February 18, 2010, 5:06 pm
Yesterday I woke up early (10:30am) and decided to try video blogging by showing you just how close I live to Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
There were more road blocks around the venue than I thought and was to lazy to see if I could cycle down them. So I went Downtown briefly and on the busy (underground) Sky Train I made conversation with some other Vancouverites about the various routes that all get reffered to as Sky Train, even though most of my usual line (The Canada Line which opened one week before I arrived) is underground. After they left I realised I didn’t think about the simple way to date how old each line is. The Expo Line: 1986 when the World Expo was in Vancouver (Sky Train built 1985?). The Millennium Line, built in time to start the second millennium(actually late by 2 years). The Canada Line, well that must be the year Canada won the Winter Olympics in Vancouver? The Wikipedia Sky Train article has lots more interesting information.
Overall Vancouver transit (public transport) impresses me, it’s good to see it finally being used as much as it can handle, and still Vancouver staff and passengers are over friendly and polite. The busy stations and packed buses remind me of a normal day in London, so I really wonder how it will cope with hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics.
January 29, 2010, 7:10 pm
The latest issue of The Totem times is out, and there is another article by me, this time they added a picture to go with it. I was hoping to have a longer article too, but I think that will be in the Literary Supplement next month. I think I grabbed the last copy, so here is the online version:
Qogi (Question of Great Importance)
The philosophical debates that need to be made by university students at 3am after a weekend night.
Who would win in a battle: 100 ducked sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck?
That incredibly over-sized duck took the height advantage. Regardless of tactics the only method of inflicting pain suggested for the horses was to kick the duck’s legs with their hooves. Can you actually hurt webbed feet? The duck might have used it’s wings, but squashing was the final move.
This month, discuss:
What inanimate object would you like to be for the things that happen in front of it?
If these walls could talk, the stains this carpet has seen. Has one elevator heard the best gossip, or a bed seen the most diverse students? What would you learn over the months, terms, and years?
Answers and clarification questions can be posted as comments below. All qogis and their answers can be viewed at BritishStudent.ca/qogi shortly after relevant The Totem Times issue is on the newspaper stand.
January 16, 2010, 4:49 pm
Yesterday my friend from back home, Beckie, asked me online if I had got the birthday letter she sent. I had memories of getting a letter from her at some point, but I couldn’t see where I put it and I’m sure I hadn’t got anything from her since my birthday and the winter break.
Today I checked my post to find a letter from the UK scribbled with multiple corrections. On the back of the envelope was a big stamp “MAIL WAS DELAYED BECAUSE OF WRONG OR MISSING…” and every box has been ticked. Beckie might be a bit embarrassed at me posting this, but I just found it so funny the amount they stamped and wrote on the envelope, I had to share photos.
There isn’t anything terribly wrong with the address. They get annoyed about the mailbox number, but if they had told me what it would be before I got here then I could have made sure everyone had it up to date. It was a close call with whoever processed the mail, they gave it a “Return to sender” stamp which later got scribbled out.
Thanks Beckie for the letter, also thanks for the Christmas cards Susan and Graham, my Nottingham relatives, and my parents. If anyone wants to send me some post, here is the correct address they want you to use:
Gregory Marler
Box 854
2525 West Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1W9
December 23, 2009, 5:26 pm
Over the last week people started moving out of Totem Park Residence enough to make it noticably quieter. Last Thursday and Friday nights were lively and some crazy people took an exam the morning after drinking, then briefly came back before leaving for the airport. After the weekend my floor still made a bit of noise but our days consisted of sitting around maybe playing on Khasan’s xbox or cycling around the hallway.
Then it came to Tuesday, the last night, with only me, Henry, Khasan, Alex (who had made a surprise return), Bob, Jin, and perhaps three of the very quiet people. On Wednesday the canteen had less than a third of it’s cereal selection, I went for Cornflake crumbs. The grill was closed and being super-cleaned (so no fry up to end the semster), even the wrap/sandwich station and salad bars were empty. It came to just me and Jin on the floor and at exactly midday we decided to leave rather than wait to be removed.
I’m now across the road at Pierre’s place in Thunderbird Residence. I’m sharing the internet with him and sleeping here for two nights, until early Christmas Day we set off with Felicia on a road trip. First stop is Calgary, then Banff (for my birthday), then Jasper, and back to Vancouver. I met them both in the week before term started as they are also exchange students, and we meet up now and then to do things like eat French snails. It should be a long exciting trip, hopefully I won’t come back as an ice cube. I might try to make quick blog posts at some places, but otherwise assume I’m not going to be online much, the first Christmas that’s happened!
