Fading Away

Slowly everything comes to an end over here in Kamloops. And one day I realised that I only spend a couple of days down in Vancouver. It was about time for me to take the next Greyhound and spend a few days in the city that made me want to go back to Canada so badly. I got up early last Tuesday packed some clothes, some textbooks and my cameras into my rucksack and went off to the Greyhound Station, got myself a ticket to Vancouver and boarded the bus soon after. Five hours later I was standing in downtown Vancouver. I suddenly realized how long I didn’t hear anyone speak Swiss German in my presence apart of skyping, what made me turn around every other moment. Apparently Vancouver is full of Swiss people again. As I didn’t book any hostel rooms in advance I wasn’t sure where I was going to stay, but gladly SameSun Backpackers on Granville Street still had an empty bed left for me. As Tuesday was a game day I went to the Hostel Pub shortly after checking in, in order to see the Canucks advancing to round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, if you know how that game ended you might be able to emphasize how disgusted I felt. I went for a short walk after in order to take some pictures of the daylight slowly fading out. Beautiful, but nevertheless, cool. As I didn’t really have a plan what I wanted to do or needed to do I spent most of the forthcoming days just wandering around in the city, occasionally going for a coffee or some lunch. I dearly enjoyed absorbing the vibe of the city that really energized me. Furthermore I met up with Cédric, a friend from back home. We ended up going to the first Pub we found (that Irish Pub on Granville & Robson, I forgot its name), ordered some pitchers of Kokanee before we went on to the Hostel Pub where we continued with some more beer. First it was weird talking Swiss German to anyone who’s face to face to you, but I somehow got used to it by time.

The rest of my time I spent walking around, checking out several locations, try out Restaurants and enjoy every bit of the City that I could possibly get. I became a huge fan of Granville Island, just amazing all the art and culture that’s around there, and all the good & fresh foods you get there. Irresistible!

I left for Kamloops Friday evening, and arrived back here late in the night, just about in the right mood to hit the hay right away.

On Saturday we had a little Farewell Party outside of UCH, where everyone brought some food to share. It saddened me to realize how fast time has flown and how soon we’re all going to be apart of each other, maybe never meeting again. We’re surely not ever meeting again altogether. However, that’s right the mood you need to have in order to make a night out unforgettable. I indeed had a good time that night and enjoyed partying with everyone for one last time.

Now Sunday’s pretty much over, I’ll spend the rest of the night sorting out things, preparing for my departure on Friday and maybe watching Giacobbo / Müller. I’ve got two exams coming this week, so I probably should invest some time into studying. All in all I feel sad that this is already over, I’d love to spent some more time here, get to know more people and attend some more classes. However, my adventure is not yet over, as my trip down the Westcoast comes closer day by day. I still didn’t book anything as I want to play as much of it by ear. The happy-go-lucky way kind of seems the most appropriate for adventures of any kind anyway.

Time Flies

Wow how time flies! The last week of classes here in Kamloops is already over. There’s not much left to do, but still not all work is done. But I will come to that later. There’s been way more amazing things happening here in Loopstown. First of all, while I was volunteering for the amazing race last Saturday, Faisal and I, who was at the same post as I was, got offered a job out of the blue. A guy just drove by and stopped and asked what we were doing there, and after a few minutes of small talk he told us that he’s exactly looking for people like us, business students with time and willingness to get stuck in. People that get up at 6 on a Saturday morning just for a good cause. The job is supposed to be in the internet marketing industry, sadly I don’t know anything further so far. We’ve scheduled a meeting for next Monday.

I think this is just another example of how more direct and open minded people in North America are. If there might be an opportunity to create and move something it simply gets done. Would anyone say this could be happening in Switzerland? I doubt so. Everyone who passed by our stand smiled and asked what we were doing, some even came for a little small talk for some minutes. I dearly enjoyed volunteering and will certainly do that again as it is an easy way to get to know local people.

If anyone out there is interested in some news and stories about life in other cities of the world I would recommend checking out the blog of Tolla, a friend of mine. You can find it here: http://kassiopaia.ch/blog/

Furthermore, I was told that on the day we were skiing in Whistler it actually was -27 Degrees cold. And honestly, with the wind that was blowing on top, that’s at least what it felt like!

As time passes by, the world seems to get smaller, especially in Kamloops. I occasionally get to know people who know people who know other people. And these people usually know people too.

Now to the future: one Marketing assignment was due Wednesday, and another assignment is due on the 21^st, but was just done today. There was one more quiz this morning as well. After that I will have the entire next week off, what I will use to spend some time in Vancouver and prepare for my last two final exams on the 26^th and 28^th, before I need to move out of my room in Kamloops on the 29^th. It is not clear yet where I will be going, but one thing is for sure: Not home!

I will keep you posted on any news.