Finally, it's starting.

After months of planning, it's finally starting. I sold my furniture, gave up my apartment, and stored my stuff for a year.
On Wednesday morning, I left very early (you never know with the train if you'll arrive on time) for Hamburg. With only a slight delay (what's half an hour ;) ), I arrived at the airport with more than enough time for check-in. The flights to London and then on to Vancouver went smoothly and without any problems, so I landed just before 7 pm local time.

Now came the part of the journey that I was a little bit scared of: applying for the visa at customs. With the Canadian work and travel visa, you apply for a visa and if you're lucky, you'll be selected. Then you'll receive an invitation letter for Canada. However, the final visa is only issued at customs in Canada. For that, you have to bring along various documents, such as proof of international health insurance, the invitation letter, proof of enough money for the trip, and so on... I was a bit nervous that I might have forgotten something or that they might have some objections to the existing documents.
The first conclusion of this trip: I shouldn't always worry so much :) I showed my passport and invitation letter, and I already had my visa in my pocket.
With that, it was off to the hotel. After almost 22 hours of travel, I was pretty tired by now.
As for the hotel, I can say this: the location was good, but the hotel could use a thorough renovation. The construction site next door didn't really contribute anything positive either.

On Thursday, I spent two hours in the nearest mobile phone shop. I needed a new SIM card for Canada. This purchase led to the second conclusion of the trip: using a mobile phone in Canada is damn expensive :( But what can you do.
After the two hours, at least the rain had stopped and I could take a walk along English Bay.

This morning, I moved into the first room I rented through Airbnb. The house is not bad, but it's a bit secluded from all the entertainment. Let's see how it goes from here.