Belgians drink beer at noon

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Why TU Delft? I wanted to go abroad, you can’t study Industrial Design at university level in Belgium, and Delft offered a good, creative program.

Happy with your decision? Yes, although I wish Delft’s program was bit more difficult, involved more math, physics and other challenging abstract subjects. But what’s especially great here is the Industrial Design workshop, where you can really get hands-on with different materials.

Belgium is only a 100+ kilometers away, does this really feel like ‘going abroad’?

Absolutely, Holland and Belgium have very different cultures. I definitely feel like a foreigner here and sometimes have trouble relating to the Dutch. It’s not a positive-negative thing, it’s just very different. It’s difficult to describe, but as someone once said, “the Belgians drink beer at noon, the Dutch drink karne milk,” that’s certainly a difference%make of it what you will.

If you could change one thing about the TU, what would it be?

The “T” in TU. I’d open up the university to more than just technological subjects. Why doesn’t the TU offer social sciences, psychology, media studies…it’s got the infrastructure and space to expand, and expansion would change the climate of the university, not to mention bringing in more women.

The fear of making a definitive statement, like in this interview, of generalizing. You’re always learning and developing in life. I fear people who don’t have that anxiety, who are foolishly certain, ignorant but opinionated, who act or speak before they actually think.

What quality or qualities do you admire in people?

Honesty and kindness. I like people who don’t pretend they have the answers when they don’t, who instead are smart enough to just keep silent, which is wisdom too. I admire people who possess the quality expressed in this Native American Indian saying, ”Wisdom is being able to use your intelligence.”

Where’s your favorite place in Delft? The living room of my friends Mark and Joop’s place, the turntables in the room, the music, whiskey, a very relaxed atmosphere. But it’s a pity Delft doesn’t have a similarly cool bar or club to hang-out in.

What’s the greatest challenge facing mankind in the 21st century? We have to try to keep the planet in the state it’s in now, not destroy it further. But then I’m not a Greenpeace guy, like most people I like to use, consume, travel… so I’d probably say the overriding challenge is for us to be less egocentric.

What’s your favorite maxim?

As Karl Marx once said, ”Everything should be doubted.”

How would you like to die?

Heroic and funny at the same time. Dramatic. Anything but peaceful, in my sleep. (DM)

Each month the English Page meets a member of TU Delft’s foreign community. Tuur van Beelen (22), from Leuven, Belgium, is a 5th year Industrial Design student.

Why TU Delft? I wanted to go abroad, you can’t study Industrial Design at university level in Belgium, and Delft offered a good, creative program.

Happy with your decision? Yes, although I wish Delft’s program was bit more difficult, involved more math, physics and other challenging abstract subjects. But what’s especially great here is the Industrial Design workshop, where you can really get hands-on with different materials.

Belgium is only a 100+ kilometers away, does this really feel like ‘going abroad’?

Absolutely, Holland and Belgium have very different cultures. I definitely feel like a foreigner here and sometimes have trouble relating to the Dutch. It’s not a positive-negative thing, it’s just very different. It’s difficult to describe, but as someone once said, “the Belgians drink beer at noon, the Dutch drink karne milk,” that’s certainly a difference%make of it what you will.

If you could change one thing about the TU, what would it be?

The “T” in TU. I’d open up the university to more than just technological subjects. Why doesn’t the TU offer social sciences, psychology, media studies…it’s got the infrastructure and space to expand, and expansion would change the climate of the university, not to mention bringing in more women.

The fear of making a definitive statement, like in this interview, of generalizing. You’re always learning and developing in life. I fear people who don’t have that anxiety, who are foolishly certain, ignorant but opinionated, who act or speak before they actually think.

What quality or qualities do you admire in people?

Honesty and kindness. I like people who don’t pretend they have the answers when they don’t, who instead are smart enough to just keep silent, which is wisdom too. I admire people who possess the quality expressed in this Native American Indian saying, ”Wisdom is being able to use your intelligence.”

Where’s your favorite place in Delft? The living room of my friends Mark and Joop’s place, the turntables in the room, the music, whiskey, a very relaxed atmosphere. But it’s a pity Delft doesn’t have a similarly cool bar or club to hang-out in.

What’s the greatest challenge facing mankind in the 21st century? We have to try to keep the planet in the state it’s in now, not destroy it further. But then I’m not a Greenpeace guy, like most people I like to use, consume, travel… so I’d probably say the overriding challenge is for us to be less egocentric.

What’s your favorite maxim?

As Karl Marx once said, ”Everything should be doubted.”

How would you like to die?

Heroic and funny at the same time. Dramatic. Anything but peaceful, in my sleep. (DM)