Preface: This is my friend Sean. Sean and I have been close friends for a number of years, and one of the joys about Sean is that he appreciates the weird and the silly. This has been very beneficial for our friendship, because I often enjoy being weird and silly. On Saturday at the market, I somehow developed a collection of ultra-miniature produce - an onion, a garlic, a potato and a zucchini. I was overjoyed with my collection and knew I had to share the joy with someone. At first I thought of a child, because of the minute size of the vegetables, but then I thought that a child couldn't possibly fully appreciate the novelty of my collection. So my next immediate thought was my friend Sean! As you can see from this photo, he was quite pleased with the gift.
I have now been living in rural BC communities for five months. I currently consider home to be Cawston, BC. Vancouver seems like a place of my past, though I still make the trek into town every two to three weeks. Do I miss the city? Honestly I have to say no.
Given that our culture and relationships are so technology based these days, I feel as connected to my friends as I did when I lived in the city, and I have access to the same information (minus the free concert announcements) as I did as an urban dweller. I have just touched upon the two items that I do in fact miss from city life - being in the physical presence of my social network and concerts. To solve the first, every weekend that I am in the city I jam pack the time with visits, dates, catch ups and always some adventures with my close friends. I believe my frienships will last for many years because my displacement from the city has not resulted in my exclusion from regular involvement in my friends lives. That being said, I have the personality and drive to plan elaborately timed weekends and maximize my quality time with each individual.
For example, this past weekend:
Friday - work 6 am - 3 pm; drive from Cawston to Abbotsford (3hrs) to pick up Bonnie at goat farm; drive to Surrey to drop-off coworker at sky train and pick-up friend from highschool who just moved to BC; grab sushi and watch 8 pm Harry Potter movie; pick-up desserts for midnight snack with Bonnie's brother and wife with whom we will stay Friday night
Total friends seen Friday (4)
Saturday - work 7 am - 2.30 pm at Farmer's Market in West End (6 friends stop by/help work the market); go meet 2 friends for Kitsilano Street festival where I bump into 2 more friends; go to BBQ in North Vancouver with cousin and family (3 friends)
Total friends seen Saturday (13)
Sunday - climbing in Squamish from 9 am - 3.30 pm (repeat friend from Saturday); dinner with cousin (repeat from Saturday) and say hello to cousin and girlfriend; leave Vancouver at 7pm to arrive home at 11 pm
Total friends seen Sunday (2 new)
So in a matter of less than 48 hrs I saw 19 friends and had new exciting experiences with each to continue to build our relationships. That being said, I slept little and a few of them were seen by pure chance, still I like to think the world works in mysterious ways for a reason!
What don't I miss about the city? I have been thinking about this a lot and the list is long:
traffick; crowds; consumerism; materialism; vanity; disconnect from nature; office jobs; conformity; living in a basement; rent prices; commuting; pollution; feeling like you are part of a machine/insignificant
The list can go on and on, but basically what I have realized is that as long as I can go to the city every now and then (and luckily against city traffic on weekends) I am very happy living in rural towns. At the end of my work day, I am still able to pick up the phone and call a friend or chat online as I sun tan on my porch, except I am surrounded by mountains, fields and wildlife instead of sky scrapers, traffick noise and pollution.
I am interested to see how I feel at 8 months when I am about to move back to Vancouver for a short time. Until then I am taking full advantage of what I have.
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