Saturday, 17 March 2012
Sunshine
I take back most of the things I said yesterday. I've just been to my first volleyball session and everyone was absolutely lovely, so friendly. I've not had so much fun for ages!! It's a beautiful sunny day for the first time too so my view from the court was the harbour and amazing mountains!! it's incredible :)
Friday, 16 March 2012
Vancouver
It's hard to believe that just four weeks ago we were sat on the beach in the tropical island of Koh Phangan when we are now deep in the throes of winter in downtown Vancouver. I'm trying to cast my mind back to remember just what it felt like to wake up to glorious sunshine everyday when all I have seen out the window for days on end is rain, rain and yet more rain!!
Yes you guessed it the weather in Vancouver really is worse than Manchester: so far it's been grayer, wetter, colder, windier and more changeable than you would ever see during 'supposed' spring at home ....and it's somewhat of a shock to the system after Asia.
We have been here for just two weeks now so I'm guessing it will take a little while longer to climatise, even the Canadians seem to find it hard going, but so far we have been able to see the mountains on just a handful of occasions. It's a real shame as the mountains are incredible but on the positive side I do find that I finish the day with a very healthy glow after being pelted with water from all directions!!
Everyone keeps telling me that summer makes it all worthwhile........hmm we'll see!
Unfortunately we have both been a little underwhelmed by the City, the weather probably hasn't helped, but after the adventure of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia the whole place just feels a little sedate....(i might even say 'dull'). Yes the mountains and coastline are beautiful, the people are incredibly friendly and the city itself is impressive but I expected to arrive here and completely fall in love with the place....unfortunately so far I haven't.
Don't get me wrong I like it and it's exciting to be somewhere else new but if I were to compare it to the great cities of Europe: Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, London.....it just feels a little quiet and soulless. I have every confidence that this will change in summer, especially when we can make use of the beach and mountains. Plus we have been a little spoilt as I found Manchester pretty dull after experiencing Bangkok, Hanoi and Saigon. I miss the streetlife and buzz of those places and I could absolutely move to Bangkok tomorrow! I loved it! I guess this just feels a little too similar to home.
We are staying in the most alternative area outside downtown called Commercial Drive, it's full of quirky cafes, bars and shops and it really reminds me of Chorlton, particularly as almost everyone is either a hippy or gay. There are a lot of Italians and homeless people here too so it's an interesting mix! But this is as alternative as it gets as downtown is mostly full of non-descript sport's bars and Starbucks' branches.
I may not have sold the city to you yet and it's about to get slightly worse before it gets better as I have to mention Downtown Eastside - a district which is absolutely teeming with crack addicts!!
I always imagined Vancouver would be full of clean living, sports crazy Canadians...I was wrong as this side of town has an astounding number of down and outs and drug addicts. I have never in my life seen anything like it. We rather foolishly walked into town along East Hastings street on our second day in town and soon found out that this is a no go area....it is full of people on crystal meth, heroin and god knows what else walking around like zombies, often with mental health issues. It's not that they would do anything to you, we walked by without any problems, but it is just really disturbing as there are literally hundreds of them and often they have kids in toe! It's like a scene from 'The Wire' ...we never saw anything like this in Asia and of course we made a hasty exit!
This made it clear why we had already seen so many homeless people hanging about downtown too! Apparently they tried to tidy up this area of the city during the winter games by opening hostels outside of town and closing the mental health units....!! I guess it's not great for tourism but these people seem to have been abandoned by the Government! Surely there is some kind of solution?! Unfortunately it was our first impression of Vancouver!
Of course the rest of downtown is very clean, leafy and modern. Packed with skyscrapers, beautiful harbours, amazing mountain scenery and endless beaches. The West End, which is surrounded by coastline and one of the largest Urban Parks in N America (Stanley Park) is really lovely. This is where we are moving to in April. We have signed a 6 month lease on a flat on 'Beach Avenue' so we will wake up to a fabulous view of the water each morning. Once there I'm sure we will begin to get to know the city a lot better, especially with summer on the way, and make some friends.
Our first two weeks here have been far too hectic to do any real sight-seeing or go out and meet people so that will become our focus over the coming months. Since arriving we have been on a manic mission to get work. This is an extremely expensive city so anytime out of work is not really wise. We spent the first week running around the agencies registering for temp positions and completing lots of online testing and the second week beginning our first batch of work.
This week we have been working at a Pathologist event at the Vancouver Convention Centre. It might sound kind of glamourous but I feel like I am working in a sweat shop as we were given just one day to pack 4,000 goody bags!! I could barely walk when we finished the 8 hour shift last night and they had to call us in today to do another batch. It's well paid though at 14 dollars an hour and pretty sociable as we met a group of fellow travellers and some local guys. Two days of bag stuffing is enough for me though as it is brain numbing and I was feeling pretty home sick yesterday just thinking why did I leave a job I loved for this crap!
But you can't keep me down for long as next week I am on to something new - I'm working as a multimedia assistant at the same event and then a market researcher for some extra cash...that job in particular pays really well (given the lack of work involved) at 18 dollars an hour so at least I'll come home with lots of cash!! I have been put forward for a marketing coordinator job too which would be fab as it's loads more money and at least something I want to do. It's easier to hammer the applications for proper marketing jobs now that I have temp work to keep me going.
The busy schedule is probably another reason we haven't really warmed to the city yet! That and the fact we need to make some friends. Canadian's are really 'nice', they stop you in the street and talk to you and in shops and cafes, but whether or not they are always 'genuine' i'm not so sure....more often than not I detect a hint of insincerity. I'll find out properly next week when I sign up for the local volleyball club and get involved with more socialising. I do miss how blunt Brits are and the fact we are completely miserable and grumpy sometimes too....everyone is always smiling here...I guess it's not such a bad thing!
