Coming to (North)America – Vancouver
I am now well through day 2 in Canada. The flight to Vancouver was quite amazing. The guy next to me on the plane and I were so lucky, that there was no third in our row, so we had plenty of room. Turned out he was an Australian on his way to Whistler, after travelling for 3 months in Europe. After taking off from Iceland, we enjoyed a 180 degree sunset. It stayed that way for 3-4 hours, as we flew over Greenland while slowly catching up with the time difference. After a while the sun was so high in the sky, it appeared to be late afternoon, and by now my inner clock was all messed up. It was a fantastic view over both Greenland, eastern Canada and over the mountains here in British Columbia.
I was not impressed by the effectivity of the Canadian authorities – it takes an incredible amount of time to get your visa approved, apply for a social insurance number or open a bank account. Despite it being a tiresome proces, I was surprised that they would accept a hostel as my address. They didn’t even want me to update my information once I found a permanent address. Everything is sorted out now though. After getting all that set up, I went by Robson Square. Most people would not know, what it is. People like me would recognize many objects here however. The square sets the scene in the Vancouver level in Tony Hawk’s Underground, and even though there is not a single skate ramp there, the level and the actual Robson Square are quite alike. Is was quite funny to walk around in one of my favorite childhood games. (This would happen twice more on my trip, and I made a little video to compare the game to real life. The first one can be found here: Real Life Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Spots #3: Vancouver)
Besides all the preparations for my snowboard season, I also went to Canada Place twice. It right was by the water, and had a beautiful view towards the mountains. I took some time to photograph some birds and seaplanes, before going to the amazing Stanley Park. It was the perfect time to visit, as the leaves had just turned orange and started falling off. It was so beautiful, and there was so much pretty nature and tall trees right there in the middle of Vancouver.
At the moment I am staying at a hostel in the city center, sharing a room with 7 other – full on backpacker experience. Yesterday night was Beerpong Tuesday in the par downstairs, but I decided to work on my jetlag. Trying to make it to Comedy Mix tonight instead.
By the way: Someone drank a Faxe beer (that is a Danish beer) in the room – seems I am not that far away from home after all. (I later discovered, that they are actually sold here)
Bottom line is that I have arrived well, and I am excited for the many months ahead. I will be back soon.
