Hey Everyone!

[D Man]

Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the Nanaimo area..I just moved here last September. Right now I'm working downtown, and I'm involved in the tourism industry.

Man, before I moved here for school, I never even really knew about Nanaimo! But there's travelers coming here from all over the world: Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Korea, France, Brazil, and the good ol' US of A, to name a few. Why do you think that is?

I myself grew up in Surrey, and I've already done some travelling around on my own. I've done 2 exchange programs to Quebec; the 2nd one was with Canada World Youth...I don't know if anyone's heard of it before. Awesome experience, and the whole thing was in FRENCH! Jeez. With that exchange, I spent 4 months in Quebec and 4 months in Benin, West Africa. Talk about culture shock.

Last summer I went to Mexico City for a couple weeks, trying to learn as much spanish as I could. It was awesome, my favorite part was the beaches of Acapulco and the pyramids at Teotihuacan. I took soo many pics!

So now I'm here in Nanaimo while I finish my degree at Malaspina. I've met some awesome people so far...this city rocks!

[fitz]

welcome D-man - Well-travelled, aren't ya! Good to hear you're liking it here so far - lots to do if you're into the outdoors!

[Auliya]

Hey! Welcome to the Nanaimo Info Forums!

[Maydyn]

Wow. I feel inferior now. I'm always so jealous of people who've done things like that. Anyways... hello!

[islandgal]

Welcome D-Man. Traveling and meeting people from different cultures is one of life's greatest experiences. My Dad took us on a world trip when my brother and I graduated from university. It was the best thing he ever did for me. We went to 14 countries and he was sure to pick out a variety to show us the good as well as the bad (for want of better words). It sure made us proud to be Canadians when we got back home. Wish I could afford to do the same for my kids.

Carol

[riverrat]

Welcome, D Man! Always good to see posts with positive things to say.
You asked (perhaps rhetorically) about why people come here from all over the world? I would guess that it has to do with our wicked location, fairly central in the Georgia Straight and its archipelagoes. Those Germans go nuts for native stuff too, I believe.

Fun story:
A local tourism rep was taking a bunch of Germans on a tour downtown.
Tour guide: "And this is our Bastion. We're very proud of it. It's a hundred and fifty years old!"
German: "My HOUSE is SEVERAL hundred years old. For god's sake, show us some native stuff!"

I'm not sure what you could show people interested in native stuff. There is some seriously untapped tourism potential there, though.

The Nanaimo District Museum has some cool aboriginal stuff.

[D Man]

Carol (aka Islandgal) you said: "My Dad took us on a world trip when my brother and I graduated from university."

Can I ask where he took you guys? On my way to Benin, I was travelling with a group of people, and we had a layover in the Paris airport for TEN HOURS!! We couldn't leave the airport and check out the city, because we didnt have the proper visas. It was pretty painful! I've never been to Europe....but some day....some day

Riverrat - I'm full of fun stories about travelers, it comes with working with them everday. My favorite is when American tourists come and ask if you take debit. When you say yes, they hand you their Visa card. Am I missing something?? Or when a family came in, and apparently they saw some deer while driving up from Victoria. They asked: "so, will the deer let us feed them, or do they bite?" In my mind, I'm thinking: "ya, go ahead, maybe they'll let you ride them too!" Come on now. Not that I have anything against Americans, I actually have family in Seattle. But they're nuts. All nuts.

[riverrat]

That would rule, if deer would let us ride them. You probably need a certain colour of carrot, or something.
Anyone heard of chocobos?

[islandgal]

D-Man,

Are you saying all Americans are nuts, or just your family? Be careful now how you answer that one because I am about to marry an American (I have him converted though...he's moving here). I do agree after having spent 15 yrs there as a kid, most of them are nuts! LOL!

As for your question about where we went, let me think and see if I can name all the places still: Fiji (loved it, such clear blue-green water I've never seen anywhere!!!), Australia (also loved it, nice variety in landscapes!!), Hong Kong (far too crowded for my liking, but good prices on stuff!), Thailand (only saw Bangkok and didn't care for it, lots of beggars and people with hands out for money just for the opportunity to take a picture with them), Philippines (only saw Manilla and the drivers are MAD! Didn't care for the soldiers on every corner with bayonettes attached to their riffles...scary!), Egypt (very interesting place to visit ONCE, have no desire to go back, but very glad I saw it), Greece (take me back there anyday!!!), England (been many times, was actually born there, but moved to Canada at 1 month old, sure glad my parents immigrated!), Wales, (very cool, nice castles, small villages on the sea and countryside), Germany (one of my favourites and my mother's homeland, so maybe I'm biased, lots of beautiful areas and friendly people (and most speak English!), Austria (even better than Germany, love the little villages clustered against the towering mountain peaks), France (didn't think much of the unfriendliness we encountered, don't try Canadian French on them they look at you like you're from another planet), Holland (another I have been to a few times and would go back, love the canal ride through Amsterdaam), Belgium (went through it very quickly, friendly people, would like to go back), USA (well that's a mixed bag depending on where you go!) Canada is truly, in my opinion, (and BC in particular) the best place in the world in which to live. We are truly blessed.

Carol

[islandgal]

D-Man,

About the Americans asking if you take debit and then handing you a Visa card. I think I know the answer to this one. Some of their Visa cards are actually a line of credit attached to their chequing accounts (we have the same thing at the credit union only with MasterCards). So they use it as a debit card as well as being accepted anywhere Visa (or in our case M/C) is accepted.

Carol

PS I had a deer in my backyard a couple of days ago and I wanted to pet it...you mean I shouldn't? hahaha ;-)