Tag Archives: vancouver

Merry Mainland Christmas

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Merry Christmas greetings from the Mainland.  We took the ferry over yesterday afternoon, crossing just around sunset making the Gulf Islands look absolutely spectacular.  It was quite picturesque.

Today we drove uptown to do some groceries for the meal Jen and I are making tomorrow night (we volunteered to do Christmas Eve dinner, menu will follow after the fact as it is a surprise).  I was slightly nervous driving in snow after not having done it in years, and driving only slightly more frequently, but my concern was unfounded.  The roads are fine.  Although we did hit a bit of a blockage on the way home where someone had gone into the ditch and a tow truck was pulling them out.  I was quite impressed that they even had a police officer directing traffic around it.  It wasn’t until after we passed that we realized that the police officer was there to direct traffic because it was his car in the ditch!

And now I leave you with a joke I heard at church on Sunday…

Did you hear that there will not be a creche scene in Ottawa this year?
It is because they couldn’t find three wise men or a virgin to be Mary and they had too many asses to fit in the stall…

Sunny skies and logs on beaches

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I enjoy wandering.  I love wandering even more if it is a nice day and I have a final destination but lots of time to get there.  I gave myself three hours yesterday to walk from Jericho Beach to Waterfront Station and it was fantastic.  

Vancouver Folk Fest was underway and there were hoards of people down there, but I managed to find a nice tall log on the edge of the beach that was in the shade.  I perched upon the log for a good three quarters of an hour or so reading, writing, and people watching.  I was able to survey most of the beach from the log and it was fun to pause what I was doing every so often and look up and look at people.  I would catch snippits of conversation now and again as people walked by.  It was amusing.  
It began to get cool in the shade, so I began my wander towards downtown along W 4th.  First, I zig-zagged through some residential streets and enjoyed the beautiful houses, lush gardens, and fragrant flowers that seem to be a requirement for living in this area.  I always enjoy walking along W 4th.  The street is full of quaint coffee shops, organic markets, and lots of fun shops.  
I love the ability to stop and browse when there is lots of time to get to a given destination (but the destination is essential to ensure that I don’t loose time altogether when wandering).  I stopped and grabbed a snack at one shop and munched as I walked.  Then it was time for coffee and a read outside of an organic fair trade coffee shop.  If I can ever find it again, I’ll go back.  It was great coffee and there was lots of outside seating.  Plus, there is free wireless (a rare commodity, it seems, in Vancouver) should I ever need it.  That is a downside to aimless wandering: it is often hard to find where one has been when one wants to go back.
Eventually, I crossed Burrard St Bridge into the main part of town.  It was like the whole atmosphere changed.  Suddenly I was out of the laid back, easy feel of small shops just up from beaches to CBD and tourist central with lots of large chain retailers.  Quickly, I made my way to Waterfront station, mourning the end of my wander but with eager anticipation of meeting old friends.

Back in Lotus Land

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Sinking back into life in Vancouver, I’ve realized that post-Offshore I know a lot of people here.  So many that I’m contemplating buying a day planner to keep track of my social life.  Hopefully that will cause me less in the way of stress-related headaches.  Not completely solving everything, but it would be a small step. 

Part of Vancouver seems to be a certain randomness.  I’d forgotten about it.  Case in point:

 

New Westminster Skytrain Station, weekday night (can’t actually remember what day it was), around dinner time.  Walking towards it with Jeff and Anna we keep seeing people with boxes of pizza – those ones you buy at the supermarket then go home and heat up yourself (“Its not delivery, its Delissio” type thing).  Some people have one box, but some have three or four.  Clearly something is going on.  We turn the corner and see a full-on delivery truck (like the ones you hire to move house, big and boxy) with boxes upon boxes of pizza inside.  Around the front at the stairs up to the station there are three people in bright red chef hats giving away pizzas.  Drat, can’t eat pizza and am on the way out, not towards home.
Apparently it wasn’t a once-off thing either.  It was happening again today at Burrard Station.  Is this some crazy promo, or what is going on in Vancouver?!?
And just when I had been thinking of how earthy, organic, hippie, insert similar adjective here, Vancouver is, I saw this sign in the bus and decided to feel awkward and take a picture of it, because I could and because it [somewhat] proved my point.  Minus the death by squishing thing.  Apparently throwing your can in the garbage will cause you to be crushed by a falling grand piano.  Because they fall from the sky spontaneously without prior warning.  All the time.  I’m glad I don’t drink out of cans very often.

