Extended Update: Days 5- 17

 After more than 10 internet-less days, we have finally returned from the rural village of Punakha to Thimphu and the blog is up and running once again. When we first arrived to Phunaka, we were greeted by verdant mountains and a wide milk colored river that extended all the way to the famous Phunaka Tzong. It was at this famous monastery, which once served as the military and political capital of the country, that we were able to understand how important Buddhist culture is for Bhutan. In a huge temple buried within this fantasy like valley, it did not take a genuine belief in Buddhism to sense the deep spiritual atmosphere we were submerged in, the giant Buddha and Guru Rinpoche (the “second Buddha”) statues that towered over us confirmed that. After our three hour trip, which took us over and along the side of a mountain, we reached the center of Phunaka where we ate lunch at a local restaurant. Along with the usual rice, curry, and tea, we were served a Bhutanese take on pasta. Upon stepping into the restaurant and talking to the waitresses, it became quite clear that we were no longer in Thimphu. Although communication was initially a challenge, these waitresses seemed to have a greater desire to be helpful, as they characteristically tilted their heads to the side every time they said “okay”.  After a quick rest we set out once again, climbing yet another mountain to reach our final destination: Tashidingkha Middle Secondary School. It was in this school that we were able to work as teachers in 10^th grade classrooms for ten days, covering a wide range of topics. We had spent months developing a five day curriculum in which each of us were divided into alternating groups of three and were expected to come to class with enough resources and preparedness to properly teach. Although our chief objective was the quality of each class, we also wanted to offer subjects that are not normally taught in Bhutanese schools. We did not want to teach the very same classes that their schoolteachers offered because we thought it would hinder our relationship with the students and conflict with the goals of the exchange program to provide the systematic trade of new ideas.  As a result, Kei taught politics, Jun led technology classes, Kuba held lectures/ interactive discussions on sports (and the culture that it is surrounded by), Nathan introduced music in the form of an after school club and a real in class course, James taught art, and I (Julian) led a philosophy course. So as we twisted up a mountain to Tashidingkha in two separate vans, our minds were locked in a state of anticipation. Although we all felt well prepared for class, we soon understood all the independent variables of running a class, such as student behavior and interest that could impede our ability to effectively teach. Luckily, as our cars pulled up into the school, which lay nested within the trees on the side of a mountain (with a stunning view too!), crowds of smiling students greeted us. As soon as we stepped out of the car and began to interact, we were all taken aback by the kindness and respect these Bhutanese students addressed us with. It then became time to meet the host families we would be staying with so we walked up a shaky rock staircase to the principle’s house. The house itself was made up of one common room attached to a kitchen and a couple of bedrooms. Soon the principle, his wife, and his two daughters (all of Nepalese descent) greeted us along with the two other hosts, who were both male teachers that I had worked with in the previous year. We sat down over a cup of tea and rice, greeted one another, discussed our teaching schedules for the duration of our stay, and identified which host each of us would be staying with. Jun and I were hosted by the principle, Kei and Kuba by one of the two teachers, who taught history and English and was named Sir Zangpo and Nathan and James by the other teacher, who taught math and physics and was named Sir Drupka. After finishing our meeting, Julian took everyone on a tour of the school. After passing by many smiling and staring faces and meeting some of my old friends, we noticed that there were dramatic differences between the students of Thimphu and this school. Beyond the fact that these kids tended to be shorter and thinner, their ages ranged dramatically from class to class (in one 10^th grade class it ranged from 16 to 25) and many of them came from southern/eastern Bhutan and had generally darker skin than the people of Thimphu. Even the landscape itself felt different as the valley of Phunaka felt very empty in comparison to Thimphu and therefore much more isolated. So as the sun struck the back of our necks at over 90 F, it seemed as though we had just entered an alternate, or even historical, Bhutan.  As we walked around, we noted the two floor hostiles and classroom buildings that we saw. All the walls of these structures were made of grey brick with wooden doors and railing that were painted in characteristic Bhutanese dark red and orange. There was a two floor library/ computer (with no internet of course!) building as well as an auditorium that served as the dining hall as well as the location for dance competitions.  Unlike our school (and most schools in the US) the teachers travel from class to class instead of the students and each building is separated and isolated from one another (so in the winter you need to trot through snow to get from class to the dining hall… or the bathroom). Students are assigned to a specific classroom and compete with one another in various activities like bunks do in a sleep away camp. That is not to compare these students’ schedules to sleep away camp, as it is, in some ways, far more demanding than most American schools are. In Tashidingkha, wake time is 5:00am for hostile/campus cleaning and early morning studies. This rigorous day (one which we are quiet confident, in the US, would only result in armed rebellion!) ends at 9:00pm – 10:00pm with nighttime studies although students usually only go to sleep by 11:00pm. The school’s policy of discipline is also unnecessarily harsh, as students would be regularly beaten for skipping class, prayer, or (and especially) walking near the opposite gender’s dorm. Still, every time we stepped out of our host family houses in the morning, we were greeted with the same friendly and energetic smiles.

