inspired him to go travelling and I helped him getting prepared for it. Sometimes the world is so small! :D
The second weekend I met up again with Yasaman and Nick to drive up to Magnetawan and visit Philip and Louise one last time. With three more helpers we had a lot of fun together, went bowling and to the Schnitzel House again. Louise and Philip are such wonderful and funny hosts. Thanks a lot for everything! :)
On my second last day Pulkit and Vinny invited me for dinner at an indian restaurant where we shared delicious traditional indian food and they taught me more about indian culture. I'm already looking forward to go to India at some point. :)
I was lucky that I could meet up with Tina again and go to High Park right on time for cherry blossom - finally spring in Ontario ;) The area was packed but still beautiful. Later we catched up with Victor and enjoyed thai dinner together.
It was good to see all my friends from Toronto again before going west. I hope to see you all again at some point and you're all more than welcome to visit me in Germany! 😊Les mer
One day before my planned departure I got notified by Via Rail that we are delayed and gonna leave the day after around noon. On the website they already warned you not to plan any connecting transits due to possible delays. But starting with already 15,5hrs was quite a lot 😅
I was early at the train station and checked my big backpack in. Before lining up we got a free lunch box and I was lucky that I randomly picked the one with my favorite pop inside. :) It was free seating and everyone was able to get a double seat for oneself. You could recline the seats and establish a leg extension in two different positions. I was also well prepared with my sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, earplugs and sleeping mask.
There were just three railcars for economy seating and the rest was first class where they had beds, showers and meals included. But after the second night I had found a rather good sleeping position without changing every hour. ;) Mostly I was up early between 5 and 6 so I could enjoy the rising sun.
The first day and night we were still crossing Ontario and it felt like we were standing most of the night cause we had to wait for oncoming freight trains.
The next day we reached the prarie Manitoba and had the chance to go for a short walk in Winnipeg before heading towards Saskatchewan. I also saw some bisons on a ranch. The railway station of Saskatoon was smaller than the one in my hometown ^^
We were now riding into Alberta and reached Edmonton one day later than planned. It was time to say goodbye to one of my friends (Epiphany) I was playing cards with most of the time on the train.
From Saskatoon on they also started to give away free snacks and juice and for the passenger leaving a free meal before they got off.
After Edmonton we gradual rode into the incredible Rocky Mountains of Jasper Nationalpark. :) Just before entering the town of Jasper we had to wait again and gained another three other delay. Many passengers got off in Jasper and at the end we were 12 in enconomy class going all the way together from Toronto to Vancouver like a big family. All different but this great journey in common. Shabir and Alvin had many interesting stories to tell and Zoe and Alex were also fun to talk to. :) Thanks guys for making this trip unforgettable!
On the 13th of may we finally reached our destination Vancouver with a total delay of 27,5hrs. And I was lucky that I got picked up by my couchsurfer host Khaled from the train station.
So remember never take the train #1 through the country if you are in a rush. But if you would like to enjoy an unforgettable journey then do it before the government cancel this beautiful train due to unprofitability!Les mer
I was lucky that my couchsurfer host Khaled picked me up from the train station. After dropping off my luggage we drove to Deep Cove and relaxed there. We also hiked up to Quarry Rock for a nice view.
The next day I met up with Jen for planning our 10-day roadtrip on Vancouver Island and renting the car. She had left a message on the board of her hostel looking for a forth person to join us for the trip and Ruby (australian) got back to her about it. So we were four girls in total (1Aussie, 3Germans) and going to pick up Madita from the airport on wednesday (our first day).
After arranging everything I explored downtown and went for a nice walk along the seaside while enjoying the perfect weather. I also visited the market on Granville Island - a cute area. :)
The second day I had to organize and buy some stuff for the trip starting tomorrow. In the evening I had dinner with Khaled and gave him some tipps for his traveling through Europe especially explaining him our roadsigns and rules cause some of them are quite different to the canadians.
I really enjoyed my first couple of days in this beautiful city surrounded by stunning nature and am looking forward to come back soon with my parents!Les mer
On the 16th of may Jen, Ruby and I met at the airport early in the morning to pick up our car as well as Madita arriving from Hawaii. We named our car Churchill cause it was white like a polar bear and those are living around Churchill (Manitoba) in Canada.
After doing some grocery shopping we took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay for about 1,5h. Unfortunately we didn't see any whales on our way. After arriving on the island we visited Butchart Gardens which is beautifully landscaped and really worth to visit. For the first night we had found a couchsurfer close to Sidney. He lived with his three roommates in a house with a big garden and they had their own chicken. We cooked dinner for them and had a nice chat.
The second day we explored BC's capital Victoria and drove up a bit along the west coast where we camped at Jordan River. On our way to Nanaimo we went for a walk in Botanical Beach Provincial Park and visited Lake Cowichan. We made our dinner in the park at the harbour front before heading to our next couchsurfers place where we stayed for two nights. The day after we explored Newcastle Island and went for a long walk around it. For the evening we had bought tickets for a backyard fest where local bands played and enjoyed the sunny weather, too.
It was a lot of driving in front of us the next day to get all the way up close to Port McNeill (our northest point of the trip) along the eastern coastline. In Campbell River we took a break and had a look on the farmers market in town before heading to our beautiful free campground at Anutz Lake. After setting up our tents we collected some fire wood. We were lucky cause one neighbour lighted up our fire, another helped us to get it started properly and a third one brought us more fire wood - canadians are so kind and helpful! :)Les mer