December 4, 2009, 7:54 pm
The Totem Times is a newspaper-style collection of articles by residents and Residential Advisors living in Totem Park. It’s a very low print run, but manages to come to about 24 pages each month. The December issue has just come out tonight, and there is a piece by me. Qogi will should now have a regular appearance for the rest of the year, I already have the topics for the next few months planned. Anyway, here follows the article. Please leave comments below with your answers, I have to make my next submission fairly soon.
Qogi (Question of Great Importance)
The philosophical debates that need to be made by university students at 3am after a weekend night.
How many 5-year olds could you take on in a fight?
Answers ranged from 2 to 200+. The conclusion seemed to be 8 to 30, any more and you’re a monster. As you are unarmed, swinging a child to hit the others is a common choice. Those that said over 100 would consider pulling limbs out. The groin punch/kick is the biggest fear.
This month, discuss:
Who would win in a battle: 100 ducked sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck?
What tactics and body parts would they use. We’ll assume the battle is on land. If it’s an obvious answer, what number of duck sized horses would make a closer match, or swing the victory?
Answers and clarification questions can be posted as comments below. A summary and the next question will be online at BritishStudent.ca/qogi shortly after The Totem Times issue is on the newspaper stand.
November 21, 2009, 1:59 pm
On Wednesday night I went to the Commons Block Ballroom to see Totem Park One Act Theatre. It was started only last year, by the wonderfully tallented, 5th floor RA Sam Landa, who is the executive producer this year. Totem Park is the residence of 6 buildings for 1st years that I live in, so they only had about 2 months to find cast and crew from the new residents. One of the cast was also from 5th floor, Katie Taylor!
It was really amazing and I’m so glad I went, not just to support Sam and Katie. There seemed to be an overall theme of love, thankfully they all leant to the funny side rather than soppy. Afterwards the culture levels were restored to normal by watching The Lion King in the Haida 5 lounge. The following night I went to watch all the acts again, it was better than cleanning my room or watching Vampire Diaries.
November 19, 2009, 11:21 am
I like sending old fashioned (aka snail) mail, mainly because it increases the chances of getting post yourself. When your away from home it’s good to send postcards, so it shows where you are and can be stuck up somewhere. But I’m fussy about choosing designs, and then I don’t like to send the same design more than twice.
My solution to this problem is a UK-started company called Moo. They do printing in a new way that allows you to order a small amount of a product but every item can use a different photo/design on one side. Most popular are their “Moo Cards” which are smaller than the usual business card but have become a techy and arty fashion icon. I have lots of fun saying “take my business card”, but even more fun saying “which of my business cards would you like?” as I hold out a few in a fan shape.
They have a base in the US, so they can deliver to me here in Vancouver! I thought it was taking forever, but 2 weeks and they’re here, just fitting in my mailbox! I kind of got a bit excited and ordered 60 (using 11 designs with photos I had taken), and I probably don’t have that many friends.
I’ll sell them to you at $1.50 a card or $7 for 5. E-mail postcards at britishstudent.ca or pop by my room if you know where I am. I don’t have stamps, but if your very nice and ask me before I make a trip to the SU post office then I might get some for you at cost. Also, feel free to comment below on your favourite design even if you don’t buy any.
October 24, 2009, 10:40 pm
The Totem Football League (TFL) is a 5-a-side American Football tournament between floors in the residence that choose to sign up. On Saturday I woke up and went to breakfast just about the time they were kicking off (1pm). I ate on the balcony so I could watch over Totem’s back lawn and see them play. I think this might be their last game of the season. Despite being a great team (including massive football players Ben and Justice who were at the Thunderbird Homecoming Game), I don’t think it’s been going too well. The first game or two were forefitted as Haida 6 were hungover or asleep, the last game they had 4 people constantly playing but won.
This time we made it to the game against a Shuswap team. I cheered my floor-mates on from the balcony as I ate some beef stew with mash potatoe and carrots. I got into the cheering a bit so went down to the field to help cheer them on. H-A -I-D-A, Haida’s gonna win today! Go Haida, Go Haida!
I really got into taking photos of the game, so there are a lot here though most people probably won’t be interested. Remember to click the first thumbnail then click (or press right on the keyboard) through all the photos and read the captions. I managed to survive the whole game without really knowing the rules of “football”. Feet are occasionaly used and I think we won in the end, or our cheer said we did just to be silly. I’m sure someone will comment below on the actual score and our tounament standing, or at least comment on their love of Ben’s cheerleading!
September 27, 2009, 2:23 pm
In the Totem Park residence on UBC each of the 6 houses has it’s own colour. Yesterday (Saturday) we had the first colour war of the year. This means we all dress up in our house colour and play some games against the other houses for a couple of hours, with a lot of chanting in that time. Then I went to Homecoming of the UBC Thunderbirds. More chanting took place, but in a stadium with bam bams.
