#0 Preparation

After my high school diploma, I wanted to spend a year abroad in an English-speaking country to minimize my deficits. At that time, I did not embark on this journey, also due to a lack of courage, so now I have told myself that after completing my internship, I want to take the plunge again and spend a year abroad. Besides, the world is open to us and we can travel anywhere, so why not seize this opportunity.

When the idea solidified, I looked for suitable countries and then decided on Canada (around October, November 2021). Why?

1) I wanted to spend the year outside of Europe.

2) English should be spoken in this country.

3) The landscape in Canada is most likely a dream!

But now there was another challenge - the state examination. After successfully completing this and thus finally completing my training, I could now focus on preparing for my year abroad.

First, I had to apply to the Canadian embassy in a "pool". With this application, you enter a "lottery" because the visas for Germany are limited. Currently, between 4,000 - 4,500 visas can be issued. At certain intervals, various applicants are then randomly selected. The first positive news was the official invitation, which you have to accept. I was somewhat surprised about this because such planning should actually begin a year in advance.... well, as you can see, 5 months is also sufficient. Then you have 30 days to submit all documents. The only exception is the medical examination. Due to the limited appointment options, proof of scheduling is sufficient in this case.

Obtaining the documents for the application is about 80% easy to do and also doable within the 30 days, but then there was also the biometric registration (only possible in Berlin and Düsseldorf) and the medical examination (only possible in Berlin, Frankfurt a.M. and Munich and costs a decent 300€ for urine and blood samples). After the examining doctor said that my body is "tip-top" (I am happy to pay that much money for that), he informed me to send the documents to Canada. However, I never saw the proof in my account and then the Canadian embassy also informed me that my deadline is approaching and my medical examination is still missing. After consulting with the medical practice and repeatedly sending the documents, unfortunately, nothing changed in this unfavorable situation. Then came the absolute horror. My deadline had expired and I would actually be out of the process because you can only apply for the visa once in a lifetime. Naturally, I was very stressed.... all the time, nerves, and money for nothing? Fortunately, the Canadian embassy gave me another 14 days. I then decided to simply scan and send all the documents I had. Either that would be the solution or the practice had now sent my documents - it doesn't matter - because now all the required documents were available.

And then FINALLY, on June 18, 2022, I received my "Correspondence Letter (POL)". With this letter, I now have one year to enter Canada, which will activate my visa. There is still a risk that my visa will not be issued at the airport, but I'm not assuming that now.

I set the starting period for the end of August and now it was time to plan the first farm because I want to move from farm to farm to improve my English on the one hand and learn various skills on the different farms, be it in agriculture, craftsmanship, or social work.

Through an organization, I had access to about 700 farms that temporarily accommodate travelers. After several rejections, I finally received my first acceptance on July 30, 2022, so I could now plan everything further - flight, contracts, insurance, etc.

That was already a pretty long text, sorry for that!

I hope it wasn't too monotonous.

I will be in touch soon, unless I encounter a bear, then things look bad.

Until then.

Samuel