A Whole New World

Arrived in Vancouver around noon 3 days ago (20 June). Thank goodness for a safe flight albeit not without a slight hiccup - second piece of luggage came in with a later flight! Am settling in here quite well. My college and place of residence are located on the grounds of University of British Columbia, very much like University Malaya. So it's sprawling university grounds which is near the city. Have checked out many places around the campus. The swimming pool, cinema, cafeteria, bus terminal, bank, shops and most of the libraries I'd need to use are all within walking distance between my college and where I stay, which is a tremendous blessing. The weather has been so beautiful. Bright and sunny most of the time with some overcast and light showers in between. Very mild and temperatures hover around 20C in the day. The environment around the campus is beautiful and full of lush greenery, which makes walking around here like taking a stroll in the park.

Done my banking, seen the insurance people for my temporary medical insurance and did some grocery shopping. The whole college is wifi connected so that really helps! Yesterday I was introduced to a Malaysian couple in my college, Alvin and Hui Fern. Alvin is my senior but he also lectured for the Spring School recently. His wife is working in the admin dept. They were very kind and we managed to share quite a bit. We know a lot of people in common back home, so kind of heard of each other even before we met. Student orientation begins tomorrow. Scheduled to see the Registrar to discuss on my summer school courses tomorrow as well. Classes will begin next week. Just checked in with the Finance Dept and confirmed that my grant will basically cover my tuition fees for the whole year (i.e. next 2 terms), inspite of the increase in the fees. That is SUPERBLY AWESOME!! Words fail to express my gratitude to Him for His abundant provision. Will still be on a look out job openings within the college, hoping to start this term. Have enquired about a vacancy for next term in the Bookstore, which has such an amazing selection.

The apartment I'm living in is part of a students' residence called St Andrew's Hall. Rest of the flatmates is a Korean girl, a Caucasion blok (think he's name is Earl) and at the moment, an Irish guy who's a summer guest. I think he said his name was Colleen/Colin. Anyways he's here for the summer to look for a job while travelling. That's the only person I've actually seen around the flat and spoken to. Not sure if the Korean girl is out of town but her room is currently being occupied by her friend temporarily (managed to catch a glimpse of the girl today). The other guy I've only caught sight of once and not sure even if he's actually my flatmate. The Administrator tells me the Korean girl and Earl are both residents. So I guess I'll meet them eventually. The thing with guests is they tend not to keep the place very clean, which is odd considering they're more like phantom housemates for now. Don't know when they have the time to mess up the place. Anyways am looking forward to things being more settled after the summer.

Otherwise, am still trying to figure out the currency denominations, especially the coins because they are also known by other names like penny (1 cent), nickle (5 cents), dime (10 cents), quarter (25 cents), loonie (1 dollar) and toonie (2 dollar coin)!! Learning other new things around here, like the term 'Dollar Bills' which simply means 2 for the price of 1. So if you watch a movie on Dollar Bills, then you pay for one ticket and 2 can watch the movie. Transport is pretty expensive. A bus ride costs CAN$2.25 per trip (1 zone) which willl take you all the way downtown. The good part is I can transfer to another ride or even ride all the way back for free if I do it within the time, which is around 1 1/2 hour for 1 zone. However will be getting a travel pass card when term starts in Sept which gives unlimited travel on the different modes of public transport. That includes the tram, which also comes right into the campus. Tax is levied on every single thing here but this is not reflected on the price tag. So that was kind of confusing initially. Tax on goods sold can be anything between 7% to 15%! Car parking is another thing that made my eye popped - a whopping $3 per hour from 7am - 11pm. Average cost of petrol (here, it's called gas) is $1 per litre and this fluctates daily, differing from individual outlets.

So generally settling in ok. In fact many here are surprised at how fast I've managed to figure out my way around. Sorry if you find some of these details boring. Too bad... it's my blog. Just to give those interested an idea on how different things are here. Little things that add up to the cultural adjustment.