1. december

There was snow on top of the mountains this morning - beautiful. It melts during the day though when the sun comes out but people tell me that sometimes in December or January they might get snow in Thimphu as well. We'll see if that will be one of my experiences ;-)

People show a lot of respect for each other - I guess a little like we did many years ago: pupils stand up when a teacher enters the room and employees stand up when a director or somebody of a higher rank than themselves comes into the room. Whenever there are other people around me that stand up I do it too, but when I am working at my desk I tend to forget it and feel terribly impolite afterwards. Today I almost got in really bad trouble. I was very focused at my computer not listening to the people around me until I suddenly heard Mr. Karma whisper: "Ms. Anni - the Honorable Minister". I looked up and saw everybody in the room - except me - standing, and the Honorable Minister was there with his back to me (thank you, God) talking to one of the others. Silently I stood up and tried to look like everybody else. The Honorable Minister came and said hello and asked me a couple of questions and I hope I was respectful enough ;-)

When I came to the hotel for lunch Mr. Kaka came up to me and said that they wanted to upgrade my room if I didn't mind. They wanted to move me to the 2.nd floor and a bigger room. No, I didn't mind at all. I told him I would pack my things after work today, but he insisted that his staff would move everything for me. So I hurried to my old room and packed all my small things in a backpack, leaving clothes and suitcases for them to move.
When I came home after work they had moved everything, put it in exactly the same places as in the old room and they showed me my new room, which turned out to be a whole apartment! A suite! I now have a living room with a kitchen, a bedroom, a closet big enough to stand inside it and a bathroom - wow! I took some pictures of it if you would like to see my new castle :-) I could invite you all over for coffee, tea or dinner - but I guess it's a bit too far for you to go ;-)
My former password to the Internet didn't work in the room so I had to ask for assistance, which was no problem at all. I had 3 people in my room helping me. In the end they gave me a cable and connected me that way. It worked well so now I feel like a queen connected to the world.

During dinner I asked the second sweet girl her name - and guess - yes also Ms. Sonam - with the second name Om - like the prayer they use (and some use in Denmark, too). I saw pictures of her 2 children: a son 1 year old and a girl 3 years old - cute kids! We also practiced a little German and when I left she greeted me with a "Gutennacht" :-)

Tomorrow I have a meeting with the department and am to present the criteria for selection of master trainers and the outline/framework for the course I am to teach. Hopefully it will be less confusing than the first meeting now that I know more about the system and people here.