Bhutan Masks

Many countries have mask dances and it has its beauty. Here are some of the masks you can see during the religious festivals in Bhutan. The religious festivals are called "Tshechu". Some of the masks are quite intimidating but once you know the story told through the mask dance, you will stop fearing them and start to have a different view about it. 

Bhutan's Buddhism

Prayers wheels are called "mani khorlo" in Dzongkha. They are found in different sizes and can be seen almost everywhere in Bhutan. The mantra "Om mani padme hung" in Sanskrit is written on the outside. Some of them are turned by wind, some by running water and most of them by people as they pray. 

전경기는 부탄말로 "마니코를로"라고 부른다. 다향모양의 마니코를로가 있고 부탄에는 어디든지 볼수 있다. 마니코를로에는 "옴마니반메훔"쓰여져 있다. 어떤 전경기는 물과 바람으로 돌고 대부분 전경가는 사람들이 직접 기도 하면서 돈다. 🇰🇷🇧🇹

Bhutan Happy New Year 2016

Here is how to wish Happy New Year in simple Dzongkha. "Losar Tashi delek"! Happy New Year 2016 everyone!!

Drinking Culture in Bhutan and South Korea

The purpose of this post is to spell out the differences in drinking culture in Bhutan and South Korea. To begin with, an employee or subordinate of a company almost cannot decline when offerred to go drinking when asked by their bosses. Although, in Bhutan, it is not big of a deal. Thus, company employees drinking together is more common in Korea than in Bhutan. 

In Korea, you need to empty your glass in order to get refill. And the refilling is usually done by someone else other than yourself. Surprisingly, it is just the contrary in Bhutan. If you empty your glass while drinking in Bhutan, it means you are calling it a day. Therefore, you or your friend will make sure to top up your glass before its empty until both/everyone agrees to bring to an end to the party/occasion. 

Bhutanese beer: Red Panda

Another interesting difference is that, in Korea, you will end up going for fourth or fifth round of drinking excluding the dinner you just had, moving from bar to bar until dawn. In between, Koreans also enjoy dropping by karaokes. People in Bhutan keeps it simple. Drinking usually happens when there is a cause for celebration, such as birthdays, wedding,  promotion and as such. It is common to drink, then have dinner, and then hit the road home. 

Korean alcohol: Soju

University students (especially freshmen) and also company workers would cram in a bar and play endless drinkin games. Drinking and playing games is considered stress relieving. Again, for Bhutanese college students, drinking takes place over a small chat for females, and debates over politics, religion and other hot topics for men (might sound a little biased). 

Drinking with family members and relatives is common in South Korea. While it is a rare thing in Bhutan. Drinking in Korea is a fun activity and they tend to keep it casual. On the other hand, Bhutanese people share their feelings and opinions openly over a drink. I think there are many amusing and beautiful customs we can learn about a country just from its drinking culture. Cheers and gun-bae (cheers in Korean) to everyone out there who enjoys drinking. 

Religion in Bhutan and Korea

This post is the show the difference in religion between South Korea and Bhutan. There are various religion in South Korea and some people choose not to have any religion. Whereas, Bhutan is a Buddhist country (with around 30% Hinduism). 

Most of fhe People in Korea would go to church on Sundays. Few would go to temples. Some people would visit temple or church just because they are beautiful, not necessarily because they believe that religion. In Korea, children can choose different religion from their parents. Some of my collegues use to say "My parents are Buddhist but I am Christian". 

While in Bhutan, if a person is born in a Buddhist family, you become Buddhist. It is safe to say that in the case of Bhutan, you are born with a religion. It is rare to see children and parents believing different religion. Bhutan's population consist of around 30% Nepali ethnic who believe in Hinduism. Most of them believe practice both hinduism and buddhism. Despite the differences, Bhutanese citizens doesn't show hostility towards any religion. 

In Korea, temples are decorated with paper lanterns occasionally. Many Koreans visit the temple to pray and some to enjoy the night scenary of the beautiful lanterns. In Seoul, we can also see many foreigners visiting temples with cameras. 

Elementary school students learning about Bhutan

Students in Korea are really curious about Bhutan. They hardly know anything about Bhutan. When I got to the class, the students asked me many questions such as " is there television in Bhutan?" Or " do Bhutanese people use smart phones?". The young generations are really smart. They know that Korea is one of the top 10 economy in the world. Therefore, they tend to think that countries which are less developed than Korea won't have access to technologies that they get access to. 

Through my class, I hope the young Koreans will be able to change their perceptions on least developed countries. In other words, I hope they don't make themselves look naive when they are adult by asking some questions with obvious answers.

Teaching Bhutanese Culture to Korean Elementary School Students

28 March and 4 April (2014)

Met a bunch of elementary school students over the last 2 weeks. The first school was called "Peace Elementary School" and it was indeed peaceful and the second school that I visited was called "Shinwha Elemetary School" which reminded me of my old favorite Korean singers "Shinwha". The students are excited as always. Enjoyed taking selfies with little girls. As you can see I wore a "gho"(dress for boys) to a boy and it was a little small for him so we can see his "kera" (belt). I didn't want to upset him by telling him that he was too big for the dress because he volunteered very very willing to participate. Sometimes the students make fun of the traditional clothes. But I guess that is just beings kids. May be that is how they show their excitement. 

Other that wearing "gho" and "kira", we also got some time to play games for both the classes. We played "Captain Roulette". So the class was divided into 2 teams and there will be 3 rounds. Nine students will represent each team (since there are 18 swords in total). Each student from different team will strike the barrel alternatively and whoever makes the head pop out of the barrel two times out of the three loses. The students were really competitive because of the prize: Bhutanese currency. 

At Peace Elementary School

Selfies with little girls 

Pronunciation of "Ngultrum" was quite hard for Korean kids

A cute student wearing "Gho" at Shinwha Elementary School

A handsome little boy from Shinwha Elementary School

Playing "Captain Roulette": Tough competition for Bhutan money

서울평화초등학교하고 서울신화초등학교를 다녀왔습니다. 초등학생들이 부탄에 대해서 많이 배울수록 많이 놀라운것같고 저도 만족감을 느낍니다. 한국에 온지 5년이 넘었는데 부탄에 대한 아는 대학생도 별로 만나지 못했어요. 작년부터 꾸준히 한국에 있는 고등학교 중학교 초등학교 그리고 유치원에서 한달에 3번정도 부탄문화수업을 서울시청통해서 가르치고 있습니다. 앞으로는 "부탄"하고 "북한"을 헷갈리지 않도록 한국에 미래인 어린이들을 연심히 부탄에 대해서 많이 가르치고 있습니다. 아자 아자 화이팅!!!