“I am going to Canada”
I’ve always wanted to do an internship abroad but since it wasn’t part of my University program I decided to take the matter in my own hands, and so AIESEC came into the picture. It’s been eight months since Andy, my account manager from AIESEC, woke me up and told me to check my mail: “It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the Beedie School of Business’ International Project Manager internship in Canada”. I jumped out of bed and called my grandmother and told her I was going to Canada, mostly because she was the only one that for sure would be awake at 7:00 AM. The following months were intense, I needed to get a work permit and submit a million documents. Luckily, everything went very smoothly and AIESEC was there to help out at all times. Their help along the way made me feel 100 % safe from start and it also calmed my parents. They were used to me going away, but Canada would be the furthest I’d been for a longer period of time and it would be the first time I wouldn’t be home for Christmas.
Thank you AIESEC!
December 1st came and after 15 hours of travelling and a bit of drama I landed in Vancouver. In the immigration line the guy just asked me two questions: What’s your favorite ice cream and do you like hockey? I have to admit; I lied on the latter one. I didn’t want to get deported first thing because of my lack of interest in hockey, so I just started to rattle off all the names I knew, correction, the two names I knew which was Henrik and Daniel Sedin. My friend who is a hockey player had had a small hockey workshop with me before my departure so I wouldn’t be all out of the blue.
When I walked out from immigration I got a royalty’s greeting with 30 AIESECERS waiting and cheering at me. I was overwhelmed. It was the best welcome one could possibly have. I immediately felt at home. My experience with AIESEC has been 10/10 so far, and if you ever want to do an international internship I strongly recommend them. They are professional in everything they do and I wish each and every one of them all my best.
Beedie School of Business
I’ve been at Beedie for almost four months now and I absolutely love it. My colleagues are super encouraging, and I learn new things all the time. I love the openness here and the relationship between the staff and the students. It’s inspiring to see how much support the students get in order to achieve their goals, and I wish it was the same at my home University in Sweden. What I like about my job is that I get to interact with students and tell them how amazing it is to go on exchange. I get to read all the stories, see all the great photos and encourage other students to go away on their life adventure. Having been on exchange myself, in France, I can absolutely guarantee it is one of the best experiences you will ever have. I am looking forward to spending another five months at the Beedie Global Office, to gain new skills and hopefully make an impact. 
How are you doing, ey?
Vancouver is a great city, the culture is similar to Sweden but the people are much more polite here. Not that Swedes are rude; we just don’t appear to be as friendly as Canadians at first glance. No one asks how you are when you walk into a shop and if we bump into someone we don’t say “I’m sorry”, we just make a sound that sort of sounds like “oy”. These are things I’m still getting used to, so if you ever come to my office and I forget to ask how you are doing, it’s not out of rudeness, it’s just a cultural thing.
The only thing I miss is snow. I think that the powers above could have pumped out a bit more white. When I told people I was going to Vancouver the first thing they said was “YOU WILL SKI SO MUCH!” Let me tell you, that didn’t happen. How many times have I skied? Zero. Even though there’s a lack of snow, I’ve enjoyed every minute of my stay. With all the hiking trails, shopping, restaurants and the multicultural atmosphere, it’s impossible to get bored.
So far my time here has been a blast, both in the office and outside the office. My colleagues at Beedie and my new friends have made Vancouver a second home and I can’t wait to see what the next couple of months and the Summer will bring me.
Anna Zia is an AIESEC-intern working in the Beedie Global Office as the International Project Manager. She recently graduated from Gothenburg School of Economics in Business Administration and will start her Graduate Degree in the fall, hopefully in Italy. Anna’s biggest passion is to travel and her stage in Vancouver is her fourth long-time stay abroad.