Bhutan, the happiest country

Hi guys,

As some of you might already know if you follow my posts, I lived in a country called Bhutan for one year when I was young. Bhutan is a kingdom in Asia. It is between India and China. There is a lot of Nepalese people in Bhutan but I don't think they were treated very well. A lot of the nannies in Bhutan are Nepalese girls who are also minors. Bhutan's capital is called Thimphu. That is were I lived. In Bhutan, you need a special pass to go from a city to another like a passeport. It is not really like a totally free country. But it is one of the best place in the world for me. It is even where I started learning Japanese and where I decided I wanted to become an architect. I was always watching Talk Asia on CNN with my mum and there were all the time architects and often Japanese architects.

A lot of people say that Bhutan is the happiest place in the world and I think so too. Bhutanese people don't hold grudges and they are very nice, even to foreigners. I think the period of time when I was in Bhutan was one of the happiest period of my life, even if it was just one year. Bhutan is very small and its main religion is Buddhism. I like Buddhism. I learned a lot about the Buddha when I was in school. I also took meditation classes with Bhutanese children every Sundays. They were very nice and relaxing.

When I was there it was also the coronation of the actual king of Bhutan. The coronation was exactly the 6, 7 and 8^th of November 2008. The king of Bhutan is His Majesty, Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. He is the 5^th king of Bhutan. He became king when his father decided to step down from the throne. I was happy to go to the coronation because Bhutanese people love their Royalty and it was a really big deal. I even saw the kind and a lot of bhutanese princes and princesses. When I look at the pictures it was really colorful like many things in Bhutan.

 

Bhutan's national language is Dzongkha. I was only able to learn a little bit of Dzongkha because it was really difficult. I was not in an international school as usual but children in my school, Sunshine Primary School all were able to speak English. I could not take Dzongkha classes because it was too advance but with my friends we were able to speak a little. I even started speaking a little bit nepalese too. People in Bhutan also eat Betel nut like in the Solomon Islands but only elders or men. The street were also sometimes dirty with the red things of betel nuts.

The normal greeting is “kuzuzampo” (hello) of “kuzuzampo la” to be a bit more respectful. Bhutanese people are really nice people who love singing, dancing, archery, and arts. You can see arts everywhere in Bhutan. I also love Bhutanese art. It is very unique and a lot of the art comes from Bhutanese philosophy. Their are thirteen traditional arts and crafts which are known as Zorig Chusum. Those are Shing zo (Woodwork), Dho zo (Stonework), Par zo (Carving), Lha zo (Painting), Jim zo (Sculpting), Lug zo (Casting), Shag zo (Wood Turning), Gar zo (Blacksmith), Troe zo, (Ornament Making), Tsha zo (Bamboo Work), De zo (Paper Making), Tshem zo (Tailoring, embroidery and applique) and lastly Thag zo (Weaving). Since Bhutan is a very small country they try to preserve their culture as much as they can. Their are a lot of drawing of dragons in Bhutanese art. What my mum and I really like in bhutan was the kira.

It is the traditional Bhutanese dress which is almost unique in the world. Almost because the tibetan traditional dress is a bit close to the bhutanese dress for women. To go to school my uniform was a kira. It was really difficult for my mum to put it on me sometimes we have to walk outside our house and women on the street will help her attach my kira or at school my teachers will arrange it. I even made kira and tibetan dresses for my american dolls.

Men wear gho, a long dress that is tied around the waist by a belt, kera. When they go to work or a formal event, men wear a scarf called kabney. The kabney also identifies the rank of a person. For instance, the King wears a yellow scarf, minister's orange, judge's green and common people white with fringes etc. Women wear a dress called a kira. I also had to wear a kira and my mom too. It is also tied by a belt. Women also wear a scarf called rachu. They hang it over their shoulder and it is beautifully hand woven with fringes at the end. It is a very open and good-spirited society but you still have to wear the traditional scarf when visiting an office and let the elders and the monks serve themselves first during meals.

Bhutanese names are often the same but they can be very long. You have a lot of Sonam, Dorji, Kuzang, Kezang, Nidup, Chuki, Wandgi. I really liked their names because they all have meanings. Their is no gender discrimination of babies in Bhutan. Before the baby goes home, there is a purification ritual (Lhabsang) in the house and only after that can people come to visit the baby. The names are given by the lamas.

But the most funny thing about Bhutan is chilly. The favorite Bhutanese dishes are Ema Datsi (chilli with cheese), Paa (sliced pork and beef), bhutanese fried rice and red rice. Their is absolutely no dish without chilli. The chilli is very very spicy and hot. When people eat there is a lot of “ah, ah, hah, hot”, but the food is still delicious. Bhutanese people even eat raw chilli dipped in salt. I think that Bhutanese people would not enjoy a meal that is not spicy. Vegetables commonly eaten include Spinach, pumpkins, turnips, radishes, tomatoes, river wee, onions and green beans. Ema Datshi is also the National Dish of Bhutan. Variations on Ema Datshi include adding green beans, ferns, potatoes, mushrooms or swapping regular cheese with yak cheese. Another Bhutanese dish that I really like is momos. Momos are actually tibetan dumplings stuffed with pork, beef or cabbage and cheese. People also drink salted butter tea (suja). I did not really like it but I loved bhutanese strawberries and Bhumtang cheese.

 

There is a lot more to say about Bhutan but I don't want this post to be too long. So I'm gonna write more posts about Bhutan because all the time people I meet want to know more about it. Also it is very expensive to travel to Bhutan and also Bhutanese don't want too much tourists to avoid too much waste.

Purple love,

Tiyi