Continuing orientation

Saturday 31 January

I am feeling absolutely exhausted.  The last few days have been very busy and Thimpu’s dogs have not got any quieter at night. 

It occurred to me today that our orientation period in Thimpu, as well as providing an orientation to all the important things we need to know is possibly also an orientation to the general culture and environment, although Thimpu as a city is somewhat different from the regional towns and the rural areas.  Nancy did advise us not to get too used to the comforts we have here (warm rooms, hot showers, etc) 

I still know nothing about where I will be living for the rest of the year.  I guess that I will know when I get there.

During orientation we have looked at assessment and lesson planning.  Conversations with some current teacher friends at home come to mind about how their student teachers are planning.  I think my planning is expected to be more rigorous than anything I have ever experienced, but that is OK.  Certainly not the introduction to teaching at Campbell Town District High with Joe Lovasi giving me the curriculum and telling me I could teach it if I wanted, noone else does!

Looking at some of the exam papers was interesting – the maths paper was very text heavy, as are the text books.  So if a student is weak in the English language, their chances of success at maths are limited.   Little wonder that when I purchased an umbrella and mosquito net today and the prices were reduced to 800 and 1200 respectively, the sales lady reached for her calculator and when I asked her young son (10-ish) what they added to, he looked a bit blank, although he could add 12 and 8 – then came up with 2000.  There is quite a bit of focus on preparing students for the exams (Grade 3, grade 6, grade 10 and grade 12), so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

Upon inquiry, and looking at the teachers’ guides to the texts, teachers are expected to provide additional assistance for those at the bottom of the spectrum and extension work for those at the top, but the reality is often different.  It will be interesting to see how well I can put into effect all I have been saying for the past several years.  Especially with class sizes as Bhutan has (over 40 not uncommon in Thimpu).  We are told that the student:teacher ration in Bhutanese schools is about 23 or 24 to 1, but the teacher resources are unevenly spread.  There is the usual issue of very small rural schools and there is some move towards centralisation.

A discovery of an additional class of schools: "difficult"  has a completely different meaning to that we would normally give.  A difficult school is one that is more than a couple of days walk from roads etc.  There are difficulties in placing and keeping teachers in these schools but every teacher is required to undertake time in difficult and remote (only a day or so walk from roads etc) schools.

Our orientation session on language and culture gives much food for thought.  Not only am I going to need to learn some Dzongkha, the national language, but also a few words of Sharcop, the dominant language where I am going.

We did get to practice some of the formalities of culture in the afternoon, when we visited the Secretary of Education.  Sitting decorously, without shuffling, without crossing legs, with the head inclined just-so and remembering not to start to drink my tea until everyone has been served will take a little practice to get it all right.  Even harder will be sitting cross-legged when visiting people’s houses.  My flexibility will be challenged.

The customs and culture session included some practicalities such as how to do our washing in the absence of washing machines (I can only guess this has been an issue in the past..)

Meena prepares roti and Nema prepares sag

The cooking class was great.  Several traditional dishes were prepared including Emma Datse (chilli-cheese), Dhal (cooked in the pressure cooker), roti, vegetable curry, sag and much more (of course much more than we could eat).  I am not sure where Bhutan gets a bad rap for bland food from, but none of the dishes were bland!   Perhaps its when they prepare food especially for westerners, and I did experience boring food in some of the hotels when I travelled here in 2013.   I chopped stacks of ginger and the amount of chilli that went into it was huge, along with garlic, coriander, assorted spices…  it was all lovely.  Takin wine was purchased to accompany it – red, sweet, strong (17% alcohol), a bit reminiscent of a rough port.

A birthday cake we purchased for Dylan’s birthday was superb – chocolate layer cake with no resemblance to some of the cakes I have eaten in Asia.  And reasonably priced at 700Nu.

Prayer flags in Thimpu

Sadly, Frazer received news of his grandmother’s death on Thursday, so at the suggestion of the Madames, we went to the national memorial chorten for him to light a butter candle, and for anyone else to also light one, in her memory.  Such events do bring back to the surface personal grief, so it was quite emotional for more than just Frazer. 

Saturday with nothing scheduled was most welcomed.  One or two of the group have been less than 100% healthy and the opportunity to rest was great, although some took the option of a picnic lunch and a long hike.

I bit the bullet and completed most of my shopping, including heater, mattress, more buckets… I found coffee beans and a coffee plunger and a mortar and pestle to be able to use these two.  A halogen heater at 1400Nu, (with discount subtracted, converts to about AUD$28) was the choice after a bit of consultation with Google.  I like the way that electrical appliances are demonstrated (plugged in and switched on to prove they work) just before sale.  I guess that the sellers are aware of the general quality and reliability of many of the Chinese produced goods.  I hope the mattress will be OK - its none too soft, but the best I could find without going for a double inner spring - I am unlikely to have a bed frame for a double mattress.

I have collected my new kira, wonju and taego from the tailor.  The overall effect is good, although there are garment construction techniques that I would not have chosen to use myself.  I will be shortening the kira, it currently sweeps the ground.