So, I am nearly 2 months in and finding myself very settled here in Vancouver. As i predicted i havent kept this blog up due to my laziness but im hoping to get back on track now.
So where do i start?
The last entry i made i was explaining how everything appeared nice and clean and the people were friendly... well thats all still true. Matt and I stayed at Downtown HI for a few nights before we then moved onto a different hostel, one closer to Downtown (which makes no sense) called HI Central. We stayed there for about a week whilst we focussed all our attention and efforts on fidning a permanent place to live. We went to view lots of different places. At first a group of us in Van decided to look for a place to live together but that didnt work out and we found seperate places.
Matt and I, along with David (a scottish Swapper- (bunacer)) moved into a house in "upper" town which is about 20 mins away from central Downtown on a bus. The house is great. When we moved in Julianne, a Irish girl lived her with the landlord Jet. There was also a Canadian guy called Ryan living in the basement. I should just point out- basements over here are very livable spaces as most houses are build a floor above ground level and inside the house the stair case goes down rather than up like in most houses in UK. So Matt, David and I all moved downstairs into the basement. Matt and I have a resonable sized double room and David also. Ryan left shortly after we moved in.
Julianne was a great friend to have. Her and her Canadian boyfriend Jeff were great to hang out with. Matt and I took a cool trip up to Grouse Mountain with them and it was a really great day out in the snow! Jules and I got to sit on Santa knee and everything!
Unfortunately Jules left after a few weeks to go back to Ireland with Jeff. She is very missed and we were gutted they left! But we now have two new housemates, Marion and Caroline, two girls from France. They moved into Ryans old room. So now, in the basement there is me, Matt, Dave and the girls. Its great. We all share the mini kitchenette thing!
So two months in. We are settled into our new place and just enjoying living the life of a Vancouvanite! I have landed on my feet and found a great job that not only benefits my career but also pays very well and will hopefully enable me to save for trips to come.
The Job is working as a Rehabilitation Support Worker (RSW) so im still Hannah Watt RSW!!! Just not Registered Social Worker in this case! It pays very well and there appears to be less stress than an actual social work job which is a bonus! I basically work Sunday to Thursday 2-10pm supporting 8 semi-independent clients whom all have acquired brain injuries. 6 out of the 8 were all heroin addicts which caused theres brain injuries. There are some real Canadian charaters of which im intriged to get to know. One of them is an ex Hell's Angels gang member which is always fun!! So i support the clients in their day to day activities. Some of them need help shopping or taking to a doctors appointment. But the best thing is theres no personal care, cleaning, cooking, babysitting involved! I write up their reports and keep them on track with the rehab program. They are all very much like teenage boys and so alot of the work involves having to tell them off!! Something ive always loved doing!
So having spent all my UK money im now looking ahead to the future and starting afresh. My first pay check will be a relief! I will hope to save money to pay for some skiing lessons as the Mountains are a stones through away and while im in Canada i think i should attempt it!
Me and the boys (Matt, Dave and Adam) took a road trip to Seattle which was cool. We watched an American Football game which itself was rather boring yet being in the stadium was the best thing ever. So I will soon be planning some new trips, maybe to Vancouver Island, Las Vegas!!! and Whistler.
Lots of love to everyone at home xxxxxxx
