Have been hosting a friend, JC, from Vancouver for the past week. A real pleasure to show someone around who’s enthusiastic about trying the various activities on tap here. Someone who doesn’t mind going for an ocean dip in the rain within an hour of landing or getting to bed past midnight after an evening hunt then getting up at 6am to hit low-tide for crab. He was game to try it all. One aspect of island living my friend hadn’t anticipated was the drop-in culture. Here, it’s perfectly acceptable to drop by someone’s place unannounced. No call, no text, just show up and knock. We were both crashed out in our beds for a midday nap when Barb showed up to say hello. And we were perfectly happy to see her. We pulled on some pants, fired up the stove and cracked a beer. Then Ross and Kelly dropped by. Then Chris the Mapper, seeing the cars congregated stopped in. This is just not anything, either of us would have seen happen back in the city. Any get together would have been booked a week in advance. Maybe we would get a phone call, spur of the moment for some specific activity. But just a social call? Never. Well, almost never. The new boyfriend of a friend back in Vancouver, a Kiwi, dropped by one day while I was working and I can distinctly remember the feeling of mild alarm. Like, I’d forgotten an appointment that we’d made or that maybe there was something wrong with him or my friend. Nope. Just thought he’d come by for a tea. That’s the way they do where he’s from. At the time, I thought it was an inconvenience, I was working after all. But now I see it as one of the more enjoyable aspects of the lifestyle here. As an added bonus it gives you the motivation to keep your place somewhat clean, or at least have your dirty laundry tucked away and cold beer in the cooler.
