I already have a few stories already from the job that are going to be
at the great to tell in a few weeks time but for now are a bit 'awkward collar pull':
So yeah...we shall see... I've been to lots of gigs, which I describe and over-analyse over at my other blog - http://gooddaysandcliches.blogspot.ca/2012/07/vancouver-gigs-strung-out.html
It's nice to know that you can always rely on the certainties of life; death, taxes (especially here, wha?) and people complaining about public transport.
The transit system in Vancouver is one of the best I've travelled on. For $2.50 (about €2) you can get a ticket that allows you travel as many times as you want within 90 minutes, on the bus and/or skytrain. Most journeys take 15 mins so you can easily get somewhere, do what you need to get done and get back with one ticket.
Journeys slightly further afield cost $3.75 and a day ticket costs $9 for unlimited journeys. And yet, this isn't good enough for some folks. Wah wah.
I'm finding it harder to come up with rhyming titles, not gonna lie...
As of Saturday I shall be an Online Marketing Assistant, which sounds pretty fancy and basically amounts to me being responsible for the online presence of a furniture company over here. It's part time work but from what I've seen there is a lot of work to be done so I'm hoping to get some more hours out of it.
In other news, the Chinatown area is not a whole lot of fun! A huge portion of the population here are Chinese and around most of Vancouver they are as polite and friendly as anyone. HOWEVER, in Chinatown itself the Chinese people are a bit racist! They make no effort to be friendly in the shops instead they follow you around shouting prices and assuring you that the particular price is much lower than it was the day before.
Herself tried to apply for a few jobs just outside the Chinatown area and was greeted by the managers shouting "CHINESE ONLY!!" We also got ripped off on our visit to the Chinese Gardens, where we paid $14 to see something we could have seen for free. Chinatown is also one block from the dreaded East Hastings so all in all we probably won't be returning.
Casual racism - only $14 a pop!
Tonight I go see Skate Punk legends Strung Out.. Will probably write up something on that for the other blog.
We've been applying for jobs for 2 or so weeks now and finally starting to get some callbacks. I had my first interview today, a part time web/media co-ordinator for a huge antique/furniture store over near the less desirable side of town. Employers seem reluctant to hire us for part time positions because they fear we will leave for better work/fun times. We'll see. Herself has also got an interview tomorrow, fingers crossed.
We went for another Jagermeister-themed night, on Friday 13. It was pretty unremarkable except for when I got bought a drink by an anonymous admirer..Apparently thats a real thing that happens. The barman called me over and slid me the drink. I didn't wait to find out who the guy or girl was and after some suspicion and squinting at the glass we enjoyed a free beverage. We also made some one night friends who we might bump into again.
There are two more people from Galway over here now, and I've bumped into a friend of a friend of a friend so it's starting to feel a bit more familliar around here. Though herself doesn't have the same luxury of knowing/half knowing these people as I do. We're trying to keep busy between jobseeking, going to the gym in the building, seeing a few sights, cinema, avoiding East Hastings* and arranging days/nights out. In the next week or so I'm going to a gig, a Vancouver Whitecaps game in the MLS and I have to look into a skateboarding event that Tony Hawk is appearing at. That guy is responsible for me liking a lot of the music I do via his computer games.
*East Hastings is basically where all the drug-dependants/homeless hang out and shuffle around. We have been on the completely safe West Hastings often enough, but have literally only seen the start of East Hastings as we passed it going on another street and yeah, no great desire to go back.
Oh, I've also cycled around the seawall in Stanley Park with one of our new friends from the hostel. It takes about an hour and is worth the $10 bike rental.
Our apartment is pretty much like an oven, it is hot all the time, hotter than it is outside a lot of the time. This generally slows down my brain and wears away my patience, making it harder to blog/upload photos.
I don't have an inferiority complex so I don't watch UFC, but I hear it's a big deal amongst dudes who used to watch wrestling but want something less fruity. Bas Rutten is apparently a charismatic ex-UFC fighter-man who has turned his meaty hands to giving non-police force approved self defence advice.
..and some idiots try to teach, right?!
If his silly accent, stumbling deliveries and bad jokes aren't enough, the situations and solutions he presents are ridiculous. Here's how it works:
Bas introduces some CCTV footage of some poor sod getting car-jacked/robbed/mugged etc
A SCARY THINGS ARE HAPPENING voice-over guy gives a play by play account of the beatdown
Bas also explains what is going wrong for the victim
'Here's what I'd do in this situation'
What I was hoping for was footage of Bas running out to interrupt the crime and lay the smackdown, but instead he has actors reconstruct the events and he instructs you how to defend yourself in a variety of impractical way. Boo.
"Bas Rutten on how to turn arm robbery into a 2nd degree homocide"
I am a functioning adult again as I have received my debit card in the post (thanks mom..) I now have money that I will exchange for a gig ticket or two.
On Thursday, after applying for some jobs, we went to North Vancouver on a SEABUS. Here we found the real, endless forest type Canada and I was in my element. The scenery was breath-taking as we hiked around Lynn Canyon Park, traversed the suspension bridge and got sore necks looking up at the huge trees. Coilte has nothing on this place.
