I found myself very lucky to have resettled in Vancouver, B.C.-Canada. This city and the surrounding areas (Greater Vancouver) amaze me with their diverse beauty. It has Pacific ocean, sandy beaches, rocky shores, mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, waterfalls, parks, modern skycrapers, wildlife and a mild climate. No city in Vietnam or probably in the world has this geographical diversity. It's somewhat like a combination of Saigon, Dalat and Nha Trang. No wonder it has been voted The Most Livable City In The World a few times. It was chosen to host 2010 Winter Olympics with Whistler ski town near by.
Vancouver does have an eyesore: drug addiction/homelessness in Downtown Eastside and its consequence, a relatively high property crime rate. But I think it's like a small section of dead trees in a beautiful forest.
In winter, while the rest of Canada is cold and white, Vancouver is mostly wet but still green. With 170 days of light rain a year, living in Vancouver is living in a mood swing: from depression, when it rains many days in a row, to euphoria, when the sun comes out and the green mountains stand up against the blue sky.
I love Vancouver as much as Saigon. Saigon is the eventful, memory-ful past, where I spent the larger part of my life and many dreams broken, but Vancouver is the peaceful present, where I found happiness and peace of mind. This love triangle gives me conflicting feelings: I was very excited when I left Vancouver for a visit to Saigon then I was very happy to see the mountains of Vancouver again through the window of my returning airplane. In a way, it makes my life rich, like having 2 wives :-)
I am trying to capture the beauty from its scenery and everyday life, and like Vietnam, not the ugliness.