Deppert.se » Canada

Alaska – the short trip

Ulrike — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:51:31 +0000

As promised, here is a short travelog from my trip to beautiful Southeast Alaska. For all of you who have not been there – go! I am not sure how long the nature will be “untouched” but it is absolutely amazing. Many have told me it looks a lot like Norway or even northern Sweden, and yes, if you are short of money and live in these regions, discover your own country. Otherwise: get out there.

I will not bore you by telling you all the fantastic things I saw and did and experienced but instead give you a short recap of the best:

When travelling through Alaska take the ferry! Just cruising through the archipelago and fjords was amazing, snowy mountains to the right and the left, eagles cruising above and the highlight always was when the captain made whale-announcements! I have now seen both humpbacks and orcas and lots of porpoises, just amazing. And of course, sleeping outside on the solarium deck of the ferry, cold but what a feeling to awake to a blue sky!

Climb every mountain you see, explore all forests and go kayaking. Alaska is for nature people and the ways for adventures are unlimited. Every trip offers something new; just remember to bring your bear spray and bear bells. I did not see any bears, but they where close.

Look out for porcupines (mostly called North American porcupines to distinguish them from the other, more common known ones)! Most amazing animals. They look like fluffy beavers and climb small trees and sleep up there. And once they are asleep they are not bothered by people walking just below them. Mountain goats are fun too, but not that much.

Meeting different people in the hostels, trade books and ideas and places. I did not realise how much I had missed backpacking until I did it again. Avoid the cruise ships, they do not make life fun.

Alaskans are further quite obsessed with Sarah Palin. Sure, they have elected her, but they do seem to talk about her a lot. Maybe not for other reasons than the fact that this has put Alaska back on the tourist map. It also seems like Alaska has not been hit that hard by the recession either, but still has the same structural problems as I discovered in Vancouver, regarding homelessness and other social and ethnic problems.

Anyhow, I am not sure I have been able to convince you all to go to Alaska, but you should. There is so much more to discover, and I will go back, at one point.

This is my last letter to you all, my trip has ended. But you will be right there again, on my next, right?!

Cheers,
Ulrike

Vancouver Style in Sweden

Ulrike — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:04:42 +0000

This will not be an entry concerning how my wonderful adventure in Alaska was; it will not tell you that I have seen the most amazing animals, mountains so huge they almost touched the sky and that I was very lucky with the weather and even got sunburned. No, this will be a short piece on how it feels to come back to something and experience the reversed culture shock. Alaska will have to wait a bit.

I have only been back in Sweden for three days. Three full days. And already my muscle memory jams into its well-known pattern: I can find the cups in the right cupboards on the first try, my parents computer responds as it should (but cannot change the language in this document, so every word has an irritating red underlining and is automatically corrected to the closest German word) and I still know how to bike. But then again, strange things are happening around me. My living space has grown. I am currently residing with my parents, who are out of town for the weekend. Suddenly I have access to an apartment nearly as big as the entire student housing I had on the UBC Campus, including the spaces which belonged to my three roomates. And being all alone I assumed I was free to choose beds and am now sprawled out at night in a huge kingsize bed. Now that is really a welcomed change.

Even stranger are things that I used to know but where I have adopted the Canadian Style instead. While shopping groceries today I unsuccessfully tried to grab the second handle of the shopping basket. Nope, there is only one. And that surprised me. What then in turn surprised me even more. I did not see any hand sanitizer (or people with surgical masks). And no, which I was very grateful for, no sprinkler that kept the vegetables wet. Noone packed my groceries. Also, people seem in general more unfriendly, or maybe rather more desinterested in me. Even though I know that no Canadian probably honest would like to know how I am when I approach a store and a mailperson, the Swedish seemed just a bit too concentrated on themselves and their doing.

