A Day Out Between the Rain

Nothing much here to report. Just pictures taken from our bike ride around town yesterday, in the 12 degree C sunshine. And our first coyote spotting last night down our STREET! Vancouver indeed : )









Ad looking out to sea






the view from down our street



from out the bedroom balcony, with early morning fog over the water



Stanley Park totem poles with snow caps

Grad Day

Anyway, three weeks later, I've met a great group of people from my Transitions program, that's been a godsend in fresh ideas for networking, resume and cold calling tips, confidence-boosting and a look at transferable skills. We have one more follow-up next week Thursday. The gang's pictured above in the office entrance. We had a great time, lots of laughter, some tears and mostly a good rapport and friendships formed as many of us are going through similar career situations. I can't recommend it enough; if you're in the Vancouver Mainland area, I'll be happy to give you the link and info.

Now it's time to forge ahead and embrace all of this newly discovered talent and power to network. As I've recently grown fond of saying, "networking knows no bounds". Just about every event, dinner, group activity and meeting can lead to something unexpected. I'm loving this part of my life.

Vancouver has seen a few wonderful Canuck victories, namely last night's great 6-2 lead over the Montreal Canadiens! Never mind that they did great justice when the Maple Leafs came to town almost two weeks ago, but now they're poised to take on any team that stands in their way. We're all getting excited about two things: the upcoming Olympic games (watching all the Canucks play for their respective country's teams) and tomorrow's National election, where popularity for Stephen Harper, the Conservative, is reaching some scary heights. To give you an example, if he wins, he'll be most aligned with George W. Bush in his policies and attitudes toward the Kyoto Accord. Challenge abortion rights. Give big business a bigger break. You get where I'm going here. Not pretty stuff to ponder.

Ad passed his PMP certification exam last week, so he's one step closer to following his career path here in Van. He'll be networking and interviewing during the coming days and has a good feeling about tomorrow's interview out (down) in Surrey. We had a few sunny breaks in this dreary wet winter weather, but currently it's wet and (not too) cold, yet not particularly wonderful to be outside. On my run this afternoon, I saw yet another Bald Eagle in a tree just down our street at the edge of Trafalgar, past Point Grey Road! Always nice to see such a massive creature with its large and painfully bright white head. By the time I returned from the Seawall, he'd already flown off elsewhere.

More snow in the local mountains here, and my daily morning bus ride over Granville Bridge is occasionally met with an awesome view of white up there!

Signing off…

Ariane C

Van Life and News

On living in Van: I think it's really cool that our fair city is often referred to as Lotusland. Better than Toronto, where they're lovingly referred to as Hogtown.

And my brilliant career (transitions program), into Week 2: it's going really well. We're well on our way and I feel very much a part of the working world, even though I'm not taking home a paycheck at the end of the week. Many observations, tons of exercises and hand outs to stuff up our binders, and learning more and more about myself (and the group) all the time. As I have a profile now from the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator testing system, I can plug into a large group of potential new careers to enhance my talents and personality. Those jobs run the gamut from drama psychotherapy coach to actor to social jobs.

Weather Watcher: nothing to gleam about. Today marked day 24 of rainy days in a row, but luckily not the entire day through. I've walked home from my training program a few times already (can make the walk in about 55 minutes flat from downtown). And actually sweated, since it's mild as can be. The crocus and daffodil greenery is already making a break through the earth, I would say about 5 weeks ahead of its normal schedule. Today we had a few sun breaks.

The Mountains: when the clouds break through, there's whiteness all around! Every chance I get while downtown, I walk to the corner of Howe and Pender Street, and look downward towards the water, to take in the Canada Sails and the Northshore peaks. 9 times out of 10 I get a gorgeous mountain view while the bus makes its way over the Granville Bridge in the morning.

So, those Mighty Canucks, vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: 4-3 win at home! It was a rare appearance by the Leafs in Vancouver, and BC Place (at least from where we were watching on the big screen) was packed! Excellent game, guys! Now that they've won three games in a row, they're off tol face New Jersey on Thursday night.

A Sign of Success?

