March Update..it's come to this

Yes indeed, I am resorting to updating this blog monthly now due to lack of time. So, in March:

• I got a Sunday job working in a store selling fantasy-themed products (wolf t-shirts etc). This has many stories that I will delve into later.
• I got a full time job for an online marketing/advertising company. I'm kind of an office drone but after a couple of months of part time work I am pretty happy with it.
• Myself and herself went to another Vancouver Giants hockey game.
• Myself and my friend went to a Vancouver Whitecaps match.
• St Patrick's Day happened.
• Many plans were made.

Vancouver Giants Game

This was our second hockey game and I enjoyed it a lot more than the first. I was comfortable with the seemingly random ad breaks and general madness of it all. Also, we bore witness to the most Canadian event of all time. Michael Buble (yes, the singer guy) was driven onto the ice in a golden pickup truck to sing Happy Birthday to a Canadian hockey legend, Gordie Howe. CANADA. Even better, the Giants won! Their worst year in ages and they won both times we were there.

Also, this happened:

Vancouver Whitecaps match

A truly super Saturday this was. Mick and I met in town and went for pints in the fan club pub. The Southsiders are a SUPPORTERS GROUP, modelling themselves on British/Irish/European terrace-dwellers, and are REALLY SERIOUS about having fun.

After an hour or so the lads and ladies assembled outside the pub to get ready for their march to the stadium. Myself and Mick crossed the road to get a good view of the procession and (decked out in our Whitecaps gear) unwittingly set the march in motion. Pair of chancers. After another pint, that helped the last 20 minutes sink in, we headed off to the stadium.

Now, MLS soccer isn't exactly the best advertisement for the beautiful game. In fact it more resembles the Simpsons version ("fast kicking, low-scoring action! ties? you bet!!" or something). I can't find the English version, buuuut the message is the same

So, really you need to be nestled in amongst the rowdy Southsiders for there to be any craic at these matches. They reside in the right hand corner behind the goal, unfortunately we were in the left side...

 

However, buoyed by our earlier parade-leading shenanigans, and probably also the pints, we decided to chance our arm(s) and nonchalantly stroll into some empty seats in the Southside section when the game had started.

And not long after we got there, Whitecaps scored!! For a glorious 30 minutes we stood, sang, shouted abuse and generally had the craic with the Southsiders until 4 Asians rudely showed up late and we had to make our way back to our original seats... Still, a good time was had by all and we plan to go back.

Other plans include:

• A day trip next weekend (when myself and herself actually have some time off together)
• An Evil Dead marathon at the Rio Theatre
• Bad Religion gig!
• LOS ANGELES.

Propositions and prospects...

Week #3 (I've given up counting the days)

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. 

Do you guys like sportz?

#Day 10

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.