Also, I am clearly damaged by my last job, where I was working in the deli serving customers. I looked to my left and saw the premade sandwiches and upon a closer inspection could state that they did not serve anything I have not made (but did not have the choice of turkey or any meat-and-cranberry mix). Then I looked right and automatically registered that the cheese display was not full and not in order and had to resist the immidiate urge to actually organize it. I guess I have to apply for a job in this store, I seem to be able to pull it off with honours.

The total freedom is equally weird. I suddenly have unlimited access to a phone (and I do not have to pay for it), I can access the internet when and how I want (at least once I had decided to wake my brother to receive confirmation that yes, the wireless network was on, and in addition had woken my parents via phone to learn the password) and there is noone who can demand me to go to bed early (except the time difference which does encourage me to go to bed early unless I would like to wake up with dinner or a keyboard pattern on my face).

I will enjoy this phase while it lasts. My summer is almost planned now and even if it includes family and friends, there is work to do and to find. The quite relaxed days in Vancouver, and the even more careless days in Alaska, are definitely over. And even if I enjoy the sunny days in Sweden, I already know that I will miss Vancouver for a long long time.

Prince Rupert

Ulrike — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:34:50 +0000

Dear all,

while waiting for the clock to turn 1am – budget travellers do not spend their hardearned money on a second partially useless hotellroom – when the cab will pick us up in order to go to the ferry, I will give you the latest news on my trip.

It all started out really well: panicky packing & crazy cooking. With lots of food and a huge packback we caught the bus going north from Vancouver to Prince George (12 hours) and from there to Prince Rupert (another 12 hours). Beautiful scenery, which of course is not unexpected since it all lokks like Sweden, just much much bigger (and for those living in the southern parts of Sweden: way more mountains with snow on top), small canadian towns on the way and a variety of other bus passengers. In all, it was a successful trip.

Until we reached Prince Rupert. When the cab pulled over at the ferry terminal we were met by closed gates. Really closed, including a chain and a lock. Eh… So our nice cab driver (Karl-Heinz originally from Wiesbaden, the bonding started straigt of from there) called his old school friend Murray, who was now manager of the terminal. And got the message that the ferry was postponed due to rock slides and icebergs. But it was on its way, it would leave at noon two days later. Ok, the extra days in Prince Rupert were spent hiking and strolling around town. Lots of eagles, I have learned to recognize skunk cabbage and false azalea, two plants that grow in the whole region.

The town itself consists of 11 000 people, mostly native fom the Tlingit or Haida clan, some Hindi and the rest Canadians (whatever that might mean in terms of origin). This has some tremendous effect on the town: there are in all 18 different churches. Walking from our inn downtown we passed the Latter Day Christ, the Pentecoastal, Mason Hall, S:t Paul Lutheran, Sikh temple, and the Kingdom Hall (and City Hall, which to some might be a religion). The question arising from all these different churches is not how they all came here, but what is the religion teching in their schools like? Given the fact that the Berlin commune in Germany recently voted not to introduce religion as a subject for students but to stick to ethics, I would find it really interesting to see how teachers here would deal with the various active religions.

Anyhow, after another delay, the ferry finally arrived (only about 56 hours late) and I am now in the beautiful state of Alaska. More on my adventures here will be written about later.

I hope that you are all fine!
Cheers,
Ulrike

Leaving Vancouver

Ulrike — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:37:41 +0000

Just as I settled down here, found a good job and spring arrived, it is time to leave. My last day at work is Tuesday next week, the last day in the apartment Wednesday next week. So it all kind of fitted all together. Except for the fact that I am not willing to go back to Sweden. Not quite yet. The compromise is a small vacation. It will definitely eat up all the money I made here, but it will be worth it. Few of you would think that I would choose a sunny location and just relax on the beach for three weeks, that is just not me. Instead I will grasp the once in a lifetime chance and go north to southeast Alaska (yeah, that is a weird sentence, but if you look at a map, it is correct in terms of directions). Technically, I will not go further north than Oslo (Norway) is located, but I still look forward to this experience!

