Oh, Raincouver Vancouver – I’m nearing the end of my stay here (at least, until I return next September) and I’ve been reflecting on how life is so similar, yet so different, in Vancouver and in Hong Kong. Having grown up in a very international environment – I did once live in Canada, after all – I didn’t experience a massive culture shock when I moved here from Hong Kong. The two cities are pretty similar after all; both are metropolitan, both contain a significant portion of Cantonese-speakers, and interestingly both are highly acclaimed as amongst the best cities in the world, with Vancouver taking the prize for the most livable city, and Hong Kong winning the title of straight-up “best city“.  Yet there are still a few subtle differences…

THINGS I HATE

ONE. THE RAIN
Although I came to Vancouver expecting the absolute worst (hey, they said it rains every day) the rain still caught me off guard. I was prepared in terms of the rainboots, the raincoat, and the umbrella, but I was not psychologically prepared. I was suffering severe withdrawal symptoms from the sun in December – or maybe that was just stress from finals. Either way, Vancouver is still slightly too damp for my liking.

TWO. WHERE’S DISNEYLAND?
I’m not joking when I say Disneyland is my second home, and back in Hong Kong, Disneyland was only an hour away – I used to just casually drop by after school ended. From Vancity, Disneyland is a three-hour, $100 plane ride away. Slightly less convenient.

THREE. YOU SAY WHAT?
One of my close friends back home is Canadian, and the first time she said “bag” I laughed for ten minutes straight. Turns out other Canadians pronounce it the same (wrong) way too – “beg”. What? What happened to the “a” in the middle? I will forever be perplexed by Canadian pronunciation. At least I haven’t heard anyone say “eh?” or “aboot” yet!

FOUR. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS
Admittedly, multiple continents participate in Daylight Savings and I get the logistics of it all but when it’s time (ha, pun intended) to “spring forward” an hour, I wonder why we bother with DST in the first place. Losing an hour of sleep is a painful, painful experience, especially when it’s on a Saturday night like it was this year.

FIVE. IT’S COLD. LIKE, ALL THE TIME.
This one kind of goes with the whole constant-rain-from-September-to-May thing. Growing up in one of the hottest, most humid cities ever (there have been days where it has been 100% humidity – and the humidity comes in the form of sticky air, not rain) pampered me. It’s not that I can’t deal with Vancouver’s winter – I’ve even been to Calgary, where it’s actually cold – it’s just that it’s now late March and, by my standards, winter should be over. It’s still cold in Vancouver, only marginally warmer than it was in January, but my brain is already in July mode.

THINGS I LOVE

SIX. SUGAR AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE
Hong Kong imports pretty much all of its food, but it’s always difficult to find North American candy around, and I happen to have a bit of a sweet tooth. I swear I’ve gained about 10 pounds from eating Nerds, Reese’s and Klondikes alone, and it doesn’t help that they’re all sold in Chubbard’s (aka Hubbard’s, the Vanier convenience store).

SEVEN. IT’S SO EMPTY HERE
Up until last month, every time I went downtown or out to Kits I felt like there was something missing, like I was waiting for something to appear. Turns out that something was a huge crowd of hundreds of people swarming in the streets and the shopping malls. There are never any people around, and there’s so much free space, especially downtown (even on the weekends) – and I much prefer it to the bustling crowd of Hong Kong, especially Mong Kok or Causeway Bay on a Sunday.

EIGHT. FOOOOOOD
Hong Kong is home to some of my favourite restaurants and cafes too, so actually Vancouver and HK are pretty similar in the food aspect, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how good the food is here in Vancouver. The sushi, dimsum and bubble tea, the three areas which you would certainly expect Hong Kong to excel at, are actually amazing here in Vancouver. And we have Dairy Queen, A&W and Pita Pit here on the west coast. Admittedly there are a couple of overrated places here: in my opinion, Menchies is downright mediocre compared to Hong Kong’s froyo (where a wide selection of fresh fruit is offered year-round), and the one time I ate at The Eatery (I got the salmon don) I was wildly unimpressed, considering our province is famous for its salmon. The atmosphere was amazing and super-unique though.

NINE. I CAN FINALLY BREATHE
When I first came to Vancouver, my lungs took a huge sigh of relief. The air here is so clean and refreshing, not at all like the polluted, heavy, warm, sticky air back home, not to mention all that secondhand smoke. Coming to Vancouver was a literal breath of fresh air.

TEN. I LIVE RIGHT NEXT TO A NUDIST BEACH.
Life dream = fulfilled.

DFTBA,
Olivia

TUNES

Hide and Seek – Imogen Heap
Countdown – Beyonce
Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit
Something Good Can Work – Two Door Cinema Club
I’ve Just Seen A Face – The Beatles

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