Camp Vancouver

For awhile now, I've been planning to write a post on my experience with Canadian health care. I can't say I've been thrilled with the care here; overall, I feel that my medical interactions, while certainly professional, have been impersonal and somewhat unpleasant. However, a recent illness while in the States has made me appreciate what we have here a lot more.

You see, I was never without health care while living in Minnesota. But during our travels in the U.S. last week, I was indeed without insurance. And then I got really sick. In bed with a fever and chills, far from my country of residence, I found the greatest worry I had was whether or not I would eventually need to see a doctor. How much would that cost? Could we afford it? What if we couldn't?

The Canadian health care system is far from perfect, to be sure. I am currently on one of those much-hyped waiting lists (for an MRI to look at my back pain). But the truth is, had we been in Vancouver, I could have gone in to see a doctor for my symptoms without any problem. And when we finally arrived back home, that's exactly what I did. Thirty minutes of waiting at a walk-in clinic, and I was able to leave with a clear diagnosis (bronchitis) and not a penny less in my pocket. Thank you, universal health care!

It's incredible to me that the U.S. - so often called the greatest country in the world - does not give me, a lifetime citizen, that simple option. And when I think about people with severe and life-threatening health problems facing the same can-I-can't-I debate of whether they can afford to seek care, it absolutely breaks my heart.

So although I may find the Canadian health care flawed, I have to admit: it still kicks the ass of our current, broken system in the States. I really hope meaningful reform gets passed in the U.S., and soon. Yet even if it does, without single-payer on the table, you can bet we'll be looking at our travel insurance options for the next extended trip to MN.

Hey, guess who's taking a break from homework to finally update this - wait, what do they call it again? oh yeah - blog? That would be me. Sorry about the extended absence; my free time tends to get sucked up by chores or trying to get as far away from my computer as I possibly can. (Preferably somewhere outside and oceany.)

Anyway, here's a quick rundown and some of what you missed in the past three months (or at least what I can come up with right now):

• My week-long break from school at the beginning of July was nice, if way too rainy. I didn't do much of note (that was the idea), although Shane and I went in for a couple's pedicure at one of the fancy spas on West Fourth (the yuppie part of town). That was a riot, since it's very much not the norm for either of us.

• When my second term of school started, I made a point of sitting in a new seat. That change has been really good, as it's allowed me to get to know more students and feel less isolated. The program has finally been getting into the web design/development in the past couple of weeks, and I have definitely been enjoying that. (Even JavaScript! Who knew?)

• After spending the first half of the term in the (required) video class for my program, I realized two things. One, I was not going to learn ANYTHING new. Two, I was going to waste WAY too much time on projects for that class. I went out on a limb and asked the program head if I could drop the course, and it turns out I could! Now I am just waiting for my St. Thomas credits to transfer, which hopefully will go through fine.

• For my birthday, Shane and I went out to eat at a new Thai restaurant here called Maenum. Both the food and drinks were amazing, and I can't wait to go back and try more of the delicious curries and cocktails. (Mmm, coconut-flavoured anything.)

• At the end of July, my mom and brother came out here to visit for a long weekend. Shane and I had fun being hosts for the weekend (we don't get to play that role enough!), and we made a point to get out and be active. We biked and hiked around town (the weather was perfect), although probably not enough to burn off all the food we ate over those three days. My family also got to experience a rarity that weekend: a Vancouver thunderstorm! Even better, a Vancouver thunderstorm during the annual Celebration of Light fireworks show. Awesome.

• In related news, Shane and I came home from the final fireworks show of the summer to find six people trapped in our (small) apartment elevator. Our landlord was not around, so we helped keep everybody calm until the elevator repairman could arrive through all the post-fireworks traffic. We managed to crack the door open, pass in ice packs and playing cards, and set-up a fan to blow some air in (did I mention this was happened during a heat wave? it was HOT here). It took about 75 minutes for the guy to get here, but eventually everyone got out.

• My latest obsession is with the bagels from a local bakery here called Siegel's. They are not kidding about having "possibly the best bagels in the world." Seriously, you guys. We've been buying a dozen bagels a week, meaning I have pretty much been eating a bagel a day for the past two months. DELICIOUS.

• Shane bought a new laptop recently, and thus my 2005 desktop PC was finally put to rest. Or at least put into our basement storage until we can figure out a place to donate it.

