Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.

Wardriving for a flat

Driving around Ottawa, looking for somewhere to live, we managed to hit 838 different wireless networks between 2:58pm and 4:30pm. Leaching off networks, calling numbers in windows, and trying to arrange times to have a look inside makes for a very active feeling afternoon.

Joyce’s help was very much appreciated. Without it, I couldn’t possibly have seen so many different possible apartments and parts of the city.

[10:00pm] Given how useful it was when choosing parts of Ottawa to consider living in, it seemed natural to query the hive mind about my apartment search. Perhaps I will find someone who knows of a really good place about to be put on the market; alternatively, I might find some flatmates. I want to pay down a good portion of my student loans this year, which means affordable housing is a critical thing to locate.

[Update: 15 July 2007 4:40pm] This afternoon, we found a place that looked really good: huge, but a tad on the expensive side. Even so, I submitted an application and deposit. Unfortunately, so did the people who looked at it half an hour before. Unless they are rejected for some reason, they will get the flat. There have also been two much more marginal places available. The search continues.

Growing zone of familiarity

I am beginning to get me bearings in Ottawa, having met up with Ashley and Marc, acquired a new mobile phone, and started to learn critical geography and restaurant locations. Somehow, being reunited with former fellow debaters in this town feels very appropriate.

Judging by where Marc is living, it seems quite possible to find a really good place to live near the centre of town for the general amount of money I should be able to spend. The idea of having a place of my own is an exciting one, even if it may be for only a year.

Monday morning, I start work at Environment Canada.

Apartment hunting

Having arrived safely in Ottawa, the first order of business is finding somewhere to live. A family friend has kindly given me a bit of an introduction to the city. On the basis of what I saw and where I will be working, Sandy Hill and Centretown are the bits of the city I plan to focus on.

Since I am only definitely going to be here for one year, I am looking for a furnished single bedroom apartment. Hopefully, some promising leads will develop before I start work on Monday. Being near interesting places is a big advantage; being near the buses I will need to use to cross this frozen city in the winter is essential.

[Update: 14 July 2007] As might have been expected for a task where I need to coordinate information, the apartment search is now on the wiki.

Capital arrival

Moving again

Tomorrow, I am moving for the second major time in two weeks – to the staging location in Ottawa from which I will try to find an apartment. Within a few days, I should have a cell phone and some sense of how to navigate the city.

Choosing what to bring with me is tricky. At the minimum, I will be spending one year in Ottawa in a furnished apartment or a room in a shared house. At the maximum, it is conceivable that I will be there for many years and eventually living somewhere I furnish myself. It seems most sensible to begin on the assumption that the former possibility is the likely one, scaling up as necessary on the basis of trips back to Vancouver and helpful people who are coming to Ottawa and willing to act as couriers.

Gem of a city

There may be no better way to appreciate the city of Vancouver than to have a sushi dinner in Kits and then walk eastwards along the waterfront, through the cool summer evening. As the sun sets behind the mountains of Vancouver Island, everything in the foreground becomes a silhouette. Then, as you walk east, the bright towers of the downtown core get outlined against the North Shore mountains.

The sea, the mountains, and the mild weather will all be acutely missed in Ottawa.

PS. Now that I am back where North America region DVDs can be purchased, I splurged and bought the Planet Earth series that I have been wanting for ages.

Guu

Between the hike and the dinner tonight, this was definitely one of the best days in the past year. Many thanks to the seventeen people who showed up for our ten person reservation, to the cooking staff at Guu for making such tasty food, and to the serving staff for tolerating our peculiarities with very good humour. I am doubly lucky to have such an interesting collection of friends and to have been able to see so many during my brief time in Vancouver.

July snow fun

On the way to Crown Mountain, we found ourselves standing on snow about two metres deep. My father was with us for the first part of the hike – going up the British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC) trail to the Grouse Mountain chalet. After he turned back for work, we carried on along the Dam Mountain, Goat Mountain, Crown Mountain route. The whole top of Dam Mountain was covered with this snow, so Neal, my cousin, and I spent a very enjoyable hour sliding down it in our hiking boots, using flailing arms for stability.

In the end, we decided that climbing Crown without ice axes and crampons would be too dangerous. Even so, the hike was enormous fun. It was warm and sunny, but the snow had not turned to slush. As such, it presented familiar terrain in an altogether new way. I think it is fair to call today the most fun I have ever had hiking in the mountains close to Grouse. It was quintessentially British Columbian and exactly what I was hoping for when I planned a hike for today.

Cabin to mountaintops

Cabin Fever 3 has been enjoyably concluded. It was excellent to spend time with old friends, as well as meet a few new people. As always the food, company, conversation, and recreation were excellent. I will probably write more about it and link some of the photos when I have a bit more time.

For those interested in the hike I proposed earlier, we have decided upon Crown Mountain. We are meeting at 9:00am tomorrow (Monday) in the north parking lot of the Grouse Mountain Skyride. If you have any questions, call or email me before 8:00am. The hike is described in the post linked above.