Allison Thelen PTH 680 International Learning Experience Ireland Reflection Journals 03/04/23 - Day 1 On day one | was overwhelmed with excitement. | was lucky enough to sleep most of the flight, so | was feeling pretty refreshed for our first day. One of the first cultural observations | made was when Meg and | went on a walk. We passed people on the sidewalk who were also walking and we couldn't determine if it was principal to move to the right side of ‘the sidewalk when passing by another group. In America we normally move to the right when walking on the sidewalk similar to cars on the road. With the change in traffic direction on the roads in Ireland we were contemplating whether we needed to move to the left when passing by a group of people. We contemplated this most of our walk. When we returned to the hotel we ended up asking Daniel what we should do in these situations. He said it doesn’t matter and that the Irish people “just don’t care”. This was surprising to me. Throughout middle school and high school we were encouraged to walk on the right side of the hallway to maintain flow. This translated to the sidewalks as well. | felt weird to not have a “designated side” to walk on. Something that | learned on day one that could help me professionally is perseverance. When we toured Dublin | thought it was so cool that we could still see the bullet holes from the Easter Rising. This reminded me of the perseverance of the Irish people in their efforts to liberate form Great Britain. It was also shocking to me to see how busy the streets were and | could only imagine how busy they were when the Easter Rising occurred many years ago.Something that | learned about myself on day one is that | like Bulmers cider. This was the first time | had tried it. | didn’t want to try my first Guinness yet, so | decided to give Bulmers a try. | am not usually a huge cider person because they are often too sweet or too dry for me. Bulmers had the perfect balance between the two, leaning slightly more to the sweet side. | am glad | had my first one on night one so | knew how delicious and refreshing it was so | could continue to order it throughout the week. Now that | am writing this | am getting quite sad knowing that | will not get to enjoy a Bulmers until | make another trip to go back to Ireland one day.03/05/23 — Day 2 On day 2 | had lots of observations of the Irish culture. This was especially true when we vi d the GAA. | got to try Gaelic football. As a “retired” collegiate soccer player, | was excited to see how Ireland combined both soccer and rugby. | had a lot of fun trying to kick the Gaelic football like | would a soccer ball. | was also intrigued about the sport of hurling. This seemed like a mix of baseball and rugby. | think it would be so cool to watch one of these games in person. | imagine the atmosphere is absolutely electric. | thought it was cool to see the players lounge as well. | wondered if players ever got into fights at the lounge after the games. | couldn't imagine having to hang out with the players of the team that might have just beat me. ‘Another culture shock for me was in the Glasnevin Cemetery. | couldn't believe how many caskets were stacked on top of each other in such a small area of the graves. This was not anything | had ever seen before. | made me wonder how deep the first caskets were placed and if they knew how many they would try to stack on top. | know | want to be buried by my family, but not literally on top of them Something | learned that could help me professionally is what Gaelic football is and what hurling is. If | ever have a patient that participates in these sports | will be prepared about the functional demands of the sport. Our tour guide kept saying how Irish sports are integrating around the world. The GAA tour will prove very useful if these sports continue to integrate. Something | learned about myself is that | like Guinness. We went to a pub in Dalkey on night 2 in search of traditional Irish music. | had not ever had Guinness in America before and as soon as | knew I was going to Ireland; | decided | was going to wait to have one until | was there.| do not typically like dark beers, so | was nervous to try it. Once | got the courage to order one, | was glad that | did, | felt very heavy in my stomach, but the flavor was very good. | included a picture of me and my first Guinness below. | am grateful that | waited to try it to get the full Ireland experience. It was well worth it and | am glad that I got to try it while being surrounded by friends with “trad” music in the background. At this bar | even had the opportunity to talk to some locals who were college students in the area. We asked them so many questions and it ‘was so interesting to hear their Irish slang and how they pronounced certain words. Throughout ‘the week we ended up quoting them and trying to mimic their accents. | think talking with those people was the best way to fully immerse ourselves into the Irish culture.03/06/23 - Day 3 On day three a cultural observation | had was the c ine. When we stopped at Rock of Cashel, we had the opportunity to eat lunch at a small diner in the area called O’Neil’s. | ordered the bacon and cabbage. When the meal first came out it looked quite unappetizing, ‘There was cabbage, bacon (ham), carrots, and mashed potatoes with gravy. As soon as I started eating it, | was not disappointed. Although it looked very bland, this was probably one of the best meals | ate while in Ireland. The flavors complemented each other wonderfully. | had another great culinary experience this day once we reached Kinsale. We went out to eat with our group of friends to a restaurant in the area to celebrate Isaac's Birthday. I ordered the monkfish at this