• Last weekend, we went out to BC's equivalent of a state fair: the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). You may recall we went with Carrie to this event last year, when we saw the Superdogs show for the first time. (Okay, nobody but Carrie probably remembers that.) Well, we went back to the Superdogs show again this year, and it was even more hilarious. One of the performers this year was a tiny, tiny Yorkie named Pocket Rocket. Every time Pocket Rocket came out on stage (to compete in the obstacle course or just run around), the contrast between her and the other, bigger, built-for-agility dogs made me laugh until I cried. I cannot even tell you how much that sight tickled my funny bone. Good times.

• As some of you may have seen on Facebook, I went in for an appointment with a rheumatologist here last week. My pain has been getting worse lately, and I was hoping to come away with some new treatment ideas for my fibromyalgia. Instead, my new doctor wanted to run a series of diagnostic tests on me, to see if we can better pinpoint the problem. I will know the results of some of the tests by the end of month; it's weird to think that I may have been suffering from something else entirely all these years. (And no worries, so far nothing he's suggested is life-threatening or debilitating, if treated properly.)

That's about it. Now back to my regular homeworking...and counting down the days until my next week-long break (in October, when we will be joining Jon, Shannon, Joe and Carrie in California for a long weekend, yay!).

Via Talking Points Memo:

Since I spent most of May not blogging, here's a random update to kick off June.  (You're welcome.)

• I bought a bus pass/student ID holder at the dollar store last month to use in my commuting.  It is awesomely: a) originally from Korea (and came with a subway map of Seoul), b) called a "Multi-Trance Pass" (pretty sure they meant transit), and c) has a picture of a cartoon dog wondering, "Are you happy?" on the front.  (Answer: yes, but only because of this pass holder.)
  

• Shane accompanied his tennis partner, Etienne, up to the Lynn Headwaters in North Vancouver recently to get some fresh mountain spring water.  They stopped by the side of the road and simply filled up some jugs from an aquifer there.  It was easily the best water I've ever tasted.  (Fuck you, Aquafina.)
  

• The herons have been back for awhile now, so we are well within the months of late-night heron brawling (which sounds not unlike a ten-car pile-up) and all-night chirping heron babies.  Ah, nature.
  

• Two of my seven classes ended last week, so I can now enjoy five weeks of no school drinking on Fridays.  Woohoo!  I plan to savor this time, as the term after this is supposedly downright hellish.
  

• The weather here has been ridiculously beautiful lately.  The sun has been shining, the temps have been warm, the breeze has been cool and the bikinis have been plentiful.
  

• With all my recent school-inspired hoodie-love, Shane decided he wanted to give hoodie-dum a shot.  In the past couple of weeks, he purchased three new stylin' hoodies, all of which look fabulous on him.  (If you bother him enough, maybe he'll let me take a picture.)
  

• Our new favourite joint along Denman Street is the place that moved in to the old Cupcakes location: Qoola.  They sell a fantastic frozen yogurt (among other goodies, including loose-leaf tea) and the majority of their trash is biodegradeable.  Compost that, bitches.
  

• I was recently inspired by one of VeryScaryCarnival's posts to start assembling a "Things I Miss About the States" post.  So for those of you worried we were so over the U.S. of A., look for that in the coming, uh, weeks?  (Or at least sometime before August.)
  

• Shane is gearing up for a 5K PR on June 12th.  He's been training to beat his old record while running a race out at UBC (on a Friday night, strangely).  I have been training to steathily sneak myself some of the post-race veggie burgers.
  

• I just learned that Dollhouse has been renewed for another season!  While this news was not met by the insane rejoicing of FNL's multi-season renewal, our household is pleased.  (Especially since Without a Trace had its series finale last month and Grey's Anatomy is still sucking lots of ass.)  (Thank god The Office is still funny.)  (Oh, and the first person to mention 30 Rock will get a complimentary shot to the nuts.)
  

I normally don't follow sports of any kind, but it's been impossible to remain oblivious to the current standing of the Canucks (Vancouver's NHL team) in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Signs are posted all around town exclaiming "Go Canucks Go!" (this message even appears on the digital displays of public transit buses), and newspapers proclaim the outcome of each game in big headlines on the front page.

It's crazy how intensely hockey fever is gripping this city.  The Canucks jerseys, hoodies, T-shirts, hats and flags are out in FULL FORCE everywhere.  I've even had instructors these past couple of weeks condone students checking the score (and in one case, actually watching a game) during our night classes.  I guess they know the puck doesn't stop with them (BOOM!).

