November 2023 - vandira

More things you learn as a Dutchie in Vancouver

As could be expected, I came across plenty of interesting differences between living in the Netherlands and living in Canada. After my initial 6 Things You Learn As A Dutchie Settling Into Vancouver, here’s a selection of Vancouver culture I have experienced.

delivery takes forever

Coming from the Netherlands, a teeny tiny country with rich and impressive infrastructure, I was used to super quick delivery times. Placing an online order before 10 PM often meant receiving your items the next workday, sometimes even on Saturday.

I hadn’t thought about it, but with Canada being ginormous and a little bit more complex in terms of supply chain challenges, you can be waiting quite a long time for your Amazon order to arrive. And by quite a long time, I mean 3 to 6 weeks. A good wake up call to buy local and be more mindful of the impact of online shopping.

identity crisis

The word Dutchie appears to also be slang for a cannabis joint. Guess I gotta stop calling myself a Dutchie. Relatedly, I learned that there’s so much weed here that the city is also referred to as Vansterdam. Ironic, hey?

do you or do you not get a lot of holidays?

Working for a university in the Netherlands comes with a huge perk: 42 days of vacation days. Yes, you heard it right. In other industries, vacation days in the Netherlands average at 25 days.

In Canada, you only get about 15. Yet, several people have asked us: man, do you even work? Two things: 1) Instagram is just Instagram, and 2) You get at least one long weekend almost every month, so in the end it does add up quite nicely! Basically, you get 15 days to freely choose your leave, and on top of that, (almost) everybody is off on stat holidays, which are usually Mondays: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, BC Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. That’s another 13 days! The only downside is that everyone has these, so booking a long weekend can get pretty expensive.

Aside from that, I feel like we just put more effort into making the most of weekends. It could be because we are new to Canada, but there’s just such easy access to nature and plenty to do in and around Vancouver. Being out in the mountains for a day will make your weekend feel like it was longer than it actually is!

transit & queueing etiquette

Let’s talk about public transit for a bit. Canada is rather proud of its public transit in Vancouver. So proud that I had pretty high expectations.

Well… Eh.

Don’t want to complain, I commute to work by bus and I’m happy I can get there without it costing me a fortune. And it’s not that bad, it takes me about 45 minutes door to door. Though the Dutch transit network surely also leaves room for improvement, it’s safe to say Vancouver and BC have much more of a ways to go. Getting around the city is fine, but commuting farther outside of the city can get tricky. The country is very car-focused, and I get it, because in many cases taking public transit is just not worth the trouble.

Quality aside, a more cultural difference I noticed is about queueing. Canadians are champions at queueing. When arriving at a bus stop, people will all stand in a neat line, and if it’s a popular stop, this line can get terribly long. When the bus comes, it’s a nice and orderly process of going in one by one. It’s fair. Those who waited the longest go in first and get to pick a seat.

Unless the bus driver decides to open the back doors. In that case, the second they open, the queue breaks and it’s ‘yeah screw this lemme score myself a seat’. Never seen order turn into chaos so quickly.

people hike and hike and hike

Let me go back to leisure time again. A typical Vancouver conversation usually involves asking each other about recent hikes. Some examples I’ve heard (and used): Do you hike? Done any hikes lately? Hey have you done this hike? Any hikes you can recommend me? Hey do you have a car and do you want to go try this hike? Oh wait what you don’t like hiking? Then why do you live here and what on earth do you do with your free time?

Relatedly: people are in active wear all the time. Lululemon is everywhere. I’m just… not used to seeing people wearing their sports outfits all the time. I guess you gotta always be ready to go on a spontaneous hike! I’m happy to be part of the hype though. Hikes here are incredible. And so are my Lululemon leggings.

the big one

The Netherlands is a pretty safe place in terms of nature. Sure, we’ll have storms every now and then. And in the very north, earthquakes are a thing, but I’m a city girl from the west (and lived in Noord Brabant for 5 years), so I never experienced earthquakes.

I never thought about earthquakes. But here, I learned there is a fault line extending from Vancouver Island to Northern California that is bound to cause us some trouble. Historical evidence suggests we’re (over)due for a major earthquake exceeding 9.0 on the Richter scale.

They even named it. We’re waiting for “The Big One” – a threat that is being taken quite seriously, not only by seismologists but also the Canadian and U.S. government. On 19 October at 10:19 AM, there was a big earthquake drill encouraging everyone to practise to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.”

