Right place at the right time

During the World Cup Finals, I went down to Commercial Drive, located on the east side of Vancouver. It's an interesting part of town with a high percentage of international residents, especially from Europe. Comparatively, the rest of Vancouver seemed so mild throughout the season, it was pretty sad. On that day, all the cafes were packed to the brim and it was impossible to even get in! My friend and I watched the match from the window of Cafe Roma in 'Little Italy' for the first half of the game. It was torturous. During half time, a lot of people came out of the sardine-packed cafe and we got our spot inside under the screen. So we practically stood for the whole 2.5 hours to watch that match. After each goal of the penalty kicks, beer and water were showering from every direction. The atmosphere was exhilirating. After the game, there was a huge street party celebrating the win, that lasted for a few hours. People were dancing on the street, cars flying flags kept sounding their horns to each other. It was so cool as the police closed the section of the roads for pedestrians. Lots of people came to watch, not so much the game, but just the party and to take photos! I can't think of a better way to watch the Finals - and obviously I was cheering for Italia! This is my only consolation - that France didn't win. It didn't seem right to be watching World Cup finals after both England and Brazil lost ... on the same day!

Then last Sunday, I decided to visit a church called St John's Shaughnessy. It's a church that I've been meaning to visit since I know quite a few college mates and faculty and staff of Regent attend that church. I visited the website and noticed Dr J. I. Packer was preaching, which gave me added motivation to visit. After the service, the church extended an invitation for all to adjourn for a birthday celebration, celebrating Dr Packer's 80th birthday. It was cool to share this moment with this giant in the evangelical circle and founder of the college I'm in.

Later in the evening, my friends and I went out to Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. I had found out on Friday evening, by chance, that the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra was giving a free concert that evening. So we packed our picnic dinner, brought our mats and sat on the grounds with a few thousand others to enjoy the lovely repoirtoire on a lovely summer evening. Now that's life in Vancouver ... being in the right place at the right time.

Click here to see more pics from this summer.