Anyhow, leaving Vancouver also had me realize that I have not seen that much touristically speaking and not seen my friends nearly as much as I should have. Pressing everything into a week and timing it with their schedule has made me as busy as usual, but it all seems to work out. Yesterday I even took a chance and visited the Quayside Village, a co house in North Vancouver. It is really a nice place, different from my house in Lund, but the spirit of integration was the same.

Every time I move on to a different place, I mentally go through pros and cons with the place I am leaving. With Vancouver, this is not easily done. But there are some highlights:

Transit – it is great that these buses are so accessible for everyone; but I am still surprised every time a bus driver stops the vehicle and says “Just going to grab a coffee” in the middle of a tour.

My apartment – nice and cosy and very open for interaction with my housemates and the international setting; but otherwise nothing is functional. All the taps are dripping, no one but the Japanese guy and me takes out the trash, and people take showers at 2am even though they have just been home the whole day and had plenty of time.

Canadians – friendly and nice; until you cant answer their question in the deli and have to look for help. I have never been yelled at so much just because I did not know the answer and admitted this. Also, Canadians seem to have little understanding for us who do not love ice hockey.

Canada could be any country in Africa due to homelessness, the lack of hot water in the showers, the extreme weather conditions and the fact that bus never ever arrives on time. On the other hand, it is also obvious why Canada is a part of the industrialized world: there are buses, there is the possibility of a hot shower and it can snow in the most unexpected times.

With this said I am sure that I will one day come back here. But for now I will enjoy my last days and my well deserved vacation as well.

Cheers,
Ulrike

The day I became Danish

Ulrike — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:13:01 +0000

It is a great achievement for me to be able to lead Canadians to believe that I am Canadian myself. There could not be a better compliment for my language skills. Most actually only realize that I am not an English native speaker when they see my nametag or use really strange worlds that I am not familiar with. And I do not mind having to tell people that “no, I am from Sweden”. And then sometimes go on with: “but you know, actually, I am German”.

Until yesterday, when everyone thought I was from Denmark. The reason was that I had a foot injury. No worries people, I am all better now and there is no more blood. And I live with a medical student who is checking on my twice a day, so I will be fine. The injury itself as a result from stepping on an electric toothbrush, and yes, that is a bad thing to do (you do not need to understand the actual injury, it is ok if you only feel sympathy for me). But is has also already given me new experiences in Canada. And led everyone to think that I am Danish.

Because my insurance company has its HQ in Copenhagen. And trying to explain the whole story to all local insurance agents (and by local the Danish mean in Ontario) and to the receptionists at the clinic, two cab drivers and a set of nurses and one doctor and some fellow patients – you understand that I just surrendered for one day and gave up. The shorter the story, the earlier I would see a doctor, you would suspect at least. It took me the whole day to see a doctor, get my prescription and be back at the house again.

The valuable lessons I learned yesterday (besides that being a Dane is not bad, they actually have the same good reputation here as Swedes; the only difference is probably that people don’t reply with Absolut anymore but Tuborg) was that Canada is way to bureaucratic and it is way expensive to see a doctor. My insurance company wanted to ease things up for me and asked me to go through their local agents, as this would mean that I would not have to pay for things myself, except the cab ride back and forth. After many hours, I finally reached the Ontario office and even if they were nice and polite they did not have any clue of Vancouver (for those of you who are totally unfamiliar with Canadian geography: Ontario is on the other side of the country). The first medical centre they sent me to was not a walk-in clinic anymore, the second did not even exist at all. The third clinic did not except their payment but needed me to pay everything; which I gladly did in the end, just to get some pain relief and to see a doctor. Then the Ontario office wanted me to call back when the doctor had diagnosed me and wanted to write me a prescription. I felt so ashamed in front of the doctor; he must have thought that the insurance company did not think that he was competent enough. Everything went smoothly though, and I was even granted my return visit at the doctor’s on Monday.

Having paid for everything myself, I called Ontario and asked where to send the bills. The answer was that they did not really know, I better call Copenhagen. So I did, and got the answer that the medical bill (the doctors’ visit) where to be sent to Ontario and the rest (cab + medicine) to Copenhagen. Wow. I will definitely bill them for all my phone calls and the stamps as well.

