an inappropriate over-reaction

September 27: A beautiful, sunny Sunday prompted a leisurely walk to Granville Island where we browsed the markets, and Zanne got high on donuts and I on mango gelato. 

September 26:  We took these while waiting for our friend Fan to pick us up. We were on our way to a wine bar for a drink. Who is more comfortable in front of the camera do you think???September 25: It is barely Fall here and already there is a briskness to the air. And the leaves are beginning to turn! I love being able to experience the seasons - with 9 months of summer weather, Brisbane really misses out in this respect. I'm so excited for Zanne to experience each of Vancouver's seasons. 

Also, today I was offered a position as a volunteer at Qmunity. I enjoy being active in my community and am super stoked to be a part of an organisation that provides ongoing support and resources and programs for BC queers. It's likely that I will be working on reception to begin with but eventually I hope to be involved with the Prideline which is a support/info line. It was also mentioned during my interview that a regular newsletter would be welcomed if I was interested in starting one - what a cool opportunity!

September 24: Some pics from my photography class - the left is underexposed and the right is overexposed. Inspiring eh? Ha!

Today I had a terrible interview with a loser who hadn't read my resume but still suggested I didn't have good employment prospects anyways. Grrrr! I moped about all afternoon but my class cheered me (any creative activity always does!). I really like our teacher, Mary. I find her bright and friendly and a little eccentric. I'm not sure that my classmates share my positive opinion though - in my class of 12-ish people I seem to be the only one laughing with her. Some people might say I'm easily amused but I actually think that my classmates might lack a sense of humour, some of them seem a little uptight to be honest. Whatevs.  Shan

would you like paper with those fries?

September 23: Lunch at Milestone's in English Bay followed by some photo taking in the lovely sunshine AKA a break from writing job applications September 22: Brunch at the Kings Head Inn at Kitsilano AKA a break from writing job applications Shan

a pair of babyboomers going at it like rabbits

September 21: We're still coming across differences over here - these products at the grocery store for instance. I'm sure our peeps back home will find them funny too.

September 20: Zanne and I have been spending a lot of days searching for jobs and applying for them. Today Zanne wanted a new photo to include with her resume - this is how things ended up!  Luckily there were one or two more professional ones though.September 19: While we were in Seattle Zanne  purchased  her very own adult-size onesie. It is hilarious, and is her new favourite of course.Shan

quack quack, dog dog

We just spoke to our 1 year old nephew, Noah, on skype - look at how cute he is!

We sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, poked out our tongues and played peek-a-boo... Zanne is clearly still his favourite, which is, you know, fine, whatever... 

My fave moment was when he realised who we were and he pointed to us (on the computer) then pointed to the sky and said "broom!" - he remembers our plane!! He's so smart. I just love his guts.

Shan

the good, the bad and the kewsh

Today was a mixed one:

The badd-ish news:
Our computer was infected with a virus overnight - bugger! We called in a computer geek who paid us a house call (or rather we paid him). The lovely Alexi fixed our 'puter all up and, further, he deleted and reinstalled our operating system so she's like brand new again! Sucks about the fee but it's nice to have our computer running so quickly for once.

The awesome news: I have a job interview on Thursday WOOT! I'm being interviewed for one of two legal floater positions at a downtown law firm. Please send me good vibes peeps! In the words of Kath: fingers and toes love, fingers and toes.

The almost-job news inspired us to go puppy window shopping. Check out this guy - he has two different coloured eyes! Of course I knew this was possible in people (my brother has one brown, one green eye), but I didn't know it was possible in puppies. Isn't he kewsh?!

Shan

under the influence

We just ate dinner and were sitting here watching a bad TV movie and an ad for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups came on. We looked at each other, then at the TV, then at each other. Then I went to 7/11 and bought 2 packets of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

As we enjoyed our Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, another ad for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups came on. Shan commented that we're too influenced by TV. The she said.. "I love you... Peanut Butter Cup". And she wasn't talking to me.

I love you!... but...

