After an eleven-hour flight originating from Beijing, I arrived in Vancouver on September 17^th. My first impression was, ‘Wow, Vancouver is a little colder than I thought it would be!’ I was fortunate enough to set up a homestay, and Marilyn, the home owner, kindly picked me up at the airport. After driving 30 minutes, we arrived at my new digs in North Vancouver!

Marilyn showed me around the house and my new room, which is great. And then she served a wonderful dinner — honey garlic pork and rice. She’s a great cook and I’ve really been enjoying North American cuisine. The jet lag suddenly caught up with me so I hit the sack for a well-deserved night of sleep.

On Monday morning, it was off for my first day at VFS Digital Design. Sholeh, our Program Assistant, really helped me with all of the arrangements, including my homestay. And she was no less helpful on my first day. She greeted me at the door, since I didn’t yet have my card key, and brought me on a tour of the campus. The first thing I saw was the big white VFS logo on the signature red wall. Sholeh then showed me around this two-story warehouse type modern building, with its three theatres, one of which is extremely large and is appropriately named, the Main Theatre. We passed the Administration office during my guided introduction, and I saw posters promoting the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Sholeh then showed me all of the classrooms, with their fun names — Sound + Vision, No Pixel Lab, etc. — and we ended the tour at my desk on ‘Panorama’, an open-plan mezzanine in this huge loft-like building that overlooks the classrooms and is where the faculty, teaching assistants and, now I, sit. I hunkered down at my desk with my PC and Mac. I’m ready to get started. Hello Vancouver! Hello VFS Digital Design!