Sunday 9 February 2014

OH, Canada!

What can I say? It’s been swell, eh?

I actually feel physically ill about leaving my surrogate home. I have fallen hard for this city, this province and indeed, this entire country. What an amazing place.

Why on Earth are we leaving then? Well, I guess the ‘Seinfeld Analogy’ can explain, in part, why we decided to close the curtain on our time abroad when we did. Remember at the height of Seinfeld’s success, when it was announced the show would finish up in its ninth season? Fans were devastated. But Seinfeld wanted to bow out in its prime; to be remembered as a great show and to end gracefully. Seinfeld didn’t want to become has-been daytime TV fodder (remember what happened to Dawson’s Creek and The O.C.?). We didn’t want to become the O.C. We wanted to be Seinfeld.

To be honest, as much as it stinks, I’d rather feel the way I do right now than be jumping for joy. For me, it’s clearly a sign of the incredible time we have had. I never wanted to get to a point where I loathed any part of our experience so much so that I couldn’t wait to get back home. What an awful waste of two fantastic years that would have been.

These past few weeks have certainly been hectic to say the least. We arrived home from our eastern travels and spent our final four days in Vancouver with our good friends Shilo & Ben who graciously offered to host us. We celebrated Shilo’s birthday on the Saturday night with a house party, spent some time in-between at Granville Island (for final obligatory Siegel’s Bagels and local coffee) and ventured back to Whistler to say goodbye to some of my most favourite BC mountains. We were actually lucky enough to witness five straight days of pure, unadulterated sunshine (in October!) as a grand finale – it doesn’t get much better than that. I’m taking it as Vancouver’s parting gift.

A final Vancouver sunset - doesn't get much better!!
On Monday, October 8th we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with our wonderful friends who I like to think of as my Canadian ‘family’. We gorged ourselves on a feast of the now infamous Turducken (a chicken inside a duck, inside a turkey), as well as salads and breads, with spiced pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, ice cream sandwiches and pavlova for dessert.

Our Thanksgiving spread - Turducken, mash, glazed ham, salads etc...
Dave B shares stories that make me laugh, gross Suze out and inspire another mouthful of food for Ben...
Leo swiped the spoon before the rest of us could get to it ... dammit!
The amazing spiced pumpkin cupcakes by ... me *cough* Addey!
On Tuesday morning, October 9th we departed YVR for the final time and made our way to Hawaii’s Big Island for a week in Kona (to take in Ironman and some other sightseeing) before spending another six days on Oahu (Honolulu, Waikiki, North Shore etc.). As I mentioned previously, I’ll eventually blog about this trip separately once we return home and the dust has settled, so to speak.

I guess when I was thinking about this final post the topic of family was at the forefront of my mind. In part, because I miss my family dearly and also because they’re primarily to whom I am writing when I pen 'the Tales'.

In this instance however, when I refer to my ‘family’ I am referring to my Canadian family who have made our experience living in Vancouver so much richer and more rewarding. We have shared so many wonderful experiences over the past (almost) two years and I have no doubt my life is infinitely better having known them. Perhaps I never truly understood or appreciated the significance of friends until biological family was taken out of the equation. I never had to rely so heavily on friendship before we moved overseas, but now, I couldn’t imagine my life without them. We’ve made lifelong friends here and I won’t soon forget them, or the amazing experiences we have shared. So thanks guys, it’s been a blast.

Canadian Friends
Speaking of amazing experiences, our two years of living abroad has also enabled us to visit many wonderful destinations on this side of the globe. Our travels have taken us to a number of cities and towns throughout the province of British Columbia, as well as to other Canadian provinces - Alberta, Quebec, Ontario and Yellowknife (for Steven). In the USA, we've visited the states of Washington, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Oregon. We've also enjoyed two trips to Mexico - to Cancun and Cozumel respectively. I can't speak for Steven, but certainly for myself through these travels I've been able to strike a number of things off the bucket list, including (but not limited to) learning to ski, living and working in Canada, completing a half ironman triathlon, completing a half marathon, spectating Ironman Kona, watching an ice hockey match, holidaying in Mexico and Hawaii and cracking the 100km distance on my road bike in a single session (cycling friends don't laugh - that was a big deal for me!!). 

Things I’ll Miss. The mountains. My surrogate Canadian family. Canadian courtesy. Running along the Seawall. Cars giving way to pedestrians. Skiing in Whistler. REAL trail running. Fall colours. Snow. Definitive seasons. Convenient overseas travel. Five-hour road trips to lake houses and for other non-descript adventures. Kingyo. Guu. Box sushi. Wearing a hoodie anywhere as being acceptable dress wear. Baby skunks outside our house. 10 pm sunsets in summer. Siegels bagels. Granville Island Public Market. Not having a car.

Things I won’t. The rain. Daily weed aromas throughout the city. Dark mornings. Short winter days. The Canadian banking system (specifically money transfer and ridiculous use of cheques)(massive fail). HST (and “surprise” taxes in general). Obligatory tipping despite crap service.

Now, on the subject of thank-yous and acknowledgements ….

To my fiancé, best friend, teammate and travelling partner in crime – thank you for sharing this wonderful journey. I am so grateful we have had all these amazing experiences together. For almost two years you have been the source of far too many funny stories in the Tales and you have certainly copped the brunt of my sarcasm. Thank you for taking it all in your stride. You were truly a blog star. If there’s one thing I now know for sure, it’s that together we can go anywhere and do anything we set our minds to.

A parting gift for you (and a Hawaii teaser for anyone interested) ...
Enjoying Hawaii a little too much? My manly fiance clearly in touch with his feminine side!
Strangely enough, the more we travelled over these past nine weeks, the more we realized we’ve barely scratched the surface – and that’s just in Canada. So I’ll say goodbye for now, but certainly not forever. I’m sure our parents will be thrilled to know we’ve already started brainstorming our next great adventures.

Finally, thank you all for allowing me to take you on this wonderful journey with us. I hope you enjoyed the updates on our travels as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.

For now, I’ll find my comfort in a quote a friend of mine has often shared when reflecting on her own travel experiences: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.  

The Tales are now officially blogging off. Pun intended.

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