Inservice, check

Inservice is officially over and done. Now the fun begins.

There are many similarities as well as many differences between school here in Bhutan and school in the Western world. To begin, it appears that students are in charge of cleaning. I'm not just talking about a little cleaning. They arrive early and clean the grounds, picking up small twigs and pine cones, garbage, etc. Some will be in charge of sweeping and some will be in charge of their assigned flower gardens. Either way, it is their responsibility to maintain their areas as it is a reflection of themselves. Interesting, isn't it?

The week of inservice consisted of basically everything I expected. The only difference is the terminology and of course the language. The discussions often started out in English for my benefit, and then quickly change to Dzongka as the conversations picked up speed. It takes great effort to attempt to follow an academic conversation in Dzongka. Thank goodness that some words don't really translate, like Internet, which by the way we DON'T have at school, attendance, etc. But, with a little effort, I don't expect the transition to be that drastic.

I received my teaching load. I will be teaching class (grade) 5, 6, and 7 English. The textbooks (basils) have story after story with culminating activities to do that will stress speaking, listening, reading and writing. It will be interesting to see how the students respond. From everything I have heard, it might take an act of god to get them to speak in class. I will find out tomorrow and let you know.

The campus is up on the top of a "hill?" or some might call it a mountain. Either way, it is difficult to dress for the weather up there. And by the way, did I mention that the classrooms are not heated. Thank goodness I brought plenty of SmartWool soxs! But I have a suspicion that I might feel guilty wearing mittens in class.

Currently I am living with a Bhutanese family. I am learning to live in a Bhutanist manner, which basically means no furniture. We eat sitting on the floor, we watch tv sitting on the floor, etc. Did I mention that rice three times a day is more than I ever imagined?

Well, off to prepare for tomorrow. Wish me luck.