I felt so jet lagged but i’m here, getting ready for my first night in edinburgh. I wandered around Glasgow for a couple hours this morning but after a couple hours of sleep i think i have enough brain cells that i can function again. so its time to go back at it.
Also, I had a beer this afternoon at a pub on Rose Street called Dirty Dick’s.
Only one more day in the office. I’ve been counting the days for a while, but there is a certain satisfaction in getting to that last one. I expect there will be a lot of things that I’ll miss, but the little kid inside me can’t wait to go exploring so I’m not focusing on those things too much at the moment. This is the way I wanted to leave: a lot of the key things that I needed to get done are either done or very nearly there. I’ll spend my last day at work saying goodbyes and tidying up those last few things. I’m feeling pretty good about that.
It looks like I’ll catch a ferry back to the island on Sunday. Weather permitting, dad will have some hay bailed and waiting in the field for me on the farm. That part of it I’m feeling less good about, but I suppose it’ll be a nice change.
There is very little time left for me in Vancouver. Less than one week to go. I’ve been trying to catch up with the people I have seen far too little of over the last couple months. Knowledge of the impending trip has made me a little more anti social than usual – this week is the opposite, and I’m busy almost every night this week.
I’ve been trying to decide how I feel about this city and my time here, but I’m lacking perspective I think. Courtenay to Victoria to Vancouver – those are the only cities I’ve come to know really well, but each is on such a different scale that there isn’t much to compare. If this trip works out well, I’ll have a more international outlook and I’ll be able to compare Vancouver to cities that are actually like Vancouver. Maybe then, after some time has passed, my experience here will come more into focus and I’ll know how I feel about the city.
A lot has changed since I’ve been here. I’m more able to stand on my own than when I left the island, I’m more physically fit, I have skills that I didn’t have before – if I work at it, I can even pass for an adult. On those points, it’s definitely been a very positive time with lots of personal growth. However, it’s very hard to meet people here. I’m not sure why that is exactly. I might not be working hard enough or I could just be an odd case (probably the reason), but I haven’t really found many people in Vancouver that I click with and after going through that for the last few years I’m wondering if other cities would be different. I guess I’ll see.
In the book I’m reading right now, a character was describing his earlier life as the world’s best wheelman (he travelled with carnivals, setting up and operating those giant Ferris wheels): when he hurt himself and couldn’t do the work anymore, he spiralled downwards. He lost all his connections with the only world he’d ever known (he thought that was his perfect place and time, the place he really belonged). He became homeless, and a nasty drunk. Even before then he always thought of himself as the lone wolf, he didn’t need anything from anybody. The book is called the Ragged Company and all the members of the Ragged Company have a story and are slowly coming back to a normal-ish life after meeting each other and winning the lottery. Being a part of their little group changed him and the after-effects of the lottery win really accelerated it.
I suppose that travelling is my lottery – it’ll hopefully trigger a bit of a shake-up. Initiate a radical change to my life and wait to see what pops out. I’m anxious though. For no reason I can think of, I’m going for longer and longer walks around Vancouver. Feeling a little nomadic I guess. Last night I took the bus from Commercial down to Kits for no particular reason and walked back to downtown over the Burrard Bridge. Spent a good hour and half walking around.
My living in a few places around Vancouver and walking around a lot should make me a bit of an expert on the city. If that were the case, I should probably have stronger feelings about leaving it. Maybe it’ll hit me later, a few months after I’ve gone.
Its official I will be flying from Vancouver to Glasgow on Thomas Cook Airlines on July 14. There is no turning back now. In another 10 days or so I will have my UK Visa. Things are starting to fall into place.
Just have to do the biometric portion. Next week, I’ll book a flight.
Most people my age are not fascinated by historic battles, figures, architecture and communities in the same way that I am. In preparations for my departure, I have been reading up on Scottish history. I have always believed that the actions of our forbears and the events that they lived through shape us in ways we seldom recognize. Of course, its hard for me to read about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce or the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charlie and not be engrossed. The great castles I hope to see when I visit were more than just large mansions for the wealthy (even though they may be that now); they were constructed to protect Scottish land and people. When you look at all the fighting between the clans or between Scotland and England, war was present in their lives for centuries. Growing up when I did and where I did, I never experienced that. However, Scots came to Canada in the tens of thousands (including people from my own family) and it would be foolish to believe that those experiences did not enstil characteristics and values in my ancestors that influenced the world they helped build here and the children they raised here.
In terms of history, the clan system is a style of government and community that I’m very interested in. When I think of most nations at that time, they all seemed to used some version of a feudal system: king/queen at the top with nobles (large landowners) beneath and then a whole lot of peasants (serfs). Clan chieftains were elected and despite having elements of the feudal system, authority came from the clan and not the other way around. Also, children were frequently raised by clan members other than their parents. Apparently to encourage cohesion within the clan.
I’m looking forward to the opportunity to explore some of my own Scottish roots. My grandmother’s mother was part of a clan, but I think there are also some connections on my fathers side as Wright seems to be a name common to families in an area in Southern Scotland. It could be a coincidence, but I could also have more Scottish roots than I thought.
In my reading, I’ve also been very impressed with the number of key intellectual and literary figures that have come from Scotland. I even picked up a book of Robert Burns poems from the library book sale. David Hume was one of the most influential philosophers of his age. Sir Walter Scott and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave us characters and works that are still relevant today. Adam Smith is basically the founder of modern economics. Other great Scottish people did their work in Canada and the US: Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie, Alexander Keith and of course Sean Connery.
Speaking of Alexander Keith, besides being English speaking, another advantage of going to Scotland is they drink the alcohol I like. The more wine friendly areas in France, Spain and Italy are usually higher on most people’s travel list, but I’m not most people and don’t really like wine that much. I’m too busy anticipating all the small microbreweries and their many kinds of beer. And because its Europe, I can enjoy it outside or at one of the many pubs. Whiskey tours are also offered in the north east where they have almost half the distilleries.
Scotland, particularly Edinburgh or Glasgow (or even Aberdeen) are more on the scale I’m looking for. Paris, London and Rome may have a lot of opportunity in terms of jobs, but they are far too big and have too many people. I think it would be overwhelming to live in a city like that. Edinburgh is only about a million people. Half of what I’m living in now… Plus where else could I get my very own Loch Ness monster souvenir.
A Canadian in Scotland. I’ll be moving from Vancouver to Edinburgh or another Scottish city in July. After three years working in government, I’ve decided that its time to move on and try something else. This will be my first crack at living abroad. I visited France and Belgium last year, but I really enjoyed Europe and two and half weeks was just not enough time. You can see and do a lot, but you really need more time to get a sense of the place and what the people are like. I’ve wanted to go to Scotland since high school and it was the first place on my list.
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Wright After Reading 