A week of classes, a soccer tournament, and Shakespeare?

Kuzuzangpo!

We are now on our second week of classes here at RTC. Teaching the first week went okay, although it is always hard to know how it went from the student's perspective and made especially difficult when filtered through a different cultural context. The students have adjusted pretty well to my teaching style (groomed in the West), and I have tried to adapt it to meet their needs. There are some interesting dynamics at play because the college wants to position itself as a higher-education leader in Bhutan on learner-centered approaches and developing critical thinkers, although the students have gone through an entire primary and secondary school system where that wasn't emphasized at all. Add to that the fact that, as I wrote on in an earlier blog post, RTC must conform to the RUB policies which are inherently more old-school and strict. So this translates to a lot of adjustments being made in my lesson planning and improvisationally in the classroom. There are certain things that I am not willing to budge on, however. I believe strongly in strict deadlines and attendance, coming to class prepared, and being a participant in the class. Attendance has been terrible for the first week, and I am bit concerned that they are not concerned about it.

Like any class anywhere in the world, there are the students that are stellar and always come to class and always do their work, there are students that perform the bare minimum, and there are students that struggle to get-it-together academically. This, of course, is the challenge of any teacher and as an advocate for inclusive learning, I am trying everything I can to reach everyone. Of course, students have to show up for that to happen. I told them all the first day that I will not fail anyone who comes to class and does the work, but I know already that I am going to have to fail at least some and it breaks my heart.

We had an interesting discussion in my Media & NGOs class today that I think was rather successful in getting the lesson across. I first asked them if anyone had been to the United States, and only 1 out of 36 had (I was actually surprised anyone had been, considering only 2 other people in the class had been outside of the country and that was to Thailand). I then asked them to list all of things they could think of about the United States that they knew of. Here's a sample of a very long list:

• Land of opportunity, rich, Las Vegas, technological, Yellowstone, LeBron James, obese, New York City, militaristic, lots of sexual activity, power, baseball, melting pot, 9/11, Hollywood, Iraq/Afghanistan Wars, Coca-Cola, Mickey Mouse, medical marijuana, homosexuality, Barack Obama, etc. etc. 

It was a fascinating experiment of reflecting what I knew – consciously or unconsciously – about the United States back from the Bhutanese youth whom had only heard about the United States and never experienced it first-hand. Not only was this interesting as a researcher, but I was also satisfied that it made my point to them that when I asked, "Now where did you hear about all of these things?" to which they replied, "The media!" and I could almost see lightbulbs turning on above their heads. We then discussed what characterizations of Bhutan they thought were portrayed in Western media. Almost in unison they replied, "GNH!" [Gross National Happiness] and we all kind of laughed because it was true. (I am planning on writing a whole entry on that topic soon.) Other things we came up with were:

• Buddhism, rich in culture, Himalayas, "Shangri-la," isolated, King, Peaceful transition to democracy, refugees, etc. 

Next we discussed whether these stereotypes were true or more complex (which, of course, they were always more complex). I explained more about the US and how it projects itself a certain way, but on the inside there is a lot of criticism and controversy and paradoxes. They explained in much the same manner about the Bhutanese stereotypes in Western media. I told them about how the Nepali-refugee issue has been covered in the West and they told me how it was covered in the country, i.e. very differently. I then read them two stories on the 2008 Tibetan riots before the Beijing Olympics. The first story, from the New York Times, described the violent crackdown and the international condemnation. The second story, from the Xinghua News Agency, described the dangerous and anarchist Tibetans and the intervention of the Chinese military to restore peace and order.

The point of the lesson, as you could probably deduce, is about the power of media narratives and their effect in projecting certain characterizations. I find that this was a fruitful and fascinating conversation to have in a country located far away from the United States. While Bhutan is geographically far, globalization has brought the messages and stories of far away places to Bhutan at the blink of an eye, but not a lot of the context travels with it. To the rest of the world, LeBron James is our ambassador and Hollywood is our Public Relations Department. Chew on that for awhile. 

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Yesterday, I played in a soccer tournament to raise money for the restoration of the Wangdue Dzong (see previous posts, or international news). It's actually an annual tournament but this year they are using it to raise funds. The tournament lasts about four weeks and involves teams from businesses, ministries, colleges, and other institutions. Yesterday, we played the Tashi Power Company's team, and unfortunately got stomped 0-3. I got my first – I think – yellow card of my soccer career because I didn't understand the substitution policy and went on the field to replace the player before he had exited the pitch. You'd think they could have just told me to stay off, or given me a warning at least, but apparently they are sticklers for the rules at this tournament. Oh well, glad my yellow wasn't for anything real. 

The game before us. We played on the field at the Royal Institute of Management. 

Dordenma 'Golden' Buddha overlooks our game. 

Getting ready. From left to right: Yeshi, Sonam, Budhi, Arun, Suraj, and Kimi (our faculty supporter). 

Our team in action. 

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So I think I may have gotten roped into being in the RTC Faculty production of Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors. Cathy, our librarian, is very persuasive. I was, and still am, hesitant about committing to too much right away, as I am still putting in a lot of extra time preparing lessons and haven't even started to visit schools in Thimphu and collect data for my dissertation. Not to mention that I am playing soccer 1-2 times per week and basketball once a week. We have our first table-read in about 20 minutes and I'm hoping that I can convince her for a small part. I made the mistake of letting it be known that I had an extensive theater background, so it might be hard to tone down the commitment. I have to admit, however, that part of me is excited to be back on the stage. It's been awhile...