Vancouver so far

So I've been in town for 5 days and I'm getting a pretty good feel for the place. It's cold and wet most of the time (apparently this is a warm patch?) and I'm yet to see any snow so it all just makes for a depressing atmosphere. The people seem to be relatively nice and friendly (bus drivers not included - more later) and what I'd heard about there being a large asian community doesn't really do it justice. Quite seriously 30% of the people I've seen appear to be Asian or from the sub-continent. This is neither a good or bad thing I'm just surprised they don't find the weather as depressing as me.

The Pacific Spirit regional forest surrounds half the campus and makes for an ambience that isn't dissimilar to that at UQ. The neighborhood around UBC is teaming with shops and the drive in to the downtown is one very long road of shops, restaurants and pubs. The downtown area is similar to Brisbane in size and has a similar selection of shops and shopping areas. There are probably more starbucks per block than anywhere I've ever seen before but I guess there's always going to be more coffee shops in a cold climate.

I've found that the public transport is excellent and frequent (till 3am!!) and with my super duper U-pass I can pay about 70 bux and get a semesters worth of travel. This is worth noting because in my first 4 days without a U-pass i spent about 15 bucks on buses. The buses run on time and the bus drivers don't seem that sympathetic to people who are running to the stop hoping to get on, Mussolini would approve. That said the bus drivers have been pretty friendly when I've spoken to them.

I've been out clubbing once (with several hilariously aborted attempts) to the Au Bar which serves $2 drinks on wednesday nights (drink responsibly kiddies). It struck me as being similar in it's patronage to many city clubs back home (Friday's sprung immidiately to mind). The people were all a bit better dressed than I had expected, Vancouver is notoriously casual, and every single person there was with a group of friends. This doesn't make for an enjoyable night when you're single and friendless. So I did what any sane person would do. I drank a lot, tipped my bartender well and danced to anything that had a beat. This included a lot of latino music that while enjoyable sounds exactly the same to my uncultured ears.

So where does this leave me? I'm all settled in I know how to get around and have bought all the essentials that i'll be needing for the immediate future. I've bought a lot of cold weather gear and most of my skiing equipment.

Now I just need a partner in crime.

Nick - voices in the walls keep me company.

This is beaver lake. There were no discernable beavers inhabiting Beaver Lake nor was there any wooden fortresses indicating they ever have.

More foresty looking stuff in Stanley Park. It was raining the entire day that I went. I'm beggining to wonder if it's ever dry here.

The Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. City in the distance.

more trees and a path. This is in Stanley Park which is just outside the CBD. I managed to get lost.

Treeeees! These were all tall and green.

Tankers in the distance

Sunset from Wreck Beach

Sunset above Wreck Beach (facing west)

The Ski Fields north of Vancouver in the distance

Main Mall:This runs down the entire length of campus

My Desk: note that the laptop was the first thing to be unpacked. The lamp doesn't work but my nerdling eyes are designed to work off the dull glow of the closest monitor. Spot the binary clock in the back corner (props to keeys)

Shared Kitchen: I can only hope one of my roomates is a pirate because I don't like angry teenagers.

I have never seen this word before and thus can only assume it's placed to disorient foreigners. Causing them to fall down the step (not the stairs!) and break their necks.

I can only assume this sign was bought second hand.

The McGriddle: disappointing in both size and taste. McDonalds' food engineers could've better spent their time making a half decent instant coffee. However due to extreme hunger McDonalds scores a 10/10.