As much as we love Vancouver, there are a few things we're still getting used to:

There's no cordial. Anywhere. I know! Anyone who knows me, knows of my addiction to fruit cup cordial. I don't do tea or coffee and only have the odd energy drink because I always had my cordial and thermo. It was the first thing I drank in the morning, and drank it all through my work day. It's my thing and I loved it. But apparently Canada, and all of the US, doesn't stock cordial. When I asked people about it they'd give me a very questioning look and ask if I was after Lime cordial, the only type anyone has. I've requested cordial for Christmas, birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day and Halloween. If you'd like to send me some cordial, let me know and I'll send you our address. And then I'll kiss you.
There's no standy-up toothpaste in Canada. I've looked in every supermarket we've been to in Vancouver. I know this isn't a huge thing, but it's one of those little things we liked to use, to pay a little extra for the convenience and tidiness. This crisis was averted during our trip to Seattle were I managed to find some and bought three. Woooo!Walking on the right side of the street. After a month we're getting used to it now, but it's scary stepping onto the street and being surprised to see a car coming at you on the wrong side! I've been trying to pay particular attention to getting my right and wrong sides in order since we'll be driving sometime in the next couple of months (thanks to Mumsie and her offer of the use of one of her cars for the next year!).

French and English on every product. From baked beans to conditioner and bus schedules, every label in Vancouver is dual-language. Which is awesome for learning the language, but confusing when you're trying to work out if it's a french word or just an english word we're not familiar with.

Tipping. We love tipping for a job well done, but it's expected here that you tip 15% for almost every service. So it feels like an obligation instead of a reward. The compulsory tipping also means you have to make sure you include it in your calculations for every meal, so you always have to be aware of how much money you've got and how much it's really going to cost you. And if you don't tip at least 10% for every meal etc, you get dirty looks, which I think is quite a bit shit cos it means we end up over-tipping just to avoid anyone spitting in our next meal. We get that the minimum wage here is low ($8/hr), but staff shouldn't have to rely on us paying tips to be able to pay their rent. I might take this whole wage thing up with the B.C. government...

And in addition to the above, we're also still getting used to all the add-ons on every bill or receipt. For example, we bought our new camera recently and the price tag said $789. But when we took it to the till they added PST (provincial service tax) and GST and we ended up paying more than $850. And it's the same with groceries and clothes and take-out. Tax is always added at the end, so the price you see isn't actually the price you're going to pay and you never really know what you're going to pay until you get the bill. Why can't they just add the tax into the price they list?? Surely that would be way easier?

The homeless and the crazies. We knew to expect this, Shan had warned me, but there really are a lot of homeless people in Vancouver. For the most part they're harmless and they just get about with their trollies, collecting cans and bottles for recycling, but it's been a bit scary at times. Like the time we were in a bathroom in a mall and a lady started yelling - "F*ck you! F*ck you! I'm gonna STAB you next time Wendy, you f*king sl*t!" She just mumbled to herself and left but seriously, she could have easily have stabbed anyone right then she was so off her face. And then there was the time we were walking in East Van and this lady walking towards us started screaming at the air around her, telling her invisible friend to "f*ck off you f*ckin' faggot and leave me alone!" That was nice... In Brisbane, the worst you come across are drunks asking for cash. It's the drugged up ones that scare me cos you know they're not seeing or thinking clearly. And unfortunately, there's quite a few of those here.

The positives still outweigh the negatives massively, and we're totally loving being here. Everyday we wake up excited about what the day might bring. We've got plans to go to a Wine Festival in the Okanagan in the next few weeks and we're busy applying for jobs so we can relax and start planning for fun things like our wedding and the babies. So if anyone knows anyone in Vancouver who can offer me a PR job and Shan something great in a law office, that would be super. Call me! *call me signal with right hand*

the urge to merge

September 18: Today Zanne and I took our friends' little boy (aka Superman) to Science World. Yay for science! September 17: Today I began a 10 week DSLR course with Vancouver Photo Workshops.

I'm stoked! It's too bad I have sinus today though - I felt a bit too fuzzy to concentrate in class.

Shan

it didn't went

September 16: After P!nk we caught a ferry to JC's family cabin at Bainbridge Island. What a lovely spot! Zanne and I were certainly inspired to daydream about having such a weekender.

