FIFA World Cup - Canada vs Switzerland

After the excitement of the first Canada game in Vancouver I decided I would attempt to replicate that feeling by trying to attend the second Canada game. This game was at noon so I had to cut out of work during the day but my meetings allowed it and I'm sure I'll make up the time. This time I decided I would attempt to find the Canada March to the Match. After a bit of research I realized it was different than the New Zealand game and I was a bit disappointed at how it was organized. It started only a few blocks away from Science World so it was less of a march and more of a group gathering. 

I think if they had started at Jack Poole Plaza it would have been more of a formal march and having all those fans walking down Georgia Street would have been an amazing sight. After the 'gathering' I headed towards Jack Poole Plaza again. Due to security fences I got to walk around False Creek by the Plaza of Nations and through Yaletown. This is another wonderful area of Vancouver that would be a great place to retire though I wouldn't be able to have a shop so maybe not. The game didn't go as well for Canada losing 2-1 to Switzerland but we still made it to the knockout round for the first time ever. Go Canada!

Father's Day

To start the day I was on a mission. Facebook will often post pictures asking you if you have a 'Now and Then' version of a picture. They usually post it the day before the actual memory appears on your timeline. This year it happened to be a picture of Callie and Carter sitting on a bus stop bench in Vancouver and I knew there was a game for the FIFA world cup so I convinced them to go downtown to take in the atmosphere. Secretly though I knew which bus stop it was and the plan was to get them to take the same photo. My plan worked to perfection. At first I though maybe the bench was smaller but then I realized it was just the relative size of the two of them that made it look that way. It's also possible it was a slightly different bus stop but the impact was the same. 12 years of growth between pictures.

The FIFA world cup was of course another good reason to go downtown. I had been down a few days earlier and knew the atmosphere was great. Similar to the Olympics there was initially a lot of hesitation but once the event started and the weather was nice Vancouverites came out to take it all in. Science World was dressed up as a Soccer ball and Granville street was closed to traffic so that there was more street seating for the restaurants. Despite it not being a Canada game day, it was still very busy. At times it was difficult to walk down Granville street. I'm hoping they close it more regularly for events like this.

At one point we made our way over to Gas Town because I was. under the impression that was where the 'March to the Match' started which was sort of true for some teams and happened to be true for the New Zealand team. It started outside of the Blarney Stone pub and we got there just as it was leaving. Despite not being actual fans, it was still fun to see the hardcore football fans from New Zealand with their chants and smoke. This was a great Father's Day!

 

FIFA World Cup - Canada vs Qatar

Tickets to the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver were out of my price range at $500 being the lowest we saw. Paying $2,000 for the family was out of the question. Having said that I was still interested to see why there was so much fuss. My initial thought was that it was really just a game at BC Place every few days, so why did they have to virtually shut down the city? Once I arrived downtown I figured out what was going on. It was not just the people who had tickets, entire fan bases from Vancouver and likely people flying in without tickets made for an incredibly big event. The game started at 3:00p so I left work a bit early and made my way to Jack Poole Plaza. 

The plaza was where the 2010 olympic flame was still located and they had a FIFA fan zone set up. I think it was one of the broadcasters who had a desk and screens where you could watch the game. Canada won 6-0 and I watched the first half from the plaza. Once I realized it was going to be a fairly easy win for them, I decided to make my way to Granville to see that fan zone. I was amazed how may people didn't even know Canada was playing but were still taking in the atmosphere. At one point I couldn't get any further down the street. I then headed to Science World to check that fan zone before heading home. Go Canada!

Barnston Island Bike Trip

I usually try to make the trip to Barnston Island a few times per year. It's 7.5km there, 10 on the island and then 7.5 back so it's a nice ride. There is a ferry to get you to the island and it's all flat so it's an easy ride. I missed last year because I was saving it to go with Jeremy but then I was sick so we couldn't go and I never got out again. This year we managed to get out and the weather was perfect for it. He was early in the biking season and I had a bit of a knee issue so we drove there and just did the island but it was still a good ride. If you are in the lower mainland and especially if you have young kids you re teaching to ride it's a great destination. 

Carter's Graduation from Highschool

After 16 years we officially don't have any kids in public school. Carter has graduated from high school and has successfully made it into the Engineering program at UBC. This program is one of the hardest to get into in BC with a high average percentage of the more complex classes. Carter had already been accepted into Douglas and BCIT and despite tight deadlines for accepting those acceptances, he purposely held out for the UBC acceptance. They accept through various rounds and it was the second to last one where he got the word. He starts in September and will be living on campus.

The graduation process includes a few key events such as the Dry Grad which Kerry worked on all year as co-chair followed by the graduation ceremony at the Bell Centre. The ceremony consists of a few speeches followed by a few hours of kids walking across the stage. Some of the speeches were from scratch but I think the valedictorian used AI for his. It was the classic one with the number of seasons in their lives so far and the number remaining. It sounded good but would have been more memorable if it had a more personal touch. Par for the course now that AI is dominating our society.