VSP
Language and Culture
A language is defined as a system of communication used by a particular nation or people group (Gessner 2017). There is no consensus on the over 100 definitions of culture by anthropologists, but it is widely accepted as “a web Read more
Cities
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC
Mostly known for its military history, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is the site of the first French fort in Canada. First built in 1666, Fort Saint-Jean has been continuously occupied from 1748 to the present day, albeit changing hands several times. The second Read more
Iconic Places
Kingsmere
William Lyon Mackenzie King kept a daily diary totalling about 30,000 pages from 1893 to 1950, almost all of it is available online on the Library and Archives Canada digital library. He wrote much of his diary at Kingsmere near Read more
Experiences
Carp Custom Creamery
After writing about the best gelato in Vancouver and the best ice cream in Seattle, I just have to write about the best ice cream in Ottawa. Carp Custom Creamery offers classic American flavours like lemon blueberry, double vanilla coconut, Read more
Trains
Seattle Monorail
The Seattle Monorail is just under a mile long and probably one of the world’s shortest urban railway lines. It was built to shuttle passengers between downtown Seattle and the Space Needle, which was the site of the 1962 World’s Read more
Iconic Places
Space Needle
The Space Needle in Seattle is tall, but doesn’t reach anywhere near space. Its exterior style is typical of 1960’s futurism with an enthusiasm for human progress. The observation tower is 184 meters tall, but the highest floor only stands Read more
Experiences
Ottawa Tulip Festival
The Ottawa Tulip Festival comes into full bloom every May. The display contains 10,000 tulips sent by air from the Netherlands to show their gratitude for the Canadian Armed Forces that liberated them from German occupation during World War Two. Read more
People
Philip Zimbardo
Yes, the Professor Zimbardo that conducted the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment gave a lecture in the Chinese University of Hong Kong once and I had the rare opportunity of a lifetime to attend it. For those who don’t know, the Read more
Articles
Shadow wire: a foreign bureau without a foreign bureau
Shadow wire: A formal agreement between two or more news outlets from two or more geographical locations to republish each other’s reports outside of an established wire subscription. The media, wherever it is in the world, is facing a crisis Read more