We stayed overnight at the cabin and headed back home to Vancouver in the afternoon - following a bit more outlet shopping! September 15: Today Fan, JC, Zanne and I drove to Seattle for shopping at outlets, and coffee at the very first Starbucks, and sightseeing at Pike Street and, oh, going to the P!nk concert - woohoo!!

September 14: Zanne's impromptu photoshoot September 13: This morning we had breakfast with Chelse before browsing for Halloween costumes at Value Village. Chels makes a cute M&M! Shan

if i could drown in anything it would be maple syrup

September 12: Davie Days!

"a day of fun, laughter and music in Vancouver’s West End"

September 11: Zanne was fascinated by this photo - the guy copped a baseball in the face:

"Minnesota Twins batter Justin Morneau fouls a ball off his cheek during the first inning of their MLB American League game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto"

September 10: Another delicious breakfast at Bon's

September 9: We've become such regulars at our local Blenz that this is now how we're greeted in the mornings - hilarious!!
Shan

when a vegetarian goes moose hunting

September 8: Here we are on the day my week-long search for a cabbie hat ended - it was only a tenner! Thanks H&M!September 7: We returned home from Mumsie's place today.

Here I am talking to my Mum on skype.

Last time I lived in Canada my Mum had to learn how to email, now she's an old hand at that and we're onto skype and webcams.

So clever!

September 6: Today is our second day at Mumsie's place. We've done lots of relaxing and laughing and sleeping and playing and eating and no-one had to ride back to town on a moose carcass - phew! Shan

i eat squares like you for breakfast

September 5: It's the Labour Day long weekend here in Canada and we're spending a couple of days at Trav's Mum's home in Cultus Lake. Here are some pics of the lake on our first (cloudy) day. So beautiful! September 4: We got our very own Rebel - most excellent!

September 3: Well... we planned to go to Bowen Island today, but to get there we needed to take a water taxi and there's only so many water taxi's each day so we had to book online the day before. We woke up early and it was a really overcast and rainy day so we decided to forfeit our trip (and a one way fare - $30). But then by about 10am it was fining up, and figuring we shouldn't waste our money we decided to go anyway.

We got on the boat, got about 5 minutes into the 35 minute trip and the boat had engine problems. We sat on the water for a few minutes before the boat was turned around and driven very, very slowly back into the ferry dock and we were told there would be no more trips until the afternoon. We decided we should have listened to 'that feeling' we'd had about the trip and got our money back from the guy and decided to go to the aquarium instead.

The aquarium was AWESOME! We saw the beluga whales and turtles and all things watery - including a 4D theatre.

There's a marketing job going at the Aquarium which Zanne is going to apply for - please cross fingers and toes for her!

Shan

get your pose on kiddo

We miss this guy:

Thanks for emailing us pics Mum!

why don't shirts come with figurines?

September 2: A cruisy day of antique/thrift store shopping.

We scored a dinner set, a mason jar, a batman figurine, a coffee table and nostalgic signs.

It was a totally radical day, except we walked up and down Main St for 4 hours and now our feet are sore!

September 1: Another day, another breakfast date.

Here we are at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe (well, Zanne is the only one photographed...).

If we could do breakfast every day for the rest of our lives we'd be happy, happy girls!

Shan

Lost in translation

I had my first ever accent-related conversation confusion over the weekend. We were at the softball tournament and Trav's friend was telling us about a 4 day camping trip he was going on with his family. The conversation went like this:

Me: so how long will it take you to get there?
Derek: oh about 4 hours or so.
Me: that's not too bad. Will there be bears?
Derek: oh yeah... I'm sure we'll have some beers...
Trav and Fan (at the same time): Not beers, beaRs!
Derek: What?
Trav and Fan: BeaRs! GRRRR (with two hand claw motion)
Derek: Oh BeaRs!
Me: (red face)
Everyone else: (in hysterics)

Let me count the ways

Vancouver, will you marry me? For here are the things we love about thee:

Coffee - for as long as I've known Shan she's been crazy for coffee and she always talked about how much she loved the coffee in Canada. It is different here. You just ask for a coffee and they give you an almost-filled cup of drip coffee and you put in the cream or milk and sugar yourself. It has become a daily ritual for Shan to pick up a coffee every morning from Blenz on our way to anywhere. Luckily for Shan, Vancouver has about 76 coffee shops on each block.

