oNe PhOtO a DaY: August

wEeK oNe AuGuSt 2015

THE PROMPTS FOR THE WEEK

MONDAY 3^rd WORDS: I have a fascination and love of words including reading, quotes and games despite being a poor speller and this is my latest purchase. We haven't got to play it here yet but we did with friend in Melbourne at the beginning of the year and it was so much fun I have wanted to get one and play it ever since.

TUESDAY 4^TH ON THE SHELF: This lucky little ladybug came all the way from Italy via Australia to sit in the shelf in our apartment in Bhutan.  It’s actually a key ring but I love its smiling face so much I prefer to see it where it sits. Thanks Jane xx

WEDNESDAY 5^TH SOMETHING PURPLE: Given that purple is just about my least favourite colour, I struggled with this one until I remembered the flash cards we bought for Ian to teach his PP classes and the quilt cover I usually conceal beneath a much more favourable orange sheet.

 THURSDAY 6^TH WHAT I WISH FOR: is peace. On this day more than any other as it is the 70^th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Nothing more epitomizes the need to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world, than this one city at least in my mind. Having spent 8 years there I know this is a wish that will be on the lips of many today. No More Hiroshimas! May peace prevail on earth!

FRIDAY 7^TH QUIRKY: Perhaps the quirkiest thing about Bhutanese culture is the 'khabney’ or ceremonial white scarf the males all wear. There are so many situations, in which it is required and so many different ways in which it must be arranged for different purposes and none of them are conventional.

SATURDAY 8^TH DOOR: The open door to the main hall of Zangdo Pelri Lhakang in downtown Thimphu 

SUNDAY 9^TH PERFECT: Rosemary roasted vegetables. The perfect vegetarian treat for Sunday night dinner Yum Yum Yum

wEeK tWo AuGuSt 2015

THE PROMPTS FOR THE WEEK

MONDAY 10^th IN MY HAND: The legacy of living in China and Japan for 13 years is that I still eat almost all meals with chopsticks and I like that you can use them with only one hand. Therefore most times when I’m eating I have chopsticks in my hand

TUESDAY 11^TH TECHNOLOGY:  The technology to back up our lives. I actually wonder if I could ever extract what I wanted from these if I needed to and I feel glad I've never had to. Would I really miss half of but if it disappeared anyway?

WEDNESDAY 12^TH CENTRE: The garden at school is in full bloom and the dahlias are particularly stunning at the moment. Many of them have bees buzzing around and supping from the centre of the blooms

THURSDAY 13^th SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL: Sometimes nothing can be more beautiful than words. This is something beautiful from a gorgeous collection of proverbs called “The Bhutanese Guide to Happiness” I also think the endless knot is something very beautiful and my favourite of the 8 auspicious symbols of Buddhism

FRIDAY 14^TH 8 O’CLOCK: At 8 o'clock this morning I was busy putting the finish touches on my Professional Reading notice board school even though I really just wanted to get stuck into correcting and marking the class 6 exam paper

SATURDAY 15^TH NEWS: Not a lot of news arrives from the outside world here but both of these came today by a postal service that I still fail to understand though I certainly recognize the kindly individual who delivered them to my desk 

SUNDAY 16^TH SHADOW: The ghostly shadows of the construction workers hand pouring concrete by the shovel load into the night. Taken from our balcony as there hasn't been enough sun to cast a shadow all day

wEeK tHrEe AuGuSt 2015

THE PROMPTS FOR THE WEEK

MONDAY 17^th INSIDE: Tshechu is the most colourful and vibrant festival in Bhutan and for me at least the masked dances are the real highlight. I still love however that on occasion you get a glimpse of the monk inside the mask

TUESDAY 18^th A LOGO: This simplistic logo is printed on a coaster, which is the background image and the cutout is a business card. It reminds me of one of the auspicious Buddhist symbols.  It is for Madame Hanoi a relatively new French Vietnamese espresso bar and bistro in Adelaide we have spent some lovely evenings with a couple of good friends and now delight in using the coasters here in Bhutan.

WEDNESDAY 19^th HAT: This hat came as a freebie at the Tour Down Under Cycling event in Adelaide earlier this year. It is definitely my colour. I still have it, still wear it, still love it.

THURSDAY 20^th SURPRISE: the Changangkha Temple, which we can easily see from our balcony (until the neighbouring construction is compete that is!) was lit up and looking resplendent for the first time since we have lived here this week.

FRIDAY 21^ST “M” IS FOR……: mask. This one is the garuda and one of the set of four masks hanging in our living room. The Garuda is Lord Vishnu’s mount in Hinduism and also features heavily in Buddhist iconography

SATURDAY 22^ND PATH:  A path like many others in Bhutan, just off the road, marked by prayer flags and with a dog leading you along.

