Goodbye Ottawa, Hello Vancouver!

So…I’ve been back from the Van Plan for a few months now and have embarked on a whole new plan…oddly enough, also involving a “Van”.

My old roomie MV and I decided to move to VANcouver together as a sort of fresh start after university. Both of us had a gap year where nothing really changed, or at least nothing really started with our lives, the way it was supposed to after graduation, and moving to Van just seemed like the right thing to do.

I remember my father suggesting that I move to Vancouver several years ago, oddly enough when I was in another situation that involved contemplating my future. At that point in my life, before I ever went traveling, before I went to university, and I was just a menial working slob in Edmonton Alberta, the thought of moving to a metropolis the size of Vancouver was possibly the most daunting thing I’d ever heard of. Why not suggest Hong Kong, Dad? Or how about New York City?

I told him as much, and his response was:

“Hun, everyone moves to Vancouver at some point.”

Somewhere deep in the Kootenays my Dad has begun a strange victory dance involving paint brushes, bass guitars, fishing lures, and every odd hat in his possession, which are many. I am here in Vancouver, eating my words.

We moved into our quaint little apartment on May 1st, full of optimism and determination. We are University Grads! We are educated! HIRE US! The month of May was a cruel mistress.  

June brought me two employment opportunities, both of which pay me more than I have ever been paid before, but still not quite enough to live the life of luxury (or at least relative comfort) that I had imagined when we first moved in. “I gots the smarts people, bring me the monay!” I get by, but my mother has been a constant and superior helper in the wallet department (You are the best mother in the world!), and I really have to start using that whole “budgeting” thing I keep hearing about.

  
I like my jobs. One, unfortunately for my heated resolve to never work retail again, is a retail job, but the people I work with are probably my favourite thing about this city so far. I have never met a more colourful cast of people, condensed into one small space like a sardine tin full of awesome. They make the monotony of the process practically painless and on more than one occasion, outright hilarious.

Job number two is an administrative position, which is more in line with what I was hoping to achieve in my employment when I moved here, but unfortunately only gives me six hours a week. Hence the retail job (the cool beans I work with are just a bonus).

I feel I need to dedicate an entire post to the awesomeness that IS my new favourite pub. Keep your eyes peeled for a rundown of what happens during a night at The Ouisi with my bitches from work. Hell. Yes.

So that’s Vancouver so far, in a nutshell anyway. I have a/some job/s, I have an apartment, I have most of my belongings (and am praying that the stars will align so my victory dancing father will bring me the rest) and I have some new friends. Both my sisters live in town, though I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, I love that I’m not hours, or provinces, or countries away from them anymore. There is this miraculous thing called TRANSIT here that, unlike almost every other city I’ve lived in, is actually convenient. Huh, who knew?

Even beyond the basics, I love it here. The people are (mostly) friendly, my hippy quota has been met in spades, my favourite television show is filmed here (the hunt for Jared and Jensen shall also be outlined in a future post), and there are mountains! I honestly could not ask for more.

Well…maybe more money, but that’s really just besides the point…