Respected, Joung-Ok Kim and family,

Let me thank you and your family immensely for being my excellent host-parent and for accepting a completely different human-being to be part of your beautiful family. Nonetheless, thank you also for honoring BHUTAN. Although, the duration was very short yet it was memorable in so many ways. I have really enjoyed your company and delicious meal.  

Initially, I was not only worried and nervous but also my voice was shaking and few words were stammering. However, it was very happy to interact and share so many dreams with your two lovely kids – Seo-Yoon Choi and Seo-Gang Choi together. You have a very humble, friendly and a great husband. I find all of them very lovely and a genuine human-being. I thank you for creating a very lively and comfortable environment from the start to the end of my stay at your luxurious apartment. It was amazing to see a strong and lovely family bond and God bless your family with the same spirit of happiness forever.

Thank you for giving me a chance to experience great Korean meals, family life and culture. Thank you also for a lovely gift and a drive. I thank your son (Seo-Yoon Choi) who sacrificed his cozy bed and let me sleep like my own bed. Your hospitality and lively environment has given me a great feel of being with my parents and family. You have not given a chance to miss my country and family. The experience was very formative and memorable.

My heart has filled with shame and guilt for your generosity and the kindness shown towards me, and indeed I was touched –beyond words.

I felt lucky and honored to be part of your joyful family. I wish every family to be like your small and happy family. I have seen so many good values and examples as a mother, teacher, wife and friend. All I wish is that we have made a relationship not to last for a few days but to last forever. Meeting somebody special like you, your husband and your two smart kids at this time and age is something very extraordinary and special to me. 

May your family remain happy and successful? And remain blessed forever with good health and fortune. I would cherish forever the relationship we built today. 

Sometime, if you happen to visit my country – a very tiny, under-developed, landlocked, forested country, please do let me know. I will try my best to help you and your family as far as possible. Bhutanese people are simple and ordinary. The place is very safe for all kinds of people to walk around freely anywhere and anytime. In fact, we are beautiful in our own way and that is very difficult to find easily. However, stray dogs are quite common in the streets and it may scare you sometime. 

Gam sa ham ni da! Beyond the Sky and the Earth!

My Lovely Host Family 

with my host family

Bags of Gift

Perfume Gift from my Host Family

FROM BHUTAN...with love

Toilet in Korea, but not in Bhutan

If there is one thing to talk about Korea, I can talk or share my admirable experience of toilet facilities and the system of Korea for days. Perhaps, it was just breathtaking. It was classic. It was world class, and it was excellent everywhere.

Let's solve this puzzle and our biggest challenges. The question of –Who is responsible for the toilets in Korea? How did they manage all this stuff?

Amusingly I found toilets in Korea are the same everywhere –public toilet, hotel, private, highway, subway, airplane, etc. No water problem. No management problem. No paying system. Zero smell. No stain, it was perfect everywhere, and anytime. However, you may think Korean do not use toilets or do not poop, pee, etc. The answer is absolutely no. They are like anyone of us. But, they have better civic sense, well educated, good mindset, good habits, and above all they have this so called sense of belonging. Every toilet facilities given to them in the open, street, subway, train etc…are their own properties, everyone's properties. They never take home, they never destroy them, they never temper with them, they never personalize them, etc...But, rather they care and use it mindfully. 

I have also learnt that every Korean from very young to very old is well educated and given all the good values at school, home and community. They have invested million times more of our total GDP of 100 years into education. Their teachers are highly paid. Today their schools are one of the best in the world. Education in Korea is everyone's business –parents, students, teachers, public, community, local government and central government. They leave no one behind for education because they firmly believe that education is the wealth of an individual, family, and country. They strongly believe that education can bring home money, peace, wealth, good mindset, in fact everything. They did this not very long ago –they have done it just over 50 years ago and here they are today. Looking at their education system –it seems they have sacrificed a lot in the education system and into their curriculum, into their infrastructure and teacher education. They strongly believe in the "One world, One future" concept for all Koreans. Undeniably, everyone commits themselves for any kind of work. I can easily see and feel that they have done it and now they are heavily enjoying their hardship.

However, ours is very different and a unique case. We talk so much of quality education, importance of teachers, importance of school and sending every child to school, etc, etc… But, how badly we criticize our own system, our own education system. Therefore, bad toilets are our poor mindset due to poor education.

Ours is very easy if we come into common consensus. Unlike Korea, we have hardly seven hundred thousand people, which is even less than the people in their smallest village. Therefore, it's easy in our case. Less people means less burden, we need a very less budget to fix our toilet problem. However, we all need to work together, we all need to think as one nation, we all need to have civic sense, we all need to take individual responsibilities, we all need to think public properties are our own property. It's a country's wealth and it's for everyone.

Don't we have the right to enjoy clean toilets, smell less toilets and other good facilities in our toilets?

First we have to build our strong mindset, we have to commit ourselves, we have to work hard together spirit, we have to have a sense of belongingness, and the toilet is everyone's responsibility.

