While taking a nice stroll down Commercial Drive to get some breakfast this morning, I was greeted with oh so pleasant horn honking that seems to coincide with every World Cup victory no matter what the team. Here is the scenario, a team wins a game, a group of yokels hop in their cars and proceed to drive up and down the street waving flags and honking horns. People look around in bewilderment and wonder what the hell is going on.
As I went on up the street I noticed that traffic was partially stopped as well. Idiots from all corners of the drive were dancing in the street waving Italian flags. The road was basically shut down. When I exited the cafe about an hour later after a wonderful breakfast, I saw police cars and uniformed police officers. I thought to myself, finally, some law and order. Nope. The police had blocked off the road and were allowing the celebration to continue. On down the street six public transportation buses were grounded. The buses cannot simply go around because they run on electric power and cable lines are only on Commercial. Thank God I didn’t need to go to work or anything.
So what happened? Italy beat Australia.
Now as a sports fan I’m all for fan celebration. I’ve done my fair share of storming the field or taking to the streets after a big victory. Usually this activity is done near a place of importance for the team that won (on campus). I would not consider Commercial Drive the Vancouver campus for Italy or any other team for that matter. I also only take part in this type of extreme celebration after a big victory like I said. If Italy had just won the World Cup I would have no issues. They beat Australia. When I think Australia, I think kangaroos, boomerangs, and Paul Hogan driving a Subaru. I don’t think soccer.
I think the following pictures do more than enough to illustrate the idiocrasy of this situation.
I have a pretty big sweet tooth, one that may well be the death of me one day. I blame my Mom for it really, our tastes are pretty similar when it comes to sweets. Anyway, on to the point of this post, The Nainaimo Bar.
The Nanaimo (pronounced Nuh-Nie-Mo) Bar is a little dessert about the size of a brownie. It has a firm chocolate cake bottom, some type of delictable custard middle, and a smooth chocolate top. Don’t be confused though, the bar is very rich but it is not overly chocolately. It is quite creamy and very soft in your hands, you can’t hold one for very long or you’ll make a mess. Sometimes they are served chilled to keep them firm or eaten with utensils.
The Nanaimo Bar comes from the city of Nanaimo here in BC. The city webpage even has an official recipe! At least here in Vancouver, they are readily available at various coffee shops and restaurants, I even had one at Quizno’s!
I’m currently trying to figure out a way to bring some home
So I’ve been here (Canadia) for almost two weeks and I feel pretty qualified to make some general, sweeping conclusions about Canadians as a whole. Well that’s probably not fair since east and west Canada are pretty different (they’re all crazy regardless). These sweeping generalizations only apply to Vancouver.
1. People here cannot drive. April and I have discussed this in length. We’re not saying the driving situation is much better back home but the drivers are certainly better. Atlanta and Raleigh drivers simply choose to ignore the rules and do what they want, this makes them bad drivers. Vancouverites simply do not know how to drive plain and simple. They do have several things working against them though; the metric system, a lack of stop signs (a lack of signage in general), and the stupid stop lights that flash when green.
Also, someone needs to put out a general public service annoucement about horn usage while driving. In my first week here I heard more usage of automobile horns than all other combined uses in my life. A good example was riding with April on my first day here. We pulled up to make a left hand turn onto street at a red light. There was a clear sign in front of us stating that no left turns were to be made between the hours of 4 and 7 pm. The clock in our car read 6:55 pm. After much moral dilemnia we decided to make the turn anyway. So the light turns green and the car behind us proceeds to lay on his/her horn. Ok, that’s fine, he/she was simply expressing his/her discontent with our decision. The lanes beside us were open and the driver could have easily gone around us. Nope, he/she decided to use his/her horn several more times for exceedingly long intervals until we turned. We got one more blow of the horn as we turned and the vehicle sped onward down the street. If this same behavior were carried out in Texas for instance, there would have been a body or two to dispose of. Personally I’d rather have road rage induced murders than inconsiderate drivers that don’t know how to use their car horn.
2. People are rude and inconsiderate. Think about this situation, you are walking down a hallway and there is someone else coming toward you. You both go to move but you end moving the same way. You each share a smile and maybe a laugh and then go about your way. This same situation in Vancouver, I’m coming down a hallway with a Vancouverite coming the opposite direction. The Canadian lowers his/her head and increases their velocity to ramming speed. I jump out of the way before getting toppled over.
Even walking down the street people are cold and uninterested in what’s around them. If you stroll down Peachtree St. and happen to make eye contact with someone they are likely to give you a little smile or at the very least a nod of approval. If you make eye contact with someone here you get a cold, souless stare.
3. Thoughtful public transportation is a good thing. Let’s face it, MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) is a joke. Thank God the train goes to the airport or it would be uttlerly worthless. There has been talk of a train system in Raleigh and most of the plans I’ve heard about do not include an airport stop. Now, readers, before you get all high and mighty and try to trump me by pointing out that Vancouver’s SkyTrain has no airport stop, I’m very aware of this fact. The SkyTrain, however, goes about everywhere I would need to go in the greater Vancouver area or at least gets me close enough to walk. It takes to my wonderful basement apartment, it takes me downtown, and it takes me to one of the largest malls in North America.
The greatest thing about the SkyTrain is that it depends on the honor code to make sure you pay your fare. (Being an honorable Southern gentlemen I purchased monthly passes for myself and April at the start of the month.) There are plenty of little machines to buy a ticket for the train and a bus ride but the only thing making sure you have purchased one of these tickets is a menacing sign that reads “Fare Paid Zone, proof of payment required”. The buses work the same as elsewhere in which you must pay the driver before you enter the bus.
4. Canadians are very private about their restrooms. It is a rarity to find a restaurant with a public “washroom” (as they are called here) if you are walking along a main drive or strip. Quite a large number of eateries will have signs that clearly state “no public washrooms” or at best will require you to ask the cashier for a bathroom key, gas station style. Now I understand why the owners of such establishments do not want everyone coming in off the street and using their restroom. The bums here are not just lazy con-artists like the ones in Atlanta, they are junkies. People are afraid if they have their restrooms open to all then bums will wander in and use them as their own private Wonderland.
There is a simply solution to this problem. Instead of taking the Nazi approach and saying, “no public washroom”; these owners could simply say “washrooms for paying customers only”. Wow, you can let your customers relieve themselves and keep bums away, who would have thought? Stupid Canadians.
Overall there are plusses and minuses to living here. The cost of goods is much higher and most of this can be correlated to the 7% general sales tax and the 7% British Columbia sales tax. This brings the sales tax to a whopping 14% on most goods (not all goods and I still have not figured out what qualifies for the tax and what doesn’t). I’m not sure how the real estate market is so I cannot comment on the overall cost of living.
As I wrote back in March, the cost of beer here is also ridiculous. I think a heorin habit is cheaper than drinking in most of the bars as evident in most of the bums here. $4.50/glass and $14/pitcher is not a good deal for a domestic beer and some bars push this as their “special”! I regret not taking better advantage of the quarter draft Tuesdays in Richmond.
There is a wide selection of organic foods available which is pretty cool. There are tons of fresh produce stores close to me as well. I was also happy to find a little shop down the street from me that makes it’s own pasta. Their spinach fettucine is excellent and I can’t wait to try their fresh ravioli. I was a little dissappointed in veggie burger selection at the local Safeway supermarket though. The Kroger I frequented in Atlanta had several different types to choose from and I only saw one kind at the supermarket here. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong place or need to go to a different store.
