The House of Switzerland – Working and studying at LSI Vancouver

My name is Anita Kropf and I  studied English at LSI Vancouver. The day I arrived in Vancouver I had no idea what to expect of the adventure I was about to start. From September to December 2009 I worked every morning in the Swiss Consulate General and in the afternoon I studied at Language Studies International (LSI) . LSI is such a nice place with so many friendly people! This was a big opportunity for me to make some really good friends, to have fun and to improve my English. I really loved the mix between school and work.

After leaving LSI I  worked full time at the ‘House of Switzerland in Canada’ , the official Swiss guest centre set up in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was a lot of hard work, not enough sleep, but I met some very interesting people (including athletes),and went to many parties … O my god, it was an amazing experience and I shall never forget those days! The House of Switzerland in Canada was a great success as you can see from the numbers:

  • Over 60,000 guests
  • 4 tonnes of cheeses from Switzerland and 2 tonnes of Lindt chocolate consumed
  • 1,700 facebook fans, 580 Twitter followers
  • 8 medal celebrations (6 Gold, 2 Bronze)- including Simon Ammann who won the first Gold medal of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games
  • Anticipated to raise $10,000 Canadian dollars for Streetohome, a Vancouver-based charity, including a sizeable cash donation from Lindt
  • 36,000 Swiss pins given-away

I will never forget the time in Canada and would love to thank everybody who was somehow involved in this great experience! Thank you too to LSI Vancouver who gave me the confidence with my language skills to take on this challenge.