My BC Vacation: Vancouver

Previously: 1, 2.

April 17-18

Back in Vancouver I immediately fed my email monkey. While I was doing that, I was suddenly called out by somebody: Turns out it was Tim from CUSEC, who had immediately recognized me: Being the only guy from a different continent at a relatively small conference has its privileges. He was just stopping by on his way to China, to immerse himself after a university course in Chinese, and promptly stumbled upon me. Small world, yadda yadda. We took a long walk through Chinatown, discussing IT and the world, after which he pretty much fell into bed from the jet lag and the receding stresses of exam season. I for my part was still fresh, so I read until dusk, then went out to see Gastown, which was hugely disappointing—very posh, and pretty much dead at ten at night. I used the chance for an after-dark hike-length walk to the west end of town and back to the Irish pub next to the hostel, where I started planning my Vancouver Island excursion later in my trip.

The next morning, some hoodlum stole Tim's laptop right on the very day that he departed to China, and I felt terrible about it because I was in the room while it happened, reading, and noticed nothing. It was a G4 iBook, so basically they hugely inconvenienced him for no money at all. I asked after my vacation whether he had heard anything back, and of course it was gone without a trace. This was his first night in a hostel ever, and the first time I saw a crime like that happen in one. That's some bad luck! He went on his flight, enjoyed China (albeit with fewer means of communication) and is now doing a master's at Queen's University. Given his interest and passion for computing, I think we'll hear quite a bit more from his work.

Intermission

From my journal:

I am sitting, reading, staring out to the Pacific - basically, doing nothing at all and it's great. It's quite cold and windy, a bit harsher than in Montreal, which I left just a few days ago with Vancouver being significantly warmer. "C'est la vie", as they say in that crazy language back there that I still don't understand at all. The beauty of the landscape is overwhelming.

April 25^th: On the Ferry to Nanaimo

From my journal:

The ferry just left Horseshoe Bay and I'm sitting on the sun deck leaning against the bridge superstructure. There's a fierce, cold wind, but I'm warmed by the sun-heated steel against my back. The mountains are all shrouded in clouds, but it's a clear, sunny day out over the sea. Only in the distance there is a heavy bank of clouds looming, far too far away to influence my sailing. Kids are running around, leaning against the wind — as one little boy so eloquently put it: "I can't believe I'm on an actual ship!"
I feel the constant shiver of the engines running through my bones, the sonorous hum of the diesel always present over the wind's whistle. I'm as contented as my temperament will ever allow.