Find My Country

Richmond, B.C. is almost the same as the rest of Canada. Almost. According to some Google statistics, they are actually the cheapest people in the country – and this picture proves it, conclusively.
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English teachers have always had this central position in my academic life, despite my interest in the sciences. Whether it was Mrs. Jones telling me to work harder (despite my getting an A-), Mrs. Berman giving me some great real-life advice, Doctor Menke paving my way into the I.B. program, or Mrs. Apel giving me Heart of Darkness to read when everyone else was reading neurotic literature by bad Canadian authors, I can still remember each English teacher I have dealt with. To this day, I respect each and every one of them for trying to challenge me. (As an aside, I am also honestly ashamed at the fact that my spelling and grammar has atrophed to such an awful extent, considering the effort they put in to polish my abilities. I blame my Japanese studies and years of meaningless blather on the Internet) In this tradition, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. P – a Canadian English teacher who moonlights at a small strip-mall Pizzaria in Richmond, B.C.

Our adventure began in Burnaby, when me and my Vancouverite buddy Simon decided to go crusing for Pizza. I had promised him that I wouldn’t feed him 1$ Pizza, and we’d go to a nice local spot. I also wanted to visit the infamous suburb of Richmond – the home of the cheapest people in Canada (as it is the #1 group of people who use the awesome Red Flag Deals website) and incidentally, the unofficial “Chinatown, Canada”. Why we wound up in “Chinatown Canada” while looking for a Pizza is a story in bad logic and sentamentality getting in the way of efficiency, but we had a good time crusing the streets, wondering if we’d find a ‘Tom Wang’s Big Pizza’ anywhere. Finally, on the verge of giving up, we saw a small mall across the street from the local Toys R Us where there was a Pizza store – Camy’s Pizza. (I am not 100% sure about the name). We nodded at each other and turned in.

Mr. P, the owner, was a bit shocked to see us walk in, and we had a seat. His son warmed up two large Vegetarian pizzas while we talked. We talked about my trip, the places I had been, and a few other things. Mr. P mentioned he had thaught school in Port Coquitlam – and he seemed to be very shocked when I knew it was the home of Terry Fox. Mr. P was a former English teacher and talked about how Terry’s classfellowes doubted he could do anything like what he was planning. He talked about business, how tough it was to open a pizzaria in Richmond, and how his students reacted to his night job. The pizzaria is a family-run business, with his son, daughter and disabled sister assisting in the best way they could.

In another world, me and Mr. P wouldn’t be able to have a conversation like this. Split by nationality or race or whatever artificial creation we human beings create for ourselves, we would have ignored everything we had in common. That is a state that is all-too-common among us peons of this world. To this end, Canada and Multiculturalism is a grand experiment. It cannot be summed up in the ethnic or religious identity that you’ll see in the US or embraced by fringe political parties. Frankly, we do not have any common roots or common ties. What we do have in common is our common humanity – and divorced from the propaganda of our home nations, it is all that we need to form a great country. If immigrants can throw away the hatreds of the past (while holding onto the non-hateful aspects of their identity), we will have formed the first world-nation that has ever existed.

I am not particularly confident that is possible, however. Mr. P’s pizzaria is inside an Asian strip mall, and next to some high-grossing businesses. However, in the month he has been operating, not a single Asian customer has graced his door. Whether this is simply a lack of interest in Pizza, a dislike of his decor, or something more sinister, is not for me to say. In the unlikely case that it is something more than simple customre tastes, then it is time for us to re-evaluate the processes by which we allow people to enter our country. Canada is too important an experiment to let fail because of a few small minds who fail to grasp its greatness.

Apologies are due to my loyal readers – I do have some articles in the pipeline, but I have been a bit stressed with work over the past few days.

I am working on the Japanese translations for the site, as well as working out where and when I will be leaving Montreal. There will be something new tomorrow, for sure. (I have two articles nearly done)

I was going through pictures I put up on my server and found this one:

Frankly, I’m lucky to be alive. I was driving from Dawson City in the Yukon to Keno City (Population: 8 people) when I nearly fell off the road. This was despite me driving a Chevy Blazer with 4 wheel drive at speeds of less than 20 km/h. The road was gravel and the shoulder was too soft to drive on. I still managed to drive over the mountain road into town. The city itself was abandoned, and only partially torn down. However it was quite fascinating to me. I spent an hour there and then tried to head back. Driving up the mountain, right next to the mountain edge was insanely difficult. I can only assure you that I did nearly die that day, once or twice. I stopped taking pictures at the point where I was driving up hill and nearly slipped off. I got out of the car and looked downhill to realize I was centimeters away from a long tumble down the mountain. I had to drive almost 7 hours – 2 hours at speeds less than 40 km/h just to get out of the Silver Trail and crashed in the local Whitehorse hostel. The next morning when I woke up I was so shook up I couldn’t drive properly.

