Maud during her internship in Vancouver!

Hi everyone!

Time really flies when you’re having fun. What they say is true: ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’ I’ve been in Vancouver for my internship for a while now, and it’s truly amazing! I’ll take you back to the beginning and make you all jealous!

The end of my school career was approaching, and I needed to find a challenging internship so I could write my thesis. All my girlfriends stayed nicely in Amsterdam, but I wanted to seek adventure in Canada! I’m not exactly sure why Canada, but I felt very drawn to Vancouver, so I was determined to do my internship there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as I thought. School couldn’t help me because they had no contacts, and when I emailed companies, I didn’t hear back from them. Eventually, I decided to enlist Abroad Internships because otherwise, I would have ended up in Amsterdam—and that was definitely not the plan!

And so it happened! Applying for my visa was ultimately the most uncertain part because Canada uses a lottery system. You tell the Canadian government you want to apply for a visa, and they invite you to actually apply whenever they decide. That’s why I didn’t know in advance when I would leave. But it all went pretty smoothly in the end, so I could go! And oh, was I excited!

After a 10-hour flight, I finally arrived in Vancouver! Saying goodbye to my family and friends was hard, but less hard than when I did an internship in Madrid three years ago. And I have to say, the city really helped! Everyone knows the stereotypes about Canadians, I think, but some of them are really true! They are incredibly friendly, very helpful, and while not all of them play ice hockey, they are all interested and passionate fans!

I really can’t describe the city in words—it’s just so nice. Vancouver is not without reason the third most livable city in the world. You literally have everything here: the water (great for paddleboarding and kayaking), the mountains (you can ski here within an hour’s drive), and a big city (although public transport could use some improvement)!

I’m doing my internship at a bakery and catering company with six different locations in the city. From the very first moment, I was welcomed with open arms. My boss and the owner of the company made it clear from the start that it’s not just about work but also about having fun, and that I could ask anything and that they wanted to help me with everything. That was very nice! It’s just comforting to start such an adventure with people like that around you, especially when you don’t know anyone and are far from home.

I’m the first intern here, so it was a bit of an adjustment in the beginning. But now that we know each other better and understand what we like, things are going much better. I come up with my own projects, which are sufficient for my thesis, but of course I get them approved first. I actually wanted to do Sales and Marketing, but now I’m involved in all sorts of things because it’s not such a big company. Which is actually really nice, because now I know exactly what I do and don’t want to do in a company when I graduate!

I’ve really fallen in love, and sorry mom and dad, but I don’t want to go back home anymore!