So hockey season has started and there’s certainly been a buzz about the place since. I haven’t yet managed to get to a game (tickets are fairly pricey) but it seems half the city have Vancouver Canuck’s jerseys and tops on if it’s a game day. Canucks posters are everywhere around town and even the buses alternate their front display between route number/destination and a big, bright “Go Canucks Go!” on game day.
I’ve been told the Canucks are perennial slow-starters so usually have an average October, but they’re certainly one of the NHL’s better teams. Last season they lost in the Stanley Cup finals (the play-off finals for the laymen) – unfortunately taking their Stanley Cup Finals record to 0-3! You may well have heard on the news about the riots that kicked off in parts of Vancouver in the wake of the decisive game 7 loss to Boston earlier this year. Anyway, I’ve watched a few of the games on TV and at the time of writing, though they’ve won 4, lost 3 and had 1 overtime loss. With the NBA in full lock-out mode, hockey has definitely leapt up to number 2 sport for me and I keep bugging my colleagues with Canucks chat despite the fact they mostly couldn’t care less. Favourite players are the big Swedish Sedin twins (naturally) and Ryan Kesler.
So I realised earlier that I’ve now been here for 6 weeks so I better give you my impressions of the city. It’s definitely one of the best looking cities I’ve been to. The nature and scenery are absolutely breathtaking at times. Travelling to and from Downtown is great as the Skytrain is mostly overground, so you get a spectacular view of the mountains. There seems to be a perfect balance with the ocean, the mountains and the city. One of the first things that struck me is how much green there is around the place. There are parks of various sizes all over and you’re never too far away from the grass and trees, even Downtown. Water-features are also very popular here. I’ve got to say I really like them. They look good and they definitely have a calming effect on the soul!
The people are very health conscious and active. As you can imagine, there’s a whole host of activities right on the doorstep; hiking, kayaking, jogging, cycling, skiing, etc. People seem to be big into organic, healthy foods and I’ve met quite a lot of veggies/vegans so far. I’m far from being converted but I’m right on board with all the physical activity! On the subject of people, one thing I didn’t expect was how multi-cultural Vancouver is. There are LOADS of Asians here – and I mean LOADS! I’ve met people from all over the world, be they travellers or residents. I’ve probably met more Aussies than actual Canadian’s thinking about it! It gives the city a unique flavour and you also get an awesome selection of restaurants. For a big city with all the skyscrapers and highways I love the fact that you never feel crowded or rushed, a la London. The population of Metro Vancouver is around 2 million and I was astounded to hear that the population of Canada as a whole is only 33 million – about 50% of the UK but with 40 times the land area.
Probably the worst part about the city is the number of homeless people around, especially in busy areas Downtown like Granville Street. Due to the milder climate in Vancouver they come from all over – guess it makes for an easier night on the streets. Chinatown and the Downtown eastside area are notorious for drug addicts and beggars but I’ve got to say they seem to be pretty well-behaved from what I’ve seen. I believe there’s a law that they can only ask you for money/food once and believe it or not this seems to be adhered to, so they don’t cause too much bother.
So since my last update I’ve mostly been working. It has been going great at Hermes and most days are a good laugh but some people really do have too much money! The average sale must be between $500-1000 and I’ve seen people dropping $15k+ without batting an eyelid a few times. Some people are actually obsessed with the brand too – it’s a little bit crazy! Still, it pays the bills and it also gives me the opportunity to meet a hell of a lot more people than I would do grinding an office job. We get the odd Canadian celebrity popping in, which is cool, and more than a few arrogant tossers, which is not so much. It’s taken a little time to adjust to not having weekends (I usually have Mondays and Thursdays off) and it also means I don’t really have time to venture too far at the minute. Still, my original plan was to work for around 9 months and go travelling at the end, so there’s plenty of time to explore!
I did take the opportunity on one of my days off last week to have a look around Burnaby Central Park. The weather hasn’t been too great recently but it was decent enough for a solitary stroll around this large green/woodland space not too far from my place in Edmonds. Here are a few pictures I took, as you can see I made some new friends:
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| Black squirrels - so cute! |
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| Some type of goose - think they're named after some country or other. Not sure. |
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| Korean War Memorial |
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| Swangard Stadium |
I’ve also managed to join a gym finally. It’s only about 5 minutes walk from my place and very cheap ($20/month rolling) compared to a few places I looked at. It’s only been open around 3 months so all the equipment (of which there’s a lot!) is all nice and new and clean. I’ve been doing the intervals class on Thursday mornings which has been good fun. The first time I was the only person that signed up so I got a decent personal training session out of it!
It was quite cool this Thursday as the owner of the gym and all-round Vancouver and NHL legend Trevor Linden showed up to film some promos to go up on the website. I’ll have to keep an eye out as I may feature working out in the background of one or two! This came the day after I got extremely jealous of my colleague, Gina, as she goes to one of Steve Nash’s gyms Downtown and the man himself showed up when she was down there. I definitely would have been a lot more star-struck with Steve Nash, but, hey, I’m a hockey fan now so big Trevor Linden will suit me fine!
I also managed to pick up a basketball for $4 at the local thrift shop, so I can no go ballin’ at the park behind my house which has a pretty decent court. However, the rain has arrived in the last few days and looks set to stay so may be waiting a while till I can get out there.
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| Trevor in his prime |
One new experience for me a couple of days ago was a Green Tea Latte from Canada’s favourite, Tim Horton’s. Seemed like a novel idea but tasted a bit weird. Apparently it’s pretty popular though.
Today one of our happy customers brought in a big platter of sushi which tasted awesome. I haven't really had much sushi before and when I have it's mostly been the crappy stuff they sell in the supermarkets back home. There was so much I ate some when I came back from lunch, on afternoon break then offered to take the rest of it home for my dinner as it was just going to be chucked out in the end. Good stuff!
A final word about Skype. I haven’t really had much opportunity to talk with anyone due to the time difference and me working weekends. If you want to get some face-time just drop me an email and we’ll sort something out. My username for anyone who doesn’t have me is sfield86.
I’m off to watch some Trailer Park Boys and hit the hay before Arsenal game and gym before work tomorrow.
Love,
S x
