Sunday picnic

As a group we are settling into a routine, we’re getting to know each other, we are enjoying being pampered a bit with a place to sleep and three meals everyday. Soon enough we will be on our own for all of the above in locations which promise to be very different from our experience here in the capital city of Thimphu where shopping is easy and there are euro style coffee shops if one hankers for a fix of homelike environment.

This past Sunday we, as a group feeling rather like tourists, were bused to a trailhead where we set off to hike up to Cheri Goemba also known as Ghagri Dorjeden which is a monastery hung high on a very steep ridge above a narrow valley with a wintry rushing stream in the bottom. The roofs of the monastery look as though they are flying out over space. The buildings, centuries old, create a place that tells the history of Bhutan. The monastery was established in 1620 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgval, the founder of the Bhutanese state according to WikiP. On the drive up we passed a shrined carved and painted onto a rock face. All this was a wonderful taste of the country which we are all eager to explore in our own regions and to learn whatever we can.

Monday we began work in earnest as we looked at curriculum and lesson plans began to find out how we would be expected to work at our schools.

A few pics

Orientation commences

Orientation is, as one would suspect, full of meetings, formalities, and necessities. We are learning a lot about the school system and educational philosophies of Bhutan. It does help to give us some background so that we might better understand the system of which we are becoming one small part. We did sign our contracts yesterday and that means we are all now civil servants of Bhutan.

I am slowly getting to know some of the others in the group, it is an incredibly diverse and eclectic group. No two people have anywhere near the same backgrounds. My roommate is a newly robed Buddhist monk, one of the teachers is a very recent college grad, many have taught abroad before, one has a handful of degrees including one in electrical engineering. I can be a bit slow getting to know everyone, I was a day or two behind when I got here and my first afternoon and evening was a bit of a wash as I was a little travel weary. The 24 hr break in Beijing was a bonus, but the short night in the airport in Bangkok still took its toll.

I am reminding myself of my way around Thimphu, we have a lot of shopping to do as most of us have to set up house where we are going. I am trying to figure out the basics I need to get started, I intend to be frugal, so far one electric pot and a few dishes are mine. I will have the option of coming back to Thimphu to shop on a weekend. We do have Saturday classes but I think the day is a bit shorter. A couple of the teachers are going to the eastern part of the country, the travel time by road is 4 days!! I am still a bit disbelieving of that. Travel is a difficult topic here, I am still trying to sort it out.

Every time we meet with an official or other professional as part of our training I am always struck by their humility and sincerity. They all express very honorable, humane, and mindful ideals and goals but also have a practical side which realizes these standards may not yet be currently achieved across the educational system. It is inspiring to hear them and to know that at the highest level the goals of the educational system are ones for which it is an honor to strive.

Enough already!

Made it !!

Traveling, food and sleep are key. Forced overnight in Beijing. Dinner was marginal, but the breakfast buffet was a spread that was a sight to behold. Freshly prepared noodle soup, hot and tasty, much like I enjoyed in Hanoi. Two bowls of that and some really good fresh fruit definitely set me up for the day. The dining room was pretty darn cold. Everyone in their coats, made for a greater appreciation of the hot soup. Visibility outside is very limited. I think the smog readings are still very high but every time I get a page up on the internet talking about the fierce smog in Beijing it disappears. I guess there are ways around the censorship but I suspect is successful with 95+% of the population.

            I decide to stay inside, relaxed morning, I was able to buy a couple of books from Amazon to give myself some kindle time. Head to the airport after lunch for a change of scene, several café tables by windows but the smog is so bad you can’t see anything. Flight to Bangkok is 7:45pm, checking in to board, seat change, low number, left as I enter the plane instead of right. First class to Bangkok! Nice meal and the first time I’ve tried out the seats that go all the way to a bed. Too bad they are way outa my price range, they would be real nice for a long flight. Caught a bit of sleep before arriving in Bangkok in the middle of the night. No use getting a room, Druk air departs at 8:55 in the morning. A restless night and I succumbed to Starbucks and a muffin around 4:30. Check out the orchid display in the airport, orchids everywhere! Matching sets in every bathroom!

