The PNE, and Rainy Days were Made for Gamelan Rehearsals

Here’s something you probably won’t see much in the blog: It’s been a while since we had any rain. So, it was kind of interesting to have a day of more or less on and off showers. I left at about noon for another Gamelan rehearsal at Simon Fraser University. Today I think I did a little better, but I have a long way to go. I do have confidence that I’ll be better by the time they play their next concert (probably in November).

With the imminent delivery of our belongings this coming week, we’ve been cleaning out, straightening up, and preparing in general. However, we did take a brief break yesterday, and spent the day at the PNE, which stands for the Pacific Northwest Exhibition, which is just a fancy word for a big county fair. We’d been to a much smaller version of this in Rutland, Vermont years ago, so we knew somewhat what to expect. There was a lot of food —although I’d never seen a county fair in the US with a busy Vietnamese food booth and crépes — people doing product demonstrations (mops, shammies, cleaners, pots and other household items), a set of dog races sponsored by Eukanuba (called the Superdogs) with a very smarmy Bob Barker-type emcee called Herb Williams (thank goodness, this was his last year doing it, although his good-byes sounded so maudlin that they were nearly nauseating). We toured this year’s PNE model house, sponsored by Home Depot and a bunch of other companies. It was a Colonial monstrosity that would definitely be termed a ‘McMansion’. I have to admit that I did like the media room and the kitchen, but the furniture, architecture and decor were not at all what I would ever want to live in and it’s a shame that so much money and labor were poured into so much gaudy and fake looking decor.

I’d have to say that my favorite thing to see was the very authentic (at least as far as I could tell) cattle herding competition, where teams on horseback had 90 seconds to get 3 cows from a large herd (different numbers were called out for every round) into a pen at the far end of an arena. I only wish I could have gotten video of it, but the video camera is on the van, and besides, it was probably too dim to catch it. We didn’t go any of the rides at Playland, the amusement park on the fair grounds. Something to do at next year’s, perhaps, with my niece.

This in from Our Man in Manitoba

Line 2, our home telephone line, rang at 12:40 PM Pacific Standard Time. I answered and amidst a great deal of static and echo from my voice back at me, I made out the voice of a man with a Quebecois accent, who said that he was our driver for North American Van Lines, and had our stuff. He was at a truck stop in Manitoba, he continued, and that he would meet us at Customs in Vancouver, but had no idea where that was. He also said that he would call us on Monday with details, and it looked very much like he would be delivering our furniture and belongings on Wednesday, August 31st.

We were thrilled to get some kind of a communication, no matter who or what it was. The truck to pick up our belongs in Boston arrived right on schedule on the morning of July 5, some 52 days ago, but any schedule after that disappeared into the mists of time. In fact, this is the first we had ever gotten a telephone call from anyone connected with North American Van Lines. Oh, we’ve talked to them. Over the over the past weeks, our calls to their 800 number gradually changed in tone from polite and curious to pleading to furious to threatening. No matter when the moving van arrives, it will be over a month and half late (46 days, to be exact, since they originally agreed they would deliver — in writing — on the 15th of June).
We had grown accustomed to waiting for our things, to living in a sparsely furnished apartment, using the same clothing, towels and sheets that we hand-carried with us over the border. Now it looks like our things will arrive just as the summer is ending, and possibly even by the month of my birth.

So, as the last boxes of home improvement items (some fans) arrived, they are about to be buried in a sea of boxes with computer equipment, furniture, clothes, personal items, papers. Hopefully there won’t be too much damage, but I can’t imagine that all of this time has gone on without at least one or two mishaps as our belongings were probably loaded and offloaded to warehouses 4-5 times. I do have a backup of all the computer data, so if that is destroyed, there is a way to get it back. I hope that our artwork and leather furniture hasn’t been damaged by the extreme heat they must have endured. At least there wasn’t a piano in the load.
I’m told that we’ll probably have about 48 hours to report on broken or damaged items. Let’s hope we can find that quickly. In the meantime, I guess this will be the last weekend before our past catches up with us (although crawls up to us is a more accurate statement). We can enjoy our lack of clutter just a few days longer.

The US — and it’s Dollar — Continues to Sink FurtherI still keep track of the news from the behemoth floundering to the south of us. Despite all of the horrible things going on, the same stories seem to keep repeating over and over again; more deaths in Iraq, Rove even more powerful (despite the fact that he clearly committed treason and endangered the life of a CIA agent, but hey, who cares), Oil continues to go up in price, US gas stocks are depleted, Americans continue to get fatter (obesity is at an all-time high), and dumber (’Intelligent Design’ is now even talked about as often as Molecular biology, which is like putting Astrology alongside Astronomy as a science). How much longer can it go on? Does the US intend to drag the rest of the world down with it? I hope I’m far away enough to insulate us from the muck that spews from Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Robertson’s mouths (one wonders what else that last guy can say before anyone realizes what a disgusting creature he is - or is Christianity now truly back to the days of Crusades and Inquisitions, where it’s fine to kill the name of the Church’s own selfish interests?). In addition, as the US continues to sink in the eyes of the rest of the world (of which I now count myself), the dollar sinks as well. That’s a real pain, as we haven’t been able to change enough of ours to Canadian dollars fast enough. The dollar used to trade at $1.25 or so to the Canadian dollar. Now it’s at $1.19 and falling. At this rate, in short time, the Canadian dollar will be worth more. Good news for us in the long run, at least.
I won’t talk about Canadian politics as compared to US politics. Frankly, there just isn’t much here to talk about. Maybe when your life isn’t negatively affected on a daily basis by the actions of your government, it just doesn’t come up as much in conversation, eh?