Hooray for guanxi!

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Today I went down to W Broadway to the Chinese Consulate to get visas for our crew because we need to get them before we arrive in Shanghai on the boat next February. I got there between 9:30 and 9:45; the embassy opened at 9am. The room for visa applications was already full of about 200 people, mostly sitting down on long benches like they have in train and bus waiting rooms. I was one of maybe 4 white people in the room and I felt like I was in China: all the signs were in Chinese, all I could hear spoken around me was Chinese, all the people were Chinese, I was taller than everyone, and it was very crowded. There was a sign at the entrance to the room saying “No numbers today.” Great, a free-for-all, Chinese style, of people trying to get visas (or so I thought). I surveyed the room for a few brief seconds before deciding to stand in one of the short lines at one of the two windows for visa applications, dreading wasting my entire day (of 5 very precious days off) at the Chinese Consulate. A very forceful white lady inserted herself in front of me: “What number are you?”
“The sign said no numbers today.”
“Oh, there are numbers alright, I’m 791 [or whatever it was].” She proceeded to enlighten me that they had already run out of numbers for the day – people started queueing at something like 6am in the alleyway. Well, I was not about to come back at 6am tomorrow morning, so I decided on trying my luck at today. Fortunately, the SALTS office had been in communication with someone at the consulate and had given me a letter, signed by our executive director, introducing me to them. I stayed in line, budged in front of people (in the Chinese way, of course) saying that I just had to speak with Ms. Whatever-her-name-was and saw no other way to do so. The best part was an elderly Chinese man, not in the queue, encouraging me to budge in.
I got up to a window and presented my letter (thankfully, I’d worn my Pacific Grace shirt today, one more identifier of me with SALTS) and said that my company had been in contact with someone at the embassy and I was here and didn’t know how else to speak with her. The lady at the window disappeared with my letter into the back for a few minutes. I spent those minutes hoping no one would discover I had no number and shoo me away. She reappeared and simply asked me if I had the completed form. I pulled all 15 applications out of my bag and pushed them under the window.
After a few minutes of explaining that, yes, I am not going to China until February and I know that is a long way away, however I will not be able to get the visa between now and then because I will be out of the country, she informed me that I had to change all of the visa applications to a multiple entry, 1 year visa. As long as it is the one that costs the amount of money for the company cheque I have on me, I don’t care what visa it is! I scooched to the side, unwilling to give up my place at the window in case I never got it back, and changed all 15 applications before shoving them under the window again. After stapling all the photos on to the applications, and removing all the paperclips, she smiled at me and said “You pick up on Friday, okay?”
“That will be just fine!”
Half an hour after I entered the Consulate, I was walking back down Broadway, laughing to myself for a good two blocks: guanxi is alive and well in Canada as well as in China and I am very glad I had that letter.

