Canada! Initial impressions

Touched down in Vancouver day before last. Hoorah! Canada! When I went to the taxi, I almost tried to get into the drivers side... then... I tried to get into the passenger side... you sit in the back though in Canada... whoops! Taxi driver turned out to be a real crazy... suggested I get an older Canadian boyfriend with a car and money to drive me around. He also gave me his phone number and said that he's gonna try and find a house for me to live. He was a right freak. I feel bad, I should have just said not to worry about it, I wasn't sure how though. I gotta learn how to say no to freaks.

Korean dude I was sitting next to on the plane who didn't speak very good english gave me his business card too, wants to meet up while he's working and living in Vancouver too. Shoulda said no.. Oh well. Not sure what's more mean, out right saying no, or taking the card and just never contacting.

Staying at Becks place at the moment, it's real nice. I've never stayed on a couch at someones place before, so it's kinda weird, but pretty cool too.

Went downtown yesterday to sus out job agency and housing place. Lady told me to chill till Thursday, have some orientation meeting then. So that's exactly what I'm doing. Pretty different from Melb in first appearanced. Not nearly as well presented. Cracks in the pavement, not as nice looking. Doesn't seem to have as much personality or spark. It's only early days though, so we'll see how it goes. Googled a few live music venues, so might sus them out to see what it's like.

Main differences and confusions:
- people driving on the right side of the road. Bigger deal than I thought it would be, especially when trying to cross the road, or catch a bus, really gotta think about it.

- walking on the right side of the foot path, and on elevators. All of a sudden it's me who's the arsehole pissing everyone off by standing on the wrong side. Had a few encounters of almost bumping into people coz we keep going the same way to dodge each other.

- tax! None of the prices on ANYTHING include tax. Tax rates change depending on the province you're in. In BC it's about 13.8% or some shit. In other states it's as low as 5%. It's annoying. Feel like I dont know how much anything is really worth, especially with conversion from Australian dollars.

- tipping. What the fuck. Worst shit ever. Apparently meant to tip between 10 - 15% of total bill. Makes dinning out a real pain in the arse. It's real rude to not leave a tip to because the people who work here get paid dick all. Apparently $30 000 a year is a good wage... wowzer.

So hopefully I find a cheap house somewhere conveniently located near the CBD or public transport. Hopefully it wont be as much of a shit hole as my last place. Hopefully I find a job that pays more than 4 dollars an hour.