Stretch limo time, first thing seen this morning looking out front of our house (the silver car across the street belongs to our neighbors downstairs). Perhaps this is a sign of greatness and success to come for us in Vancouver! The Canucks surely returned to great form last night, beating the Calgary Flames in overtime, 4-3! Finally, some groove back in their game. The big game's coming right up, against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. A Pay-per-view for sure, so yours truly and better half will be off somewhere sports-barsy to view the action…

Cool to see that Jon Stewart will be hosting the Academies this coming March! As if Chris Rock wasn't enough last year : )

The program I've started, called Transitions, is awesome. I'm in a group of about 15 other folks out of work for one reason or another, and we're focused on career as well as life-changing potential here. Very powerful stuff. Keeps me busy all week and into the evenings with assignments and reflection, as it's busy during those days (action-packed, lots of handouts each day). The Canadian government even pays for the bus transport costs! Hopefully by the end of this session, I'll either tap into some hidden potential other than graphic design, or decide that being a designer is truly in my blood - and heart - and keep within that vein.

What follows are a few photos from the annual Kits Beach tree-chipping fundraiser event. Man, did the air smell gorgeous from all the pine being recycled!

It Ain't Much

As they say in The Netherlands, 'It ain't much if it ain't Dutch'. Well, Ad and I took part in the Vancouver Oranje Club meeting last month and made some common bonds with fellow (ex)countrymen and ladies. We met at Dockside Pub and enjoyed an evening of Dunglish (that's Dutch intertwined with English) and met a lot of people in similar past and present situations. If you're interested, have a look at this link and click on the group photo at the top left. There we are!

Our mighty Van Canucks are just not up to speed these days, having lost an embarassing match last night against St. Louis, 1-4. Really now, what IS eating the Canucks? With several more road games looming, we do hope they'll get their mojo back, and soon. How else are they going to qualify for the playoffs later on?

Speaking of sports news, I'm still trying to keep up my walk/jog routine along the Kits Seawall. I'll be taking a couple of intro (read:free) Pilates classes this week, around the corner at Proactive Pilates: Body Rolling, and Pilates on the Ball. Sounds interesting? I'll keep you informed, as I'm curious myself!

Off now to read the Van Sun,

Ariane C

Happy 2006

(a Spring night in Paris, 2005)

We rang in the New Year to hear a tribal drum from the house across the street - the lady drumming away mentioned their yearly tradition of the midnight drumming. Oh yeah, very Kits! At the moment, lots of joggers outside, despite the wind and occasional rain. People walking their dogs, shopping for groceries, and this, over at English Bay: a Polar Bear Swim! The yearly event started at 2:30 this afternoon. Found out about it at 2:33. I did make a run down to the beach to witness it through binoculars, and heard lots of cheering and others out on their boats watching from the water. With this wind, it's lucky the temperature is so mild (about 10C). I saw a few divers hit the waves, and headed up the hill for my afternoon cup of (decaf) joe.

The seagulls are circling here above like mad, flying against the wind, as are the geese and ducks down at the shore. All in all, we're happy to be here, very happy in fact. Did anyone see Dick Clark on TV last night? He's really doing his best, but in all the years I lived in The Netherlands, I hadn't seen him age and see his condition deteriorate at THIS pace. I guess he survived a recent stroke. It seems that Ryan Seacrest is priming up for taking over his slot in the future. And what about Duran Duran? Have they aged or what? Why the tv crew chose to show their live show during "Notorious" was beyond me. They'd had so many great hits over the years. The Bangles, however, looked great and sounded even better!

But I ramble…best wishes to all of you for a great new year -

Ariane C

Between the Holidays

This one was taken in front of the Hotel Vancouver last week, right after visiting Stanley Park's Bright Nights. Ad and I had a quiet Xmas, cooking dinner and making holiday cookies part of the meal plan. Life here is wet right now; one day just melds into the next as the rain comes and goes. The ski season had a great start, but is now practically non-existent.

What's eating the Canucks? They've now lost five games straight! Tonight they'll face Nashville, again at home.

Hope everyone's been having a not-too-chaotic holiday season - feel free to post your comments on the blog - let me know what's going on in other corners of the globe!

Bright Nights

…and here, those promised Stanley Park holiday night pix! Click on a photo and see its larger cousin : )

Wind Storm

(artwork by Arleigh Wood, ©2005)


The winds are kicking up and team Canada has been announced. Bertuzzi and Jovanovski will play for the Canadian Olympic hockey team in Turino! Not without controversy of course, in Bert's case.


