The Way the World Turns (Day 14)

IF YOU AREN'T IN OVER YOUR HEAD,

HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TALL YOU ARE?

T.S. Elliot

Hello all, I'M BACK! Yes and what a happening two weeks it has been.

So you may have some questions, such as where have I been? Am I back to writing for good now? Did I really kill that bear? And how is the weather in Canada. To answer those in order, Sunny, No, Yes and I've been on my Contiki tour which was quite hectic and left very little time for writing... actually I may have that order backwards... no matter!

Remember that Bear I talked About?

For now lets forget the time gone (A.K.A the Contiki tour, I will come back and write about those wild days, but for now I shall leave it be) and focus on the times just gone. 2 days ago I left the comforts of the Sandman Hotel on Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver and moved into the Samesun Backpackers in uptown Vancouver. To say that the room move was a bit of a downgrade would offend grades everywhere, infact the backpackers I've moved into very much looks like the quaters people have warned me colleges are like, but whether that is true remains to be seen.

Despite that these past 2 days have been rather relaxing, Ive not really done much, I've just been drinking in the larger sights of this magnificent city, such as the gastown, so named because it rests on a natural gas line (In fact there is a clock here which is entirly powered by this natural line).

The Gastown Clock

Chinatown as well, Vancouver's Chinatown is much like Melbourne's Chinatown, in that rather than just being a Jazzy area that trendy hispters can go to so they can claim they are "multi-cultural", it is more mirrors a traditional chinese urban town.

The Chinatown Garden

The other place I visited was Granville Island which has a lovely couple of markets as well as a great port on which you can buy an ice-cream and watch the world trek by. In town I also caught up with an old friend I met 3 years ago whilst attending the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) in America, she lives and goes to college locally, so she knew all about the town.

The Grandville Island Bridge

And.. umm.. thats all of my adventures for the moment, normally I would end here however I will delve into one more topic for a moment, reccently Melbounre (my home town) over took Vancouver(my current location) as the most livable city in the world. Now whilst many Melbournians may be thinking that this woud be obvious and there is no way some town of funny-taling folks who say 'aboot' (Current 'aboot' count=8 )could possibly be better than the fun loving town of Melbourne. Well to that I say.. yes, we are a much better place to live, most notably in three points, these are arcitecture, public transport and clubs, and lets look at them now:

ARCITECTURE

Vancouver's arcitecture are comparedly very different to Melbourne's, I mean where Melbourne has such wonderful buildings as Federation Square and the eyeso- umm I mean Lovely to look at Age building on Spencer Street, Vancouver has the revolting looking Vancouver Conevention Centre, with it's sails and the disgusting Vancouver Public Library which is built like the collusem of rome but with big red stones! I mean really how these things are practical or hold any sort of cultural signifgance one does have to wonder.

 

Vancouver Convention Centre



Vancouver Public Library

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

In Vancouver there is a very practical and efficinat method that is used for the public transport, you see they have a rather interesteing system in that they have buses that are connected to powerliness so they run on a constant flow of electricity rather than a more expensive gas (or petrol). The trains are also interesting in that they are either underground or on a momorail, in order to avoid blocking up cars in the city centre. So as you can see... This is a totally farcial system, the Melbourne system is far more practical, with buses and trams blocking up street and trains blocking off outer roads. Melbourne cars can be brought to a total stand still, just as any sensical system would intend.


CLUBS

The ratio of clubs in Melbourne and Vancouver are pretty much the same number. HOWEVER whilst most Melbourne clubs will be packed 7 days a week and open till all hours of the morning, Vancouver clubs will usually be filled only one or two nights a week and every evening they are forced to close at 2 am! How ridiculious is that? Having people only go out couple of evenings a week, as though they don't need to go out and get completly hammered every evening just to forget their lives, and a 2am closing? It's almost as thought they don't want drunken brawls plauging their streets, which is just silly.

This is the kind of Crazed Lunatic you can find in Vancouver Clubs

Despite these obvious deficits, there are still some people who live here who claim it was some silly brawl that knocked them off the top, but I mean really does this look like an unlivable city?

I thought not. Well I am off to bed before I head to Windsor, my soon to be home for the next 3 and a half  months, after that... well who knows.