It sounds like an apocalyptic movie script, but Vancouver is situated right in this seismic zone. There are building codes, emergency response plans, and campaigns like the BC ShakeOut.

If you want to know more about it, check the website of The Great British Columbia Shake Out.

Anyways. I’m just still gradually adjusting to life here. It’s all a little different, and that’s part of the fun of living abroad. As long as I don’t get the essentials mixed up. Like queueing wrong. Or suddenly do a “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” when someone in Lululemon leggings approaches me.

Travel Nov 09

Joffre Lakes and Pemberton

The last week of July, we packed up a weekend bag and hopped in the car with our dear friends A & S. It was time for our weekend getaway in which we would hike the much anticipated Joffre Lakes Trail. Our Airbnb was in Pemberton – new to us, but we now have many fond memories of that beautiful town!

Pemberton is a picturesque town situated in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, just 2 hours north of Vancouver. With Mount Currie as a back drop, and Joffre Lakes Park and several lakes and rivers around, it was the perfect place to pick an Airbnb.

Friday after work, we made our way through traffic to the Sea to Sky Highway. We stopped in Squamish first to have dinner. We’d spent so much time together at this point, but realized this was our first sit-down dinner out with the four of us!

We made our way further up north, passing Garibaldi and Whistler before arriving in the small town of Pemberton. The Airbnb was a cozy upstairs apartment above someone’s garage. We spent the first night getting settled into our place, having drinks over games.

It had been a busy few weeks for all of us, so we had barely planned anything yet. The most important part was arranging our hike at Joffre Lakes. For many parks, you need to secure a parking pass two days in advance at 7 AM. Generally, these parking passes sell out in minutes after registration opens. We managed to get a pass for Sunday.

On Saturday morning, we went into Pemberton in search of some groceries and cooked a lovely breakfast together. The Airbnb had an outdoor patio, perfect with the warm weather! Our host walked by to say hello, so we asked him for some recommendations. Any lakes around he’d recommend for paddle boarding?

For a visual summary of the weekend, check out the reel I made on Instagram!

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lilloeet lake

We decided to drive to the super scenic Lillooet Lake. It stretches approximately 33 kilometers and is surrounded by forests and mountains. We drove along it until we found an area with parking and good access to the water. We took out the paddle boards, got the electric pump started, and found a spot on the beach to hang out.

The lake is so, so beautiful – such clear and crystalline water! We had brought our camping chairs and picnic mats. While S. and I chilled and snoozed on the beach, Tom and A. went out on the water. It was such a beautiful setting, we spent hours just chatting and enjoying the views. And of course, playing with the drone a bit for great photos and videos.

After a lovely afternoon there, we made our way to the supermarket again to grab ingredients for a delicious home cooked meal. We spent the evening cooking, eating, and playing board games.

Joffre Lakes

The next morning, we geared up for the Joffre Lakes Trail. After another yummy breakfast, we packed some lunch, tidied up the Airbnb, and packed up the car. As we drove out of the driveway and into the garden leading off the property, we suddenly saw a young bear right in front of us in the garden! It was the very first time we saw a bear, so it was such a special moment! I loved how it moved so clumsily and cartoonishly, looking left and right using its whole body, deciding which direction to head into. It ran off to the left, and we didn’t see it again.

That was a great start of our adventure. We drove about 30 minutes to the Joffre Lakes parking area, showed our parking pass to the park rangers, and started the 8 km hike along three stunning turquoise lakes: Lower, Middle, and Upper Joffre Lakes.

The hike is very doable, but you’ll definitely find yourself needing to catch your breath a few times. That’s all good though – the trail ascends through such picturesque forest, just take in all the beauty! There’s something to see everywhere. That includes wildlife, particularly two-legged creatures with backpacks. This is a very popular hike, and despite the parking pass which limits how many people can be there, it does get quite crowded on the narrow trails.

I particularly liked the Middle Lake; the colour was so, so beautiful. It has that backdrop of snowy mountains and rocks but still lots of green forests and meadows.

As we neared the Upper Lake, the surroundings got more rocky. At the end of the trail, we sat on huge rocks to enjoy the glacier surroundings, eat a sandwich, watch the birds and chipmunks around us… We considered going further up on a new trail – we were told doing that would get you a view of all three lakes in a row. But considering, time, cold, and not enough food for an additional few hours, we made our way back down.