In our host families, we ate traditional Bhutanese rice based dishes for almost every meal. On occasion, we would have noodles or a Bhutanese take on western food, however these dishes were so rare that we were generally confined to simple combinations of rice and curry. Still we could not possibly complain as the food in the student’s cafeteria was so nauseating (literally) that on the one day we sat down to eat there, we were passionately warned not to so much as touch the food on our plate. In our rooms, we each slept on a mattress (usually without a bed), kept cool at night with a fan, and covered ourselves with a sleeping bag liner to protect against insects. Although, for some of us, the first few days of sleeping in our respected host family house was a period of adjustment, over time we felt comfortable and well adapted to an entirely new style of living. Still, we sacrificed a lot of the basic comfort that we had back home as we were forced to burry ourselves under sleeping bags to keep bugs out.

So on the first full day of school, we began by officially donating 27 books (including The Arabian Nights and the entire Harry Potter series) to Tashidingkha Middle Secondary School during the morning assembly. We then introduced ourselves and I briefly introduced our team and explained the program. After this, we walked away from the school assembly platform and our teaching programs began. Since each of us would meet with one specific classroom five times over the course of the ten days, we understood the importance of properly introducing ourselves to our class and guiding our class with some sort of progressive narrative that has a clear start and ending. This meant that each of us needed to have a well defined day to day lesson plan.

In Jun’s technology class, he led a five day discussion/lecture about the rise of modern technology and its societal impacts. This ranged from analysis of the effects of nuclear energy to the power of the internet. One initial concern we had for this course in particular was the ability of each student to fully understand what Jun was talking about and although some students did not entirely connect with what he was saying, a good portion of the class was extremely interested, with some students even asking questions about renewable energy and supercomputers.

In Kei’s course, he led a discussion, with me acting as a teacher’s assistant, about politics and, specifically, what role the government should play in the lives of the people. Initially, this class focused on exactly what a government is and why it is created, however it soon shifted into a discussion about property and how we use it to define our rights. Effectively, we discussed the Lockean idea that our life is our own property and, not to over simply things, the government’s job is simply to protect this conception of property. This then brought us to the topic of rights, which we defined as manmade and enforceable moral values that are agreed upon by a certain population. This immediately led us into a debate about what freedom is, which the students agreed marked the elusive point between absolute liberty (the ability to do ANYTHING one wants) and absolute security (when the government controls everything for the purpose of safety). The entire class agreed that freedom (the balance between these two ideas) could not be simply defined as absolute security or liberty, however most of them did not agree on what quantity of each essential idea constitutes true freedom. The immediate result of this was a discussion, and inevitably a debate, over the ideas of capitalism and socialism. Although some of the ideas needed to be simplified for the purpose of the class, the students were able to wage a passionate debate over these two ideas in context of the ideal role of the government. Most of the students seemed to believe, to my delight, that some additional government force is necessary in order to create a balanced level of opportunity for all people, however a significant amount of students, to Kei’s delight, were convinced that inequality of opportunity was a natural component of society that the government simply should not tamper with.  Every time we walked by a group of students who participated in this class (and when we eventually left), we were met by chants of “socialism!” or “capitalism” and even one or two subtle and drowned out cries of “communism!” occasionally echoed in the distance.

Nathan created a voluntary after school music class/ club that managed to draw a large number of students each day. The class was dedicated to introducing a new genre of popular American music each day. This ranged from country music to metal to hip-hop to pop (the only genre the students seemed to have a familiarity with). He brought in kazoos and rhythm sticks as part of numerous interactive music activities (such as playing to a certain beat) and introduced music through an amplifier (with unfortunately poor sound quality) by significant artists within their respected genre. He even had students dance to each type of music as part of a demonstration of the type of culture that each genre is followed by. Beyond this, the students were encouraged to bring in their instruments and perform in front of the class. Ultimately, music was very popular and the students succeeded in expanding their appreciation of this basic human art form into what was previously the unknown.

For James, his art class focused on highlighting the role of art in American culture. Each day, he addressed a specific artist in context of their style and innovativeness and described how it directly reflected the specific movements and historical events of the artists time period. The basis for this class was largely founded on interactive activities (similar to music) so everyday, students would attempt to recreate and mimic the style of a specific artist. This ultimately culminated in splatter paint, where each student created a piece of work based on the style of Jackson Pollock that was previously introduced in the class. James ultimately connected each artist and their respective genres to his own life and addressed it as a source of personal inspiration.

Kuba’s sports class also (similar to James and Nathan) took place after school hours. The curriculum was divided into two parts, with both an interactive and lecture component. He would first introduce a specific sport that is famous in America and discuss what makes it popular and the cultural the follows it. For example, he discussed how basketball originated in the inner city of the US yet spread worldwide to even the most remote and rural parts of Bhutan (for example). He also commented on how sports can often act as an opiate that the people people us to escape from reality. After this discussion, Kuba then took the students out to a basketball court/field to play the sport that they had just discussed. He had brought soccer balls, footballs, basketballs, and Frisbees with him, so he was able to cover a wide range of sports despite Tashidingkha’s generally lacking athletic resources. This was a very popular class, particularly amongst the boys, and proved to be a very good means of interacting and connecting with the Bhutanese students. Kuba separated his entire class into multiple competing teams, which all of us exchange students joined, and forced us to break the ice, understand, and cooperate with one another.