However, we have sad news as well – "the water pump drawing water to Tamchog Highway Restroom was stolen a few nights before". What breaking news in the Land of Happiness? I cannot imagine how this has happened. Who did this mischievous act? If such an act keeps on happening, we cannot fulfil our wish and we still need to rely on pit latrines, and disgusting toilets without any water and other facilities. God! Only knows the truth.

If we can firmly commit ourselves to the above points, we just need a few years to have our own good smelling toilet everywhere. Perhaps, BTO is doing a great job. They need everyone's cooperation, helping hands, good mindset, and commitment. Their motto is everyone's motto. Their spirit is everyone's spirit. Let's work together to make our toilet mission a grand and a successful one for now and to our future generation. 

The following are some of the restroom facilities for everyone. However, urinals and most of the toilet pots and works with sensors and even other hand dryers and water basins work with sensors. 

Urinals in one of the Primary School, Seoul

Urinals in one of the Korean restaurants, Seoul

Urinals in one of the subways, Seoul

Toilet pot in one of the hotel, Seoul

Hand Washing basins --everywhere in the restroom

Chopstick Lesson from Korea

Street of Korea is an extremely beautiful place to explore. They not only produce beautiful faces but also smart minds. One can obviously see the quality of work done and the punctuality of people for their work and subways. Public toilets are so good everywhere. Advancement in technology and automobiles are extremely amazing and fascinating to watch in and around the cities. 

However, more important is knowing their culture and way of life. More importantly, when you are in a big city like Seoul, one needs to be careful and cautious about your presentation. It matters a lot to cross the traffic to how you look at someone. However, I have some embarrassing and baffling experience of Chopsticks odds in some Luxurious Korean Restaurant to take home and learn again.

Although, I have started using chopsticks quite early in my childhood days. However, I left the idea before I became confident due to a number of reasons. One it could be due to different cultures and the way of life. 

However, today I am in the land of chopsticks without knowing what to do, -quiet, innocent and louche. But, nevertheless I am trying my best and harder everyday to adapt around different foods, people, traffic and culture, etc...

On 8^th of June, we had a visit to Korean Folk Village in the outskirts of the Southern end of Seoul City. It's almost one-hour drive from the place where I live (Park Hotel). The guide we have had was amazingly beautiful, rich in history and an out-spoken lady in her early 70's. In fact, ladies of substance in Korea. Throughout the journey, she entertained us in the best of her capacity. She has shared not only the interesting facts but also many difficult times faced by Korea and Korean people from Japan, China, Russia, Vietnam, etc... She even has shared some unwritten and secret history of Korea in the entire journey. I feel lucky in a thousand ways. 

Entrance to Korean Folk Village, Seoul

Beautiful show by Korean Village Girls

Live show by Korean Village boys

Everything went as planned except for –Lunch and Chopsticks.

Time for lunch. We all were seated. I and few other friends have chosen Korean Village Life Style Seat (it is exactly very same like how traditional Bhutanese eat in circle, seated on mat). As we took our table, our guides have served us our individual lunch pack from the canteen. I have Korean Grounded Beef and rice in front of me. Chopstick was the only means of eating our food, no hands (laughs). Although, before we guzzle we were briefed about the chopstick usage but not very useful. We tried our best but only to end up funny and odd. Anyway, we tried and finished all the food served and perhaps, it was memorable in Korean Style(laughs) 

I don't know about others but after I leave Korea, I have to learn more to eat with chopsticks. It's my personal home assignment I am taking from Korea. Thank you Korea for the chopstick lesson.

My heartfelt request to anyone planning trips to Korea must know how to eat with chopsticks. It's their culture. Every restaurant has chopsticks system. You must give it a try. They would feel happy, proud to see non-Korean eating with Chopsticks. It's simply a matter of practice. 

Kheng to Seoul (Korea)

Initially, I was a bit confused when I got an offer to visit South Korea for the 2019 KOICA/UNESCO Joint Fellowship Programme (3^th June to 29^th July). I had no idea of the outside world, because the farthest I have traveled was some parts of Darjeeling and Jaigon City. However, before I headed to Metro City of Seoul, I got some months to prepare myself officially and do some follow-ups with the KOICA and APCEIU office. Whatever, I sincerely Thank Mr. Penjore for picking up my good luck for 2019. 

Honestly, I had no idea about the country except for a few school students dancing some K-POP songs in some school co-curricular activities. Every time, they have fascinated me for beautiful dresses and some unique steps on the stage. However, at the same time, I always have some big puzzles on how our students could very easily understand and swallow the Korean Song's Lyrics and steps without attending any Korean classes. In fact, they were genius. I bet you they were better than Albert Einstein. 

I sometimes used to loosely joke with them –how a simple Chemical Formula becomes so difficult when you all can easily perform Korean Dance (no personal intention to harm anybody). And surprisingly some even speak some basic Korean Language. Some were damn good in their dress and looks. I wish they would learn school curriculum and prepare themselves to be in the land of Morning Sun/Calm. So, they can actually feel Korean Look, Country and Culture. 

I do not know about them but I find them a little more artificial and unmatched to K-POP Stars, because Bhutanese are not the Korean. Whatever, most of the Bhutanese kids have a dream to be in Korea and be like Korean and moreover they want to look like Korean Stars –fair and beautiful.