The weather was fantastic, so the boys mentally prepared for swimming in the glacier cold water. Though I think the second lake would have been the most beautiful for it, walking the rest of the way back with icy cold wet shorts would be a bit uncomfortable. So we decided on the Lower Lake. Though I didn’t swim myself, dipping my warm and tired feet in the water was incredibly refreshing!

It was just another 20 minutes or so back to the car. After a short pit stop, we hopped in the car again and started the drive back to Vancouver.

North Arm Farm

On the way, we wanted to make one more stop, and we read about a nice farm somewhere around Pemberton. We decided to go find it, and wow, I’m so glad we did! North Arm Farm is a 60+ acres organic farm with fruits, vegetables, and flowers. It’s particularly know for offering farm-to-table experiences such as berry picking. Though we didn’t do any of that, as visitors we were welcome to roam around. I loved it there so much – the mountains around, the gorgeous trees, the incredible barn (wedding location, anyone!?)… At the shop, we got ourselves some ice cream, and I bought a couple of artsy post cards for my collection.

Unfortunately, it was time to go… Back home, over the gorgeous Sea To Sky Highway. Back to work the next day!

Travel Nov 03

The summer trilogy

Hello! How are you all doing? An incredible summer season has come to an end over here. I know I’ve been a bit MIA on the blog here, but I do want to make sure I share a bit about my summer! Apart from all kinds of spread out summer activites, we had 3 big things on the calendar: two visits from back home, and one trip to the east coast of the US.

visitors and sunshine coast

Tom’s parents came to visit us in July. It was so lovely showing them around and giving them a glimpse of what it’s like here!

They explored Vancouver while we worked during the week, but we did really want to take a day off so we could spend a full long weekend with them. And what better way to do that than to get away from the city like people do here?

On Thursday evening, we took a ferry to the Sunshine Coast. We had heard such great things about it, and we loved the idea of seeing a new island in the area.

It was fantastic weather, and we hadn’t been there ourselves yet, so it was nice to explore something new all together. Part of that trip was also the Skookumchuck Narrows – a nice read there if you want to know more about it. And here’s a little reel of our time on the Sunshine Coast!

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canadian rockies

Not long after waving Tom’s parents goodbye, we had another special couple over at the end of August! We met Tom’s brother Erik and his girlfriend Aga in Calgary and spent a week road tripping through the Canadian Rockies. It was amazing slowly making our way back to Vancouver with them. We saw Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, and Jasper National Park for the first time. There’s so much to share and tell – so I put together a separate (rather lengthy and photo-filled) post about that. Go read that if you’re interested! But yeah, my oh my, what an unforgettable experience. The rockies are overwhelmingly beautiful.

happy accidents

OK, silly story. I’m an early ’90s girl that grew up listening to the Jonas Brothers. So when they announced their tour, I did my fangirl dance and looked for Vancouver on the list. Sadly, they were going to skip my city, and so I scanned the list for alternatives. Toronto? Ugh, flights are so expensive and it’s so far away! Why don’t I just find something in the US, instead? The US border is just a 1,5 hour drive away, so lots of people from Canada go to cities in the US to see shows. Washington it is. A 2 to 3 hour drive will get us there.

One morning, I was preparing for a full day of training when I was reminded about ticket sales starting at 9 AM. I sent the Verified Fan link and information over to Tom, asking him to get us 2 tickets. Any tickets. Doesn’t matter where we sit, I just want to be there.

A little while later during my break, I check in to see how it went and if we got some tickets. Yep. We did. Then Tom goes: “You do realize it’s for Washington, DC, right?”

!@#$%^&*()(*&^%$#@!

Sigh. This is such a first world problem, but yeah, we decided to see it as a nice opportunity. So 6 months later, we hopped on our flight to New York City. We spent 4 days exploring New York City for the first time, then took a train to Washington DC to continue our trip. We ticked off countless must-sees and recommendations from friends. And then, on Saturday 23 September, my brain effortlessly downloaded all the lyrics to songs by the Jonas Brothers from 2007 to today.

hello, autumn

Returning home from the US was like a baptism into the fall – rain, storm warnings, urges to buy knitwear, all of that. Or at least that’s what it felt like at first – soon after, repeated whiplash followed, as we went from cold to warm and back again several times. But yeah, by now, fall has definitely kicked in.

I’ll try to be good and keep up with posting a bit more in the fall. It will be our first fall and winter here, so it will be interesting to transition to new activities and experiencing what the colder seasons are like in Vancouver.

Thanks again for reading along, and see you next time!