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THE HONKOUVER ADVENTURE
Scared and sitted in a chair, there he was, a young and innocent man who arrived to Vancouver as a refugee from his home country Syria with the financial aid of his uncle Zsolt in Hungary. His name was Josh. It was not a surprise how Canadians received Josh as they are very friendly. Josh remained bored and correctly seated at the airport for an hour and suddenly a guy in his thirties called Michael got next to him.
As Michael saw Josh for some time he said “What’s up buddy what are you waiting for?”
After some seconds and surprised Josh replied “I just came from Syria because my life was at risk and yes that’s where I live”
Michael reassured him saying “It’s okay man, let’s have some fun time, there are awesome attractions here at British Columbia and remember there’s nothing that time can’t heal. I’m leaving, want to join me in an adventure to Whistler now?”
“Yes, I guess that’s the only thing I can do now” Josh attended silently
Very happy to have a friend to travel with, Michael assisted Josh with his luggage as they entered the train station. Josh was very impressed by the quantity of asian people all around Vancouver, they were anywhere he looked and that was scary for him. Michael never left Josh alone and that made Josh feel safe. They finally reached the downtown station and started to walk.
For Josh this was a whole new world because he was used to a life with limited resources and violence. The tall buildings, the green colored parks, the people coexisting with peace, the seaplanes flying at the seashore, the dogs running with their owners created in Josh a very pleasant feeling as he walked at Vancouver with Michael.
They both waited for the bus that would take them to Whistler and Josh started to talk more about himself. Josh didn’t manage to stay awake the whole trip but that was not a problem for Michael who had also arrived from the United States that day.
Josh woke up Michael and they got off the bus to freezing Whistler. They both took a bus that dropped them in their hostel. Tired, Josh and Michael climbed up the stairs to the Whistler Lodge Hostel, their adventure hostel. Michael payed for their stay and everything was ready.
This Lodge Hostel was very comfortable and interesting as it was in the woods, aparted from the fancy suites at the Whistler Village, it had a common area to socialize, a sauna and an outdoors jacuzzi for the cold weather. Josh started to talk with people from all over the world that were also staying at the Lodge, interesting talks and facts from the cultures were interchanged constantly.
Michael was very tired and went to his bed, he told Josh that there he was for anything needed and suggested him to sleep well. The next day Josh was missing and Michael asked everyone in the Lodge if they had seen him but they just told him that he went to bed at the same time as them. This got Michael crazy and desperate as he started to search him all around the village.
Michael cancelled all his expensive reservations in the ice skating resort, he went to the police station and reported Josh as lost, he asked the stores and everyone he saw for Josh, and he even stayed outside the lodge for 9 days, after his money was gone, hoping that Josh would appear.
One day Michael decided to return to Vancouver walking and suddenly a guy hugged him with tears of happiness. It was Josh, he told Michael he was sorry for leaving but he had bad memories of Syria and thought running away from people and especially the asians at the Lodge was the safest for him. What was more incredible is how Josh changed his perspective of asians as he told Michael that two korean guys saved his life from a bear he encountered with and that a chinese lady kept him warm and safe after she saw him walking in the woods. Josh was very grateful for Michael’s effort to find him and he started a new life of easy-going relationships and trust in his beloved Vancouver that he renamed as Honkouver in memory of the good asian people that protected him during those cold nights at the woods.
