It’s only been a month since I landed in Vancouver.  It’s a special place, and I should know; I’ve been all over the world.  I was born in Israel from Argentinean parents who moved me back to Buenos Aires, when I was just 5 years old.  I worked in Colombia for 6 months and slowly made my way north to the American east coast before surrounding myself by mountains. Things are a lot different in this wonderful land called Vancouver.

The sense I got in South America, is that they view North America as senseless and barbaric, referring mainly (if not only) to the United States.  So it’s no surprise that while living and growing up there, my family and I were always looking towards Europe; their style, their education, their sophistication, ultimately, their culture. For some reason we were dreaming of France.

So, I guess, Canada got thrown into that barbaric mix.  Perhaps because of its lower profile, South Americans, didn’t know much about this beautiful country and painted it an accusatory red white and blue.  Unjustified, to say the least.

When I realized I was coming to Vancouver I sensed that this was going to be a unique experience.  Never did I figure that Canada, of all places, would be on my itinerary.  Nevertheless, I knew very little about this country and the better quality of life compared to its noisy and chaotic neighbour.

So here I am, in this wonderful west coast city with its mountains, lush greenery, clouds, rain, sea, a broad spectrum of people and of course, ice hockey. Not wanting to arrive completely ignorant of my new home, I did some research on the Internet.  When I typed Vancouver into the search engine Google, my screen was full of superlatives.  Who knew? And once I arrived here I realized how correct Google was.

However, there are some things that Google won’t tell you. For instance, when you try to cross the street in Vancouver, drivers will gently stop and smile at you.  Or when you’re lost, there always seems to be someone willing to guide you. I find hospitality everywhere in Vancouver. People seem to be nice. Very nice, in fact. And it’s refreshing.  Is that too much too ask? Not here, it seems. 

I spent the first two weeks here with a fabulous family. They were welcoming, warm and they really made me feel at home.  Once, at dinner, I asked my host what’s wrong in this city, because there’s no way a city can be this perfect.

Well, that’s when the complaining started about the public transit and the riots…basically we spent the rest of the evening talking about these two issues; and those were just two main problems that came to her right away.

I couldn’t help but think to myself; this is priceless. I’m living in a city that has the ethics and morals to ask for a fairer society (even though this is one of the most equal cities in the world).  I thought to myself; I am living in a city that tries to make itself better.  I was fascinated. Not only do Vancouverites have the concience of knowing what’s good for them and what they need, but they also try to solve their problems and make things better. Common sense? Well, it should be, but that’s not the case in other parts of the world. 

So, after 30 days of living here, getting to know the place, breathing new air, meeting new people, walking the waterfront, eating lots of salmon, learning Canadian English (i.e. washrooms, not restrooms) and observing people’s behaviour; I am more than excited to stay here. It seems to me that Vancouver has always something new to offer.

Whether you like sports, or culture, nature or skiing, hiking or bar hopping, this city will satisfy your dreams. Yes, that’s right – I wrote dreams. Because the feeling of being here is so deep and marvelous that you’ll feel like you are in one of those “bed-time-flights,” as I call them.

So the next time someone types Vancouver into Google, I think it should say “paradise.”