Personal notes

Walked around the waterfront area of Vancouver today, down by the yacht club that overlooks the main harbour. Gorgeous area. I felt extremely fortunate while walking along there today. After having toured Asia for the better part of three years I am also able to live in proximity to scenery like what I saw today in a country as incredible as Canada.

http://www.wga.hu/

'Neighbours described him as a lonely type...'

I just got my B.C. driver's license in the mail. My photo on it made me gasp. Then laugh out loud. Tres creepy. 'If everyone looked like their passport photo nobody would go anywhere because we'd all be too self conscious.'

Job Search Starts

Checked out this place briefly today: http://www.iantangallery.com/
I can do that.
Ian is a nice enough fellow. I'm buying painting materials early next month.

I have an employment related duty tomorrow morning. Had to turn down a similar offer later in the day due to the obligation I had already made. This is on the first day I started looking for work. Apartments are the same here. It is currently a renter's market.

And the writer got screwed

The average earnings for an author in Canada are $9000 per year. Canadian. Some of the numbers I'm hearing from the people I'm in contact with seem impossible. There are writers on the best seller list in Canada who have to keep their teaching jobs to feed themselves.

Patrrreek, Artiste

I have decided to start painting. I walked around the Jericho beach area of Vancouver. Gorgeous views. Saw seals in the water and bald eagles flying by. Ended up in the Granville Island area of Vancouver. Saw a few more galleries that I didn't have time to check out and some art supply stores. Gonna start with water colours, I think. Think I'll push the French thing when I start to show off my work. Even if it's crap I'll try and move the stuff. Half of what I see in galleries is garbage anyway.

East Indian Cowboys

There were a large group of East Indian Canadians in my proximity over the last few days. They're all from Calgary, cowboy hats and everything. They have been partying into the early hours of the morning the last few nights running. Do they ever go. Loud as hell.
I checked out this place for a bit today http://www.rendezvousartgallery.com/
Not bad. Went and watched the hockey game at a bar called Shark Club right near BC Place stadium in central Vancouver.

My Vancouver

Hello from Vancouver. This is a very beautiful, very dangerous city. Kofu this is not. I have an apartment for the first of next month. Great spot. I am in the process of transfering my documents over to British Columbia, the province I now call home. The last time I lived here the city seemed huge to me compared to Ottawa, my home town. After hanging out in greater Tokyo for the last few years on and off Vancouver now seems like a wee suburb. A dangerous one, but a suburb.
A lot of people who teach in Japan seem really torn about what they should be doing; stay or go. They justify their circumstances and decisions to the people around them. I say stay if you're staying, go if you're going. From my own perspective it sure feels good to be back in my beautiful Canada.

High Heeled Police

A female police officer walked past me today while I sat reading in the sun. She had on the gun, the hand cuffs, the communication device, and heels. I could hear her heels clicking along the sidewalk as she walked away, one of Kofu's finest.

Vacation Over

There is not much sexier than watching a young Japanese woman walk up onto the beach with a surf board under her arm after riding the waves.