Canada
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Hello and thank you for visiting my profile! Would you like to come help me with my reuse recycle farm idea? There are women and children here too. Come see the Rocky Mountains and some of Western Canada. Sometimes I do road trips and take the workawayers. The farm is located JUST outside Edmonton which is a city of over 1 million people. There is ANYTHING you want to do here. Festivals, bars, pubs, nightlife, shopping, cinema, theatre, sports, spectator sports (hockey / football), gymnasiums, ice skating. Edmonton has the biggest urban park of any city in the world I think. There is amazing hiking in the river valley. We have the biggest shopping mall in North America and possibly the best in the world. We have lots of spring downhill skiing in the Rocky Mountains just a short drive from my farm. I can possibly take you to shoot guns, throw axes, ride motorcycles, go snowmobiling and dog sledding. You shouldn't be bored in this place. When working you will be cleaning and organizing because it's still cold out. When it warms up we will be planting trees, raspberry bushes and a huge garden. If you're able to you could help with renovations and building. Expect hard dirty work but good food.
April 19, 2019 volunteer update:
- There's a 31 year old woman here from Taiwan. She is very fluent in English. She's doing a lot of the cooking. She's a very hard working, conscientious, friendly woman. She's extremely talkative, outgoing, friendly and sociable. She even held a cooking class to make dumplings.
- 19 year old German by the name of Marlon is here now. He speaks English very well. He's very friendly and jovial. He's always joking around. He likes to play video games in my rec room. Right now he's doing a lot of the cooking.
- A 26 year old guy (Koki) from Japan is here now. He is learning English and is educated in electronics and machinery. He's somewhat quiet. He's leaving at the end of April.
- A 19 year old German speaking Austrian guy Manuel is here now. He is a volunteer firefighter in Austria. He's a super conscientious hard working guy. He speaks English almost perfectly.
- A German girl might come in May and June.
- A 19 year old Swiss Math Physics genius is definitely coming on May 15. He booked his flight.
The workawayers are usually hanging around the farm playing billiards, watching movies, playing SONY playstation 3, watching satellite TV, having tea, doing Skype, using WIFI, practicing English, eating food, having drinks. If you want to come join the group let me know. I'm usually driving into Edmonton every day so you can experience rural life on my farm as well as urban life in the city. I can pick you up in the city and drop you off when you're ready to move on in your travels.
Gardening
Building
Babysitting / child care
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Farmstay
Other
Help with Eco project
Help in the house
Language practice
Help with Computers / internet
Learn about recycling (and reusing). There are many things to know about it. Expect to learn LESS about farming because we have already planted 350 trees and you will just be watering them. You won't learn anything from that. We do plant a huge garden every year. But you can learn about all the reusing and recycling we do here. If you're an environmentalist you will benefit from this knowledge. Let's save the planet! I am an AVID recycler and this is my passion. You can learn all about recycling
learn perfect English from university educated professional anglophones
Matt is a teacher and will have lessons for you in English (he also speaks German, some Spanish, French, Russian so that will help translate)
Experience REAL Canada
You might be able to join me on a trip to see the Rocky Mountains, hot springs, waterfalls, canyons, hikes
See BOTH rural and urban life in Canada
Learn about and meet Native Indians
possibly visit Native Indian reservations and learn about the history of Native Indians in Canada and also North America. (remember that Matt used to be a history teacher).
possibly go dog sledding if you pay for it. I provide transport and bagged lunches
Possibly go whitewater rafting if you pay for it. I provide transport and food
Possibly go canoeing if it's summer (this is free as I own canoes)
live on a farm with a true Canadian family with young cute children
use power tools and practice carpentry
drive vehicles (even if you don't have a driver's licence or ANY experience) I can still teach you to drive and have you on the back country roads driving my vehicles.
drive equipment and machinery
Learn about mechanics and how to keep machinery running in cold weather
Possibly ride motorcycles
Possibly ride snowmobiles
Probably try snowshoeing in the deep snow because we have snowshoes here for you to use.
get exercise by working so hard
Eat good healthy food
Learn about organic gardening with NO pesticides or fertilizers
Party and have outdoor fires with other helpers. We sometimes have more than 4 helpers here. Make friends!