I didn’t bother posting it here before since I was afraid my family would have a collective heart attack, but I guess things are OK like this.

Vancouver is a city that is reknown for many things. A major west coast port city, with tremendous amounts of wealth (partially as a result of Hong Kong’s monied elite coming to Canada prior to the British handover), Vancouver is on the rise, as a financial and shipping anchor in Canada. With all the economic news, we tend to forget how tremendously beautiful the city is – and no where shows this off more than English Bay on Beach Avenue.

The beach is a paradise if you like beautiful women with their expensive, stylish dogs. Vancouver is actually a great spot to bring your dogs. There are many parks where they can simply run free, and clothing stores specializing in dogs. I even saw some pastery shops that were entirely dedicated to Mankind’s canine companions.

Indestructible solitude,
though dreams, hopes and thoughts must be
the oily darkness can my camera only see.
Obsidian serinitude
Your spirit is forever hidden from me.

The slightly chilly waters, coupled with games, lovers holding hands, and the general easy attitude is a snapshot of the best of modern life. If Sinatra had come here, I am sure “Chicago” would instead be “Vancouver”, with lyrics like “On Beach street, that great street, I’d just like to say – you’ll see things you won’t see on Broadway”. (Yeah I know it is an avenue – but I never claimed to be a great song writer writer anyway).

A few years ago there was a debate about Turks and Caicos, two Caribbean islands that wanted to join Canada. I don’t see why we would need to bring them on board when we already have a Pacific Ocean paradise – namely, Vancouver Island and the towns of Tofino and Ucluelet (Locally called “Ukee”).

Tofino is a surfer’s paradise. Long Beach and Wickannish Beach are both impressive parts of Pacific Rim National Park – possibly the most impressive beaches in Canada.

Incinerator Rock is large enough to shred any surfer foolish enough to try to evade its shores.

There are other, smaller, beaches such as Middle Beach. I actually stayed at the Middle Beach Lodge, which is an excellent spot. They advertise rates of $120 a night, but I negotiated them to $75/night. There is no Internet connection, but you can always use a wireless Internet cafe in town – they charge 5$ for unlimited access during the shoulder season.

Pacific Rim National Park is amazing for the level of maintenance done. All the bridges were well maintained, as well as the beach itself. Unlike the filthy beaches in Tottori (for example), the garbage here is cleared daily.

Radar Hill has a plaque which commemorates our military victory over China. In a show of unbelivable chutzpah during a holding battle in the Korean War, the Canadian regiment ordered their allies to shell their position to break the enemy attack which had already routed the Australians, the British, and the Americans. The reckless bravery of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry is one of the stories that would be made into a huge Hollywood blockbuster – if the heroes were from the “Good Ol’ US of A”. No need to bash our American neighbours though – the President of the US presented the Canadian unit with a unit citation. This is the only time in history that it has been awarded to a Canadian unit.

The locals are ridiculously friendly. These guys were so drunk that the fella with the red beard (“Benzo”) was laying on the floor, unable to move.

There is an amazing restaurant in town that I whole-heartedly recommend. Pasticceria Conradi on 311 Neill Street (just enter the city and go straight on the street until you have to turn; and turn left, and you will see it) served the best pasta I have eaten in the entire country. The chef’s special was great both nights I was there.

Tofino can be cloudy – the only downside to living in a place where the temperature doesn’t drop below zero. However, on a clear night, you can view every star in the sky – the benefits to living in a town without light pollution. Seeing the stars while sitting on Middle Beach can almost qualify as a religious experience – it simultaneously reminds one of how small we are, and how isolated our existance truly is. It also reminded me of how vulnerable I was – there were bear sightings in the area.

(For the record, most bears do not behave in a predatory fashion)

Tofino is the western-most point you can reach, by road, in Canada. It also has my highest recommendation. Tofino is a stunning locale with friendly locals and tremendous views. Forget the Niagara Fallses of the world – Tofino will be my honeymoon destination, some day.