42 posts tagged “vancouver”

I was in seventh grade social studies when I first found Vancouver on a map.  It wasn’t by accident; I had recently noticed that my favourite show (and soon to be newest obsession) The X-Files was filmed there.  I decided then that someday, somehow I would visit that mysterious Canadian city.

It took many years (and months of planning) before I made it happen.  But in July 2001, I arrived in British Columbia for a ten-day tour with Ian, Shane and Amy in tow.  I had plotted out an extensive list of X-Files-related stops to find in Vancouver and its surrounding suburbs (thanks in large part to the book X Marks the Spot).  It was the ultimate treasure hunt for a bunch of X-Philes (read: nerds) on vacation.

We visited upwards of 100 locations in total.  At many spots, we staged re-enactments of the related scene(s), resulting in some pretty hilarious pictures.  Here is just a sample of the (embarrassing totally awesome) shots we took.

The trip far exceeded my expectations.  And somewhere along the way – it’s hard to say when or where or even why – I fell in love with Vancouver itself.  The city was attractive in ways that went beyond merely hosting my beloved television show.  I had never experienced anything like it. 

Perhaps I should have realized then how my life was going to change, but I didn’t.  It would require several more trips out west (and long, are-we-crazy? discussions) for me and Shane to understand just how much Vancouver had affected us.

So for those who have wondered how we ended up here, there you go.  It all started with a little television show and a middle-school student with big, dorky dreams.  How appropriate, then, that this weekly paper ended up on our doorstop within the first month of residing here.

It’s strange to think that, if not for these two characters, I might never have come here at all.  <cue X-Files theme>

July's banner this year is a salute to Canada Day as well as the seven-year anniversary of my first visit to Vancouver (on July 29).  As previously mentioned, that trip was called Camp Vancouver 2001.  It also had several rhyming taglines - the official one being “more dedicated than Attila the Hun,” but another being “a long way to go, but a whole lot of fun.”  And my, was it ever an entertaining endeavor.

I will have much more to say about that fateful vacation in a future post.  So consider this a warning to those who have never engaged in obsessive behavior: something dorky this way comes.

Unbelievably, we’ve been living in Vancouver now for three months.  That’s one quarter of a year!  It feels like only three weeks ago we were packing up to make the long drive out here.  I guess it’s true what they say about the time and the flying and the fun.

Our weeks here really have been enjoyable.  We’ve loved getting to know the city as residents – figuring out the little things i.e. where to buy the best fruit, what papers we like to read, how to get from one location to another via bus or foot or bike.  Every day we discover something new about this place we call home.

Of course, the homesickness still comes and goes in waves.  We’ve been sad to miss out on opportunities to hang out with (or show support for) our friends and family.  But we also see how those connections are sustained by the wonderfully versatile Internet.  It’s awesome how email, instant messaging and webcams can erase at least some of the distance between BC and MN.

So are we happy with the choice we made to pack up the entirety of our lives and haul it all to Canada?  Honestly, I can’t say.  Not yet.  Without jobs (and with the summer sun shining down upon us), it’s all too easy to think we’re simply on a long (and glorious) Vancouver vacation.  While it sounds silly at this point to say we need more time to mentally adjust, well, that’s exactly where we’re at.  Check in with me at the 6-month mark, and hopefully I’ll have a more concrete answer.

(And, you know, a JOB.)

The headlining events we saw this past weekend had two things in common: bikes and a change of clothing.  But the similarities ended there.

First up, the Vancouver Triathlon World Championships.  This four-day competition featured 10 different triathlons for athletes from around the world, all conducted right in our backyard!  We watched the Elite Men’s race in its entirety and were left feeling exhausted by merely witnessing what participants go through.  At that level, they swim 1500m, bike 40k and run 10k, all at speeds that make my running pace the equivalent of standing still.  (Or sitting on the couch, surfing channels and eating kettle chips.)  Add in some unseasonably cool temperatures (plus icy cold ocean water), and you can further see why we were glad to observe this event.  (In fact, it was so chilly, some athletes in the first race of the week suffered from hypothermia.  And a later contest cut the swimming portion out entirely.)

Next up – and just about as far away on the sporting spectrum as one can get – the Vancouver World Naked Bike Ride.  (Yes, you read that right.)  We had heard rumors about this anti-car protest over the years, but never had the, um, pleasure of seeing it ourselves.  The cyclists met at Sunset Beach, where they stripped down (some partially, others completely) and applied body paint before the ride began.  We watched from a healthy distance as the parade of bikes and bums started their slow-moving journey through the streets of downtown, led by official police escorts.  While I don’t understand the exact connection between nudity and car culture, it is certainly an effective way to attract attention.

