Notes From Vancouver Island, British Columbia - D & L

Changing Planes in Seattle -
Electronic signs and pre-recorded voice messages say everything once in English and again in Japanese

Cold -
Even though you are from Dallas, it is possible to worry about dying of hypothermia at the end of July. If you are told you have to wear a full-body survival suit to go out on the water, don't complain. You'll be glad you have it on.

Dave the Lab -
The Sidney Pier Hotel (not our hotel) has a black lab on staff. His name is Dave and the hotel guests can sign him out to take him on walks.

Driving from the Airport on Vancouver Island -
At first you think that gas is really cheap . . . until you realize that is the price per liter. Then you wonder exactly how big a liter is and start trying to convert amounts in your head. You glance down at the spedometer and freak out when you see that you are going 120 miles per hour . . . until you realize that is kilometers. Then you start trying to do the whole conversion thing again only this time with distance.

Inflatables -
Zodiacs are very zippy and lots of fun.

Books -
Sidney, BC is informally known as Booktown, due to all the bookstores.

Cod Snobbery -
Halibut, not cod, makes the best fish and chips.

Island Life -
Island life, or seaside resort town life, is the same all over the world. There are locals and then there is everybody else. All the idle talk is about how The Season is going and how to get through the Off Season. The local girls are way too pretty for the local boys but they are stuck with limited options and nowhere else to go. The summer jobs for kids always have something to do with helping helpless tourists navigate, park, shop, eat, or in some other way generally forget their normal lives. Lives that these kids would love to live for them . . .

Orcas -
The orcas are a force of nature for the residents and tourists. 3 pods (matrilineal families) of about 35 orcas each live year round in the waters off BC. Their daily movements are posted on blogs every day. Reports of sightings fill marine radio chatter. Each pod member has a letter-number designation and a name - "J-48 just popped up on me, and Ripples is right behind him. I don't see Grandma yet, though." The oldest pod member, J-1 (Grandma), was born in 1911. They can communicate with each other over miles. An official orca census has been kept since 1975. And we STILL don't know why they do the things they do.

Unequal Economics -
Poverty's rampant on Indian reservations, even in Canada.

Reading signs -
You are startled at the proper English spellings; words like organise and behaviour.

Disappearing Birds -
The cormorant population around the Haro Strait is declining rapidly, thanks to the rise in the bald eagle population. This is a good thing.

Happiness Is A... -
Whoever invented heated bathroom floor tiles (with digital controls!) deserves sainthood nomination.

It's Time to Pay for Something -
Okay, don't even think about trying to use an American Express card. And if you are looking for an ATM the banks all have unfamiliar names so you have to peer at the small print to see if you will even get your card back. And instead of the instructions being in English or Spanish they are in English or French. When your money finally does come out there is a brief moment of panic because it's all too colorful and glittery to be real money. You've selected the Monopoly ATM, or something.

No Lennox -
Air conditioner repairmen do not make a very good living in BC.

Otters -
It's possible to wake up at 6:30am, look out the window, and see river otters hunting for breakfast.

Vampire Novels -
British Columbia is the perfect place to read Stephenie Meyers's Twilight series.