Hello blog followers

Today has been a busy day! First we went to a crafts fair where I bought a hat and Lorna's birthday present. Then we did some Christmas shopping where I bought Ritchie's birthday present (which is just going in with the Christmas stuff by the way) and then we went to visit the house again and get the keys. The landlord said he was going to give us a sofa, a dining table and chairs, a TV and a DVD player and that the existing tenant would sell us the 2 beds that were already there but it turns out he's a liar and we only got a dining table and chairs, a TV and a microwave. Which was nice enough of him but he coulda given us a warning that we didn't have anywhere to sleep. So we turned legal on his ass and took loads of photos of the existing damage so he didn't try and blame it on us. Also, his wife is slightly crazy and doesn't want bedbugs (which would apparently cost $500 to remove) so we're forbidden from getting free beds on Craigslist which means we're going to have to fork out for Ikea beds. She doesn't want used sofas either so she's basically making us pay a lot more considering there's lots of free stuff on Craigslist that we aren't allowed to buy. Oh well. Means an Ikea shopping spree tomorrow. S'gonna be a loooooong day. Here are some photos of our house and from the second hostel-run Club Night that we went on on Friday.

All the sockets look so shocked and appalled here

Some crows hangin out on West Georgia Street

And with some background features

A nice lilac skyline

Our fireplace

Our giant oven and giant fridge

Our giant oven and regular sink

Our laundry facilities

Greg and Debbie being domestic in our 'dining room'

Our stairs

A bedroom

A second bedroom (there's also a third)

A bathroom (with bath)

We got gas! (and electricity)

So it turns out it's incredibly easy to get connected to gas and electricity we were just being lazy. You just need to phone up an they send you bills. So that's sorted, and Debbie's all over the internet situation so we're cooking with gas (ha!)
In other news I had to trek all the way to West Broadway in the rainy rainy rain today to hand in my CV to a tea shop then all the way back again. It's totally worth it though because I have an interview tomorrow at 4pm to be a tea master!!! We're going out tonight though so I can't be too hungover. Evan from the coffee shop said he'd be in touch tomorrow though about that one so hopefully I won't have gotten that one then I won't have to wait to find out about the tea one. The age-old competition between coffee and tea.
That was all. Just wanted to brag about my tea situation.

Just realised I didn't put up any photos from the pub crawl. So here are a few. I didn't really take that many but there's a couple funny ones.

Martin the swede, Greg and Debbie

The Bavarian guy, Me, Debbie and Martin or When We Met Hells Angels

Martin and Aussie guy (Simon)

It's like we've been bestest buddies for years (plus the homeless man)

Tourist Activities.

I haven’t posted for a couple days because we haven’t really been doing much and I pretty much spent yesterday being hungover (and feeling gross after my Denny’s breakfast) and sleeping for 12 hours last night. We went on the hostel-run pub crawl on Monday night and met a few people who were on the Club Night which was pretty cool. Though the pub crawl consisted of 2 Irish pubs and a really really rubbish club-type place. I had a decent night though so can’t complain.

We decided since we’ve only been here a week and haven’t really done anything too touristy that today would be the day for tourist activities and unfolding giant maps on sidewalks. So we got up early and walked through Stanley Park to the Aquarium. We met a Swedish guy called Martin (we think) on one of the hostel-organised pub crawls and he’s staying in the same room as Greg so he came along with us. We got there just in time for the beluga whale talk so saw that. The belugas look so smug all the time because they have muscley lips and there was a grey baby one that was really cute. Then we went and saw the sea otters which were pretty cute and Debbie totally fancies them so if at any point I don’t mention seeing the sea otters you can pretty much assume that’s what we did before doing anything else. The dolphin show was alright but I’ve already seen a dolphin show this year so it wasn’t all that. They were some pacific white-sided dolphin or something though and kinda looked like tapirs so I was a bit impressed. After that we wandered round the rest of the aquarium and saw some cool jellyfish, some reptiles and a sloth!! The sloth keeper was feeding the sloth apple on a stick because the sloths enclosure was being redone and the sloth was feeling a bit stressed out. Wish someone would feed me with a stick. All in all the aquarium was pretty cool and a good start for our tourist activities.
Once we’d left, we headed to the totem poles in Stanley Park which weren’t that far from the aquarium. They are pretty cool if you keep in mind they were carved by someone, and I do think all that ‘first native’ art is awesome. But the price of all the stuff in the gift shop is ridiculous and kinda undermines the whole experience. Nevermind.
We got back from doing all of that stuff around half 2 and hung around on the slow slow internet for a while but then I had to go get ready for my first Canadian job interview. It was at the J.J. Beans in Yaletown. J.J. Beans is a chain of coffee shops that are in the Vancouver area and they also sell coffee wholesale to various cafes and restaurants. The Yaletown branch is pretty swish because Yaletown is near all the downtown businesses but is more ‘trendy’ so it’s kinda like all the cool places in Leith. It wasn’t so much a job interview as they have at home, more of a really informal chat which included some questions about what I’d done coffee-shop-wise in the past and some information about the chain and branch. We seemed to get on pretty well and he said he’d get back to me on Saturday. I’m not sure if I want to work there though because, although it seems like a really cool place, I’m not sure if the people who work there are going to be too cool to give me the time of day or whatnot. We’ll see if I get offered the job yet I guess!
I returned to the hostel after that feeling a bit shakey from the black coffee I felt I should drink to prove my ‘passion for coffee’ and met Debbie and Greg. We went for dinner in another diner-type place and I had a turkey sandwich that was effectively a Christmas dinner on toast with fries. It was pretty tasty though and we went for a couple beers afterwards. Which brings me to my current situation; sitting in bed typing this in MS Word because the internet’s not fast enough to load blogger. I’ll post it when it is though and yous can all breathe a sigh of relief as you’re kept updated on my experiences. Lucky little critters.