MEDs

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It alternately feels like Monday and Friday today, depending on the minute. The last three days I was in Vancouver taking my Marine Emergency Duties (MED) course. Yesterday wore me out; hence feeling like Friday. Today was my first day at work for the week; hence feeling like Monday.
Day one of the MED (Monday) was pretty boring. We did watch some good movies in class, but it was a zillion hours of sitting in a stuffy (yet cold) classroom. I learned important things pertaining to cargo ships. Not so much for tall ships, but oh well. Highlight of the day: Taking the Sea Bus over to North Van for the first time. Day two (Tuesday) was pretty fun. Anna drove me out to Maple Ridge to the Justice Institute. We had no idea it was quite so far out, so it was a bit out of her way. But, we did get to hang out and chat for an hour and bit which was lots of fun. After spending the morning in the classroom, we went outside in the afternoon and donned fire gear (I wish I had thought to bring my camera – we wore the helmets, the gloves, the jackets, the boots… pretty much everything firefighters wear!) then went out to start, then put out some fires. Basically, we used dry chem, foam, and CO2 fire extinguishers, but it was pretty neat. I’ve never used a fire extinguisher before. Lots of fun. Day three (Wednesday) I got up early because I wanted to catch an earlier sea bus over than I had on Monday. Alas, my wishes were thwarted by a “Disruption between Edmunds and Royal Oak Stations.” All trains were stopped and I sat/stood in the station at Patterson for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, people kept piling on until it was barely possible to inhale. I just hope that disruption on the line in Vancouver doesn’t mean the same thing it does in Montreal… So I ended up getting on the same sea bus I had taken Monday morning and therefore got to class 5 min late, but they hadn’t started yet. Most of Wednesday was spent in the pool. First we had to swim far too many lengths of the pool wearing coveralls. Yes, coveralls. I almost died. Matters were not helped by the fact that the guys all beat me out there and took the small sizes, so all that was left for me was a size 42. I think I probably should have had a 36; it was HUGE. Then, we had to put on PFDs and drag each other up and down the pool, first with our hands and then with our feet. Yay for dexterous toes. Then it was into the life raft – those big white pods you see on boats? We got to blow one up and jump in and out of i, drag each other in and out (mostly in) and flip them over. That was probably the most fun. Then we used a sling harness like helicopters have to haul each other out of the pool. That was lots of fun until the rope got stuck in the pulley when one of the guys was in it, dangling above water. Fortunately, he was able to slide out, but it took a good few minutes to get the rope to release. The last thing we did was put on survival suits and jump into the pool. The key is to hold out the hood a bit so the air all squishes out and your feet don’t bob up in the air. The problem is, when all the air squeezes out, you feel like you are in a vacuum pack and I was somewhat surprised I could still breathe. After two lengths like that, it was back up on the pool deck where we took the suits off. Done! Or so I thought, but no, then it was time to throw the suits in the pool and put them on in the water. It was actually much easier than I thought, and I was still able to swim two more laps. Getting out of the pool, however, was a whole other matter. Somehow, about 60 litres of water accumulated in each leg and combined to make it very difficult to get out of the pool. But I survived, and have now completed all my SALTS job requirements!
The end of the MED course… but not the end of the day. There was another girl from Victoria in the class and she offered to give me a ride to/from the ferry. We were hoping to make the 3:00 sailing, but we just missed the sea bus and then it took us a hour and a half to get out there through traffic. So we got to the ferry at about 3:45 and found out that the 5:00 was full and had to wait until the 7:00. Three and a half stinking hours at the ferry terminal. The market they have there is great. For the first half an hour. After that, it was random talking about whatever came to mind for three hours, and then another hour and a half on the ferry. I didn’t get home until after 10 and by then, was completely spent.
Today, on the other hand, was great fun (except for the hands shriveling up because of excess amounts of dish washing). We took the boat out this morning to check the compass and see what its deviation is this year and so we spent a half hour to an hour turning in circles just south of Victoria. I was down below doing the afore mentioned dishes for most of it, but I did stay up on deck until we reached the breakwater and came back up as we entered the harbour to help with the fenders. I’ve never sailed on the Grace before and while we were not sailing, we were underway which is still more than I’ve ever done. Only three more days of work, 5 days total until our first trip!

Photo Journal

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I finally uploaded pictures from the last week onto my computer. In celebration of being back in Victoria for one week, here’s a glimpse of what I’ve been up to for the last week or so:
February 1, Nicole came over from Victoria and we took in the Canucks-Oilers game at GM Place. Unlike the previous Canucks games Dad and I have been to, the Canucks actually won.

We had great seats… lower than I’ve sat before!
Vespa, however, was less than impressed with all the noise and was pretty excited when we left to go home (on the skytrain).

That night, before we left for the game, there was the most amazing full moon rising over the Golden Ears. Yes, this is the view from Dad and Colleen’s place in New West. And I don’t have photoshop or anything like that, so these are all as they were photographed!

Now that I’m back in Victoria, I’m living in a new part of town (new for me anyway) – on the “other side” of the water in Vic West. The townhouses/apartment building is pretty distinctive and very cool looking:

And the apartment has incredible light from the zillion windows (and there’s a huge balcony)

my room… with a spare bed for when I have visitors… hint hint…

And there is a fab view out of the windows… this is a little fuzzy, but we can see all the way to Mt. Doug and, looking the other way, the Empress

Even better, I am super close to the shipyard where I will be working. Here you can see the Pacific Grace in dry dock. She was there for a couple of days this week, getting ready for the upcoming season which starts (gulp) really really soon (she is missing her top masts in case you are wondering why the masts look so short and stubby). And yes, this is the boat which will be my home for a whole year when we’re off sailing the South Seas and to the Far East.

