Vancouver

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Now that I've had a few more days to fully settle in and recover from the flight, Vancouver seems to be growing on me. I have spent the past few days with the others from my BUNAC group. After setting up bank accounts and getting new mobile phone numbers, we've had a bit more spare time to explore Vancouver. The city itself is fairly laid back, with around 2.3 million residents, but you'd never think it because the pace of life here is so chilled. Vancouver has all the things you'd usually associate with a big city - high rise buildings, intricate transport system, diverse shops and shopping centres, but it just doesnt feel busy. You can comfortably walk around and shop in the Pacific Centre on a saturday and not get annoyed by other shoppers. Although there are an overwhelming number of homeless people here, there are some areas of Vancouver where you just don't seem to notice it as they seem to mostly stick to Granville Street or out in the suburb of East Hastings. Some of our encounters were downright strange! I was standing at a cash machine and someone actually came up to me and asked if I could withdraw some extra money and give it to them. Although I usually give spare change to some people who ask, I couldn't get over the fact they expected me to say 'yes' to getting an extra $20 out. The person didn't seem that phased when I politely declined, and just asked everyone else standing in the queue for the ATM.

On saturday night we headed over to watch the game between two WHL teams - Vancouver Giants Vs Calgary Hitmen. Ice hockey is something I'd never even seen on TV, let alone up close, so it was a real eye opener. The players seemed to float across the ice - twisting and turning like they were playing on a regular surface. Ice hockey is super fast paced and it really engaged the attention of everyone in the crowd; people waiting to see where the next tackle or challenge would come from, who would score or who would fight. The whole hockey experience wouldn't have been complete without a hot dog and a beer! Although we had a huge respect for the players ability to move on the ice, it definitely increased when we went ice skating a few days later. With many of us doing our 'bambi' impressions, we just couldn't get over how much time and effort it must take ice hockey players to learn to skate and play a game at the same time.

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