restaurant. | love fish and | had never had monkfish, so | decided to give it a try. This once again was delicious. | think that this was the best meal | had while we were in Ireland. The fish was soft, but chewy and the sauce complemented the fish eloquently. Something | learned that could help me professionally is that it is good to try new things. | learned this with the different foods and drinks that | tried. More often than not, I was pleasantly surprised by what | got. | think this translates to the clinic in that it is okay to try new things with patients. Sticking with what we are comfortable with does not usually allow for maximal growth. Something | learned about myself is that | am the luckiest, unlucky person. While we were at the Rock of Cashel, | was lucky enough to find a four-leaf clover. Looking for four-leaf clovers is one of my passions. Whenever I find a four-leaf clover I keep it, take it home and put it ina jar with all the other four leaf clovers | have found in the past. | knew | had to look for onewhile in Ireland. | was blessed to find one and it only took me 3 days. | was ecstatic. | immediately asked someone to take a picture of it so I could let my friends and family in ‘America know. | also got a picture holding the four-leaf clover which is below. | was gripping the four-leaf clover so tightly walking around to show anyone who wanted to see it. My super tight grip backfired when | dropped the four-leaf clover. This was absolutely devastating to me. | had my highest high and my lowest low while at the rock of Cashel. I was making plans to press the four-leaf clover and potentially frame it. These plans were changed. This is a prime example of how lucky | can be and also how unlucky I can be.03/07/23 - Day 4 On day four a cultural observation | had was that the Irish know how to make a sausage sandwhich. When we went to lunch in Cork some of us went into a market that was selling a wide variety of foods. Many of the stands were selling meats, cheese, honey, or jams. We ended up going toa sausage vendor. They had their own meals set up, but | decided to make my own. | got a Mediterranean sausage with crispy onion, pickle, ketchup, and spicy mayo. | was very hungry at this point, so this meal was extra delicious. | should have known that a small stand like this one could make some good food. While we were at this market, | also go to watch a man package sausage. It looked like he was making a balloon animal with how he ‘twisted the packaging. This was not something that | have ever seen in America, so it was fun to watch, Something | learned that could help me professionally is all the different tools you can se when working with children. At sensational kids I thought it was interesting to see the wide variety of tools they use to keep children engaged and also contribute to therapy. | especially liked the swings. When | tried it out, | was forced to use my core and upper body strength to stay on the swing. Experiencing this helped me to better understand what a child would experience. | especially liked the demo of the ball throwing with the child prone on the swing. | found it interesting how the activity would be fun and engaging for the child while it also encourages the child to keep their head and upper body up. This provides the therapist with an entertaining way to train the neck and trunk extensors that are used in posture. | also thought using the ball pit for deep sensory input was interesting. | knew if | was a child attending therapy at Sensational Kids, | would want to go straight for that ball pit no matter what. It mademe wonder how the Therapist can keep the child focused on their therapy with all the fun ‘things around them in the room. Something | learned about myself is that | could never live in a busy city. Cork wasn’t even that busy of a place, but when we were on our tour, | felt like | was always trying to dodge people when we were walking. | almost ran into people several times as well. | was trying to watch where | was going, but there was so much going on. | felt overstimulated by it03/08/23 - Day 5 On day five a cultural observation | had was that the people or Blarney are very proud of their wool and the sheep that produce it. | loved that sheep and lambs were incorporated into so many designs and decorations and the Woolen Mills store. When | was younger my favorite stuffed animal that | slept with every night was a lamb named “Lamby”. Looking at all the sheep reminded me of my childhood. | ended up taking pictures of every sheep or lamb item at the Woolen Mills store. | thought that the small sweater with the lams on the pockets was the cutest thing in the world. If | had a small child or if | knew someone who had a small child | would have bought it in a heartbeat. | also enjoyed all the textures in the store. | ended up walking around and just feeling how soft some of their products were. This is something | do at a lot of stores as it is quite amusing to me. Something | learned that could help me professionally is the benefits of hippotherapy for children with autism. For our hippotherapy session my group got to work with a 5-year-old with autism. He could be described as a sensory seeker. When he first walked up to the horse, he stomped his feet up the steps. When he first got on the horse he was very eager and he kept moving up and down. He was seeking sensory input. He began to calm down the longer he was on the horse. The horse he was on had a larger barrel swing to try and provide the sensory stimulus the boy was seeking. Although the horse’s barrel was large, it was still not enough stimulation. We decided that it would have been a good idea to try and trot with the boy on the horse. This was suggested and agreed upon by all, but