Running Away From Home and Joining the Circus

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There’s that joke when you’re a kid that when all else fails, there is always the option of running away from home and joining the circus. Funnily enough, in our late 20s, that is exactly what we have ended up doing. Not long after we arrived in Vancouver we saw an ad in the paper for jobs with Cirque Du Soleil’s Vancouver run of Corteo, so we threw in applications and both landed jobs. (A big thanks to Detlef, Greg, Karyn and Rick for your presumed kind words).

Lok scored a job as an usher in the Grand Chapiteau, showing people to their seats, answering people’s questions about all things Cirque and crawling through aisles of seated patrons to ‘politely remind’ disobedient viewers that they aren’t allowed to take photos in the big top. (Note from Lok - I’ve seen the show 5 times now, including twice in one day, and I’m wondering how many times you can see the same show before it drives you completely insane. Five and counting - I’ll keep you posted).

Catherine landed a job in the merchandise tent, flogging off DVDs, CDs, t-shirts, angel wings, masks and everything else with a Cirque Du Soleil logo on it to eager, unsuspecting and inebriated circus goers.

They collectively refer to us as Cirquadors, but that’s really just a prettied up version of Carnies (I think having all of your teeth qualifies you as a Cirquador rather than a Carnie).

Sitting down all day in our office jobs for all those years has left us soft. After more than a month off, working for 5 days straight last week, including a hectic grand opening night, left us pretty much shattered. We have the hang of our roles now though, so the various shifts we end up doing in the coming weeks should be a bit easier.

The 2008 Triathlon World Championships were held in Vancouver on June 8, with the cycling/ running track comprised of streets either side of where our apartment is. We wandered down to the transition area to cheer on the Aussie women, and then the men, on a typical Vancouver summer day which required plenty of warm jackets and hot coffees. Those athletes are absolutely amazing in their ability to push their bodies. In addition to the extremely cold weather, the water for the 1500m swim couldn’t even manage to send the mercury up to the 12ocelsius mark, maxing out at 11 point something. They told us that in Europe the swim leg is cancelled if the water is less than 12 degrees, but in their wisdom, the officials decided that the swim leg would go the full distance. We were both very glad not to be elite sportspeople that day, although an Australian lady did ask if we had competed in earlier events - our jackets obviously did a good job of covering up our holiday paunch.

Summer has also finally arrived in Vancouver. It’s now a lovely and sunny 20 degrees, and the gore-tex and fleeces have been replaced by shorts and t-shirts. With the weather perfect for being tourists in our adopted city, we spent today at Granville Island, a former industrial area that is now home to artist studios, a fresh food market, a children’s market and various restaurants etc. It is also the spiritual home of Granville Island Brewing, a local British Columbian microbrewery that offers a tour and tasting for about $10. We now know the difference between an ale and a lager (it’s all in the fermentation process), how to adhere to the German Beer Purity Law of 1516, and various other beer brewing facts, although our favourite part of the tour was of course the tasting session afterwards.

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Photos

The Vancouver Apartment
Our sparsely furnished but very homely base in Vancouver.

2008 Triathlon World Championships
Javier Gomez running his way to the world championship with a crowd cheering him on, the beach in the background and Catherine's best side on display.

Waiting for the Starter's Gun
Lok on the beach, staying warm and entertaining the crowd, before the start of the opening leg of the Men's 2008 Triathlon World Championships.