I must finish on a positive as now the sun has come out briefly and a band has set up on the street over the road so already I'm itching to go and explore the city more. In the meantime I best get back to the job search so that we can afford all the socialising we're about to do!!
Miss you guys at home x
Yes you guessed it the weather in Vancouver really is worse than Manchester: so far it's been grayer, wetter, colder, windier and more changeable than you would ever see during 'supposed' spring at home ....and it's somewhat of a shock to the system after Asia.
We have been here for just two weeks now so I'm guessing it will take a little while longer to climatise, even the Canadians seem to find it hard going, but so far we have been able to see the mountains on just a handful of occasions. It's a real shame as the mountains are incredible but on the positive side I do find that I finish the day with a very healthy glow after being pelted with water from all directions!!
Everyone keeps telling me that summer makes it all worthwhile........hmm we'll see!
Unfortunately we have both been a little underwhelmed by the City, the weather probably hasn't helped, but after the adventure of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia the whole place just feels a little sedate....(i might even say 'dull'). Yes the mountains and coastline are beautiful, the people are incredibly friendly and the city itself is impressive but I expected to arrive here and completely fall in love with the place....unfortunately so far I haven't.
Don't get me wrong I like it and it's exciting to be somewhere else new but if I were to compare it to the great cities of Europe: Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, London.....it just feels a little quiet and soulless. I have every confidence that this will change in summer, especially when we can make use of the beach and mountains. Plus we have been a little spoilt as I found Manchester pretty dull after experiencing Bangkok, Hanoi and Saigon. I miss the streetlife and buzz of those places and I could absolutely move to Bangkok tomorrow! I loved it! I guess this just feels a little too similar to home.
We are staying in the most alternative area outside downtown called Commercial Drive, it's full of quirky cafes, bars and shops and it really reminds me of Chorlton, particularly as almost everyone is either a hippy or gay. There are a lot of Italians and homeless people here too so it's an interesting mix! But this is as alternative as it gets as downtown is mostly full of non-descript sport's bars and Starbucks' branches.
I may not have sold the city to you yet and it's about to get slightly worse before it gets better as I have to mention Downtown Eastside - a district which is absolutely teeming with crack addicts!!
I always imagined Vancouver would be full of clean living, sports crazy Canadians...I was wrong as this side of town has an astounding number of down and outs and drug addicts. I have never in my life seen anything like it. We rather foolishly walked into town along East Hastings street on our second day in town and soon found out that this is a no go area....it is full of people on crystal meth, heroin and god knows what else walking around like zombies, often with mental health issues. It's not that they would do anything to you, we walked by without any problems, but it is just really disturbing as there are literally hundreds of them and often they have kids in toe! It's like a scene from 'The Wire' ...we never saw anything like this in Asia and of course we made a hasty exit!
This made it clear why we had already seen so many homeless people hanging about downtown too! Apparently they tried to tidy up this area of the city during the winter games by opening hostels outside of town and closing the mental health units....!! I guess it's not great for tourism but these people seem to have been abandoned by the Government! Surely there is some kind of solution?! Unfortunately it was our first impression of Vancouver!
Of course the rest of downtown is very clean, leafy and modern. Packed with skyscrapers, beautiful harbours, amazing mountain scenery and endless beaches. The West End, which is surrounded by coastline and one of the largest Urban Parks in N America (Stanley Park) is really lovely. This is where we are moving to in April. We have signed a 6 month lease on a flat on 'Beach Avenue' so we will wake up to a fabulous view of the water each morning. Once there I'm sure we will begin to get to know the city a lot better, especially with summer on the way, and make some friends.
Our first two weeks here have been far too hectic to do any real sight-seeing or go out and meet people so that will become our focus over the coming months. Since arriving we have been on a manic mission to get work. This is an extremely expensive city so anytime out of work is not really wise. We spent the first week running around the agencies registering for temp positions and completing lots of online testing and the second week beginning our first batch of work.
This week we have been working at a Pathologist event at the Vancouver Convention Centre. It might sound kind of glamourous but I feel like I am working in a sweat shop as we were given just one day to pack 4,000 goody bags!! I could barely walk when we finished the 8 hour shift last night and they had to call us in today to do another batch. It's well paid though at 14 dollars an hour and pretty sociable as we met a group of fellow travellers and some local guys. Two days of bag stuffing is enough for me though as it is brain numbing and I was feeling pretty home sick yesterday just thinking why did I leave a job I loved for this crap!
But you can't keep me down for long as next week I am on to something new - I'm working as a multimedia assistant at the same event and then a market researcher for some extra cash...that job in particular pays really well (given the lack of work involved) at 18 dollars an hour so at least I'll come home with lots of cash!! I have been put forward for a marketing coordinator job too which would be fab as it's loads more money and at least something I want to do. It's easier to hammer the applications for proper marketing jobs now that I have temp work to keep me going.
The busy schedule is probably another reason we haven't really warmed to the city yet! That and the fact we need to make some friends. Canadian's are really 'nice', they stop you in the street and talk to you and in shops and cafes, but whether or not they are always 'genuine' i'm not so sure....more often than not I detect a hint of insincerity. I'll find out properly next week when I sign up for the local volleyball club and get involved with more socialising. I do miss how blunt Brits are and the fact we are completely miserable and grumpy sometimes too....everyone is always smiling here...I guess it's not such a bad thing!
I must finish on a positive as now the sun has come out briefly and a band has set up on the street over the road so already I'm itching to go and explore the city more. In the meantime I best get back to the job search so that we can afford all the socialising we're about to do!!
Miss you guys at home x
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