Halloween, Hummus and a Pirate Ship...

Somehow the one month mark is already upon us despite the fact that it seems like we only left home a couple of weeks ago. Since I last wrote on here things are looking up a lot. Of course we’re both still having an amazing time, and despite the weather (which I promise not to moan about too much but it honestly never stops raining!) we haven’t really been homesick at all.

This is mostly down to the fact that we’re out of that crazy hostel. No more vomit-man, no more randy couples, and no more bed bugs—during our last week there I’d wake up each day covered in bites and spend the rest of the day scratching; who knows maybe there’s someone else in the hostel writing on their travel blog about the weird guy who spent all day scratching himself inappropriately.


So we have a house, and it’s incredibly cool. Located in the trendy suburb of Kitsilano, our new home is a far cry from the swanky downtown apartments we looked at. Instead of a roof terrace we have an Enchanted Forest, over underfloor heating we opted for a dodgy boiler and icy drafts, and rather than a built in gym we chose an inbuilt pirate ship!! In case you’re wondering the pirate ship isn’t actually a pirate ship, but a loft conversion where Lucy will be sleeping that can only be entered through a hatch at the top of a little ladder. Despite the fact you can’t stand up straight it’s pretty cool and on a clear day you get awesome views of the mountains in the distance.

On top of all that we have three amazing new housemates who you can see in the pic with us above. Josh, Kate and Adam are all Aussies who couldn’t be more laidback and have already made us feel really at home. They also like a drink and I’m starting to think that even with several years of student life in Manchester under our belts, it’s going to be a struggle to keep up with the way they like to party!!


For Halloween (which is HUGE over here – by midday there were people dressed up everywhere in costumes which ranged from Bruno lederhosen to PVC catsuits!) I got to carve my first ever pumpkin, dress up as an Egyptian mummy, and with our new roomies got kicked out of one house party and then had an awesome time at another. We took along a few of our BUNAC friends that we met on the flight and showed them how the Brits do it! Let’s just say that between the lot of us we can just about piece together the general events of the night and it seems a good time was had by all.

So how does it feel to finally have somewhere to call home I hear you ask? Well it feels pretty good now but it took a few days to settle in. When we first arrived we knew there would be a couple of extra people around the house, however we weren’t expecting to find a total of 14 people all sleeping in our little 4 bed house! Literally if there was room in a bed, on a sofa, or even just a bit of space on the floor, someone was sleeping on it! This meant that for the first week Lucy and I not only had to continue sharing a room, but also got to share a bed!!

I swear we’re no longer two people, but just have one life shared between two bodies. Up until the last couple of days we’ve done everything together, and I mean EVERYTHING!!!! They say you never really get to know someone until you travel with them and it’s true; Lucy’s learned that I hate to lose at cards and sometimes sleep talk, and I’ve learned that Lucy takes almost an hour to do her hair and sometimes sleep farts!

However our dual life is luckily coming to an end (I’m not sure how much more bickering our friendship can take!) as we both have jobs!! Lucy, who started work this week, is working on the front desk in an office for a paraplegic charity in a role which I believe is known in the business world as the ‘Phone Bitch’; in other words she answers the phone, sorts the mail and for the other 7 hours of the days she sits on Facebook or Youtube doing absolutely nothing! I, on the other hand, will be doing some real work as Vancouver’s newest deli clerk. Yes, you did read that right. I’ll be serving sushi and hummus to food snobs who prefer to shop in a health food and organic produce store than a real supermarket. To be fair the food they sell is amazing and I’m sure that when I’m dishing out the olives it’ll be difficult not to do ‘one for you, one for me!’ I had to get a Hepatitis A shot before they’d let me start, but my first shift is Friday so I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.


Well I think that just about covers it, other than the fact that I’m addicted to the trash TV over here. The View (a bit like a US version of Loose Women), Ellen Degeneres, The Tyra Banks Show, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and So You Think You Can Dance are just a few of my new favourite TV shows. Leave a comment if you miss us...