Sarah's Blog

We all have reasons for travelling. Some are superficial; to escape the cold of winter and procure an enviable tan (not to be found in Ireland), or perhaps to briefly escape the mundane of home and work routine. Others travel for seemingly more thoughtful reasons, to challenge themselves on a mountain peak, or perhaps to learn a foreign language (can be found in Ireland!)... Well at least to ask where the washroom is in it anyway. I suppose I have found that in my travels, a recurring theme would be Education, in whatever facet, and Ireland is no exception.
The groups from NSCC and Holland College have certainly travelled to Ireland, first and foremost, for the purpose of Education as most would define it. Our primary aim being to learn about sustainable building practices. In particular, the Passivhaus Design Standard that has come to the forefront of energy efficient building design in Europe. This has of course been a major component of our trip here, but our education has extended beyond that in many ways, as exploring another country inevitably does. In some of our lectures, we have learned things about the Irish culture and psyche that explain a great deal about Irish society in the present, but reveal even more about Ireland from the past. For example, the significance placed on the pride of home ownership. Ireland has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the European Union, and is considerably high compared to North American standards as well. There are certainly people that rent their homes or apartments, but there is much emphasis placed on the importance of owning your own home, regardless of demographic or income level. Of course, this explains the motivations behind the number of social housing organizations that assist people in achieving this goal (one of which our project is affiliated with), but it also leads one to ask why that mentality exists in the first place. Looking back on the past several centuries of Irish history, it becomes evident quite quickly why land ownership would be of utmost importance to the Irish people, and it is amazing to see how strongly this sentiment still runs. Sometimes learning a simple statistic can say a lot more about a place and its people.
Of course, we’ve learned many things outside of the classroom as well... such as in the kitchen. There you will always find your washing machine, which also happens to be your dryer, which dries clothes about as effectively as a sheep baaa-ing on it, or 3 buttterflies flapping their wings and taking a 20 minute break at 10 minute intervals. In the streets, LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING. I can’t stress that one enough. And in the grocery stores, no eggs are refrigerated, and apparently they really don’t need to be at all. The space I’ve wasted in the fridge all these years... Of course I’ve learned some truly wonderful things as well. I’ve learned that the grass really is greener here in a way that can’t be described, and that incredible, diverse music is waiting to be heard in every pub in every small town, and that the rugged beauty of a place can astound you in the most unexpected ways. Education in Ireland so far has been grand....

Sarah Mitchell
Construction Management Student
Waterfront Campus