Sadly, the Canucks are down 3-2 in their 7-game series against the Chicago Blackhawks.  As much as I wish them well in Game Six, I'm really just hoping my car doesn't end up on fire if they do get eliminated tomorrow night.

This week's feature is a classic by They Might Be Giants, a piece which combines hilarious lyrics with a catchy pop hook  (as all good TMBG songs do).

After a threat of first 90%, then 30% chance of precipitation, race day morning dawned perfectly cool with a mix of clouds and sun.  Not a drop of rain was in sight.  (Thank you, Vancouver!)

Shane and I left the apartment just before 6 a.m. to head to the race start (on the other side of downtown).  We drove over to park in Shane’s work lot, as it’s located right next to the Skytrain, which we planned to take the rest of the way (my monthly transit pass allows me to travel with an extra passenger on Sundays, woo!).  We arrived at the starting line around 6:20, giving us plenty of time to use the Port-a-Potty and stretch.

The half-marathon group lined up as we got closer to 7 a.m. (the official go time for the race).  We jumped in around the middle of the pack, both of us feeling a lot of nerves at that point.  I was anxious about running my first half-marathon; Shane was feeling the pressure of meeting his ambitious time goal (1:45).  But soon we were flowing with the massive, 6,000-strong crowd toward the start.  We wished each other well and set off on our individual journeys to The Black-Eyed Peas “Pump It” blaring over a pair of gigantic speakers.

I felt good from the beginning.  All the time spent tapering (not to mention the pure adrenaline of finally running this long-planned-for event) gave me an extra bounce in my step as we moved into the Gastown portion of the race.  I thought maybe I was running a bit faster than my anticipated 2:15 pace time, but I didn’t know for sure.  (Nor did it really matter; my primary goal was just to finish.)

Around the 10km (or 6-mile) mark, the route followed the seawall leading into Stanley Park and then hopped up on the road that circles the park (Park Drive).  This was when I started to feel nervous again, as the infamous Park Drive hill to Prospect Point was coming up.  Prospect Point is essentially the highest point in Stanley Park, and veterans of this half-marathon will tell you this long, steep climb to the top is intensely challenging (especially being located in the middle of the race).

Thankfully, since Shane and I had done a training run on this hill, I was able to reach the crest without any issues.  It also helped that some amazing spectators were lining the road, yelling encouragement at the top of their lungs (supportive words can do wonders for tired legs).  And the downhill on the other side?  That was almost worth the pain of ascending (almost).

Soon I hit the 10-mile mark and began running along Beach Avenue.  A large crowd had gathered by English Bay Beach to cheer us on, so that was a nice boost.  I definitely struggled as we entered the last 3km (about 2 miles remaining).  My calves were burning like they’ve never burned before, but I knew we were close, so I pushed through the discomfort.  And sure enough, soon the end was in sight.

If you’ve never experienced the finish line of a race, it is simply incredible.  The enthusiasm from the assembled crowd and the pick-up in pace by just about every runner out there is electrifying.  I flew through the end, crossing the finish with my arms held high and cheering as loudly as my tired lungs could handle.  I recently heard this moment described as empowering, and I couldn’t agree more.  I felt like I could take on absolutely anything.

Shane and I met up within minutes of my finish, both with the AWESOME news that we had done better than we’d hoped.  I managed my first 13.1-miler in 2:05:24, ten minutes faster than I expected to be (holy shit); Shane broke his half-marathon PR by nearly six minutes, completing in 1:43:12 (well under his goal).  Hell yeah!

We then made our way back to Shane’s work to shower up - a logistical decision made because we had reservations in the restaurant just above Canada Place at 11:30.  This particular place - Café Pacifica in the fancy Pan Pacific hotel - is known in Vancouver for its extravagant (and yes, expensive) brunch buffet, which we were eager to partake in.

After logging the longest distance I’ve ever run, that food tasted fucking delicious.  There were freshly-squeezed juices, assorted pastries, salads, fruits, sushi, dim sum, stir fry, salmon and sole, bacon and sausage, (every kind of) meat and potatoes, omelettes and eggs Benedict, and the most beautiful dessert spread you can imagine.  We lingered there for a couple of hours, taking our time through four (yes, four) separate buffet trips.  It was a wonderful way to end what was truly a spectacular morning.

And - as you might expect when everything goes so perfectly according to plan - it wasn’t long before we were discussing when we might want to train for another half to do it all over again.