Reflections from the Land of the Thunder Dragon
By Christian Barry
Earlier this year, I was extremely fortunate to have spent six weeks attending school in Bhutan. It was the most crazy, awesome and enjoyable experience of my life!
Originally I had intended to go to Germany with the Tarremah Steiner School* exchange program; however, my parents offered me the opportunity to attend a boarding school in Bhutan instead. I was a bit nervous about going somewhere so far from home with such a different culture, people, food and way of life.
But I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and chose Bhutan.
It was the best decision I ever made.
Once I’d decided to go and arrangements were under way, several of my friends expressed an interest in joining me. In the end Ru MacDonald and Rose Dell, signed up too and I’m so glad they did. It was great to have friends from home to share the new experiences with, confide in and relate to. Some of these new experiences were – sleeping in a dormitory, learning to meditate, trying new foods, participating in Buddhist ceremonies, learning traditional dances and exploring an unfamiliar city.
Our initial arrival at ELC High School** was very moving.
The entire school was lined up, in the rain, to greet us. Immediately after unpacking my bags, I was swamped by fellow students, young and old, who were desperate to know everything about me; my hobbies, sporting interests, favourite movies and even relationship status! I think I had been expecting to experience something of a culture shock, but rather than noticing the differences, I was surprised to find so many similarities between us all.
Even though we come from different backgrounds with such vastly alternate cultures, I fitted right in straight away, because at the end of the day we’re all just teenagers having fun together.
Making new friends was substantially the biggest highlight of the trip for me, but among other things, I also enjoyed playing various sports, guitar singalongs with my friends, discussing cultural and religious differences and attending classes that are different from what I’m used to at home. I really loved experiencing a different way of learning and trying things that I would not have had the chance to do at Tarremah.
One of the more unique classes was our weekly wellbeing session, in which we learned how to identify and manage our emotions, practise mindfulness and gratitude and generally take better care of ourselves and each other. These lessons helped me to focus on what is important and I can already see the benefits in many aspects of my life.
I know I will forever be grateful for them and for the many other incredible experiences I had in Bhutan.
The three of us, me, Rose and Ru, enjoyed spending time in the city of Thimphu, which was not far from our school. Eventually I began roaming the streets alone, spending hours at a time taking hundreds of photos and soaking in all of the sights, smells and noises. Something that stood out to me was the kindness and hospitality of the Bhutanese people. Everyone I met from peers and teachers to taxi drivers and shop keepers, treated us with care and respect.
For instance, once when I was alone in the city and had run out of mobile data, I entered a cafe to ask for the wifi, so I could contact my principle and let her know my plans for that afternoon. As it turned out, that cafe didn’t have any WiFi, but the cashier immediately offered to hotspot me from her personal phone.
Some of the challenges I faced were lack of sleep, zero privacy and personal space and having to restrict my food intake to just three meals a day. These setbacks taught me to speak up and voice my concerns and I was therefore able to find solutions to all my problems.
Prior to arriving I had been offered the choice of sharing a dorm with other students, or sleeping by myself in a spare room. I had chosen the dorm because I’d wanted that experience; however, when it became too overwhelming, I was really lucky to have an alternative. This resolved my issues with sleep and privacy, but not my constant hunger. After much persistence on my part, I was eventually granted permission to visit the kitchen between meals and was finally able to satisfy my appetite. Once these three major setbacks were behind me I was able to prosper and thoroughly enjoy my time there.
I was initially expecting homesickness to set in and grow with each passing week, but was surprised to find the opposite was actually true – the longer I was there, the longer I wanted to stay!
When the time came at last to say our tearful goodbyes I wished that I could stay forever.
When we finally did return home, we came with a gift from ELC for Tarremah – a beautifully decorated banner displaying a “Wheel of Emotions”.
We used this tool in our wellbeing classes to help us to identify how we were feeling and articulate our emotions. We learned that in order to grow and change we must first be able to recognise and process our innermost emotions.
As our wellbeing teacher says, “You need to know yourself to grow yourself”. We hope that the Wheel of Emotions will be put to good use at Tarremah too.
I am immensely grateful to everyone who contributed to my experience in Bhutan, especially the principal and staff of ELC High School for arranging the exchange and making me feel genuinely welcomed and valued, Tarremah and my family, for allowing and enabling this experience and to Ru and Rose for accompanying me.
* Tarremah Steiner School is an independent co-educational Steiner school in the Hobart suburb of Huntingfield.
**ELC High School is in Thimphu, Bhutan
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