Felt like old times

Tonight I went to Pheonix Gymnastics to join an adult class I had signed up for. I haven't done gym in about 3 years, since I stopped when I came to university. Boy do you get outta shape fast! That was no surprise though. I know I'm not in nearly as good shape now as I was when I was still training and competing. Regardless, I had the best time tonight!! Walking into the gym - smelling those oh-so-familiar smells of the mats and chalk made me feel right at home! And I could surprisingly do more than I had expected. I did a lot of trampoline stuff and tumbling onto mats and into the pit (big hole filled with foam blocks) to go easy on my body, especially my back. The gymnastics skills are second nature to me - they came back right away. I could do a lot of stuff I used to do (not all, but relatively a lot, considering I've been out for so long). The conditioning however, was pretty brutal. When you're not conditioning and working out regularly, you lose muscle and endurance and all those fun things that I used to have. I did some bar conditioning - took me like ten minutes to do what used to take me 60 seconds. However, it'll get easier the more I go. And being there tonight was really cool! Felt like old times :)

This is the outside of Pheonix Gymnastics. Another amazing thing about this gym - the bus stop is right outside my apartment and literally drops me off right in front of the gym! Talk about convenience!

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Yesterday, being Sunday, I went to Mass at St. Patrick's Parish. Church is beautiful! I must admit, I still miss the Parish I used to go to in Amsterdam - Blessed Trinity (the English church that I eventually found).

This was outside the church - a little outdoor courtyard I guess?!

VANCOUVER CANUCKS PLAYED NASHVILLE TONIGHT IN GAME #6!!

Boy oh boy was it intense! I caught the whole second period after work, during dinner before I went to the gym club. I can see why people with high blood pressure absolutely should not watch hockey. But, when the dust settled, VANCOUER WON 2-1. It was pretty crazy! So they eliminated Nashville from the playoffs, and have advanced to the next round. People around the city were pretty happy tonight, I'll tell ya that!

And just a random side note, all the mailboxes are covered in postal code grafitti!

I've confirmed my plans for the weekend. I don't wanna give too much away just yet though :)

Tonight we're gonna break it down, break it down, break it down

Such a great day. Repeat. Such a great day.

Even with the Canucks losing to Nashville (in a VERY close game might I add), I had SUCH a good day. 

It wasn't until the wonderful hour of eleven that I awoke and rose from my comfy bed. I skyped my wonderful parents and doggie. Then I made lunch and headed downtown. I did some shopping on Robson Street and Granville Street. Now, when I left my apartment I contemplated bringing my umbrella but decided against it since it was BEAUTIFUL out. Bad decision. 

I was at the Chapters at Robson St. and Howe St. Spent about half an hour in Chapters then realized it was pouring out. No sorry, HAILING!! I waited about 15 minutes hoping the rain would stop, or at least lighten up. It didn't. So I made a dash across the street to Sears to buy an umbrella. So, now I have 2 umbrellas. 

The instant I walk out of Sears, it stops raining. Just my luck.

BUT what was so incredibly neat was I heard music coming from Robson Square, just across the street and decided to check it out. Turns out, Coca Cola turns 125 this year and had the band "These Kids Wear Crowns" playing. I will be honest, I've never heard of them but I had heard some of their songs on the radio. 

This is one of their popular songs called "Jumpstart"

And then I headed to the Vancouver Library Square Public House (a bar) to watch the hockey game with 5 friends. FRIENDS! I made friends :) I now have friends in Vancouver. Long story short - I met up with 5 other Waterloo co-op students who are all on co-op in BC this term. I didn't know any of them until today, as none of them are in architecture, but we all got in touch through the co-op staff at UW. They were all very fun to hang with. And Wow... I've never seen so many people in jerseys!! I think just about everyone downtown at that point was in a Vancouver Canucks jersey. It was wild. Anyway, this is the library - the bar was just East of here.

