Where Are We?

Gord and I just returned from a restful sunny week in Sayulita Mexico. Leaving from the Vancouver airport was routine, same old security gates, maybe a few new Haida art pieces, but the airport looks pretty much the same as it did last time I left the country. Arriving everything was different. For starters, two CBSA (Canadian border Security Agency) guards with a large brown dog sniffed at us as we stepped off the plane. Isn’t that supposed to happen before you get on the plane?

Entering the terminal, huge light blue banners hang from the ceiling every ten feet or so on either side of the corridor. In large lettering across the top it reads, no not “Welcome to Vancouver” but “Samsung.” Gord turned to me and said “we took the wrong plane we’re in Japan!”

The place has really been spiffed up for the Olympics and, despite the crazed footrace to be at the front of the customs line; I had to stop (not for long I am still a competitive beast) to look at a beautiful tank with giant jellyfish wafting up and down in the water. Actually, the whole terminal gives you the feeling of being inside an enormous sparkling aqua fish tank. It’s quite lovely. Cha ching!

Leaving customs and entering into the confusing zone that is the site of the infamous tasering incident, the whole area is unrecognizable. It’s been renovated into a large open space with a massive information desk, visible to the public area and seemingly impossible to get lost or hidden in. This is an improvement that it is easy to appreciate.

It’s obvious that a lot of attention and money was spent and the hordes coming to the big event should, as long as they have no raw meat in their carry on bags, have a comfortable arrival here in Samsung.