Written yesterday, on the way to Chicago…
Our last week in Vancouver started with a weekend away in Portland, to spend an early Thanksgiving with Nick and Sandra. The snow had started falling on the mountains, and I hoped it wouldn’t stop us flying. It didn’t. The airport stayed clear,but we did have an amazing view from the runway of the mountains, before boarding our tiny plane to the US.
Neither Veronica or I had ever celebrated Thanksgiving in America, so while we knew it was important, we didn’t really get why. Harvest festivals in Scotland (and Canada) are fairly low key events. I’d always been told that if you celebrate Thanksgiving with someone, you’re essentially being accepted as family – and Nick and Sandra have felt like family for a good while now. So, we spent the weekend planning dinner, cooking, eating, hanging out and talking, playing games, drinking, and celebrating all the things we’re grateful for in this past year. It felt like a UK Christmas, except that there was no presents, no tree, and no cheesy music. OK, there was cheesy music, but it was the Scissor Sisters, not Roy Wood. There were just the four of us for most of the weekend, plus Sandra’s friend Theresa for the dinner. Someone else I wish lived 5000 miles closer, would love to get to know her better too.
I’ve still got lots of thoughts circulating in my head from that weekend, echoes of late night conversations, reflections on non-verbal communication, and general musing on the nature and importance of friendship. I’m sure I’ll write more about that later.
Monday night we visited locals Carol and James, who spontaneously invited us for dinner. Veronica got to try some very nice Pacific salmon cooked on the BBQ (because the oven was full of cookies), then we decided to brave the hot tub. Brave, because it was -9C outside, and it was a very long four yards from getting undressed, to getting in the water. But sitting in hot water, under a full moon and starry sky, on such a cold night, is just amazing. Conversation was great too – echoes of the weekend as we all reflected on love and friendships.
Wednesday night I went to an ice hockey game with some of the guys from work. Met Len and Rich in the Railway Bar, which does a decent impression of a British pub. We all reckoned the barmaid had a weird, almost-English accent., and were trying to place it without luck. So I asked her, and she claimed to have lived in Vancouver all her life. This had to be a lie – no-one in Vancouver is actually from Vancouver :). Then off to the game with Frank and Cristian, leaving Rich and Len to follow the game on a lousy pub TV. I’ve only ever been to one ice hockey game before, but since that was in the 80’s, and it was Dundee Rockets, I’m going to claim that doesn’t count. I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it, team sports usually bore me, but the atmosphere was great, and hockey is such a fast paced game – I really got into it. Many thanks to Frank for explaining everything; I’d have been horribly confused otherwise. I’d definitely go to another game: it’s expensive but a lot of fun. And the Canucks won! Yay!
Thursday it snowed hard. Vancouver is one of those places, like most of the UK, where most people can’t drive on snow, so a lot of people work from home, or take a day off. The streets were deserted, so quiet when I left for work. I’d vaguely planned to meet Veronica and another local, Tracey, for lunch – but pretty much expected they’d both cancel as soon as the notices of stoppages on the Skytrain, and re-routed buses, started coming in. But sometimes it just feels important to do something, even if you dont know why, so I went out anyway, and they both battled through snow and transit chaos to meet up. Seems it felt equally important to Tracey too. Now, if we could only figure out why 😉
Then, all of a sudden it’s our last night in Vancouver. We celebrated it the same way we’d marked our first night – a ride across the water on the Aquabus to Granville Island, wander round the Market, grab some food. And fit in a quick drink with Tally on the way. Then home to try and fit too much stuff into our cases. Not terribly successfully; had to leave one bag behind to collect when I’m over in January, and we were still over our weight limit. Thankfully, gold card holders are forgiven such minor indiscretions, but we’ll need to plan something different before we get the train to Boston. Amtrak doesn’t take overweight bags at all.
I’m sitting on the plane to Chicago now, writing this, reflecting back on an amazing two months. It was hard work with long hours, but it let me kayak in Canada, see orcas, see eagles and hawks in the wild, and meet some amazing people. Some of you defined my time here – Nick, Sandra, Kiki, Ivo, Allena, Carole, Cassidy and Gord, Len, Jason, Zak and Mandy in particular all shared moments that made Vancouver feel like home. And of course, all the great people I work with out here – you constantly amaze me with how passionate you are about your work, how willing to learn and grow, and how talented you are. There’s a few people I’d have loved to spend more time with too. Maybe next time. One way or another, there will be a next time.
Before I move onto the next chapter, Chicago, I’m also reflecting on how many Scots we met in Vancouver – from our first kayak instructor, to countless Scots working in bars and shops, to meeting Billy Connelly in the Air Canada lounge. Of course, they were all Weegies, but we can’t have everything 🙂
On to new adventures. I’ve pressed the big blue start button, and Chicago is rushing towards us.