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Published: September 26th 2009
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So, we've officially been a temporary resident of Canada for 2 months now, and I think this is an apt time to write about what we think of Vancouver. We've settled in quite well, both are working full time making a bit of money, and generally living each day as it comes. It's not a fancy life; we didn't land awesome jobs in architecture and film as we fantasized we would, but we're beyond that now and working towards our careers is something we've agreed can wait until we return home to Australia. There's no point doing that here - we're not here long time, and both our industries require too much time and money to invest in working towards some very hard goals, very hard because a) we are not Canadian citizens and b) they are still going through a recession, and hence there are few opportunities in film/architecture.
We were fortunate enough to be visited by Simon, Tina and Sam in September. Simon and Tina were travelling around North America and decided to stop by Vancouver and catch up with us, and Sam randomly decided to fly here on a whim between jobs. Much fun was had, and
a bit of exploring done - downtown, Chinatown, Science World, Gastown, Stanley Park, Commercial Drive and Grouse Mountain.
We live in Burnaby, which is about 25 minutes away from downtown via the Skytrain, their 25+ year old transportation system which is actually extremely efficient and extremely forward-thinking. It runs automatically - it really freaked me out when I realize nobody was driving our trains but machines - and it is super fast and economical. The skytrain connects Vancouver downtown with its satellite cities Richmond, Burnaby, and Delta, and buses and ferries connect to the other cities Surrey and North Vancouver. It's a feat of urban design and city planning, which I actually remember studying in architecture school. Satellite cities which are connected well by a fast and affordable public transportation network, with buses servicing the smaller arterial connections. Instead of one city center (i.e Vancouver), each of the satellite cities has its own center and city council.
I have noticed a lot of similarities between Australians and Canadians, and indeed Australian culture and Canadian culture. In fact, the lifestyle here is quite similar to the lifestyle we had back home in Sydney. I guess that can't be a
bad thing, as it means we have something familiar to live with for the next year or so. But I guess it's also a little disappointing, perhaps we had set ourselves an unattainable and whimsical fantasy in our minds of what life in Canada would be like. Perhaps we were just so jaded and tired of life and work in Sydney that we thought any change would be great.
But truth be told, whilst we have already made some awesome friends in Chloe, Lach, Russ, TK and Robyn, we are itching to save some money and go out and explore some more of the world. Looking back at all our photographs through our journey, it seems a lifetime ago we were travelling through the world, and an eternity since we left home.
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amy
non-member comment
randomly decided to check this and saw that you had posted a new entry!!! woohoo! i'm so glad you two have settled well into vancouver, i miss you lots. it feels like a lifetime since you were here, so much has changed but yet so much is still the same. sydney will still be here when you get back. take care and enjoy! lots of love xxxx