4.5 months down many more to go!

Hey there!

This is my first ever blog so bear with me! I'm living in Vancouver for nearly 5 months now and i still feel I have only etched the surface of what Vancouver has to offer. Especially now with the Olympics there is so many things to do and see and not enough time to do everything I want to do.

It is very hard to experience what Vancouver has to offer during the weekdays as winter weather can be very depressing. I don't get home until 6 0r 7 in the evening. By the time you cook dinner, do housework and head to the gym the evening is over.

However, the evenings are brightening up week by week and the weather seems to be getting better. Hopefully in another months time the Spring buzz might have kicked in.

Work is very quiet at the moment I think it could be due to the Olympics and people are away. My co-workers have told me to enjoy it and to catch up with on paper work. I prefer to be bogged down and busy I don't like staying idle and having to look for work to do.

My contract at Westminster Savings has been renewed until the end of April. My boss is really sound and I think she is working on a way to keep me with WSCU until the end of my Visa. The company is going through re branding which means there will be a lot of extra work on top of the routine day to day and month to month jobs that need to be done. Pat, my boss is happy about my performance and she is delighted I have fitted into place within the department.

I'm very lucky to have a job related to my degree. To get a proper job here you would nearly want to source it before you leave Ireland as not many companies want to invest time and money in an employee if they are only going to be here for a year. The demand for skilled workers isn't the same as last year when apparently you could walk off the plane and be guaranteed a job.

The Olympics kicked of last weekend and the City has been buzzing ever since. There are loads of cultural events and street performances followed by fire works every evening. The price of a pint has gone up due to the Europeans not tipping the bar staff so many of the bars and restaurants have added an extra 18% onto the price of liquor. They are fleecing us over here. not to mention the line ups and the cost to get into a bar for a pint. It's a total catch 22 situation at the moment.

You have three choices the first you can drink at home until 11 or 12 and then head straight to a nightclub. However you will either need to "grease the bouncer" or wait for a minimum of 30 minutes in the line up. The second option I have is simply head out earlier than everyone else to secure a place in a bar before the mayhem begins. If I do this then I have the pleasure of paying ridiculous prices for drink. So now option one and two aren't looking great which leaves me with my third and final option. To stay in until the Olympics are over. Which is not happening!!