Hi There, My name is Luis Eduardo, I’m from Brazil and I’m here to share my one year experience in Vancouver. Ok, sounds impossible sharing one year in a new country, in 500 words or so, but I`ll give a few highlights. I hope you like it.

My expectations for this trip were very high, and I’m not here to lie to you—was 1000 times better. Vancouver is an amazing city, and all the rumours are true; people are polite, the weather is perfect and the nightlife is quite (very) slow. Which is great, because you learn other ways to have fun, besides nightclubs. I arrived in Vancouver in spring, for me was cold, but I heard every day how warm the weather had been being (of course, when you grow up in Brazil, 10 degrees means SUPER COLD). At Tamwood I met a lot of friends, from all different countries, from Colombia to Taiwan, passing through Austria and Spain. And guess what? There are amazing people all over the world (be open to everybody). Now, back to Brazil, I miss all those friends so much, but it is awesome knowing that I have friends spread around all 5 continents.

Vancouver is very eco-friendly, not just in the way they think, like recycling and always trying to pollute less as possible, but also in leisure. I did a lot of hikes and camping, went to many beaches, and spend uncountable days at Stanley Park watching the sunset reading. So, if you like nature and being outdoors, Vancouver will be amazing for you too.

After 2 months of having classes at Tamwood, I started at my first job, in a restaurant. I’m a graduate of graphic design, and I was very unhappy about work in a restaurant… But I had so much fun at that job. I was working at Davie Street, which is the best street in Vancouver (if you didn`t know that, you are welcome, this info is valuable). My schedule was not very usual for me, starting at 10 pm and working overnight until 4 am, sounds crazy, but it is just 6 hours working, and I had all day free to enjoy my perfect summer (if you can choose, be in Vancouver at Summer, is unbelievable, trust me I`m Brazilian, I know about summer).

Vancouver isn`t a very cheap city, but there is a lot of newcomers, so people figure out how to deal with the high prices for accommodations. I shared a few living rooms, but none of my sharing experiences were really bad. It`s a great way to meet more people and make more friends. In one of those experiences, I met a great landlord who took me to stunning places like Chilliwack, Squamish, White Horse, and Vancouver Island, all those around the Vancouver area, and also to the USA, in Seattle and Bellingham. We did lots of camping and I saw places that I could never imagine.

But even in Vancouver, there is a lot of attractions, it`s not necessary going too far, Grouse Mountain, Lynn Canyon, Deep Cove, Lighthouse Park, and many other places are reachable by bus.

In my last 3 weeks in Vancouver I had preparatory classes for IELTS, in my head I would never get more than 4 in the test, even if Erich, the (amazing) teacher always said that I have a lot of potentials. I knew that I wouldn`t have any trouble with speaking and listening, but my writing… well… I thought that I would get 3(really). The classes were great, to be honest, I wish I had done all my three months in Tamwood at this class, probably my score would be way better than having just 3 weeks. But as Erich said, my score was 7, which is fairly high. With this score, I can apply for a post-degree in Vancouver.

Vancouver was a lifetime experience, totally worth it. Sometimes was hard, lonely and I wanted to go back to Brazil running barefoot. But, after walking all around Stanley Park feeling the breeze and watching the sunset, I really realize that Vancouver is where I want to be. Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. See you soon (in Vancouver).