So we had an interesting weekend, to say the least.   And it opened my eyes to a new and awesome possibility for next year – The Vancouver World Naked Triathlon Championships.  Who’s in?

This weekend, we hosted our first official visitors!  My parents flew in to Seattle for Memorial Day and, along with my brother, braved the holiday lines at the border to drive up and see us.  It was the first time my dad has been to Vancouver and, therefore, the first time we’ve ever been in the city as a complete family <cue Full House music>.

Despite a nasty head cold (that knocked me on my ass Thursday-Monday), I enjoyed spending time with everyone.  On Friday, we hit up the Lookout tower (the Vancouver equivalent of the Seattle Space Needle) and saw the newest Indiana Jones movie at a downtown theatre.  On Saturday, we toured Stanley Park, drove both North Shore bridges, walked the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge and stopped by Queen Elizabeth Park (joining dozens of neon-clad high schoolers dressed up for prom).  The weather was perfectly sunny and breezy; we really couldn’t have asked for a better three days.

And, for those of you wondering, we were able to find places to feed my dad.  Not that he needs to be...fed in the literal sense, just that he’s a meat-and-potatoes guy, and this is not so much a meat-and-potatoes town.  But we hooked him up with hamburgers, hot dogs, beef ravioli and prime rib.  So you meat-lovers needn’t worry: you will be welcome here!

One of the reasons Shane and I wanted to live in Vancouver was to participate in the kinds of things we couldn’t do on short trips here.  We want to learn running trail routes in Stanley Park, ride our own bikes around town, attend random events and festivals, etc.  As you may have surmised from our busy weekends, we’ve definitely been taking advantage so far.  And this past weekend was our best experience yet.

The naval reserve on Deadman’s Island hosted an open house on Saturday.  This sounded fun for a couple of reasons: 1) the small island is normally closed off to the public, and 2) rumor has it the second X-Files movie filmed a few scenes there (nerd alert!).  We went into the day with pretty low expectations, figuring that just walking around the place would make our trip worthwhile.

We were pleasantly surprised by how much fun we had!  We started by going into the main brick building, which is actually considered a naval ship (or “stone frigate”) called the H.M.C.S. Discovery.  Inside, we looked at displays from the naval museum (including cards for the naval officers' daily rum rations - sweet), saw some semi-automatic weapons, and heard both a brass choir and full band perform.  We also listened to presentations on the radar systems of naval ships and the different types of vessels found in Vancouver’s ports.  Outside, we watched some drill exhibitions and heard the drum and bagpipe group play.

For lunch, we stopped in at the mess hall and ate a meal consisting of hot dogs and Tang-like juice.  Awesomely, it only cost us a loon a piece.  Then we were off to hear about the navy divers and see some heavy-ass diving equipment.  (The divers’ most frequent task?  Checking the underside of ships that stop here for signs of wear and tear.  Sounds like a  great job, even though it's not a full-time gig.)

But what absolutely made our day was getting on one of the afternoon boat rides leaving from the island's pier.  And when I say “boat,” I mean one that looks like a speedboat but has an inflated rim like a raft (see picture at right).  Translation: this thing was tiny, rode low on the water and had some seriously strong engine power (180 hp).

About a dozen people were on board with us – two naval reserve officers and 10 or so passengers, most of whom were sitting along the inflated outer edge of the boat with us.  We started out real slow and leisurely, but once we hit the open bay, we were literally hanging on for our dear lives.  We whipped from one end of Coal Harbour to the other, darting in and out of sailboats, yachts and unbelievably enormous cargo ships cruising the area.  We got SPECTACULAR views of downtown, Stanley Park, Lionsgate Bridge, North Vancouver and the shipping docks (with their distinct, bright orange cranes).

The boat we were in also had an extremely tight turning radius.  When the driver would change direction, it would rise to a 60-70 degree angle with the water!  Luckily, we had been assured before heading out that – due to their design - it is physically impossible to tip or sink these boats.  So we were able to enjoy the feelings of skidding along the surf or flying in the air (depending on which side of the boat we were on) without fear of death by drowning.  Yay.

I can’t fully express how Incredibly Fucking Cool it was to be out there.  On the ocean.  For half an hour.  Speeding around all the other sea traffic we normally see from so far away.  But I can tell you: the memories of that ride will last us quite some time.  (Or at least until we go back to do it again next year!)

