A Week in Vancouver

So tomorrow marks the end of my first week back in Vancouver. So far, I have:

• hung out with Emma Vardy-Bragg, who's just arrived here and started a year of exchange at the University of British Columbia and some of her new friends, including an outing (in The Beast!) to Deep Cove:

• found a range of places to park my van on a regular basis, ranging from someone's driveway, to on a street not far from some other van-dwellers, who have so far been very useful, to outside Emma's college residence:

• been to few job interviews, including one with a middle-aged Korean businessman who took one look at me and I knew I wasn't getting the job, and a couple for schools that I would probably really love to work for, but would feel really terrible leaving after only a month.
  
• been offered a week's trial for a job that I'm terribly afraid I might enjoy so much I won't want to leave (I *will* get to Montreal...), but the director says it's fine if I leave anytime, as long as I give a bit of notice!
  
• discovered a way to get free gym access (and showers!) for at least a few weeks,
• Perfected the art of peeing in a jar
• spent $10 on a down jacket in a thrift store (it's getting cold already!) as well as about $4 on a jumper, a long-sleeved t-shirt, some maps, a postcard and a hot water bottle (have I mentioned that I love thrift stores?)

• Spent an evening on Wreck Beach out at UBC with Emma and her friends, sitting around a fire and singing.

Well, Emma and I were singing. And then random other people gatecrashed our fire and scared Emma's friends away, but the two of us were there for many more hours, hanging out with the local homeless bums and other interesting beach characters, and, of course, singing! And playing the guitar that I am currently looking after for Antonia. It's going to be hard to give back. I'm considering buying either a 1/4 size steele string I've seen for $50, or, one of those tiny accordions, which I would then have to learn to play. But it's only $30, and more portable. Very tempting...
And then, today, I did almost nothing. It's been raining all day, pretty much, so apart from find the nearest source of water to my van, and come up to this cafe for wifi, I've hung out in my van, read all the free papers I've been collecting (I had quite a collection) and generally relaxed and chilled out.
And now I'm going to buy some things from a little natural-foods supermarket I pass on my way home, and then eat the leftovers from yesterday's pasta that I made, then maybe watch some vodcasts before bed. I have JTV or The Chaser on my ipod, which should be good. Or practice the guitar, or tidy & clean inside my van. We'll see!