There were times when it felt we were the only people for miles and times when we probably were (we got a bit lost).
On Friday we went to three Irish bars, none of which had very many Irish people. One had a drink called a Black N Tan...
We've seen Kitsilano which is like a massive version of Salthill with an outdoor pool. We've also gone to Stanley Park for a cycle around the Seawall.
It's actually too hot to type. Pictures to follow.
Still having trouble with my online banking but I'll try not to get into that..Suffice to say if anyone is reading this who is going to Canada, you should make sure you can add a payee to your account BEFORE you leave. You need an activation code that will be sent to you by phone..except you need another code to activate your phone..that's sent to your home address.. confused? I know I am. So I've activated my Canadian number but of course BOI can't send texts to that so I'm now waiting (again) on the post to get home before I can get the code and continue. *Sigh*
Aaaanyway, after a day of getting nowhere, we got back to Stanley Park with the intentions of going to the outdoor cinema, which was showing Bill And Ted. Radical, etc. By the time we got there we had given up hope on seeing the film so we trudged dejectedly to a park bench, looked at Vancouver city in the distance and tried to plan our next move.
And then, as we sat there in the mist with our blanket and snacks, across the road trots a masked superhero who would make everything seem okay again.
We then managed to meet up with a friend from home who is over here with his Canadian girlfriend and we caught 3/4 of the film. The outdoor cinema is like something out of a different world. Set in a huge park, surrounded by forestry and with a backdrop of city lights, it feels like a relaxed festival except instead of people shouting and stumbling around drunk, everyone sits on blankets and foldable chairs, makes food and are friendly and polite.
While there are a lot of homeless people in the city centre, and there is less stigma attached to drugs, we have yet to see any hassle, agro or argy bargy. Everyone seems pretty relaxed and polite for the most part, even on public transport. (Though it's reliable and frequent, so that helps.)
Today, after more 365 online banking frustration (srsly, get that sorted if you're going abroad) we went to the beach at English Bay in the West End. Nothing brings home the juxtaposition of the landscapes of Canada like this beach. Sitting on the sand and getting burned by the sun, looking out to sea, with woodland and snow-capped mountains in view to either side.
Having settled into our apartment I'm now fully immersing myself in this North American culture by sitting on the couch in the evenings and watching SPORTZ. Ok, I've done it twice so far but it makes me feel like a real man. All I have to do is get some of the tiny cans of beer they have here and I'm set.
Baseball seems to be on a lot. It really is just rounders for grown ups and tbh it's a bit drawn out between all the innings and the ads (THE SUPER SLO MO IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MCDONALD'S. MCDONALD'S, EAT SOME MCDONALD'S). The best thing to do is to watch the highlights.
More fun though is the American football. (Canadian football?) The local team, the BC Lions are pretty good.
OOF.
On Friday we're going to an alleged Irish bar called Ceilis, which is also supposedly the home of the Lions, to watch a 'game' so it should be a interesting coming together of sport, alcohol, locals and Irish. The stadium is right down the 'street' from the bar (and a few 'blocks' from our apartment) so we'll see what happens.
Equally close to our apartment (because it's the same stadium) is the home of the local soccerball team, the Vancouver Whitecaps.
We're actually planning to go to a match this month as part of a group outing with USIT/SWAP. The team have a pretty good chance of making the playoffs (lol). Will they be of the same quality as Glenn Whelan and John O'Shea...? Only time will tell.
I'm told there's another game called 'hockey' as well, but I'll have to look into that.
I think the most important thing I've learned so far here is be friendly to other people in your hostel. Not only have our fellow Irish helped us out by making the mistakes a day before us, but we had a pretty good night last night for free as a result of chatting to some fellow hostel-dwellers.
Because of all the money we've spent on accommodation, we were resigned to a night in so I got chatting to a guy from Seattle, Joe and his friend from Germany who was called Gero, pronounced 'geh-hro' but renamed 'G' for simplicity, who were visiting Vancouver for the night. By a stroke of luck the Irish lads discovered that the pretentious tapas lounge next door had a free drinks promo for the next 45 minutes. I invited our new (presumably romantically involved) friends to come along and 3 minutes later we had all balled downstairs in our hoodies and t-shirts and were sampling shots of vodka in flavours such as 'bubble' and 'dude'. In our haste we had managed to get in without being assigned our tickets for further refreshments.
Once this grievous error was rectified we each collected our free pints of Granville Island Raspberry Ale, which is an amazing local brew that is sweet but manly. Well, sort of. We also scored some beef skewers and pizza, while discussing how the Irish are alcoholics, the Germans hate the craic and the Americans are just awful.
Touched by our charm, warm welcome and mild racism, our new friends invited us back to the hostel where they produced a ridiculous bottle of rum to share, called Mount Gay Rum. Srs. Over the next few hours every card-related drinking game on earth was played, the racism and stereotypes became more frequent and not even a few holocaust/nazi jokes at the expense of the G-man could ruin the mood. Because at the end of the day, we could all agree that at least no-one was French.