            Druk air is timely, beautiful flight with Everest in the distance and Kachenjunga close by. A quick stop in Bagdogra, Sikkim, India, and over the hills to Paro. Coming into Paro the flight path is up a canyon, plane banking left and right as we fly below the ridgetops on both sides. Blues skies as we deplane from the ship with the Druk, or thunder dragon on it’s tail. Met at the airport and driven straight to Thimphu. Hop out just as the group is heading toward a meeting with the civil service commissioner who oversees our program. Drop the bags in the room and off we go. Government meeting so it includes tea, sweet and milky, dumplings and egg rolls. A welcome snack. Finish up that meeting and a few of head over to the hospital for a medical certificate necessary for employment. A bit of a line to wait to have BP taken by a rather suspect digital reader, Doc signs it and off we go. A long night’s sleep is the very necessary plan this evening.

travelin'

Blogging, a new form of journalism, I have never been a journalist, can I blog?

So, 1^st travel day. Margi drops me off at DIA, beautiful morning, stubborn check in person who would rather tell me I can’t check my bag through to Bangkok rather than figuring out how to do it. Persevere, almost an hour later I head for security, pull out my boarding passes, I have only two, not the one I need first. Back to my friendly United agent, yep she spaced it, prints me a new one and hands it to me. My confidence regarding the likelihood of my bag following me to Bangkok continues to erode. My extra time has been gobbled up and I grab a turkey/bacon wrap, my tummy is empty. Munching away as I board, the United flight is prompt, full, and smooth.

Ahh, LAX, everyone’s favorite airport, take the bus to terminal 2, head for security again, they turn me back saying I need a more complete boarding pass from the China Air desk. Big crowd, slow line, fairly small space, longish wait to get to the counter. My boarding pass won’t print.  About an hour later I get and “emergency” pass and head back to security. Zip through and down to the gate. No hurry, the flight is 3+ late and I will miss my connection to Bangkok.

Small terminals in LAX, China air had given us $10 food voucher, good at Burger King or Wolfgang Puck’s. The later is a bar, TVs, football coming on in a bit. Lunch and a beer seems to be in order. What a racket, my $10 voucher takes the edge off the price of a chicken Ceasar salad, but doesn’t cover it. The pint of Sam Adams tastes good, but for $8.75 you gotta want it.  Guilliermo, the bartender, was entertaining and helped to ease the pain of trying to watch the 14” TV over the bar.

The food is boring, bland, rather unappealing, but satisfying on the basic hunger level none the less. The conversation is entertaining, a few more folks in my same or similar plights. I email BFC regarding my delay and settle in to enjoy seeing the Falcons play SF, something I wasn’t planning to be able to see, a bright side for the day. I begin to have deja vue and realize this bar is the very same one I sat in and watched football on my way to New Zealand when I was bound for Antartica. Well, LAX is getting very small in my memories. All the visits with students were OK, and always with my mind on the group. Today, just me, very relaxing.

China Air finally loads, I am happy with a forward exit row seat, lots of room and easy to move around. But, I am in kidville. The Indian family behind me have two whiny, screechy, very annoying kids with them. Thank goodness for headphones and music. We get dinner and then after “night time” we get the lunch that was intended to be the first meal. Beijing, miles of walking, go to many desks, often the wrong one or in the wrong order, but in the end we’re on a shabby shuttle bus bound for the Golden Pheonix Hotel with a 72 hour visa stamp in our passports.

Gaudy lights with a vague Christmas theme, the occasional Santa or red hat. Check in and am happy to have a bed and shower compliments of China Air. Dinner is the “delayed passengers buffet”, rice, cabbage, deep fried breaded, lots of batter, chicken, and beef that was so soft and tasteless I could hardly swallow my one bite. The cabbage was pretty good, the rice adequate, and the chicken marginal. The epicurean side of this venture is not a main attraction.

Nice night’s sleep, looking forward to the shower, and amused that I cannot log onto my blogspot. Apparently China does limit internet access, I’ll try again in the Bangkok airport.

testing, testing

Testing, testing, does this thing work? Can you hear me?
Turning over another new leaf, the new techno leaves these days are like a whirlwind in the fall, if you're not careful you might get buried!
Things are beginning to get real, packing step #1 is the preliminary piles, I've got it goin' on for sure.
So much for the test run, bye now.