These last two are not my pictures… they are off of the S.A.L.T.S. website. The first is none other than the Pacific Grace. This is the one I’ll be sailing on this year. The second is the Pacific Swift. People familiar with my sailing history will remember my fond tales of her. It is the Swift that I have sailed on for every trip I have taken with S.A.L.T.S. since my first trip in October 1999. And, incidentally, if you need a job starting, say, next week, and want to be a part of a wonderful organization like S.A.L.T.S., give me a shout because we need another cook. Not only would you get to sail, but you would get to sail on the Swift (and she is so much more the pirate-looking ship of the two, complete with a mini cannon!) for a good 4 months or so. Yes, you know you want to…!


Early morning, Vancouver

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Back to Vancouver from Sarnia last night via London (ON) to have lunch with my godparents who I have not seen in something like 10 years. That was lots of fun. The flights back, not so much. I am officially sick of airplanes… not that anything went wrong except being delayed 1 hour in Winnipeg airport where the sum total of fun available consists of drinking Tim Horton’s and watching airplanes take off and land on the runway. So instead of landing in Vancouver at a reasonable hour like 8:15pm, we did not land until 9:30 and then proceeded to wait another 45min before the first bags tumbled out on the baggage claim thingy. Then I couldn’t sleep for some reason, despite being crazy tired. A plus is that I love Air Canada’s new airplanes. They all have personal TVs on the back of the seat and you get to watch whatever movie you want, provided they have it. It was a pretty good selection and I had a tough time deciding. In the end I went with The Queen over Bon Cop, Bad Cop and The Rocket. I figure Dad might want to see the other two, so we can rent them sometime in the next month. Too bad it wasn’t a non-stop flight from London to Vancouver, I might have been able to squeeze two movies in!
Christmas and New Years was pretty fun. Spent the time in Sarnia hanging out with my family (Mum’s side – Montreal was Dad’s side) and it was the first time that my cousins and Jen and I have been together in ages. We are all within about 3.5-4 years of each other, so life is fun. I think I have now seen every single Firefly episode thanks to Lynne and some marathon sessions. In addition, the family has now been introduced to Bohnanza, the best game involving beans ever.
A kind person, my aunt and uncle, took up the many serious hints about wanting John Mayer’s album. Yay! It has been playing non-stop ever since I have been in contact with a CD player (ie since about 11pm last night). I think I almost know if off by heart now. My favourite tracks are “Stop This Train” and “Slow Dance in a Burning Room,” not because they are my favourite tracks to listen to but because they are one after the other on the album and the titles are funny in that order.
So now I’m back here for the next month or so until I start work in Victoria. Immediate tasks include laundry and visiting the library, not necessarily in that order. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be tackling my belongings in storage to do some reductions and find things I need for the boat.

Phantom

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Yikerama… I just came home from the Phantom. It was excellent! Dad took me – it was my graduation presant back in the spring, but the show didn’t open until August. Very exciting. Now I have to try and go to sleep with the music ringing in my head…

and Home again

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The weekend in Vancouver was a great sucess. I have now met all of the team except one member from Toronto. I think we have a great team and it was lots of fun to hang out all weekend, although tiring at times. I also got to hang out with Anna who I don’t talk to nearly enough and see Nanc who I don’t see much either .


The days are counting down until I am done school! It is hard to believe that that day is finally coming. I had a presentation last night for my seminar and that seemed to go well. We got our paper back (the one we wrote in 2 marathon sessions over 2 days) and he said it was “Great!” (he told us that just before the presentation, so that was a big encouragement). Now I don’t have to think about breast self examination and mammography again (at least until I’m 40, but thats a whole other story)… Instead, I get to think about art history. My last paper of my undergrad career is art history and is due on Friday. I have never written an art history paper before. I keep hearing things about images from people and am hoping I don’t need copious amounts of pictures because I have no idea where I will get them from. In fact, I don’t even really know how to research for art history, but that is beside the point. I have 3 articles… I usually have 2 pages worth of sources for a paper this big, but we’ll make something work.