The game was wild. The atmosphere in the bar was so energetic. The room would vibrate every time the Canucks scored... oh and they accidentally scored on themselves once. Oups. People in the bar were not too happy about that one. Canucks had a rough game... scoring on themselves once and 2 guys got hurt. That's the game of hockey I guess. So we lost 3-4 but are still winning 3-2 in the series. Hopefully they can pull it together for Monday night's game!!

So after the game ended, it was about 8pm and we ended up going to Granville Island for dinner. 

--- MOM & DAD: DON'T READ THIS SECTION ---

On our way to Granville Island we were walking across Granville bridge, a huge overpass across the water and realized we were on the wrong side of the road. So we made this epic run to cross the 6 lanes of traffic going a billion km/h, hopped the median in the middle, and safely made it to the other side. Phew!

---  MOM & DAD: YOU CAN KEEP READING FROM THIS POINT ON ---

This panorama was taken from the docks on Granville Island. It's so pretty at sunset!! 

We ate dinner at The Bridges then walked around Granville Island for about 30 minutes, partly because we wanted to walk around for a bit, but mainly because we were a little lost. 

Great day. Shopping. Music. Bar. Friends. Dinner. Island. How much better can it get?!

Until next time, G'night :)

First Thursday in Van

GO CANUCKS GO!!

I wasn't aware that the Canucks were playing today until I got on the bus this morning on my way to work and half the bus was wearing jerseys. I think I'm catching Canuck fever!

I had my buddy take me out to lunch today. Apparently all new employees have one free lunch (on the company) when they start working at CEI. It was fun - we went to a Mexican restaurant. I had a burrito - the biggest burrito ever. I hardly even finished half of it! It was fun. What else is fun, is the fact that I have a buddy. I feel like I'm in kindergarten again. And what's even MORE fun, is we have been calling each other "buddy" since I got here. It's not that I don't know his name (it's Makoto), but I'm having fun calling him buddy. I literally haven't been assignment a buddy since elementary school. 

This is right outside my office ...because if one flag isn't enough, how about 15?

Tonight I dropped into the YMCA Langara to join the zumba class. It was fun... but I wasn't impressed with the facility. It's not very big. The weight room is tiny and the ceilings are all 8 foot ceilings. The weights equipment literally came within 4 inches of the ceiling. The room we did zumba in felt like a little cave with 3 little windows in the far corner. I guess I've been spoiled by having a gorgeous YMCA in Cambridge where just about every room is double height with floor to ceiling glazing. And to top it off this Y is so much more expensive than the Y in Cambridge (Vancouver in general is expensive). My class, my one hour zumba class, cost me $15.00. In Cambridge, one zumba class costs $3.41. A student membership here costs $45.00/month. In Cambridge they charge $27.00/month. 

Welcome to Vancouver Jennifer.

Can't forget to mention, CANUCKS WON tonight!! They're now 3-1 in the series :)

I'm new, so let's make sure everyone knows

So there's my updated nametag - WITH that addition of a friendly sign, reminding everyone I'm new and (heads up) might be slow as well.

After work I went for a walk...

....and mosied on over to Stanley Park. 

Boats. Water. Mountains. The definition of Vancouver. 

I sat in the "Painters Circle" for about an hour and a half. There was a squirrel that wouldn't quit bugging me. It was really weird because then another one came over and it was as though they were ganging up on me. I was outnumbered by two dirty, likely diseased rodents. Eventually I think I scared them away and I continued doing my word search :)

So tired... I walked a lot today, and in my heels too. Bedtime!

Doin' the work thang

Workie Workie!!

Started work today!! This is where I will be working for the next 4 months. My office, CEI Architecture, is on the 5th floor and overlooks Stanley Park :)

My office has about 50 people and there's another Jennifer at CEI. This morning the receptionist showed me my desk and pointed out my nametag and said "I hope you're alright with going by Jenny, because the other Jennifer already goes by Jen." No one calls me Jenny, however she seemed pretty set on calling me Jenny - already had my nametag printed and everything. So when my boss came around he said "Jenny... you go by Jenny?" And I explained that the receptionist had given me that nickname because there was already a Jen in the office. He didn't agree with that, so that was quickly changed and my new nametag now says Jennifer Beggs. 

