hitting the books again

I know it's been a bit silent around here lately but there is not much to write about. For the last few days I have been attending a BST (Basic Security Training) course in order to obtain a security licence. Interesting on the one hand for the opportunity to increase my English vocabulary and get to know some security related stuff but boring on the other hand as we've been talking about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the difference between criminal and civil law, all sorts of offences and terms like actus reus and mens rea, when to apply force and how much of it; when the use of deadly force is allowed and how to respond to offenders in the right way so the use of force isn't necessary at all.

As I said, it's all quite interesting to a certain extend but after speaking about the whole issue for more than 16 hours (4 training sessions with each lasting 4 hours) I feel like I need to steady myself so not to fall asleep. Doesn't help much having the lessons in the evening and naturally being tired. Anyway, a few more lessons to attend and an exam this friday I need to sit and pass to get the security licence without I wouldn't be allowed to work as a supervisor at the Olympic Games. I am not too worried about the test as it will be a multiple choice test but the biggest challenge so far has been the officialese I must get used to. But I'll manage.

And once I've secured the licence there's a different world opening up to me with job opportunities like bouncer for a night club, security guard or private investigator. I heard you laughing! But you may have noticed I am not taking the whole thing too serious myself so who knows what happens next. Just had a thought though.... when's the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, 2011? I should send my application...

greetings from Vancouver!

short trip to Vancouver Island

Three cities, a total driving distance of 550 kms and two ferry rides each close to two hours and all that in not more than 4 days? You call that ambitious? Yes, that’s me!

My friend Amy, that I’ve met during my travels in New Zealand, lives and studies in Nanaimo and that made a visit to Vancouver Island (where Nanaimo is located) a must. We only had the Saturday as she had to work on Sunday and I made my way to Vancouver Island the conventional way, on board a BC Ferry, leaving Vancouver from Horsehoe Bay, approx. one hour north of Vancouver. The ferry ride only takes about one hour and forty minutes and you can either enjoy the views of the main land mountains, the declining skyline of Vancouver and lots of water or you line up at the buffet for an intake of calories.

After Amy had picked me up at the ferry terminal we dropped off my backpack and picked up her boyfriend Neil and sightseeing in Nanaimo started. It was more a photo session as Neil and I are both passionate photographers and Amy patiently followed the whole procedure. I can now claim I’ve seen Nanaimo’s beautiful waterfront with various little fishing boats, many inukshuk built of stones found nearby and Lantzville Beach that was particularly beautiful at sunset as all the taken pictures proof.

Next day Amy dropped me off at the Greyhound bus depot where I caught the bus to Tofino situated at Vancouver Island’s west coast that strongly reminded me of New Zealand’s south island and especially the Milford Road that I’d taken so many times to get to Milford Sound. High mountains covered my thick forest and beautiful lakes alongside the curvy and steep road, in need of some maintenance every now and then. Tofino is a laid back surfer’s paradise township at the end of the road. Whoever makes it here came for a reason: It might be the tranquillity of the many beaches, hiking or watching wildlife (whales, bears, birds).

Next morning I was back on the road with Greyhound. To make the whole trip a bit faster I changed buses in Port Alberni and boarded an Express Bus to Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia what saved me more than an hour. When I had arrived in Victoria I straight away set off to explore the city and to fill the memory card in my camera. Golden hour at Victoria’s picturesque Waterfront proved successful and I left with quite a few good shots.

Knowing the HI standards I was quite disappointed of the HI hostel in Victoria and I was wondering about two big dorms connected with each other (one room was a walk through), hardly any power points (where to plug in your laptop, camera chargers etc?) and just one light for the whole room making it a challenge late in the evening when everybody is going to bed at different times. Definitely not my port of call next time I’ll be in Victoria!
Early Tuesday morning I took the bus to Swartz Bay where the ferry would leave to go back to Vancouver. This time it would be going to Tsawwassen, what is about one hour south of Vancouver. Due to some problems with other ferries, my vessel had been delayed what made us miss the bus back into the city by approx. 15 minutes and a wait of another hour for the next bus. Back in Vancouver I caught up with Angela, my new flatmate, for a key hand over and I had officially moved in to my new place!

some good news

There’s some good news I need to tell you about. First I’ll be moving into a flat, finally leaving hostel life behind. My intention was not to look for a flat before I had found a job (just to be sure it will be a job in Vancouver and not somewhere else) but one particularly morning with smashing doors and chatty roommates at 7am I made a decision that I had to get out of there, for my own peace of mind. I’ve checked the ads online, found one that interested me and rang up; two hours later I had inspected the flat and in the evening I received the call that I can move in. The location is great and exactly where I had hoped to live – near Stanley Park and just 2 minutes away from the beach English Bay, rent is a bargain and the girl I’ll be sharing with is Mexican and seems to be very nice. That will also be good for my Spanish as now I have somebody to talk to and practise what I’ve learned! I am still on Vancouver Island but as soon as I’m back I’ll be moving and reunite with my suitcase that has already spent a few nights there by itself.

There’s more news to come. I’ll be part of the Olympics 2010! Not as a competitor (Christ no!) but responsible for the security checks at entrance gates. There’ll be screeners checking tickets and X-Ray Operators checking baggage for dangerous items and there’ll also be Supervisors to make sure they do a good job and that will be me. Only for the duration of the Olympics though but still for almost 3 months with a fantastic pay and also paid training that will commence for myself in a few days. I am looking forward the challenge this new position presents, to working with all these people of different nationalities, and also the one in a lifetime opportunity of being part of such a worldwide event. Having scored that job I feel much better about the current job situation that is everything but easy not only in Vancouver but all over the country. I think finding a job that is flexible with hours is now my first priority and I don’t care if it will be a shop assistant selling jeans or newspapers (although I’d prefer the newspapers as I am not very much interested in fashion). I may get a response from one or the other hotel that I’ve applied with later in a few months closer to the Olympics but I am not sure if I can squeeze them into the schedule then.