Our apartment - thanks to Chris and Lisa, we get to spend our first 6 months in Vancouver in an awesome apartment, in an awesome part of town with fantastic views and bikes we can use to explore the city! We both agreed that anything after this is going to be a let down..

The city - before we moved here, everytime we mentioned Vancouver to someone who had been here had the same remark - that it was the most beautiful city they'd ever been to. It really is beautiful! The north American architecture of the homes is really cool, the city is really pretty and well kept, the water is clean and clear and the mountains behind the city just make everything perfect. We're lucky enough to enjoy views of the mountain and city from our perfect apartment.

Food - just this week we've managed to find a reasonably priced supermarket, an awesome $2.99 all day breakfast joynt and you can get a $1.50 slice of pizza anytime of the day or night, anywhere around the city. And they're a big slice too. New York Slice in the Valley is ripping everyone off!

Everything is easy - transport is simple and cheap (lots of buses, new train line near our house, you pay $2.50 and you get a pass you can use on any public transport for 1.5 hours), the people are really friendly (the girl at the bank apologised for taking so long, saying she didn't want to give us a bad impression of Canadian banks, even though she was staying behind after close to get our travellers cheque processed!), and the whole process of coming here has been straightforward and easy.

Clothing - As with London, it's much easier to be trendy in a cooler climate. So the fashion is different here. Less singlets and flip-flops and more jackets and sneakers. It's cool. We're enjoying layering and picking up cool clothes fairly cheap. I've been lucky enough to buy two new pairs of shoes (on top of the two pairs I bought just before we left), and Shan bought one new pair for work. I'll be blogging about my new shoes later :)

Dogs - Dogs can go anywhere in Vancouver. Everyone seems more relaxed about dogs here and you can find them everywhere - in the bank, at the employment office, at every park. And they're not just there, they're walking around freely. When we went to get our Social Insurance Number (like our tax file number) yesterday, this girl had a little maltese terrier there and he was just wandering around through all the people and I got to pat him. He was SOOOOOO cute!

Love - Shan and I are honestly more in love here. I think all of the above has made our life happy, made us happy and we can't stop smiling at each other. And because all of Canada has equal rights, we can walk around holding hands and no one cares and we can talk about our wedding and everyone gets excited. See Mr Prime Minister, this country allows gay marriage and society isn't falling apart and the horses aren't eating each other either.

and it was all yellow

August 31: A lot happened today...

We finally found a great breakfast place woot! Bon's Off Broadway has a $2.95 all day breakfast and Britney posters on the walls - even Rad Stewart loves it there ha! Speaking of walls, they matched my shirt *wink*. We'll be Bon's regulars for sure me-thinks.

We found an affordable grocery store - stoked! Although for some reason vegemite is $11.99 - as if! Lucky Zanne brought her own tube of it with her.

Zanne's 6 month shoe search reached a happy end - I'll let her share that story with you. I hear she's got a very entertaining blog lined up.

We ended the day by watching the sunset on the seawall with our new besties, "our" bikes. Ah, Vancouver. You woo me until the sun goes down...

August 30: We enjoyed the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) with some of our friends today. The PNE is a summer fair which has been running for 99 years! It's like the Brisbane Ekka, without the show bags (cos that's an Australian thing it would seem).

Zanne loved the donuts and fairy floss; Weston loved the animals.

Note below: The 3,000lb oxen who were taller than me!

PS. Milena, the Sausage Haus pic is for you! xo

August 29: Our friend Trav and his softball team, The Drunken Berries, played in the playoffs today. We were there the whole day to cheer him on - and Zanne has the sunburn to prove it! How funny that she has her first sunburn for years in Canada (which is certainly not as hot as Australia!). Actually it's not really funny, her poor legs were so sore she could barely walk.

Note below: The bbq made from the front of a car and the dual beer bong being enjoyed by one of the competing teams.

Shan