This is the view as you walk out of my office building.

MOUNTAINS!!! And, what looks like a Disney cruise ship!

Met Edwina, a good friend (and one of my roommates from school) for dinner tonight. She's also working downtown Vancouver this summer. We went to Italian Kitchen for dinner. They had the hockey game on. Vancouver Canucks won 3-2. WOO!!!

And yes Adrienne, I have totally noticed all the bus LED "Go Canucks Go" signs :) It's pretty cute!

There's a lot of green initiatives (sustainability) in Vancouver. All of the supplies at my office (pens, paper pads, binders etc) are ALL reused and/or bought from green companies that recycle the materials. Most of the buses use electricity from wires above, and are so so quiet! The taxi's run on battery power and are also so very quiet!

There's Edwina in her bright yellow coat and me in my bright pink coat with MOUNTAINS in the back!

Shout out to Bethany and Will, and their new baby boy!! Congrats!! Love you guys <3 

New Home!

Today I checked out of my hotel and into my new apartment :) Wuhoo! Moving into an apartment in one day - that's a record for me. My previous record was 27 days lol

This morning I woke up at 6:24am. Now, many may think that's normal, seeing as I am still getting over jetlag. However, I don't recall in my week and a half off school, EVER waking up at 9:24am. I don't believe I woke up before 11am on my week off, except when woken up by loving father, to see the good ol' dentist. So, I don't know why I woke up so early (even for Toronto time) but I did. After I woke up, I didn't ever really get back to sleep, despite being awfully tired, so I decided to get up at 8:30am and go claim my free breakfast from the hotel restaurant. 

By the time I got back from breakfast it started raining. It was raining alright. It was raining pretty hard too. SO I finished my Jodie Sweetin book. Had a little cry (the end is very touching) and realized it wasn't gonna stop raining, so I might as well grab my umbrella and get out there! And... that is what I did :)

I wandered all around and made it as far as the VPL (Vancouver Public Library). 

L = Library

H = Hotel

On my way to the library, I went to the grocery story to claim my free lotto ticket that I had won last night. I stopped at a Starbucks to have a hot chocolate and scratch my new bingo ticket. No luck with the lotto ticket. 

This is in Yaletown, on my way to the library.

Here's the outside of the library :)

Inside the library atrium (library is off to the left)

Walked across Cambie Bridge.

And then it was time to grab my luggage from the hotel and head to my new apartment. Today brought back all the memories of the first day I moved into a townhouse in Cambridge in first year of university, with 4 girls I had only ever met once. None of us knew each other, and yet we were moving in together. It's a strange feeling. I hadn't ever had that feeling again until today. Up until now, at school and in Amsterdam, I've always lived with friends, people I knew. Today, was different. I will say though, Zenija, my roomie for the summer, is very very nice. I feel comfortable at our apartment. 

There's my new crib for the summer :)

I think I had forgotten all that was involved in traveling. The organizing. The packing. The planning. The airports. Figuring out where you're going. Managing luggage. Exploring the city. Moving in. Settling down. All of this is coming back to me from my trip to Amsterdam. Though I will say staying on the same continent, and even in the same country makes things a lot easier (not necessarily better, but easier). This time round, I don't have to deal with visas, residence permits, tax numbers, Dutch bank accounts etc. Staying in Canada, I'm obviously familiar with Canadian culture, customs, the LANGUAGE - it's definitely easier staying in Canada. Still, I think all the adjusting was part of what made Amsterdam the amazing experience it was. They are different experiences. I need to remember this. I chose to work in each city for different reasons. Last fall I wanted to move to a new country in a new culture, explore Europe and completely emerge myself in a completely foreign situation to learn what that had to offer. This summer, I want to experience the West Coast of Canada. And I'm so excited - I've heard so much about Vancouver. It'll be a different experience, and though it's not Amsterdam, it's not supposed to be and I need to remember that. I miss Amsterdam. So much. But Vancouver is my new adventure. And it'll be amazing.