On Saturday, Shane and I participated in Bike the Blossoms, another event that's part of the Cherry Blossom Festival here.  The idea was to get people out in the streets, biking underneath the seasonal flowers and making stops along the way to visit local cafes and markets (particularly ones that support local farmers).

We were initially worried that we wouldn’t be able to participate in the tour, since (as I mentioned earlier) it SNOWED on Friday night – big, sticky, white flakes.  Luckily, the precipitation was limited to the evening hours, and Saturday we awoke to (mostly) blue sky and clear streets.  It was a chilly 32 degrees 0 degrees out, but we weren’t about to let a little thing like freezing temperature stop us.  We are still Minnesotans after all!  (Hell yes!)

We headed out from the apartment to the nearest starting point at Kitsilano Community Center.  We needed to sign-in here (along with several hundred other participants), and this was made all the easier by the free bike valet service in effect!  Just like with a car, the attendants took our bikes to secured “parking” spots, and we were given numbers for retrieving them later.  It was awesome.

The route itself ended up being around 25 km, but in total we biked about 33 km (20.5 miles).  We both felt pretty fucking sore by the end (damn you, hills), but there were plenty of highlights along the way to keep us going.

1)       The friendliness of the participants.  Maybe it was the cold weather or maybe the fact that it is finally spring, but EVERY SINGLE PERSON we interacted with along the route was exceptionally kind and cheerful.

2)      Biking along city streets for the first time.  This was our virgin experience being on the road with traffic; normally, Shane and I drive our bikes to a paved trail where we can bike.  I realized that biking alongside cars – while a bit nerve-wracking – is not nearly as terrifying as I thought.  It certainly helps that Vancouver’s main bike routes are side streets that run parallel to the main arteries (oh yeah, and I was wearing a big-ass bike helmet for once).

3)      Seeing the downtown peninsula from across the water.  Living in the West End means we’re not often on the other side of the bridge(s).  I very much enjoyed viewing the city from “afar” again (with the snow-peaked mountains behind).

4)      Discovering loose-leaf tea stores.  While nothing will replace my beloved St. Paul tea store (TeaSource, I am forever thy bitch), I loved finding out about some local alternatives.  We stopped in at both Shaktea and Steeps “tea lounges” (as they are apparently called here) for hot drinks, including one blend appropriately titled Cherry Blossom.

5)      Interacting with the community.  After a week of uncertainty about our financial situation, I appreciated the opportunity to get out and reap one of the no-cost rewards of being a local.  It will take some time (and a couple of jobs) (and probably some semblance of a social life) to make us feel entirely at home, but events like this are excellent reminders of how lucky we are to be residents of this crazy city.

So, our first full weekend in the city was a lot of fun.  On Saturday, we ferried over to Granville Island to do part of our grocery shopping.  Most of you know how much I love the Granville Island Public Market, so you can imagine how exciting it was for me to buy all our fruits and veggies there for the week.  And it cost us less than $20 CDN!  Amazing.

The following day, we attended our first event in the city as residents.  I’d been keeping an eye on the festivities going on for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Ohanami – the Japanese term for cherry-blossom viewing - at Nitobe Garden was on Sunday.  We headed out to this Japanese garden (on the UBC campus) in the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine, blooming flowers and sounds of a shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and koto (Japanese harp).  Around 7 p.m., the special paper lanterns in the garden were lit (a “magical, once-yearly event”).  It was beautiful, and we took our time circling the paths by candlelight.

Then came Monday.  (Damn you, Mondays.)

We once again headed out to take care of more paperwork – squaring away car insurance, renter’s insurance and health insurance (which we will need for three months before our public healthcare kicks in).  But I was completely unprepared for just how much this was going to cost us.  We are now paying TWICE as much for car insurance and renter’s insurance as we were in MN.  This, on top of finding out about the high rates for cell phones here, made me homesick for the de-regulation of the States...which in turn just made me homesick overall.

The thing is: I knew Canada was going to be more expensive, particularly since we wanted to live downtown.  But knowing that a box of cereal is going to cost $7 CDN when I am living in MN (and employed!), and paying the $7 (sans income!) are two separate things.  Right now, I am struggling with that adjustment.  And I’m just hoping those all-important first jobs will make us feel more confident about affording our new life here, rather than making us want to run for the border. 

Time to hit the job boards...