Quiet Riot
Life in Vancouver is moving along slowly, I've been here 2 weeks and it feels like 6 months. Thats how easy life is here. The hostel I am staying in is in Gastown which is in the old part of the city. The advantage of travelling in the winter means that there are not many travellers so I have a room to myself with a big bay window. In Gastown there is a ridiculous clock powered by, you guessed it, Gas and it makes these awful sounds, like a distorted pan flute, every 15 minutes. I hear the clock every 15 minutes from my room, which can be a little annoying at times, after the novelty has worn off.
Vancouver is beautiful. The city has alot of urban parks and walking tracks which I have been making the most of. Stanley Park, the largest urban park in the world, is like a wilderness in the middle of the city, a great place to get lost in. I spent a whole day wandering around the park, watching squirrels and birds and people. The mountains tower over the city in an ominous way, I can't wait till the snow starts to appear on these peaks. The city is fairly accessible by foot and I've done pretty much everything by walking. Its started raining though so this will be limited over the coming months.
Canadians are interesting people. There was a riot at GM Place (about 10 minutes walk from my hostel) because Guns N Roses were a no show 2 days ago. Apparantly there is atleast one riot a year here in Vancouver, but its usually after an ice hockey game. Fighting seems to be part of the culture (although they never hit girls!!), theres always an arguement going on everywhere you go. Sometimes there are fists, sometimes just alot of swearing and yelling. Don't ask me why this is, I think probably its to do with the macho nature of bars in this country. The thing is that people are soooo friendly and they think Australian's are cool (??) and when they have an argument its usually over within 5 minutes and they seem to be on good terms again. Bizarre.
Vancouver is also a place where alot of films are being shot or have been shot. The X Files was filmed here for many years, and currently they are filming X Men 2 (I'm on the lookout for Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman) and lots of other TV shows. Everywhere you turn there is a film crew. I"m going to sigh up at an extra's agency, see if I can get my mug on the big screen.
I spent 2 days up in Whistler, a big snow resort 3 hours north of Vancouver. I went up to be interviewed for a possible job and to check it out. Its very beautiful up there and the snow capped peaks were just about to make themselves clear to us. I find out on Tuesday whether I am going to spent the next 4 months working the snow fields and learning to ski. If I don't I think I'm going to head east, towards the freezing part of the country and Toronto or Montreal. My heads in the clouds at the moment. I'm enjoying Canadian hospitality and life alot.
Life in Vancouver is moving along slowly, I've been here 2 weeks and it feels like 6 months. Thats how easy life is here. The hostel I am staying in is in Gastown which is in the old part of the city. The advantage of travelling in the winter means that there are not many travellers so I have a room to myself with a big bay window. In Gastown there is a ridiculous clock powered by, you guessed it, Gas and it makes these awful sounds, like a distorted pan flute, every 15 minutes. I hear the clock every 15 minutes from my room, which can be a little annoying at times, after the novelty has worn off.
Vancouver is beautiful. The city has alot of urban parks and walking tracks which I have been making the most of. Stanley Park, the largest urban park in the world, is like a wilderness in the middle of the city, a great place to get lost in. I spent a whole day wandering around the park, watching squirrels and birds and people. The mountains tower over the city in an ominous way, I can't wait till the snow starts to appear on these peaks. The city is fairly accessible by foot and I've done pretty much everything by walking. Its started raining though so this will be limited over the coming months.
Canadians are interesting people. There was a riot at GM Place (about 10 minutes walk from my hostel) because Guns N Roses were a no show 2 days ago. Apparantly there is atleast one riot a year here in Vancouver, but its usually after an ice hockey game. Fighting seems to be part of the culture (although they never hit girls!!), theres always an arguement going on everywhere you go. Sometimes there are fists, sometimes just alot of swearing and yelling. Don't ask me why this is, I think probably its to do with the macho nature of bars in this country. The thing is that people are soooo friendly and they think Australian's are cool (??) and when they have an argument its usually over within 5 minutes and they seem to be on good terms again. Bizarre.
Vancouver is also a place where alot of films are being shot or have been shot. The X Files was filmed here for many years, and currently they are filming X Men 2 (I'm on the lookout for Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman) and lots of other TV shows. Everywhere you turn there is a film crew. I"m going to sigh up at an extra's agency, see if I can get my mug on the big screen.
I spent 2 days up in Whistler, a big snow resort 3 hours north of Vancouver. I went up to be interviewed for a possible job and to check it out. Its very beautiful up there and the snow capped peaks were just about to make themselves clear to us. I find out on Tuesday whether I am going to spent the next 4 months working the snow fields and learning to ski. If I don't I think I'm going to head east, towards the freezing part of the country and Toronto or Montreal. My heads in the clouds at the moment. I'm enjoying Canadian hospitality and life alot.
posted by Paula at
12:50 PM