SUNDAY 23^RD LIGHTING: The Buddhist Tradition of lighting butter lamps means every temple and many chortens have rooms of flickering butter lamps. This was in the Memorial Chorten in central Thimphu today

wEeK FoUr AuGuSt 2015

THE PROMPTS FOR THE WEEK

MONDAY 24^th ON MY DESK: this morning just the usual: lesson plan books, textbooks, my coffee cup and my timetable and calendar to keep track of all the deadlines and due dates.

TUESDAY 25^TH TWO THINGS: Stumped so I went for chalk and cheese

WEDNESDAY 26^TH CHARMING:  Sometimes there is a magical charming quality to the way the light and clouds play on the mountains at twilight

THURSDAY 27^TH COMMUNICATE: Sometimes I just love to communicate the good old fashion way with a beautiful card sent snail mail. I even have customised stamps with our images on them. There is real joy in a message written by hand with love and for that reason I have a collection of cards at home and at the ready.

FRIDAY 28^TH DAILY LIFE: I work with these kids everyday and this is one boy who rarely stays on task or gives of his best but I've been trying a new strategy with him for the last few weeks and with most of the class out in concert practice our one on one time really increased and he really gave his all today. So much of my daily life revolves around kids and this was a precious moment today.

SATURDAY 29^TH HANDWRITING: I've never liked my handwriting but one of the great joys of teaching myself Chinese was learning to write characters. Even though I still write like a primary child and despite years of practice writing on box paper I still can't make them uniform in size or in a straight line,  but I do love to write this particular Chinese blessing.

SUNDAY 30^TH I DO THIS ON WEEKENDS: Baking! Weekends are just about the only time I can bake

The impermanence of time

“You may delay, but time will not.” Benjamin Franklin 

By far the thing I find most frustrating about Bhutan would have to be the kingdom’s sense of TIME. I know I am sticking my neck out here and totally being a foreigner, as many Bhutanese wear Bhutanese Stretchable Time (BST) like a badge of honour, but for me the ambivalence about deadlines, due dates and appointments drives me insane.

There are so many calm, compassionate and kindly aspects of this culture that I am simply unable to comprehend this one stumbling block. It appears that it has long been the case that time is a flexible notion to be interpreted at will by any individual and it seems to permeate all aspects of society. I cannot move past the idea that if you keep someone else waiting then you are undeniably conveying the message that you think your time is more valuable than theirs.

However here it is commonplace for whole bodies of people to be left standing in line awaiting the arrival of someone significant for hours on end. Taxi drivers booked in advance for long distance hauls have no qualms about arriving over an hour late, with lame excuses ranging from it wasn’t an auspicious departure time to just getting fuel, being reluctantly offered up. Being directed to arrive promptly at x o’clock with out exception, can still mean standing around for an hour or more expectantly hoping the guest of honour and those who instinctively know that doesn’t apply to them, will turn up soon.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve waited for the key to miraculously appear in some incongruous person’s hand. In exam scenarios with moments before the time expires students still feel free to tell you “I’ll do it later,” or even continue to write answers with 3 different teachers shouting at them to stop writing. Anyone questioned about why they are not where you were expecting them to be, will immediately say that they are on their way but hang up before you can confirm just how far away they might be or when they might arrive. Roadblocks can emerge from nowhere and turn into huge snakes of cars stranded without anyone present batting an eyelid!!  In fact if the situation persists for more than a couple of hours there are likely to be tea stalls popping up and momo vendors appearing around the bend plying a car to car service. All those lessons you loving prepared are prone to being shoved aside because an impromptu meeting, VIP arrival or fortuitously timed guest speaker made an unannounced appearance and took precedence. It almost seems that no-one will do anything until the very last minute. I am in the habit of calling these guys the “last minute Nellies”. It is as if it would be a horrible shame if you prepared something and then it was postponed when in fact my experience has been that things are more often ‘preponed’. Meetings can be announced ad hoc, impromptu or not at all while attendance remains compulsory. They may also extend well into the night without any intermission. Schedules and timetables can be changed with the alterations posted on a notice board you didn’t even know existed but heaven help you if you aren’t following the amended version at the next ringing of the bell. Even class six students on Saturday afternoon are quick to inform you, who can’t leave until they do, that they are playing now and will call their parents to come get them later.

“Yallama!!” as the locals might say. Is that why the clock in Clock Tower Square has been stuck on the same time for as long as anyone can remember?

Perhaps it is because I am suddenly feeling much older than I ever used to. Is that what happens when you start teaching younger and younger students? However I am of the antiquated opinion that time is still more valuable than money and becoming ever more precious. I suppose the real answer is patience and the impermanence of time along with everything else, is another lesson I am supposed to be learning here.

‘It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.” Henry Ford