Tomorrow I intend to do the things I’ve failed to do so far such as put money in my Canadian bank account, check to see if my Social Insurance Number is at the SWAP Office, print some CVs (resumes) and do some Christmas shopping. I’m going to strive to get presents home in time but I have to post them by December 8th if that’s going to happen and I haven’t looked for anything yet so late presents might be on the cards. Sorry guys. I also quite fancy doing some shopping for myself since I don’t think I brought enough clothes but we’ll see what my funds permit. It’s been an expensive week! Plus if you take tax and tips into account it’s more expensive for drink here, even if foods cheap and you get loads!

Anyway, that’s pretty much all. So I’ll update here next time I do something exciting.

A random statue of Rabbie Burns in Stanley Park

A beluga whale

A sea otter sleeping with a ball on it's tummy

Me, Debbie and our new Swedish friend

A dolphin looking like a tapir with a hoop on it's nose

SEAHORSES!!!!

The worst thing you could ever see when you look up and you're swimming

The worst thing you could ever see when you look up and you're Steve Irwin

Some weird wormy things that look like light fixtures from Ikea

Token aquarium fish picture

A catfish

A green tree boa

A sloth!!

Some fine photography, even if I do say so myself

Starfish

A jellyfish

Lotsa jellyfish

A few jellyfish

A couple jellyfish of a different sort

One jellyfish/Squishy from Finding Nemo

Debbie in a tank

Greg in a tank

A sleeping gecko

Me at the Orca fountain outside the aquarium

The totem poles in Stanley Park

The rest of the totem poles in Stanley Park

We Have Accommodation!!!!

Today we went to see this other house which is near the UBC and around 30mins on the bus from downtown. It was so nice. All cream walls and laminate flooring downstairs then a really thick cream carpet up the stairs and an awesome kitchen with a giant fridge and oven to make Christmas dinner a breeze!! It was unfurnished except for beds but after we discussed it over coffee and tea and told the landlord we wanted it he said that him and his wife could give us a sofa, a dining table & chairs, a TV and DVD player since we were only staying for 6 months so all we really need is pans and a stereo and things which should be easy enough to get hold of considering Ikea's pretty near us. I'm quite excited because it had a log fire too and Christmas is coming up and it's going to be amazing! But I got pretty stressed out because I had to give him the deposit in cash since I haven't put any money into my Canadian account yet and I don't have cheques for any of my others and since I can only take out a certain amount per day it said I had inadequate funds. And that's not cool when you're in a new country and it takes a while to swap funds. But we each gave him half of what we owe so we're meeting him tomorrow to give him the rest. So it's all ok and my stress levels have decreased since checking my internet banking.

The house is in a pretty nice (family-orientated) area and there's lots of fancy shops near us and a giant Safeway for all our grocery needs. I want loads of people to come and visit me though so everyone can see how nice our home is.

After our dodgy back-of-a-car transaction of rent funds we walked to Granville Island to go to the market for lunch which was pretty cool but I was still feeling all fraught so I don't think I appreciated it enough. The brewery's there though so we'll be going back when we aren't all broke so I'll be more impressed then. And there's a tea stall so about a month's wages (next stop- employment!) will be going to them methinks.

Tonight I think we'll probably just go out for some dinner and a couple drinks to celebrate our new home. Apparently the guy who lives in our home at the moment had to leave Mexico because drugs lords were after him and stole his cattle and burnt his home to the ground, so hopefully he didn't leave them a forwarding address. Russian gangsters and Mexican drug lords. Finding accommodation's a dangerous business in these parts.

Granville Street Bridge

(blurry) English Bay Harbour

A mural painting of a dog and a seal near English Bay

Me looking happy as hell next to a giant cup of tea (might have something to do with the happiness) after deciding on our accommodation.

The mountains from Broadway

Me and Greg with our fantastic cakes

Granville Island

(this is a repeat which blogger won't let me delete)

A close up of my fantastic cake with Downtown Vancouver in the background

A big minging fish at the market

Me and Debbie on the Seabus

Me with my (now seemingly default) happy photo face at English Bay