TotD: First Day in IBI

I recently started a module in IBI (The Irish Bible Institute) and this blog will be about my first day there which was Wednesday!

The first thing I have to say about it is how close it is to the bus station. That seems really trivial but it is such a big deal when you are travelling Cork to Dublin for just one class, proximity to transport hubs becomes a big deal. I found that I'm a little nervous I'm Dublin, it's big and people have terrifying accents, no offence Dublin readers, so I very much enjoyed that I didn't have to walk far in the scary capital.

The second things have to note is how tiny IBI actually is in terms of floor space. It has a library, two classrooms, two offices, two bathrooms, a boardroom, and a large kitchen, dining area. That may sound big but in terms of a college it's quite tiny. It occupies half the second floor of Ulysses House. I, for some reason, had been under the impression it owns all of Ulysses House, so I was shocked by the tininess. The fact that it is small means that the classes are small. There are 10 people doing the module I am doing, pastoral care. That is so so strange for me, in a nice, refreshing way. In UCC my history class, in first year, was 450 people and Religion was 160. In second year history dropped to about 250 and some classes had only 50 (my dissertation module has only 13) and religion dropped to 70 (classes averaged about 45 tutorials were 20). So it was very strange to be in a class smaller than my tutorials. I guess it shows how tiny Christianity is in Ireland. Increase our numbers greatly Lord!

That's about all the bad I have to say about it haha.

First thing that impressed me was the obvious diversity. There was Iz, who is diverse denominationally in herself, two Pentecostals, a lady from a Chinese church (though she is not Chinese), a Baptist or two, a Presbyterian and a me, whatever I am...

The second thing was prayer. Joan Singleton, the muinteoir (lecturer isn't right but nor is teacher, muinteoir, the Irish term generally used for teacher, is more far reaching in what it means I feel) began the class with prayer! That was so refreshing as well. Imagine starting a class with prayer so cool.

Next was the content, the class was so good. I learned things I didn't even realise I didn't know. Mainly from Galatians 6:2,5. It's about bearing others burdens but also each carrying their own burdens. It was good because I never thought about it that way before.

Anyway overall IBI is proof that good things come in small packages. (What a lame ending)