Vancouver

Met a Girl!

Vancouver

Alright I haven’t posted in a while, but I’m still here in Canada exploring this great country. The reason I haven’t posted?

I met a girl!

That’s right I met a girl here in Vancouver. Her name is Lauren and she’s studying to become a Phlebotomist. So what does a Phlebotomist do exactly? I had to look it up. They are those people in the hospital (and blood clinics) that take your blood. They are a step down from nurses.
I don’t know how she does it. I pass out at the sight of blood. It is just soooo gross.

So what’s next for me?

Well I can tell that this girl is amazing. I met her at a party with some friends and ever …

Coffee!

Coffee, Hipsters, Vancouver

I’m an Aberration: an English Coffee Lover…

Let me start by saying that a lot of my major life choices have been majorly influence by my addiction to caffeine.

Soooo one of the selling features of Vancouver was all the famous coffee shops: Cafe Artigiano, Trees, 49th Parallel (named after the latitudinal line separating Canada from the States), and Revolver.

I’m a fairly laid back coffee drinker: a good Starbucks is all I need to get going in the morning. But I was excited to try out all these specialty coffee shops. I’m trying to hit every cafe that the Huffington Post said were the best. Here’s my experience so far:

  • Cafe Artigiano – It was busy, and I had some time to watch the
    • …
    grouse mountain bear

    Grouse Mountain!

    Vancouver

    A Note on Canadian Pronunciation:

    First off: a rant:

    Dear Canadians: do you really expect me to believe that you pronounce this fine mountain “Grouse” as in “mouse”? What sense does that make? Why isn’t it pronounced like “gross”. You know how hard it is for an Englishman to pronounce it that way?
    First off: the grouse is an arctic bird (seriously.) I find it easier to call it Gross Mountain. Not that there’s anything inherently gross about it. I just don’t want to have a bloody aneurysm every time I talk about the place.

    Rant Over.

    Alright, the rant is over. Yesterday I went up Grouse Mountain (I pronounced it Gross in my head). This was a fun place to be, but …

    vancouver canucks fight

    Hockey!

    Hockey, Vancouver

    My first Hockey Game

    I don’t care about hockey at all. I actually don’t care for most sports. Even Football and Rugby back home. Never much cared for it.

    But I do remember this whole city exploding in a riot over hockey a couple years back. Now, you have to remember that these are Canadians, which are a even nicer, friendlier people than the English. And yet, something about hockey got them up in arms.

    What is it about this sport?

    Vancouver Canucks Game

    We and a few friends all went and saw the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kingships. Now, I didn’t even know Los Angeles could have a hockey team. Isn’t it a tropical desert or something down there? I remember reading …

    First Up: Hipster Watching!

    Hipsters, Vancouver

    Apparently there are two epicenters of hipsterdom: Brooklyn, NY and Portland, Oregon. I hate hipsters and couldn’t imagine visiting those places and not leaving with assault and battery charges. I’m not a violent man by any means. I mean, I have had several battles with spiders in my flat where the outcome truly was in doubt. There’s just something about hipsters that makes ordinary people eager to try out violence for the first time. You know?

    Hipster Watching Has Been Moved Up:

    I planned on spending a couple of days trying out obscure cafes to see hipsters in their natural habitat. But once I got off the plane, I came up against an uncomfortable truth: they’re everywhere.

    They were in the airport.

    They were on …