So, that was my day yesterday. I am now at home, I had to take time off work because I cannot even stand on my foot. But there is not much pain and the infection seems not to be spreading, I am getting really good at jumping around on one leg and balancing around when I do stuff. I hope to get better ‘til Tuesday so I can get back to work. My original idea was to write to you all about my new job, but that will just have to wait until the next letter. Until then, take care of you all.

Cheers,
Ulrike

Homelessness

Ulrike — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:51:01 +0000

Last Sunday I was watching the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown. Many many people where there, of which most probably caught a cold due to the steady rain. While everyone was watching the parade, which was marvellous with its dragons, dancers and the politicians trying to raise their popularity status, almost no one noticed the people in the far back. Those who wore torn jackets, had an un-groomed look and more often than not where pushing an old shopping cart in front of them. In which assumingly all their belongings were. Everyone admired the glamour, tinsel and sparkle from the parade, no one cared about the grey people behind us.

Chinatown is located right next to Hastings, also referred to as Downtown Eastside. As the most worn down area of the city, many of the homeless and drug addicts gather here, for a to me unknown reason. This is the one neighbourhood that is dangerous to travel by night on foot. And the signs of destruction, unrest and even hopelessness are almost touchable.

The Province, on of two local newspapers in Vancouver, reported last week that ‘Of the area’s population of 16,000, roughly 6,000 are injection drug users. Between 600 and 1,000 of Metro [referring to the city centre] Vancouver’s estimated 2,660 homeless population are to be found there, most of the suffering from mental illness and addiction’ (The Province, February 2, 2009). The article carries on, mentioning that there are about 300 agencies directly in the area providing services and saying that a UN report from 2007 proclaimed this area as ‘North America’s most troubled and drug-infested [neighbourhood], with an hepatitis-C rate of just below 70 per cent and an estimated 30-per-cent HIV-prevalence rate rivalling that of Botswana’ (ibid.).

What is not mentioned in the article, but well known, is the fact that most of the homeless are originated from the first nations community. Also, due to the mild climate (exception for this year) many homeless travel to Vancouver to find a warmer spot. The tragedy therefore continues.

I am very surprised to find that not much has been done in Vancouver to beat homelessness; during my WUF3 engagement here 2,5 years ago we spoke about the issues, and they are just all the same. This is not only irritating; it is also astonishing that a city, in the developed world, is so unable to deal with its problem. On the debate pages in the newspapers I read questions about the costs of the Winter Olympics 2010 in Whistler – how come politicians with a clear conscience can pour more and more money into this event? Rumours about ‘cleaning the city’ are also heard, referring to the will of the people in charge to show an Olympic city to the world that has no problem with homelessness.

Vancouver’s new mayor, Gregor Robertson, won his seat after promising to end homelessness in 2015. But is that not a bit late? If the failures and problems are identified, and they are, why not target them immediately? Live, for people without home, shelter and treatment, can only change to the better. And it has to start now.

Television

Ulrike — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:37:24 +0000

It has been a while since you hear my cry from the wild in snowy Vancouver. So here I am again, back with more news about me and peculiarities about my temporary residency. First of all, on Saturday I got fired from my weekend job. Economic recession blah blah blah. But I still had my weekday job, so I was not worried. Until Tuesday, when I got fired here as well. The other girl wanted fulltime and since she was more experienced than me I got cut. Oh well. So out I go, looking all over for jobs. And while I am on this unrewarding task, I think to myself that I did at least actually learn some new skills at my former jobs: I know how to make a good mocha and how to make the perfect crêpes. So the time was definitely not wasted. And slowly fortune smiled on me and offered me a job behind the deli at Choices. The details are not worked out yet, but it does look promising.