On Friday and Saturday nights I MIGHT be able to drive you and other helpers into the nightclub district of Edmonton to go out for beer and dancing. Then I'd drive you back to the farm at 2:00 A.M.
Get free use of WARM clothes for the Canadian winter. I will provide the warm clothes.
Get free travel advice because Matt has been to over 55 countries and most places in Western Canada. The other people have travelled around the world too so you can exchange travel ideas.
Cleaning, organizing, dusting, moving items around, placing ads on internet to reuse/recycle items, shovelling snow in winter, mowing grass in summer, doing dishes, watering trees, planting trees, gardening (all menial unskilled tasks) The only learning you will be doing is English language practice, how to clean, mechanics and also learning about recycling. Don't expect to learn much about organic farming because you'll just be watering 350 trees that are already planted, and gardening. We will be planting 400 more trees this spring so you can help with that.
*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️. Please read this regarding CASH payment*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ I need someone to be a lead hand. If you are committing to at least the ENTIRE summer, speak fluent English, are VERY trainable (good attitude and willing to learn), are very strong and have a valid international driver's licence I might be able to negotiate cash payments for you (on top of free accommodation, entertainment and food). This would ONLY be if you are someone who meets the criteria I'm searching for. None of the workawayers I have hosted as of yet would fit the criteria for a cash stipend. Most of them don't want to stay for many months and even if they did most of them wouldn't have the driver's licence, language skills or work skills to be the lead hand. They are thus only receiving accommodation, food and entertainment for free. Are you are the right type of person I'm searching for? Do you have nothing better to do than hang out and work on my farm for the entire summer? If so then you might be able to turn this workaway into a PAID workawayer position. I would pay for any hours over the 25 hours per week.
Even if you don't commit to the summer I might be able to negotiate some cash payments for you. IF you're a good worker I could get you doing more than 25 hours per week and just pay in cash for the extra hours.
English, Deutsch (German), poquito Espanol, Russian, un petit Français
You can stay in my home in an unfinished basement. It's like a dorm style shared HUGE room. You would probably have a Queen sized bed. If you need a private room it can probably be arranged. I have a bunk house next to the garage but the internet is a little slow out there. Or you can just stay out in the old 1974 retro RV motorhome in my back yard. You will have meals with all of us together as a family. There is unlimited internet, satellite television. There is a BIG recreation room with a billiards table and fireplace.
I will provide all food for the workawayers. If you are doing the cooking for all of us you can cook whatever you want and we will pay for it. You could cook one meal per day or all 3 meals if you like. We're not that frugal to limit what you cook. If my wife is cooking she usually cooks 1 big meal per day. Lunch is usually leftovers from the previous nights dinner. Breakfast would just be oatmeal, banana, bowl of cereal and toast. You will not starve. There is a camping stove and full sized barbecue outside in the yard if you prefer to live like you're camping. I will put lots of rice, beans, canned goods, pickles, grains, cereals, in shelves and you can help yourself to as much as you like.
My farm is located just outside of Edmonton which is a city of over 1 million people. I go into the city almost every day. I can also provide free accommodation for you in the city if you want to stay in the city for a day or two. There is the best mall in the world (West Edmonton Mall) close to my farm. There is lots of nightlife in Edmonton as it's a University city. I will show you around the city as well. I sometimes take road trips into the Rocky Mountains to go hiking. I've been showing them around the city of Edmonton on their days off. We have done cycling, skating, hiking, sledding, sightseeing, Or we've been hanging around the farm playing billiards, watching movies, having tea, doing Skype, using WIFI, practicing English, eating food, having drinks. Most of the time you will be on the farm working. When you're not working you can watch movies, satellite TV, use the high speed internet to Skype or WhatsApp your friends. Or just go for walks out in the woods/trees. Maybe use our big recreation room to play billiards or sit by the fireplace with a book and read. We have a library of books in our home. If you enjoy playing with children you can play with our 2 toddlers. They love it when people read books to them.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
More than two
25 hours per week
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
