There are few cities in the world that have the ability to transport me to different places at different periods of my life. Walking the streets of Vancouver is like stepping into a time machine that launches me back to other cities – Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Amsterdam, New Delhi, Mexico City.
Sometimes the trip down memory lane is triggered by a shopfront sign, others by a scent reminiscent of almost forgotten street food savoured in a foreign place, or it might be an overheard conversation among friends whom I pass on the street. I close my eyes and listen. These little snippets of language – sometimes in Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Dutch or Spanish – can unleash a torrent of memories of conversations in other countries. Just like that I’m standing on a Vancouver street corner waiting for the light to change, but I am also thousands of miles and many years away at the same time.
From one day to the next I never know what I will pull from Vancouver’s bag of tricks. I just know that I can expect both a new experience and a reminder of things past. It is both exhilarating and comforting at the same time.
I moved to Vancouver last fall. Although I am from Ottawa, I’d been living in Mexico for the past three years and when the time came to move back to Canada I knew it was also an opportunity to embark on a new adventure. I considered the Maritimes and Toronto but felt the pull of the West, although I’d never been further than Calgary. Vancouver’s mild climate and beautiful scenery were a draw but ultimately it was the city’s multi-cultural community that cinched the deal.
Years ago I lived in Japan. As my home base for three years, Osaka became the jumping off point to travels in South East Asia and India. Each of these cultures were so different from my own Canadian experience. I was always learning something new, challenged by something completely foreign and charmed by the exoticism of the cultures I ventured into.
Vancouver is home to many diaspora communities from the Far East while still retaining its original British and Indigenous influences. The combination of histories, values, culture and languages weave a multicultural tapestry unlike anywhere else I have been. To my utter delight, I even discovered a burgeoning Latin American presence here.
There are few other cities where I might have a breakfast of bangers and mash, rajas con crema tacitos for lunch and my choice of pho, okonomiyaki or fresh fish & chips for dinner.
In what other city could I spend the morning marveling at First Nations’ totem poles in Stanley Park, the afternoon wandering through Chinatown’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, followed by an early evening romp through Queen Elizabeth Park?
In any single day, Vancouver residents are exposed to a myriad of different languages, scents, sights, flavours and cultural experiences. More often than not these are simply absorbed as part of daily life and not consciously noticed. For native Vancouverites the multi-cultural landscape they have grown up with is simply home. For transplants and newcomers, Vancouver is a city unlike any other in Canada–the perfect combination of East and West.
I came to Vancouver on my own. I know few people here, and I am still learning the city by navigating through it. Sometimes it is a daunting and lonely experience, but I am comforted by the daily reminders of my experiences living in other countries. This combination of the exotic and the familiar is likely why Vancouver feels like home.