But let me not bore you with my job situation here. Let me tell you about the modern phenomena called television, or TV for short. We have a small TV (small like the first TV my family owned, if anyone of you ever saw that). And 63 different channels. This is great in a way, because you can always find something you like. Either a new episode of your favorite show (unless you are Fumiho, my Japanese housemate, who has to wait in vain for new Prison Break episodes), a re-run of your favorite show or an old episode or your favorite show. And get hooked to all the other shows (90210 is among them, I am not ashamed to admit that) just because these are the new episodes that are not aired in Europe yet.

And there are tons and tons of reality shows, most of them about loosing weight, saving money or fake judge shows. It is weird how many of these shows that actually exist. There are also competition shows: Making the cheerleading team, the best coyote ugly, superstar hair challenge, Tabitha’s salong take over – who does actually watch a show where some random woman renovates a hair salon? Beats me. But these show come on running

Or there is actually nothing on TV. Like in the mornings, when I eat breakfast. Either there are news, or really old re-runs that I have seen a hundred times. And then, of course, commercial. In Sweden, we all think that Americans would have commercials every time there is a scene change in the series, movie or news. But we are so wrong. Right then, there is actually no commercial break. The breaks are before and after and following the intro and basically all the time. I am not kidding, there is actually a break each 7-10 minutes. And it is so irritating!

So the best way is to avoid them and actually drink a cup of tea and read a good book!

Cheers,
Ulrike

Mats Sundin is coming to Vancouver

Ulrike — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:22:08 +0000

The latest days, weeks and months, the only thing that has been talked about on the sport pages is Mats Sundin. Because, yes, finally, he has joined the Vancouver Canucks team! And no, I am not in love with ice hockey, but living in Canada, you do not really have any choice. Even at my jobs, both coffee shops are run by ’foreigners’ who have been living here for approximately 10-15 years, ice hockey is the great theme of the day. Topics range from ’Did you see the game yesterday?’, ’I knew that Canada would beat Sweden in the Junior World Championship, you Swedes are just not good enough’ to ’Sundin has joined the Canucks!!’. Ironically, I have heard the two last statements from the same person.

And whenever I say that I am from Sweden, all male customers automatically start listing all the Swedish ice hockey players that play in Canadian or American teams. And I am not really interested anyway, but have started to learn all the names…and being not interested has not really been an argument for TV. Because now that Sundin has joined the Vancouver team, the provincial channel will of course make a show called ’The Sundin Show’ and has already showed so many interviews, that even I have not missed anything on Sundins professional life.

Of course, teasing Canadians for loving their ice hockey is a really amusing thing to do. I think that is what has kept me alive during the whole Sundin news. Nonetheless, I know it will only get worse – because Sundin will play his first game with the Canucks tonight and that will probably cause another wave of ice hockey fanatics to approach this ‘Swedish’ girl and demand insightful comments about ice hockey. I will not give in though; serving their coffee faster is the best answer!

Cheers,
Ulrike

Winter Wonderland: City in Chaos

Ulrike — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:50:36 +0000

This post should originally have been posted a few weeks back, but the whole turmoil of jobs, snow and sleep made me forget all about it. So now, enjoy! (And a quick note on the post, not much has changed since then!)

You would never believe it. Every Canadian I have met so far, and even the guidebook, they all said that it would not snow in Vancouver. And if it would actually snow, than it would be slush and not any real snow. All these sources where wrong. Than this year, Vancouver of course has the most wintery winter ever! I just love it. There is snow everywhere. We have around 15 centimeters currently and more is to come! The whole landscape is the most beautiful, all the trees are white and it is really a wonderful landscape for the upcoming holidays.

On the other hand, every Canadian and the all-knowing guide book also mentioned that if there would be any snow in the city, all would be chaotic. And everyone was right about this! Not only does everyone seem unprepared (even though we had good weather reports about this for over a week before it started) but the Vancouverites do not seem to know how to cope with it. Colleagues and Canadian friends from other places than Greater Vancouver all know that snow tires are essential and that you should dress warm, wear proper shoes and invest more time when you are going places.

