visiting Vancouver

I grew up in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. I was born in Vancouver, and at the age of 3 moved to a town roughly an hour away from the city. I had a lot of extended family living in Vancouver, so we frequently made our way to the city - at least twice a month. When I received my driver’s license, I would make the trip to explore the city on my own or with friends. I loved Vancouver - the ocean, the film festivals, the live theatre, the diversity of people - it felt like I could breathe a little deeper whenever I was there.

When I graduated from high school, I moved to Vancouver to attend the University of British Columbia. I lived in various places all over the city - Kerrisdale, East Van, Oakridge, Marpole, Point Grey and UBC - over the course of 7 years. Then my partner and I felt a call to adventure somewhere different, and found ourselves relocating to the Yukon Territory. We’ve made the Yukon our home now for the past 8 years, and with the advent of starting a family and then a global pandemic, nearly 4 years had slipped by without a visit to Vancouver.

This summer we finally made a return visit to the city, two kids in tow. It felt like a homecoming, but also like we were discovering the city in a whole new light - now with the lens of a family. I appreciated how many parks there were scattered throughout the city. I appreciated the huge range of humans we encountered - my favourite being a middle aged man just rocking some disco roller skating magic at the park. I appreciated the huge selection of cuisine at our fingertips - oh, delicious dim sum, how I’ve missed you. I also hugely appreciated that we came during the tail end of a heat wave and got to soak in that sweet, sweet Vancouver summer.

We had jam-packed days of visiting friends and family, visiting our old stomping grounds and favourite haunts, eating delicious food and taking advantage of opportunities we don’t have up north. We made a trip to Aberdeen Centre in Richmond for lunch and to peruse the SUP Bookstore for some new Chinese books. I found out on this trip that SUP is not, in fact, a reference to the short-hand of “what’s up”, but stands for Sino United Publishing. While we were in the food court getting lunch, surrounded by the sounds of other Chinese people speaking Cantonese, my daughter proudly told me (in English because she doesn’t really speak any Canto), “Mama, you and me, we speak Chinese too!” It was just so sweet - my heart was bursting with pride!

We spent a day at Science World - one of my favourite places in the city. It truly is a place of wonder and it was really neat to watch my daughter explore and be amazed by the exhibits. I noticed they had digital signage about their commitment to anti-racism - which at first, I felt cynical about because I wanted to know more… How are you committed to it? What does that even mean? Is it just lip service? But after seeing it a few more times, I felt that even having people repeatedly see the words “anti-racism” is a great start. It might get people (like myself) thinking about questions like “what is anti-racism?” “how does one commit to it?” “what does anti-racism in action even look like?” - and that is a good thing. Once again, Science World is exemplifying leadership in a very important and pressing issue. I mean, I didn’t see posters about racism/anti-racism anywhere else in the city.

Though I do love living in and raising my kids in a small town, this visit also opened my mind to the opportunities and possibilities of raising my kids in a bigger city - especially one with a larger Chinese population and a ton of language learning resources, and with more diversity in the population in general. I had felt a bit intimidated by the prospect of raising a family in the city, but it was neat to see our college friends who are managing this very thing! There are always pros and cons, no matter where you live - but it was fun to see how some of our friends with little ones in the city are doing things and navigating family life. Lots of food for thought!