I have to admit that when Andrea called excitedly about a Sumo tournament in Vancouver, BC, I didn't exactly share her enthusiasm. At first I couldn’t believe she was serious about wanting to travel to Vancouver BC to see some huge men wearing less than their underpants face off. But I learned that she’s been fascinated by Sumo for quite some time, so off we went. We started our trip two days before the event, since I wanted to get some tourist time in before the "once in a lifetime" event.

It marked my first trip outside the United States, so I was a little confused when we arrived. When Andrea visited the ATM, I couldn’t figure out if she would get United States money or Canadian. We made our way to our hotel, paying only in Canadian money so as not to lose money on the exchange rate. I had never before had the chance to just be a tourist, since my previous trips have always meant visiting someone. I was excited about being able to see whatever I pleased without having to constantly worry about making time to see my adoring fans.

The next morning, we climbed onto the double decker bus. The route included only major tourist attractions, so we figured it was a good bet even if it was slow. First we saw the Science Museum, which would have been more interesting if we hadn’t gone to the San Jose Children’s Museum a few weeks earlier. While there, we saw the OMNIMax film, Everest, on a huge screen that extended onto the ceiling. Our next stop was the smaller, IMAX theater at Canada Place, where we saw the movie, Alaska. At this point, I had had enough snow and ice to last me through the summer so we headed off for warmer adventures. On the way to the Sky Train terminal (where we never did figure out how to pay so we ended up with 3 free rides) we saw some of the Sumo wrestlers outside their hotel. This was a big moment for Andrea as we pushed through the crowd to snap some photos.

Still excited from the Sumo sighting, we headed towards Chinatown without a map. We took a wrong turn and quickly found ourselves in a rather frightening neighborhood. It’s always a bad sign to me if the sidewalks are crowded with people standing still holding small packages and talking about ‘reds’ and ‘rocks’, so I grew increasingly nervous with each step. I have never been so happy to see a cab as the moment when one glided past us. I wanted to hug the driver but I refrained. We were safely transported to Chinatown, where we had a nice dinner. When we finally returned to our hotel that night, I was relieved to be away from that neighborhood.

We rose early the next day and headed off for more sightseeing. This time it was Stanley Park, an 1100 acre park on the west side of Vancouver. Our first stop within the park was the Vancouver Aquarium, which made the Monterey Aquarium seem kind of small. We saw beluga whales, a killer whale, sea lions and sea otters, not to mention a large lizard and a sloth in a tree. It was so neat that we decided to skip the Chinese Garden and stay there all afternoon. No visit would be complete without a t-shirt or at least a pewter spoon, so we hit the gift shop and left a few dollars in support of the Canadian economy.

That night took us to Robson Street, the famed shopping district of Vancouver, where once again we supported the local economy. I realized with great joy that the exchange rate made everything like getting a 35% discount. After a little too much shopping, we had a nice dinner and headed back to the hotel so we could be well rested for the next day and the Sumo Basho.

The next morning we arrived at the coliseum early so we could take in more shopping. After two hours, we were finally in our seats. After that, it was almost three hours of ceremonies, instructional videos and a lengthy authentic Sumo song before the wrestlers waddled out to the stage for 30 seconds of the ring-entering ceremony. Until then, I wasn't very interested in all the rituals and ceremonies but once the matches began, I become a whole hearted fan, cheering for my favorite wrestler. I had become a Sumo fan, at least for the time being.

All in all, it was a great trip. Vancouver is a beautiful town filled with nice people and great food. I can’t say that the Sumo Canada Basho was my favorite part of the trip, but it was indeed a "once in a lifetime experience" as their brochure claimed.