How My Working Holiday Changed Me
By Hayley
（第1组）
1 Now that I have been home for a while and have had time to reflect on my working holiday in Vancouver, I’ve thought a lot about who I was before I left for Canada and who I am presently.
2 Prior to leaving, I was not in a good place. I had suffered a lot of personal blows and felt emotionally stretched. I lost my grandma, my job and had two car crashes in five months. I needed something to change in my life, and that came in the form of a working holiday visa.
3 In less than three months I filled out the necessary paperwork, booked my plane ticket and fled Brisbane. I spent fifteen months living and working in Vancouver, Canada and eighteen months in total away from Australia. This is how that working holiday changed me and my life.
I Grew (Like a Beanstalk)
4 I have always been a quiet, shy person and meeting people and making friends has always been a constant struggle. I’ve always had a few friends but never a large social circle. Then I moved to Vancouver and began working at Starbucks. My co-workers were so welcoming and it wasn’t long before we were meeting up after work for dinner, ladies night and sightseeing excursions. I taught them an Australian word of the day and they helped me understand the Canadian lingo, eh? Oh, how I laughed whenever someone ended their sentence with those two letters.
（第2组）
5 My time in Vancouver was the most social in my life and for once I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed seeing new places and doing new things with new friends. I loved that they accepted me for my socially awkward self. I finally felt comfortable within myself and felt that I belonged, which was the biggest personal gain.
I Had Fun at Work
6 I know what you are thinking, who actually enjoys their job? Well, I did. For the first nine months I worked two jobs: at Starbucks and on the Aussie Pie Guy food truck. Then for the final five months of my working holiday I worked full time on the food truck and I loved my job.
7 Yes, there were times and people that stressed me out, but for the majority of my employment I enjoyed going to work every day. I worked alongside great people who were more than my co-workers, they were my friends. We had fun at work listening to trashy 90s music, drinking our daily Starbucks and serving our friendly regulars.