New Friends, New Activities, New Restaurant

On Sunday I went to a picnic on the beach. Well, I was at a picnic on the beach for about 45 minutes (Darn!).

The Vancouver Bloggers Meetup (boy, if that doesn’t sound nerdy, then I guess you are a geek, dear reader), had a picnic at Jericho Beach. I had never been there, and it takes a short bus ride to get through Kitsilano to that area, frequented by sail-boarders and volleyball players. The day was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and I met some new friends (and missed some others by having to leave so early in the day). The plan was for everybody to bring their own food, so I went to Granville Island beforehand and got some bread (Thanks to a neighbor, just discovered Terra Breads - wow!) , some nice country liverwurst, some cheese, fruit and juice. ‘How European!’ remarked Heather, who has a nice blog which she calls ‘Freakishly Prompt’. I was amused an flattered, I think. As I said, I just don’t fit the US cultural mold.

So, why was I only at this lovely picnic for a stingy three-quarters of an hour? Onward to the next weekend commitment; Gamelan Rehearsal! I met Tony, who took me to my first rehearsal with the British Columbia Gamelan, which took place at Simon Fraser University (way up on Burnaby Mountain - quite a distance from the beach!)

During the 3 hour or so rehearsal, I realized that I hadn’t played in a Gamelan in nearly 20 years, and I was just a bit rusty, to say the least. I wasn’t a total disaster, but it will take some time for me to get back my kenong chops. (the last time was at Cambridge University, where I did it mainly as a way of becoming an entertainment at the May Balls, so I could crawl from party to party as the night became morning, as a bearded and silly grad student).

The day ended with a discovery of a bistro just at the eastern edge of Kitsilano, The Smoking Dog — with much better food than the name would suggest. Pam had a delicious minty herbed pasta and vegetable entrée and I had a bunch of appetizers (Vichysoise, Prawns in 2 superb sauces, and a piping hot and buttery Alsatian Onion and Leek tart that was just about the best I’ve ever had). Now, I have a rule that often a mediocre restaurant can have really great appetizers. The Chef can often splurge a little on ingredients when you know the portion is going to be a small one. However, I’m willing to bet that the other entrées, much of them bistro classics like my appetizers, are also first-rate. We’ll just have to go back and see. If anyone else has been there, let me know. I was surprised and a little worried to see that on a Sunday evening at about 8:30, the place was nearly empty, despite the fact that it was obviously an established venue, and had live music (a pleasant Brazilian guitarist/singer). Service was friendly and helpful - I got a good suggestion on a glass of white wine to go with these dishes. The decor is well aged and there’s a beautiful (and from what I could tell, well-stocked) semi-circular bar. Food and ambience this good back in Boston would have resulted in a packed place on a Sunday night.

Like the rest of my day, I was happy but wanting more. Probably a good thing at this point in time.

Past Shifting Gears, into Holding Pattern

I don’t have any more excuses for the fact that I haven’t made many entries since we arrived. We’ve got internet, I now have the time, and there’s certainly a lot going on. I have a desk, a laptop (not very powerful, but I should be able to type and maybe even get the odd photo posted).

How to get started? I’ll start with some random impressions of how life is these days.

If I were to give this time of my life a name, it would be Holding Pattern. We have already made some adjustments to living here. We know where to shop for food, and where some of the busses go (learning where they all go will take a lot longer). We’ve got some furniture, although the furniture and belongings we had in Cambridge is still MIA (last we heard, it was awaiting another driver to take it here from Ramsayville, Ontario).

On the job front, I should have a job, once the paperwork is done that would get me a Work Permit. It will take a little while (probably a month or so), but I should have a full-time job, and we can stop spending our savings.

I’ve made some friends, and we’ve begun to meet our neighbors and spend some time with them. We are a bit of an oddity, although I have heard of other Americans who have fled here. In fact, there is a new term, Brain Gain, which is the opposite of the traditional Brain Drain that Canada had to the US.

I’m still watching the occasional TV program from the US (we get all 3 of the major networks plus a smattering of other cable ones like CNN and Fox — which I now refer to as Ameri-Pravda). I still follow some of the political blogs like DailyKos and Eschaton. However, there’s a new level of detachment as I learn of all the awful things going on there: Bush refusing to meet with Cindy Sheehan (despicable of him, as always), the continued rise of religious blindness toward the teaching of Evolution and Science in general, the destruction of their economy by handing it over to Corporations and worst of all, the continuing awful quagmire of Iraq. I’m still concerned, but now it’s kind of that strange calm you have in the back seat of a cab as the driver careens like a maniac through the streets. “That guy is driving pretty recklessly!” you say to yourself, not realizing that if he has an accident, you’ll probably end up hurt as well.

So we are waiting for our furniture, waiting for the job, waiting for ‘normal’ life to start, but also enjoying the superb weather and the pleasures of discovering a new city, neighborhood by neighborhood.