But the people here just don’t adjust to the new winter landscape. I don’t want to judge everybody, but I have seen many road accidents and some pedestrians are just not fit to be outside. All the buses are late and overfull, which does keep the cars of the street but still does not say that the bus drivers know how to drive the bus carefully.

Even worse is actually the City of Vancouver not responding to the heavy snowfall. Roads are still unploughed! The main routes have been cleaned, but the pavements are not even salted. Walking around means that you really have to have proper boots on – and not wearing ballerina shoes like a saw a girl at the café the other day. It seems just so strange to me that there really is not preparation at all for any snowfall here. In Sweden my city does not get much snow, but they still have the roads cleared to 7am when everyone cycles to work.

Anyhow, despite all the disturbances, I really really enjoy all the snow around. And passed my first free day in three weeks on skis. The first time ever! And I did look fun, but did not hug any trees or fall over more than once. I only realised that I do not like to make left turn! :) I went up Grouse Mountain and had a glorious view of Vancouver! Really amazing. And the slopes where great too (according to those who know this stuff). I kept to the smaller ones, being over taking by kids who were just racing down! I did try one greater slope, but it took my about an hour to get down, so I think I’ll stick to the smaller ones in the future. At least until I have got a real clue of how to make myself turn left! So more skiing is planned for the future!

More news are that I quit. I found myself two new jobs, both in coffee shops. I make slightly more money and have more contact with the customers. The downside is that I now work six real days a week and have less flexible time. An I have been working around the clock for over three weeks. So the skiing today was really great, as it also was a good way to celebrate my first day of in a long time. I will see how long I will stay on my new jobs, as I do feel that they might not be quite right for me. But I will give them a real try before searching for anything else.

Live here is still great – and with these final words I will leave you alone once more. :) I hope that you are all ok and have a great time with your family and friends over the holidays!

Cheers,
Ulrike

Christmas

Ulrike — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:01:43 +0000

Dear everyone!

About a week ago it started. I was walking home from a fruitless day in the city and heard a bunch of girls discuss in girlie high-pitched voices that Starbucks had brought out the red cups and that they were sooo happy about that and that they really looked forward to CHRISTMAS.

Oh no, was my first thought, such young slightly misguided girls that are awaiting Christmas in the middle of November already. But then I was hooked. I started to see Christmas-things everywhere â€“ commercial on the bus, ads in the newspapers, articles about the perfect gift for her/him/them/us/everyone, shiny little lamps on every store and decorations around houses. I had to give in when the decorator came to my work place and put up the Christmas decoration: the words â€œSeason greetingsâ€ on the entrance door and a lamppost in christmasy colors (light and dark blue) in a circle of mistletoes. I am not sure if these pictures actually enhance any Christmas-feelings, but they do have a certain flair of something. (And for everyone who goes: â€œWorkplace, she has work?!?â€ â€“ I will tell you more about that when I have received my first pay cheque and have recovered from that shock (which will not be caused by too many zeros on the paper)).

So anyway, Christmas is here. People now talk about â€œgoing home for Christmasâ€, â€œbuying gifts for relativesâ€ and â€œlets do something togetherâ€. I am more in the last category. I wonâ€™t be with my family for Christmas and even though Alexâ€™s parents will show up here just after the holidays, there are other lonely souls just like myself out there when everybody should celebrate the family event. So, the plans are not finalised, but range from ordinary dinner to big Christmas party. I am not sure which I would prefer; the only thing I actually hope for is having my day off on Christmas. But I guess someone has to work.

So, these are also my last words on Christmas. I wished most of you Happy Holidays already when I left the country, and the rest of you I will see before the December 24/25. Otherwise, live in Canada is great. I really start to love the city and there is so much more that I would like to do. I have not been on any adventures since the last time (if you donâ€™t count a birthday party at a Koreans friendâ€™s place, which in the end not only had the famous American beer drinking contest but also had a room full off people from at least 15 different nationalities that all were Ã¼ber-happy) but I hope to see some more scenery for the next time!

Cheers,
Ulrike