(l-r: Todd Bertuzzi, Ed Jovanovski)

In other news, I went to Stanley Park's Bright Nights last night, in between downpours. Not only were there millions of lights on display, but a petting farm as well. Upon exiting the farm, I noticed a hand-washing station, to help prevent any visitors from catching that pesky bird flu. Will post soon…

Happy last-minute frantic holiday shopping,

Ariane C

Sunday Posting, Part 2

If anyone watched that Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers game last night, what a match, eh?! Can't believe that Bertuzzi was actually smiling again (should be, after scoring two goals in the game); sudden death overtime saw them lose to the Oilers 4-5. Scary enough, as the Canucks enjoyed a great 2 point lead twice during the game. Matt Cooke and Anson Carter had the other goals for Vancouver. Sadly, the Canucks have now lost all three games against Edmonton this season, and suffered only their second home-ice defeat of the year in the process.

After winning four straight, and humbling three Eastern Conference giants in the process, the Canucks faltered back home. They’re now 5-7-2 against divisional opponents, and hold a single-point lead over the Flames in the Northwest.

Anyway, they'll be hosting the LA Kings tomorrow night at home. Hockey is really more than the 'violent' sport that people make it out to be. After watching several (just about all) of this season's games, one can really see the finer and FASTER points in enjoying a hockey game. Things can change in a split second, and when a team ties, those final moments of the third period are exciting to watch. I highly recommend it : )

Birdlife in Van: It Doesn't Get Any Better

Today was bird-heaven for the likes of nature lovers like myself. As I headed to the sea for my Sunday fitness walk, I approached the seagulls sitting atop the frozen Kits outdoor pool, mostly sleeping in place and warming up in the sunshine. Once I passed Watermark Restaurant, I looked up and saw a Bald Eagle in the tree. A couple walking by pointed out its mate on the rock ahead. My walk was temporarily haulted to watch these two lovely creatures feeding on fish. Somehow they were brave enough to stay even though a crowd of curious onlookers was building up along the shore.





A couple of kayakers (yes, in this winter cold!) stopped to watch the birds as well…



Close to home, on 2nd and Trafalgar, I spotted a Steller's Jay (BC's provincial bird) cruising overhead on its way to a bird feeder.

Days like today only make me appreciate this new city more and more. Friday was our six-month anniversary of arriving in Canada. Yes, time flies. It's incredible though, the amount of things we've seen and done in that time.

Photo credits go out to Kylm - www.klym.ca - thanks for sending me those pix!

The Season Has Arrived

Now that my web site is finished, I can go back to updating this little baby. We're here deep into the holiday season and still finding lots to keep us busy despite no work offers at the moment. Ad is busy ripping CD after CD onto his laptop, now that he's gotten used to iTunes. One day, his Nano will come…

Last night, we took a walk along Broadway Street, beautifully illuminated with lights for the holidays. Back along Stephens Street, we were amazed at some of the light displays up and running along the beautiful old character homes of Kits. The summer beach scene has now been replaced with jogging suits, dogs on leashes and plenty of Starbuck's coffees to go. There's an area close to the Maritime Museum that allows dogs to run freely, and seems to be a friendly doggy meeting spot for the locals. I've also been told recently that many people DRIVE over to the Kits Beach seawall area just to go walking with their pooch and be seen. And the luck that we're a 5 minute walk from all this!

And speaking of that seawall, I'm off for a walk/jog now. If you go to this link, you'll see photos of our area of the seawall! Yes, down THOSE stairs!

Once the Tallest Building in the British Empire

While downtown last week, I entered this gem of a building - the Marine Building - and photographed some of the interior. Click here for an in-depth historical link to this marine-themed heritage building.

Other than that, we awoke yesterday morning to a nice site out our window:



I'm going to get Ad to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight, as this classic TV special has yet to make it to The Netherlands! Signing off, from a cold Vancouver evening…

Sinterklaastijd

To all my family and friends in Holland: wij wensen jullie een prettige en gezellige Pakjesavond toe en niet te veel pepernoten eten! Groetjes van Ariane en Ad

Trippin'

Sometimes it still feels like being on vacation, discovering new things all the time. In Gastown, close to Water Street, is a tiny alley I bumped into on my way to my first appointment:



According to legend, Blood Alley was the location for a number of butcher shops. At the end of each day they would be rinsed out resulting in the inevitable blood in the street. As if that was not enough they used to hold public executions in Blood Alley Square.

The snow we'd been promised was but a light dusting of powder that dissipated upon touching the sidewalk. Still, it made a cozy café visit all the more enjoyable over at Blake's Coffee Parlour…

Not quite downtown, not quite East Van, Gastown and Water Street (its main street) are filled with restaurants, boutiques, tourist shops and bars. A hip and urban crowd, with a smattering of homeless people walking the streets (and inside the cafés. I was approached by two within half an hour).

