Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Lately the weather's been quite nice with the exception of some mornings or evenings with rain, but that is much better compared to a couple weeks ago when we had rain almost everyday. I woke up this morning to overcast skies, but no rain in sight. Clouds hung around all day with intermittent breaks of sunlight which cast a pretty rainbow right outside my window. In some ways I don't think it's completely sunk in yet that I'm living here in Vancouver. Now that I've had the chance to slow down and enjoy the view a little, I've begun to realize this is now my home. It's strange to say it because I still feel like I'm a visitor. A few nights ago I had a dream that I was back in Chicago and I felt so much at home. It was such a nice comforting feeling... the kind that puts you at ease. Perhaps it was the holiday weekend that made me think of home.

The benefit of working in Canada is that you get more holidays compared to the U.S. It's a blessing and a curse. We had last Friday off and some companies even have Monday off. I know if I was working in Chicago, I'd only get out a couple hours early Friday. The Canada Post closed Friday and today along with all other government agencies. Unfortunately a lot of stores and malls closed early Friday and completely on Sunday.

Isn't that wild?! It's as if it's Christmas holiday. How dare they rest on the Sabbath! What was I to do with myself? How do I satisfy my consumerist addiction? Not to worry, I made a mad dash to Ikea before it closed at 6pm and went through the store in about 40 minutes (that must have been a record.)

It's definitely a culture difference compared to the U.S. Canadians take their holidays seriously, not like Americans who spend their free time shopping rather than with their families or perhaps it would be more accurate for me to say shopping with their families rather than time alone with them.

In the U.S. where bigger is better especially with vehicles, here it's the opposite. Smart cars, Yarises, Versas and Fits reign the roads here. Expensive gas, narrow lanes and tight parking spots make little sense for Hummers and Ram trucks. It's quite nice and I prefer it this way. There's not as many insensitive road hogs tearing up the streets and cutting you off left and right in their huge arse trucks with their I'm-the-king-of-the-road attitude. Obviously they're trying to make up for their shortcomings. It's that or their extremely dumb to not only spend tons of money to buy such a monster of a vehicle, but to also spend loads filling it up.