One Week In: Unemployed, Homeless, but still good

When I first touched down in Vancouver, in what seems like a lot more than a week ago now, I was a little apprehensive. This was probably understandable: I was moving to a country on the other side of the world, not having any family out there, and knowing no-one. All I had was a couple of bags of clothes, a weeks accommodation at the University of British Columbia Halls of Residence (UBC) and some money in my bank account.


Well, a week has passed since I touched in to be greeted by the distinctly British weather of the city that day, and fortunately I am still around.

Living at UBC for a week turned out to be pretty comfortable, if a little out of the way. Downtown Vancouver, where I have been doing all of my job and house hunting research, is absolutely miles away. Fortunately there is a bus terminal right outside my halls, so getting into town is a quick 25 minute ride down 4th Avenue, and left across Burrard Bridge into the sea of mirror-windowed skyscrapers that makes up Downtown Vancouver.


What a place to spend your time though. Everywhere you look, there is 50-100 story, building. It's a far cry from what I saw in Accra, Ghana back in February, but both cities have their own separate personalities and attractions. Accra was simply chaotic. The roads were a free-for-all. If there was a space to be filled on the road, someone would fill it. There were open sewers which stank, people selling all manner of goods in the middle of traffic jams, the place just alive with activity.

Vancouver, on the other hand, is totally the opposite. The drivers all stick religiously to the highway code. Never have I seen drivers yield so much to pedestrians. If you even think about crossing the street, vehicles will instantly stop and let you go, whether you are at a proper crosswalk or not. Everyone drives around at a leisurely pace, rather than the insanity of African driving (not that I didn't find car rides in Ghana entertaining), the people are obviously far more affluent, and it is a great cosmopolitan atmosphere. They say that Vancouver has the second biggest Chinatown in North America, after San Francisco, and it certainly seems that way. Asian people probably match white people in numbers.


The multicultural atmosphere here stems to the food also. There is such a variety of food you can eat. Chinese, Thai, Indian, Malaysian, Greek. Whatever you want, it's here. There are endless food courts underneith the various shopping centres, meaning that if you want Mexican and your friend wants some Sushi then it's no problem, and you can still sit together. Additionally, the extremely favourable exchange rates means that to English people the food, and everything else, is ridiculously cheap also. Try the equivalent of about three quid for a main course and a drink in most places. Shop around and you get things even cheaper.

As well as Downtown, there are so many other areas in Vancouver. You are never bored. Stanley Park, for instance, is only five minutes away from Downtown, but it is quiet, serene and picturesque. I wandered around there on my own the other day, watched the cruise ships pass under the Lions Gate Bridge to leave the city for the Pacific, relaxed, and spent about half an hour chatting to Olga and Graham, a retired Australian couple who started travelling in 1963, and basically never stopped. They now live in Texas, and before I asked where they were from I had no idea, as their accents were a mix of Canadian, Deep Southern Drawl, Australian and South African. Quite a mix!


I've met many other people doing similar things to me. To name a few: At my orientation I met Jonny, Ronny and Badge (seriously) - a group of Irish lads here for the summer, Dylan - an English guy with Sri Lankan roots, Helen - my flight buddy, and David, who quit his job as an Electrician nine years ago to go travelling, and has never gone back. He pays for it by renting his house out. A genius plan.


Job hunting is progressing slowly, too. On Wednesday 18th I had an interview at an agency on Burrard St in the centre of Vancouver. With any luck I will get some Administrative/Office work next week. I'm sure the experience I gained during my time at Kettering Care Management will help no end, although I'm not sure whether or not the places will be as fun!


I'm still currently looking for a home, and at the moment am still living out of a bag, and yesterday I moved to Jericho Beach Youth Hostel. It's a lot busier than UBC, and I've spoken to a lot of interesting people in the short time I've been there. This morning I got chatting to Ryan, a Californian guy who has been motorcyling around Vancouver Island, and watched Germany beat Portugal in Euro 2008 with a group of Germans, sat outside in the rain, with a monsterous television under a canopy. There are people from all over the place staying there, and it's cheap, at $20/night. A bit more affordable than UBC.

So that's about it for now. I'm alive, just about got enough money to live on (and when my tax rebate comes through I'll be a lot happier), and with any luck I'll have a job sorted soon. After that, I just need a place to live. Hopefully that will all fall into place too.