How do satisfy my night-life tendencies in early bird Vancouver?
One of the hardest things about moving from a South Asian household and a predominantly South Asian area in Toronto, Ontario to a diverse university on the Western side of North America has been adjusting to the hours of livelihood.
The only time I’ve felt “in sync” with the folk here and their hours of livelihood is the one time I Slept at 9pm because I was beyond the normal feeling of tiredness when I had the flu last week.
I’m used to 9-10pm dinners, midnight snacks with my dad and saying “it’s starting to get late” when I’m out past 9pm. In complete contrary, kids here start saying that its late at 6pm, dinner is at 6:30pm latest and you have to brush your teeth right after dinner in order to prevent snacking.
Before moving, I was warned about the “lack of nightlife” which frankly shocked me considering the large metropolitan city right next door. I think this fact contributes to the difference between Toronto’s hustling and bustling lifestyle and Vancouver’s, so I’ve been told, calm and “hippie lifestyle”.
I don’t necessarily mean the lack of safe, enjoyable, and accessible university parties, although that would be nice, but rather the lack of any “happenings” during my normal hours of happening.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with my lifestyle as of now should know that, nearly every day for the last four weeks, including weekends, I have been committed to a 30 minute commute at l0am and a 30 minute commute back at 9pm to my Homestay, where the family is usually fast asleep when I return, yet wide awake before I am in the morning.
I don’t want to study complete any of my administrative tasks because, as my calculus professor described, I’d like to Sleep peacefully, without ridiculous logarithmic formulas living in my head rent free. I’m not going to exercise like I used to in my bedroom at 2am because I’d rather not wake up the 9 year old sleeping beauty upstairs. I can’t talk obnoxiously to my friends over the phone, that’s just disrespectful considering our conversations. And I’m just too scared of the notorious two – week Minecraft addiction to play video games.
That said, my current late night shenanigans have been reduced to Showers and doing my laundry. with that I say, return soon to learn what I do with my now “hours of relaxation and anticipation for bedtime”.
Because if you must shenan once, you best shenan again…