‘Ottawa’ Capital Voices: ‘Instead of Sitting in a Chair at Home, I’m Outside’
In anticipation of Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations, the Citizen’s Bruce Deachman has been out in search of Ottawans — 150 of them — to learn their stories of life and death, hope and love, obsession and fear. From Feb. 2 until Canada Day, we’ll share one person’s story every day.
“I’m from Montreal. I’m here for school and for my internship, at the government — Shared Services Canada.
“I collected Pokémon cards when I was a youngster. I watched all the shows and played all the games. I kind of stopped watching the shows when the newer ones came out. I just really didn’t get into it; partly maybe because I was getting older, partly because they weren’t that good.
“I started playing Pokémon Go a few days before it came out in Canada. A lot of people made app accounts from other countries where the game was out already, like Australia and the United States. I got mine from Australia. That was about two weeks ago.
“There are levels, and combat points for different kinds of Pokémon, and gyms you can capture. That’s kind of it, I guess. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m someone who would be playing computer games at home anyways, so instead of just sitting in a chair at home I’m outside and talking to people. From Monday to Friday, when I work, I play one or two hours a day, after work. Today (a Sunday), I’ll play for four or five hours. On the first few days when it came out, I was playing for 10 or 11 hours a day. Usually when I get into something, the first few weeks I’m really into it and I devote a lot of time to it. We’ll see whether I get bored of this. Some things I just keep doing because I really like them; I really commit myself. Some computer games I’ve been playing for six or seven years, like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.”
— Chen Kun. Confederation Park, July 31, 2016.