Out of Vancouver

My first course ended last week. So far, the impression was quite good. I met many nice people from different countries. Parallel to our classes we worked in different groups on a team project which we presented at our last day. Our project was about “Vancouver Olympic Games – was it worth it?” – for a Munich guy a relevant question at the moment as the city applies for the Games 2018. We invested a lot of time, but the presentation was really perfect. I guess we built a very good and efficient team, a good starting point for further teamwork. However, the first week was more on the networking side, for the MBA itself I still expect a tougher level.
Our ISP – International Student Preparation Class:

 

Friday I left Vancouver with a group of people of my house to the countryside. Together with some further friends we were nine people heading for the Okanagan Valley which is famous for the wine (yes, Canada has wine!) and fruits. With currently more than 30 degrees, it is indeed one of the warmest and driest areas of Canada. When we arrived at 11pm, all camping sides were already closed. So we went for hidden spot for wild camping. During the good night beer we heard a strange noise. We agreed quite fast that it could be a bear. Everybody was a quite frightened – including me: first night in the wilderness and directly a bear. However the noise vanished and we got back to our drinks. Some minutes later we heard a similar noise again. This time fast approaching – the frightening level raised again until we recognized that the noise was related to a big V8 pick-up truck engine which were passing on the road nearby. Learning: big cars and big animals could sound very similar.

Next day, we were heading to a camping place nearby the lake. The Canadians have tends and camping trucks which outsize houses in other parts of the world.

But we were also not so bad: For the obligatory BBQ we had a Weber grill in our luggage. In the afternoon, we were floating on some air mattresses on a channel which connects two of the lakes. As beer, sun and laziness are part of the Canadian culture we very naturally not alone on this trip. In the evening, we closed the day with another BBQ and some further drinks.

 

Sunday, I was the first time of my life wake boarding – And surprisingly, I got out of the water and ride the waves. An absolutely awesome experience, I can’t wait to do it again. By the way, “awesome” is the probably most used word in Vancouver. You have to use it as often as possible and you could do hardly anything wrong.

Now, we are on the way back to Vancouver. Next week, the Accounting preparation course takes place. New people and probably more content as so far.