No nice Canadians?! Not found?!

Victoria, the capital of the province of British Columbia, offers numerous green spaces ideal for outdoor activities (see Wikipedia)...that sounds fantastic. However, in the past few days, outdoor activities have taken a back seat for us, as it was time for us to find a job. Our savings have already been well spent on various purchases (Jim Bob), accommodations, and of course, food. We spent a lot of time in front of our multimedia devices in the past few days, searching for a job. We searched 'Craigslist,' 'UsedVictoria,' or 'Indeed' - always looking for a job that requires little experience. Because it would be difficult for Patrick to work as an office clerk due to his currently shaky English skills. And the government is standing in my way. Because my education or my degree is not easily recognized in Canada. State recognition would cost about $500, and then I would have to take another type of exam. Besides, the process takes forever, and by then we would have left and re-entered twice, no thanks. Although there is also a shortage of personnel here, the process is not expedited. But healthcare and nursing professionals can earn up to $40/h (about €26), which is commendable compared to other countries (see Germany...where you earn about €15-20 depending on the employer). Well, unfortunately, we can both only dream of this income at the moment, as we are paid minimum wage in Canada, which is currently set at $11.35 in British Columbia, which is even below the minimum wage in Germany, that's what I call fair remuneration aka exploitation. That's how nice Canadians are.

February 19, 2018 On Monday, we started distributing our resumes. The day before, we went to the Monk Office and had this valuable piece of paper printed. The first stop of the day was Bed Bath & Beyond, a store similar to Dänisches Bettenlager, which seemed like a relaxed place to work. When we arrived there, we had to fill out an application form, which actually asked for the same information that was already on our resumes - so we had to write it all down again, absolutely inefficient... We handed over the papers to an employee. First application submitted. Check. In the meantime, our canopy was repaired, which made us a few more bucks poorer. But now Jim Bob's incontinence should be gone.

For our first job application in Canada, we treated ourselves to a little outing in the southern coastal region of Victoria. After all, the sun was shining and a bright blue sky was smiling at us. The best place on our little trip was a small rocky outcrop, where two chairs were placed as if they were made for us. From there, we had the best view of the quite hilly American mainland, which is no more than 20km away (which is why our telephone provider occasionally thinks we are in the US). Our next stop was the Oak Bay Marina, a small harbor with many boats and cute seals, which can apparently be found there all year round. The seals looked curiously out of the water, waiting for food. Since they are often fed by fishermen with fish leftovers, and apparently tourists can also buy fish for the seals, what a life. So if we were to buy fish, it would be for our own mouths and not for the seals. Sorry. Envy.

February 20, 2018 We actually wanted to stop by our temp agency again, but our nice Chinese roommates decided to go bowling at 2:00 in the morning and take a 30-minute shower (that's their normal shower duration). Anyway, we were awake until almost 4:30 and our sleep quality was ruined. So we decided not to go to work and instead took care of Jim Bob's conversion. The interior of the loading area still had to be cleaned of dust and dirt. So we went to the nearest car wash, which turned out to be not as easy as we had thought. Because we are used to the fact that almost every gas station has a car wash in Germany. But not here. Even the car wash was more complicated than we thought, but we have studied...I bought us 8 minutes of wet cleaning time. The time was even enough to clean the exterior of Jim Bob.

In the evening, we sent out more job applications, this time online on relevant search engines. We also looked for a new accommodation because we had to move out of our Airbnb by March 1st. Once again, we sent out countless rental inquiries. It should stay exciting.

February 21, 2018 Today it was all about Jim Bob again, this time he had an appointment for a check-up. After all, we wanted to know how he's doing so that we can safely drive through the USA. 1 1/2 hours later, it was clear that Jim Bob is in very good condition for his age. Only a few wear parts need to be replaced. However, these repairs would cost about $900. We needed some time to think about it. An oil change was then carried out, without charging us for the check-up, as apparently a vehicle check is included with every oil change. Thanks, saved money. Canadians can be nice.

The rest of the day we spent on Jim Bob's conversion - for car enthusiasts or simply those interested in DIY projects, see the blog post: ...

The next few days went by and unfortunately, no one responded to our job applications. We decided to revise our resumes. Because the Canadian resume is anything but identical to the German resume. Canadians like it when you talk about yourself in the third person and embellish your skills positively. With the finished Canadianized resume, we went back to the Monk Office.

This time we went hunting for a job in the wild. First stop, Mayfair Mall, we went through the mall in search of a sign that said 'Hire Now.' We found it at 'Reitmans.' A Canadian women's clothing store - I handed in my application directly and scheduled an interview. Our next stop was Value Village, a second-hand store with everything your heart desires (clothes, books, kitchen utensils, bedding, everything) - this time we both got an interview for the next few days. Throughout the day, we both received responses from our online applications and also scheduled interviews here. It was slowly progressing.

However, the apartment search still gave us stomachaches. Last week, we sent inquiries to landlords almost every day. For a short time, we even had a furnished apartment that we really liked and arranged with the owners to let them know by Saturday because we had other viewings. On Friday, we received the news that they had already rented the apartment to another couple. That's how nice the Canadians are. This rejection was like a slap in the face to me. It made me realize that I don't feel very welcome in this country. Somehow, nothing went as we had imagined. The apartment search was a nightmare, we constantly received rejections, such as - the apartment is too small for two people or the hot water is only enough for one person or I'm not looking for a couple or I don't rent for less than 3 months. Thanks, Canada. The job search was incredibly difficult as well. We are probably too naive when it comes to these adventures...but somehow, you always hear how easy it is to find work as a work and traveler - based on our experiences, we can definitely refute that. Maybe we just have to be less friendly and lie to people, not revealing how long we plan to stay. But that's not who we are, and we won't pretend to be someone else for Canadians. If it doesn't work our way, then so be it.

February 25, 2018 Two apartment viewings were on the agenda again. Both were very close to each other, in a good residential area. First, we looked at an unfurnished apartment in the basement of a house, for about $1400 per month. The owner was very nice and talkative, she talked about how her son should study in Germany because it is cost-effective there. The apartment was spacious and quite bright, we would even have two bedrooms and could finally sleep separately. The second viewing was a room in a shared flat, for $950 per month. The room would be partially furnished and would have a balcony.

Both landlords wanted us. Jackpot - now WE could decide, and that wasn't easy at all. But considering our travel plans, we decided on the shared room. This way, we could save almost $450 every month. Furthermore, the shared flat is very close to the bus stop, a mall, and a gym. This room will be our home for the next 3 months when we come back from work. However, finding a job was still on our to-do list because without work - no money, and without money, we can't stay here.