Chapter Two 🤦🏼‍♀️

The orientation at the bus stops and the overall functionality of public transport would seem strange to me in the coming days. My first experience took place after I left the airport. I had been advised to take the 'Skyline', but somehow I didn't want to find a skyline and boarded the first train that came my way. There was a barrier in front of the train, and I first had to buy a ticket. When the nice gentleman at the counter explained that I would be traveling to the second zone, I pulled out my Visa card to pay. 'Authorization cannot be processed.' Great, I thought to myself. Just before tears, I remembered how good it was to have Canadian dollars in my pocket, which I then used to buy a ticket. (When I received the bills by mail, I thought at first, they must be kidding me - the bills look like play money)

Later it turned out that the physical card from Revolut is not accepted in Canada, which is why I couldn’t pay with it. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I thought about how I could easily buy a new phone in Germany with my card, but here in Canada, I couldn’t even buy a ticket for the train.

On the train, I first watched the summary of the Formula 1 from Spielberg to feel something familiar and ended up missing my stop. I got off three stations later and took the train back. While I waited for the next train, I noticed that I looked like a lost sheep desperately searching for its herd.

Upon arriving at Waterfront, I continued to the bus station. The signs at the bus stops were so small that I should have brought a magnifying glass. I imagined walking around with an oversized magnifying glass while passersby stared at me in confusion. But Google Maps sorted everything out.

I took the first bus connection; a 11-minute walk was no problem. Fit as a fiddle, I got off the bus after 18 hours on the road and started walking - up a damn steep hill. With a heavy backpack on my back and the super handy suitcase (not) in my left hand, I began the ascent. It ended visibly drenched in sweat and with an induced asthma attack at the hostel. Even the receptionist thought I had just climbed Mount Everest. Fact check: Me, alone in a foreign country, on the other side of the earth. Both at the airport and on the way to the hostel, there were difficulties; just before that, I had said goodbye to friends, family, and my gym girls. I just wanted to fall into bed like a sack of potatoes. Instead, I was greeted by deodorant, perfume, and the highly popular hairdryer scent. As soon as I was in my assigned room, I walked backward out again.

I gathered all my courage and went to the reception. I still don’t know whether it’s my charisma or if people just take pity on me, but after I described my situation, the nice man gave me a room where I could be alone on my first night. I am really so thankful to him and can say that I slept like a stone that first night. I was really relieved. But before I crawled into bed, I wanted to quickly take a shower.

In a rush, after I had placed my valuables and clothes in the designated grid - with my own lock that I had bought especially for this purpose - I unfortunately had to find out that the code of my lock no longer worked. On the floor, finished with the world, I wondered if it’s normal to have so many little challenges, or if it was simply because I sometimes go too fast and should take more time. I was so tired that I decided to sleep first to think about how to get my stuff back the next day.

One thing was still important: my phone. After all, I wanted to tell my favorite people that I had arrived. So I smeared my arm with cream and pushed it through a small grating. It took a good five minutes until I could grab my phone, and while I was writing the text: 'Finally in Vancou...', I fell asleep. I can only imagine how I looked – like a sleeping warrior who just collapses in the middle of a battle!

The night was good, but the first two days were marked by jet lag. I gradually began to figure out what it really feels like to be in a new time zone. While I tried to orient myself both in the city and internally, I had to admit that I don’t like being so alone. Loneliness crept into my thoughts while I wandered through the streets of Vancouver. But I knew I couldn’t give up. It was time to seek new encounters and find my way in this exciting city. In the coming days, I would try to overcome the challenges of being alone and discover the beauty of Vancouver.