Asking someone where they come from, hoping to find the ‘real’ Canadian, permanently results in an answer about a family history of two, three, sometimes four generations back. With that, every inhabitant (despite the ‘First Nations’) of Vancouver proofs not to be a Canadian. No one comes from this city, which makes you believe that within a few months you almost start to believe that you are as much as a ‘Vancouverite’ as anyone else.

At TU/e I study Industrial Design under the supervision of Joep Frens. Here, thanks to the Irving K. Barber Scholarship, I have a spot at the researchgroup ‘Everyday Desgin Studio’. This group is part of the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (Simon Fraser University). In this studio, under supervision of prof. Ron Wakkary, I find fascinating philosophical perspectives on the role of technology in our lives. Through design, I philosophize and discuss in my Master Graduation Project how technology influences our approach towards the use of time in the context of sleep, or the lack of it.

Back to the city, or actually anything that is not ‘the city’: You’re on the slopes in an hour (often reachable by public transport); you could choose to go for a ‘hike’, or; you could enjoy the view from the ferry when going to one of the nearby islands. Greater Vancouver is a place where you have to do the work, because with being just a ‘consumer’ you will never discover the richness that this country has to offer. It is something that everybody knows, but here you’ll experience it firsthand.