Peter's Blog Entry

Planning for the EEBE project and trip to the Netherlands began months ago. This being my first trip outside of North America, I was very pleased to have the support of NSCC International for the travel arrangements so that I could concentrate on preparing for the project, meeting with the students that I would be travelling with and organizing the work I would be leaving behind in Canada for more than three weeks.
After a very long 24 hours of cars, planes, buses, trains and taxis it was a great relief to walk through the doors of the University Guesthouse in Groningen. The small apartment with a European minimalist style was very comfortable, I particularly enjoyed the heated towel rack in the bathroom which came in handy after biking in the rain. The room had a typical view of a narrow biked lined Groningen backstreet. (see photo "University Guesthouse")

It took several days to truly overcome the jetlag, but it was worth the exhaustion to see the cobbled streets of Groningen where bikes rule the roads. With few cars in the city centre, I was impressed by most of the vehicles I saw, all compact, almost all diesel powered, and parked and driven with great precision, although with very little regard for whether they were on the right or left hand side of the street.

Days were filled with the opportunity to work with new colleagues from Hanze University in the Netherlands, IT Carlow in Ireland and Holland College on Prince Edward Island. We not only got to work on the EEBE project, we also discussed our work, procedures, infrastructure and industry involvement at our own institutions. Eric Boer, Faculty at Hanze University, was instrumental in helping me to arrange visits to construction sites, concrete producers and geotechnical labs. This gave me a first hand perspective of how industry works in the Netherlands.

Mid way through our first week in the Netherlands my wife was able to join me in Groningen. I had just enough knowledge of the town by that point to walk her through the busy Grote Market and Vismarkt (Fish Market). We ate chips and mayonnaise in the busy city centre (see photo "Frites in the Market"). We enjoyed bike rides around the canals, shared meals with my colleagues, were serenaded by a strange musical theatre group one evening, and walked through the streets lined with buildings that were standing long before Canada was even a country. We took day trips by train to northern coast of the Netherlands, and had an incredible weekend in Paris before she headed back home.

In the end both the faculty and students learned a great deal about project based learning, the differences and similarities between our partner institutions, energy efficiency in the built environment and about the Netherlands. More importantly we all made strong connections, this was clear among the students who spent 3 1/2 weeks living and working together (they eventually even started dressing the same, red plaid was a favorite).

I can't thank Kellie, Katie, and NSCC International enough for their dedication and all of the support they provided. It was a great pleasure to work with Eric Boer from Hanze University and thank them for being the first institute to host this exchange. They have prepared us for what is to come at NSCC this coming October.

Peter Rosvall
Faculty, Civil and Building Technologies