the horse that we were working with did not trot according to his trainer. We used other techniques including pu iB pressure through the boy's hands as he was riding. In the treatment room the OT continued to work on deeppressure stimulation thorough “splats” on to a foam pad and manual pressure to the bottom of the boy's feet. She would provide this pressure while the boy worked on a puzzle or played the many toys in the treatment room. | really enjoyed this experience, and it was super cool to translate what we have been learning to a real patient. Something | learned about myself is that | should've brought warmer boots. | was feeling very prepared wearing my under armor long sleeve and leggings under my water repelling pants. This was not enough. The whole day | was wishing | had my fleece lined leggings and cabin socks. | was so cold. Next time | travel somewhere cold | will be sure to make room in my suitcase for warmer clothes.03/09/23 - Day 6 On day six a cultural observation | had was of the large Irish Elk. | thought that this piece at the Kilkenny castle was so cool. | thought it was cool how as Americans we also display what we hunt on our walls. It was so interesting to see just how large the elk was. It was so unbelievable that a majority of us assumed it was fake until our tour guide informed us. The tapestries in the castle were very cool as well and | found it interesting how they indicated how wealthy a family was. That has completely changed now. Most tapestries these days are owned my young adults and teenagers. Something | learned that could help me professionally is that it is important to protect ourselves as PTS just like the Blarney castle protected its residents. As PTs we can protect ourselves with detailed documentation. If something ever happens where we need to be brought to court our documentation provides us protections like the walls of a castle. Something | learned about myself is that | missed the Blarney stone when | went to kiss. it. First of all, I did not realize how far down the Blarney stone was. | was eager to give it a kiss, but also nervous about bending back that far. | also wasn’t totally sure what | was aiming for. | ‘thought the stone was going to be its own detached part of the castle. This was not the case. When | started to lean back towards the stone | got pretty uncomfortable with my head hanging down. | also was uncertain how good of a grip the worker had on me with all the rain. | ‘thought that | could slip on through especially with how wet it was when we went. | ended up kissing part of the castle, but | am fairly positive that it was not the Blarney stone. | was worried that since | missed the stone it would give me bad luck. | was also upset that I blew my oneopportunity to kiss the Blarney stone. This means that | will have to go back one day to give it another try. | think the Blarney castle would have been really cool if the weather was better as well. There was so much to see, and it was all so cool. | would have liked to spend more time there, but | was freezing at the same time so | was ready to go. | think the Blarney castle was my favorite historical spot that we went to. | enjoyed trying to picture what it looked like when it was a functional castle. It was also easy to see why the family was successful with all the ways they could defend their home including the layered castle walls and the “murder hole”.03/10/23 - Day 7 On day seven a cultural observation | had was that the Irish people are serious about their Chippers. It took Meg and | until the last day to go to a Chipper. We should have done this much earlier in the trip. We got the fish and chips. They were so delicious and so buttery. We mentioned how nice it would be to have this option in America. The Chipper was fast, and the food was so good. In America you can either get food fast or get food that tastes good. | am not a fan of fast food typically, but the Chipper changes the fast-food game. Something | learned that could help me professionally is that | need to get enough sleep to function properly as a clinician. | was so tired at this point in the trip. Every bus ride we had | ended up sleeping. Even if it was just for 20 minutes, | took advantage. The plane ride home was great for me though. | was able to sleep the whole time. Some of my friends said that they didn’t sleep at all. | was able to sleep the whole time and I was stil feeling tired. | couldn’t even imagine how they were functioning. | kind of knew that I needed proper sleep to order to function, but this only proved it more. There were some conversations that | was struggling to focus in and contribute to. | even started drinking coffee on this trip to try and wake myself up. | am not a coffee drinker, and | really don’t like the taste that much, but | knew it would help me stay awake. When | am on clinical I wil be sure to make sure that | get enough sleep so | can be the best Clinician | can be for my patients. Something | learned about myself is that | was going to miss Ireland. | had so much fun over the past week. | grew so much closer with my friends on the trip, and it was cool to experience the cultural differences with such a large group. Although the trip was super busy itwas nice to forget and destress about everything we were doing in school and just be present. | ended up bringing my computer, but | did not use it once. This provided me with a much needed break from schoolwork. I did not have service in Ireland either, so it was nice to take a break from my phone as well. | think that also helped me to appreciate the culture more and connect with some of my other classmates. | know that I created memories that | will never forget, and | am so glad | had the opportunity to go on this trip.