We've been here eleven months. Blimey. It feels like a year. It feels like forever. It feels like we were having our goodbye party a week ago.
What do we miss about England? The people. Or more accurately, our friends who we left in Littlehampton and the collateral damage zone surrounding it, and our families (which in Sarah's case doesn't even mean 'in England'). When we went back in September it was mostly unpleasant but for them. Grimy, dark, bad air, no smiles, and to quote an Alan Moore CD, the moral atmosphere of the week before last. Yuk. Everyone we like should come out here as soon as possible. It's like being sluiced.
Other things I miss: alcohol on sale pretty much everywhere; the singing and the parties, although we're trying to train them up... so many people here are responsible adults, which SUCKS... it may be the apartment-living that does this... it can be difficult to have a rave at 2am when there are neighbours in five directions; long skirts... fashion here is a little on the woeful side; young people... there don't seem to be any downtown, or in the choirs, or in the community theatre... they have separate Young People's Choirs and Theatre groups, perhaps to avoid any hint of impropriety or dubiety; everything being within walking distance (although most things are, and pretty much everything else is in range of mass transit); our rabbits.
That might not be a complete list, as I thought of it while I was typing. But on the other hand, it might be a complete list, in which case, my god, are we better off here.
What do I like about Vancouver? Almost everything. It's wonderful to live in a city. The variety of the architecture... the surprising spaces between, above, and under the buildings... the randomness of two-storey old-style houses jammed between skyscrapers... the immensity of the Shangri-La apartment complex they're putting up across from us... the convenience of having two dozen of anything to choose from within ten minutes' walk... the unparalleled transit system which for $80 a month lets me travel pretty much anywhere at any time on bus, SkyTrain, and even the ferry... the quality of the shows and music... the freshness of the air... the view from the bridges as we head back into downtown in the evening... the way life here is vertical and not horizontal... and peeking between the buildings in almost every direction, mountains like we're on an Orbital. Vancouver is just awesome. And although the overuse of the word awesome is a big strike against Canadians, it's appropriate here. You look at this city and you think, god, it's big and it's beautiful and it's amazing. Hurrah for Vancouver!
It's been a hell of a year for our music. We've written about thirty songs since April and performed in a bunch of random pubs and cafes - Sarah's stage nerves appear to have gone, even if they actually haven't - we've joined two choirs and a theatre group and done shows for them all, we've done some Christmas quartet singing, and we've even collaborated... erk... loss of control... does not compute...
Next year - this year - our resolutions are: make more time for ourselves, figure out our long-term plan for Canada and our lives, and make the ultimate step in music - getting other people to do our stuff, as often as possible.
(And, er, post to this blog more often...)
What are your plans? And HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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