In my political philosophy class, I led a series of discussions and lectures that revolved around the conflicting ideas of perception and reality and how one informs the other. Initially, I simply discussed the basic distinction between these two concepts and used the example of someone wearing basketball clothes vs a real basketball player to illustrate this idea. Effectively, I argued that everyone portrays themselves in a certain way and actively seeks to alter the way others perceive them by changing their appearance (makeup, clothes, est.). This idea was then put into the context of entire countries and cultures as I equated politics, film, music, and media in general as the primary means in which a country changes the way foreigners (and even the native population) perceive it. I then placed this thought into the more familiar backdrop of Bhutan and described how Gross National Happiness (GNH) is often used as a selling point or a means of fixing an image of the country to foreigners. I discussed how the vast majority of people who have heard about Bhutan have only heard it in the context of GNH and therefore trick themselves into the irrational belief that everyone in Bhutan is happy, something the students of Tashidingkha flatly denied. Eventually, I was able to take these basic ideas and lead the class through various lectures about the writings of great western political philosophers such as Karl Marx and John Locke. After the first day of introductory content, the students became extremely passionate about the issues that we discussed. This was very satisfying, as this was a subject that had never been taught in any Bhutanese High School, yet the students still developed their own passionate opinions on the ideas we discussed. This culminated in many organized and, even more, spontaneous debates that often continued long after the school day had finished. On the final day of class, I tied the entire notion of perception and reality, which had been the underlying theme throughout the class, together through Plato’s famous Allegory of the Cave, which describes the intrinsic relationship between these two philosophical concepts. Through the use of visual images and representations, the students understood the idea behind Plato’s argument and used it as a basis to describe importance of education through physical experience to liberate the individual from their “chains”.

Despite our heavy workload, we managed to find the time to explore our surroundings, going on a relatively strenuous hike to a nearby monastery that rested on the top of a mountain. Tremendous visual beauty encompassed us throughout the trip as green leaves shined brightly in our eyes and a rainbow pierced through the clouds down into the trees.

When we reached the monastery at the top of a mountain, we were surprised to see the small farm that rested on a nearby ledge, which we soon proceeded to climb. We picked apples, pears, and, cucumbers to wash and peel for our mid-hike snack.

Beyond our work as teachers in classrooms, we also sat in as teacher’s assistants for real Tashidingkha classes. This gave us the opportunity to witness classes in action and critically understand why certain students struggled in the subjects that they did. One concern that immediately struck us was that English is used as the language of instruction amongst a body of people who are far from fluent in the language and as a result, a science or math class becomes a greater test of English than a real English class. This explains why science and math classes, are home to the largest number of failing students while English, seemingly paradoxically, is the school’s strongest subject. The direct result of this issue was teacher frustration as many of them would simply not show up to class and neglect their duties and every given opportunity. Even in the English and history classes (the school’s strongest subjects) the students often struggled to grasp the material being taught to them. In 10^th grade, students read The Giver by Lois Lowry (a book we all read in 6^th grade) and although the language is not incredibly complex, the themes of the book are so abstract that only a very small group of select students (who all coincidentally came to Tashidingkha from Thimphu) actually understood the novel. Kuba actually sat in on one of these English classes and attempted to explain what was happening in each chapter more thoroughly. Still, most of the students lacked the basic English ability required to understand Kuba’s more complex analysis of the book.

Through these experiences, we were able to gain first hand knowledge of the difficulties the teacher’s faced when attempting to teach their students. Beyond this, because there is no Internet in Tashidingkha and the quality of the available textbooks are so poor, many teachers simply had to guess or estimate facts and historical dates because they lacked the resources to ensure they were entirely accurate. Even some of the more remote schools in Bhutan, many of them have some Internet or common point of reference that teachers can use. Tashidingkha was unfortunately unique in the respect that they had none of it.

Still, all of us agree that this was an absolutely eye opening and incredible experience and as we conversed and laughed with the students of Tashiginkha, we began to formulate a unique understanding of the Bhutanese people and their culture, one that we had not yet found in the early parts of our trip. So as I addressed all of Tashidingkha’s students and staff for the last time, I thanked them all for the hospitality and officially announced Tashidingkha as a primary partner in the Bhutan-US exchange program. I closed by reading off a poem about the importance of education for creating a more informed and idealistic citizen. As we finally rode away from the school, we waved goodbye to our friends and set our sights toward Thimphu and schools that we would soon be visiting, we sat in anticipation of a totally new experience in a place with a seemingly alternative conception of  Bhutanese culture.