After my rather successful meetings, I headed to the Vancouver Hyatt Regency to check out the Gingerbread Lane and a 14 foot high, six feet wide Gingerbread Man. He is the undisputed Guinness World Record holder, baked with 100 kgs of flour, 1.6 kg each of salt and baking soda, 20 kg each of sugar, molasses and shortening, 1.6 kg of nutmeg and 4 kg of ginger! Just imagine the pan needed to bake him as well.



Here's a couple more photos taken of the displays…

Taking Stock

There's much to be thankful for, as our recent international move will prove. I began a work search at the start of September and this morning took inventory of what activity has come about as a result.

resumes and digital portfolios/business cards sent out for both freelance and full-time jobs = 115
interviews to discuss possible freelance ops = 5
actual job interviews for a full-time job = 3
job offers = 0

Albeit, Vancouver is a small, tight and closely-knit job hub, much like that of San Francisco. I did however hope to have more success by now. With the upcoming holidays, that glimmer of a job offer may have to wait until everyone's done partying. Have no fear, I'm off to enjoy (as a volunteer and pro-networker) a holiday party, Cuban-style, with the GDC* next Wednesday. Yesterday's Globe and Mail Business section's first page: quite apropos. A huge article discussed networking right DURING the holiday season, and not letting the fact that everyone ELSE is gainfully employed stand in your way.

Breathe in: gainfully
Breath out: employed

*Society of Graphic Designers of Canada

Happy December 1st to everyone near and far.

Canucks Take the Lead Again

Well, after an embarassing loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday 2-6, the Canucks got their game back and beat the Avalanche on home turf, 5-2. Making it 6-2 would have been that much sweeter, but this was good enough reason to be happy over at Darby's Pub on 4th, a true Canucks hockey fan haven. We were forced out of the house in order to watch a game that we didn't have channel access to. Oh well, so much for basic cable. Great though to hear some live cheering rather than just Ad's screaming in Dutch at a 27" Sony!

More (light) snow in the forecast for tomorrow. I met with a publisher today who'd posted a Creative Director job on Workopolis' job site a few days back. Don't know if I'm in the running, but it would be a great challenge taking on the task of creating a magazine from scratch. Two more appointments in Gastown on Friday, for possible freelance work.

Today in town I saw no less than two films being shot (actually two TV series)! Think I've actually seen more filming here in five months than in all the years I lived in LA.



While I was downtown, I took in the latest HP film. Great, great film with excellent fx. Highly recommended! Meanwhile, Ad's at home networking and my web producer is two moments away from my calling the project off. As communication is almost non-existent, I wonder how motivated he really is to put my site online. May have to wait on it, as I'm particularly clueless when it comes to CSS and PHP work. Makes me run towards the print world more and more. Luckily I'm not alone; several designers I've met in recent weeks feel the same way about web coding. Would rather not know about it.

With the new garbage system coming to Vancouver (much like Holland's bin system, but then on a weekly basis), we will hopefully avoid THESE little critters knocking over the garbage around here!

10 AM Kitsilano

Let it snow…
oh yeah, and a new election on the way.

Snow's on the Way

(fireplace detail taken in our old home in Amersfoort, The Netherlands)

We've got snow in the forecast. Not a whole lot for the city, between two to five cm. The North Shore has a bit more on the way. Meanwhile, all the snow plows are preparing with salt and will be working throughout the night. Today's been a low-key day. Started out with a relaxing Hatha yoga class and worked on projects at home. It was unbelievable for me to see an ad posted on Craig's List for a graphic designer position, paying between 12-15 dollars an hour. I'm sure they've been deluged with resumes, too.

In more entertaining news, Ad's made Geek of the Week at Techvibes.com!

City Saturday

Today, lots of pictures taken around town. The rainbow photo was taken just yesterday out our front window. From this to beautiful sunny skies this morning.



A view from our balcony. The first thing we noticed was how blue the water was and the many sailboats taking advantage of the wind…





…and all of a sudden, Chopper 9 flew overhead! With the Grey Cup Parade downtown in Yaletown (leading to the Grey Cup tomorrow) and completely blue skies, he had lots of flying time to make up.



Here's a photo of Bess the pug, taken inside Caban, a boutique on Granville Street.



As we walked on Broadway, Ad captured me cozying up to the Serta sleep sheep.