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Published: March 7th 2012
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Monday- In the afternoon I got on the skytrain and headed out to Burnaby. I saw on craigslist that Wings, a restaurant chain that specialises in chicken wings, were opening a new restaurant in Kitsilano and were holding open interviews (on-the-spot job interview for whoever rocks up). I thought it was a golden opportunity to charm my way into a job in the field I want to be in, and I was right. The manager offered me a position on the spot and i grabbed it with glee. I'll be starting training on February 24 and the restaurant will open on March 8. Training is also paid for so that is some very welcome news. Kitsiliano is a bit of a yuppy area that is packed with your preverbrial beautiful people in the summer time. I'll also be the only non-Canadian there so I should be able to rake in the tips. In the evening the hostel hosted a speed dating night. I signed up just for a laugh. i was thinking of making up different stories for every girl I talked to but I never really got the chance. We had to rate everyone we met out of 10 and
the two with the highest totals had a private dinner in the Beaver on Valentine's Day. I didn't win, which I was sort of happy about because I think i would've been pretty embarassed if my name was called out. Nearly everyone stayed back and chatted over a few cheap drinks (us speed-daters had 20% off for the night) and now I actually have breakfast with them each morning so it turned out to be a really good idea. The hockey game that was on at the time went to a shootout so I still got to see the end of it, which i was pretty happy about as we won.
Tuesday- I woke up with a really sore throat. There is a bug going around the entire hostel and I've copped it. I think it was compounded by there being a really smelly guy in our room for a couple of nights and us having to have the window wide open. My head is right next to the window when I sleep so I'm sure the cold air hasn't done much good either. It really sucked that the morning after not getting on the drink, I wake up
feeling the worst I've felt since coming over here. In the evening, Mike and I headed to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia with a tour hosted by the hostel. It cost $9 to get in (and that's on the cheap night) and I didn't find it very interesting. I guess it's just not my thing. There were a few totem poles and lots of artifacts from different ancient native populations across the world, particularly the First Nations in Canada. I found it a little odd that they had plenty of stuff from New Zealand and Papua New Guinea but nothing at all from Australia. One thing I did like was the tiny Inuit rock carvings. I also liked the servers at the Factory, where Mike and I went for dinner afterwards. I have no doubt that they purposely hire hot girls to rake in the tips. But it works as I've gone there a few times!!
Wednesday- Mike, Alfred, Lucy (a girl from Rockhampton) and I went to Queen Elizabeth Park as the weather was pretty decent. I packed sandwiches that would've even made mum jealous. The park itself wasn't that great but I
imaginine it will be very pretty come spring/summer time. I'll head back there in the warmer months. In the middle of the park there is a conservatory. It was recommended to us and it was a good thing it was. The amount of different colours in there was phenominal. It had rainforest plants and birds from all over the world. I went nuts with the camera, particularly in the second half of the walk around as the were heaps of birds. The Chinese Golden Pheasant was probably the best looking bird there. I thought it looked unreal and the lady who works there told me it was a bit ratty as it was moulting. I didn't care as I cant say I've seen such a bold colour in a bird that's not a canary. It stared down Rosey, the African Grey Parrot, and she came over to Mike and I. We managed to get some photos from about a foot away which turned out really well. They also had a Princess Parrot from Australia which apparently had fallen in love with one of the macaws that already lived there. There was even a few budgies in there as well, which
I found weird as they are traditionally a desert bird, not rainforest. They had some really nice coloured budgies, though. Both Mike and I were stoked that we went and we ended up comparing photos in the evening.
Friday- The day was pretty quiet and spent in bed on the laptop. The night before was pretty big and I was still not 100%, even with stinky gone. I managed to get a group of 7 people together in about 15 minutes to go and see the Giants game. Mike, Lucy, Nicole, James, Josie and Stu all came along. Vancouver Giants are an ice hockey team that play at the second highest level in the WHL, which is a feeder competition for the NHL (same as the VFL is to the AFL). It only cost us $22 each for a ticket (as opposed to $70 for the Canucks in the NHL) and the quality of the game is just as good except there were a hell of a lot more fights, which the fans obviously love. I was a little shitty on the bus there as we left a little later than I wanted and we were missing the start
of the game. We only missed about 8 minutes of actual game time when we got there and the first goal was scored as we were trying to find our seats so I don't know what I was freaking out about. Overall, it has to be one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in Canada so far. Watching the game was quite exciting, but I've enjoyed watching it ever since i got here. I guess playing the video game back home really helped with that! The sounds of the game (skating, hitting the puck and the bumps) are really loud when the crowd is quiet. It's loud through the TV and I thought it was beacuse there were microphones on the ice but apparently not. I managed to take a photo at the perfect moment: Giants scoring a goal and the puck is still in the net in the image. In the breaks between periods there is plenty of on-ice entertainment, including a mini blimp that drops prizes to parts of the crowd that beckon it the most. Near the concessions stand (kiosk) there is also a game where they measure how quickly you can hit a puck. I
think it is meant for kids but James and I didn't care. In hindsight we probably should've left it to the kids because I think we embarassed ourselves a little. In the last period I decided to film a bit of the game to record the sounds that I was writing about earlier. I timed the video even better than my photo of the goal. I tried to attach it to this entry but the file is too big. I even got a photo with the mascot, Jack. The only disappointment I had was not being able to get a good fight on video, but I have time on my side! On the way home Mike, Nicole, Lucy and I got some free entry passes into a nightclub called Joseph Richards. We kept the niht pretty tame but it was a really enjoyable night. Entry is normally $18 so unfortunately I won't be going back unless I get more passes!
The weekend ended up turning into a 4-day bender, with Thursday being Trivia Night, Saturday being Josie's last night and Sunday being Sunday. I had some really fun times, though. The only problem is now I am so much
more sick than I was before the weekend. I guess I'll never learn!
Til next time!
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I love how u write jace.......it's like u r talking!! Take care of you.....xxx