25. november

It is incredible how big the difference is in temperature between mornings/nights and the middle of the day. It is cold at night - frost on the grass in the mornings, but as soon as the sun comes up - and it is bright sunshine almost every day - it gets so hot that I want to wear t-shirts and shorts. Winter boots in the morning - sandals in the middle of the day. It is not easy to dress for the whole day - but I love the nice sunshine.

On the way to work I saw a car with starting problems - some men pushed it out into the road where it could run downhill by itself and the driver got it started - but wow, it produced so much black smoke from its exhaust pipe and it smelled so badly. I heard the other day that every day 70 extra cars go on the roads in Bhutan and I couldn't help wondering if it will destroy the beautiful clean and clear air here - with time. Hopefully not.

Today the ministry was very quiet - I think there was a big meeting in Paro (the town where the airport is - 53 km - or 33 miles - from Thimphu). I made progress with the objectives of the course and got my final report on the pedagogical findings and recommendations sent so I felt good.
After having worked for a couple of hours - very concentrated - I suddenly felt that somebody was watching me and looked up. A few steps away was a small boy - staring at me - I don't think he ever saw somebody with another hair color ;-) When he saw that I noticed him he gave me a quick smile and disappeared. But he kept coming back - just standing there looking. After a few times I said "Hi" to him before he could run away and he said "Hi" and ran. But after a few times more we talked a little and it turned out that he was there with his mother today. I asked him if I could take his picture and he accepted. Apparently it is a global solution to bring kids who are not quite well but not really sick to work J

Mr. Mizuno came by today and Carsten came by and asked me to come to his office so we could figure out the dates for my next mission here. I think we are very privileged in Denmark to work only 5 days a week - here when I am going to teach we will work on Saturdays as well! This is common here. Mr. Mizuno has his office right next to Carsten and they have their little emergency hole, where they can chitchat whenever it is necessary. I had to take a picture of that!

Another Karma also came by and asked me how I was and what I was going to do during the weekend. He said: "I will give you my cell phone number in case you need help or can't find your way." Then he wrote his number and e-mail down, smiled and bowed and left. And I know what you are thinking now, but no - he was just being helpful and kind. This is exactly the way all Bhutanese people are (or those I have met so far).

Eating at the Khang tonight again - I was tired and didn't want to go out - Mr. Kaka served the Long Life Tea again and he promised to take me to see the Traditional Medicine Place - maybe tomorrow. I don't know what to expect but I am very curious. We'll see if I can go there tomorrow.
The very kind waitress who knows me well and always places a big bottle of water in front of me saying: "It is ok to take it to your room afterwards" was there and as I was the only guest at 7 pm we talked about sports and going abroad. We watched the news while we talked and I ate. They have many different international programs here - CNN, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and probably more. Everybody younger than 50 understands English so they have neither subtitles nor translated speaking. It is very nice for a foreigner like me. The waitress (I will have to find out what her name is) said that when she sees big cities like London in the television, it makes her want to go and experience them but she thought that would never happen. She has never been outside Bhutan. I just wanted to put her in my suitcase and take her to London, Copenhagen, anywhere. She is also SO sweet and kind always so I think she deserves to see the world!