One funny note from yesterday. At Pearson airport, there are signs all over the airport saying "Free Wifi Everywhere" and in the bathroom the first stall had an orange sign saying "Free Wifi Everywhere" and three stalls down there was another orange sign saying "Even Here." Thought that was cute. Made me laugh :)

Work tomorrow. Nervous and excited. Will blog soon. For now, goodnight :)

From ON to BC

Made it to Vancouver!!!!!!!

Oh this city is beautiful. I've been here all of 10 hours and I can't help but smile :) You can see mountains from just about everywhere - everywhere you look. Mountain. Mountain. Mountain. It's crazy cool!!

Flight was uneventful. Only 5 hours flying time. That's nothing compared to my 3 connecting flights and 27 hours of travel time to get to Amsterdam last fall. Plane was full. I had a middle seat squished in between 2 business travelers and I sat in front of an old man who snored through the entire flight. The attendants kept coming to offer drinks and they'd say "oh, he's still out, eh?!" I watched "Dinner for Schmucks" with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd - really stupid but really funny. Really funny. I also read 196 pages of Jodie Sweetin's autobiography (Jodie played Stephanie Tanner on Full House). Her book is a real life story of addiction and recovery. 

ANYWAY, enough about the flight. I arrived in Vancouver around 2pm local time. The YVR airport is interesting. Haha, the hallway on the way to baggage claim smelled like chlorine. Makes sense - the entire wall was a waterfall. 

Tonight I'm at a hotel, and tomorrow I move into my apartment. I'm improving. When I went to Amsterdam I was homeless for 28 days. This time, I only have to wait one night to move into an apartment. SCORE!

I don't want this blog to be a comparison to my Amsterdam trip. However, I haven't been here long and I can't help but compare my experiences to last fall. For one, I believe my hotel (The Park Inn & Suites Vancouver Broadway) is a step up (or at least a couple steps up) from Bob's Youth Hostel in Amsterdam *cough*

In an extremely weird way, I kinda miss Bob's. Strange I know. I definitely miss Amsterdam more than the hostel itself. Thinking about Bob's reminds me of Amsterdam, and therefore, thinking about Bob's makes me happy.

Not only is my hotel in Vancouver a "tad" nicer than Bob's, but it's a private room! I'm not sharing the bathroom with 20 people! I never properly appreciated having a private bathroom until I stayed at Bob's Youth Hostel. Oh the joys of public showers.

I am a creature of habit. I guess that's evident. My first meal alone in Amsterdam was a burger. What did I have tonight for dinner? Burger. I'm predictable. 

This is where I ate that (delicious) burger - Milestones.

Tomorrow's agenda - move into apartment. 

Tuesday's agenda - start work.

Tonight's agenda - SLEEP! I'm exhausted. I don't know what time it feels like. It's almost 3am Toronto time. Vancouver is 3 hours behind Toronto, so it's almost midnight here. Jetlag is great. I spent last Christmas getting over jetlag. Haha, I'm not complaining, after all, it just feels like I'm back in architecture school :P

OH I felt lucky today, being my first day in Vancouver, and I bought 2 lotto tickets. I WON... another $5 bingo card! Hey, better than nothing :)

I really gotta hit the hay now, but before I do, I'd just like to show some support for the Vancouver Canucks!! There are signs everywhere cheering them on!! They've won 1 and lost 1 game against the Nashville Predators. Next game is on Tuesday. 

If you're reading this, it means you've read the entire post (unless you just skipped to the end, which is totally fine as well) and I'd like to say thanks for following my blog! I'm really looking forward to an awesome summer. All your support means a lot to me!! :)

Goodnight!