Exploring the Land of the Thunder Dragon August 01, 2024

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I really enjoyed the specialized classes and the amount of learning that we did in the field. We spent a lot of time speaking with the experts in the country in each of the fields we were studying, which was truly an amazing opportunity. The professors for all of the courses were very engaging and were very passionate about the topics that they were teaching. Additionally, all of the faculty were very interested in hearing our opinions and opening up the classroom to discussion. The courses were definitely lacking in terms of academic rigor at some points, but this allowed for more of our time and energy to go to fully immersing ourselves culturally and getting to explore the region more.

On-site administration of your program

The administration of SFS Bhutan were very helpful and extremely welcoming overall. There were some small experiences where they were a bit restrictive with the curfew and our travel on off days, but the administrators and all of the people at the center listened to all of our concerns and always helped us in any way that they could.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The housing was very nice! We stayed in what used to be a very fancy hotel, and the center is very beautiful. It has western toilets, a nice dining hall to eat in, and a comfortable classroom and library to hang out in. Our housing situations while traveling could be more questionable at times, especially when the squat toilets wouldn't work correctly, but they were nothing too crazy.

The food at the center and nearby were very good overall, and the cooks were super friendly. They gave us cooking lessons and allowed us to use the kitchen at the center too! However, they did lack vegetarian proteins at some meals, which was a concern for me and some other students. They did try to respond to our concerns about this, but they could probably increase vegetarian protein options more.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I felt like we were very connected with local culture. We stayed at a local university and played games with their sports teams. We also had a lot of time to explore town and make friends with locals at all types of places, whether we were at the gym, basketball court, grocery store, or even the souvenir shops. Locals were extremely friendly and engaged with us frequently. During our travels, we had so many experiences that people would not get to have as regular tourists to Bhutan, especially due to the connections that our professors and program had. This included speaking with many officials and leaders of different universities and programs.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The health care was free and the program leaders made it a priority to take people to the hospital whenever there was any sign that they needed it. They listened closely to our health concerns, and also taught us well how to take care of our health in a foreign country. There is a hospital very close to the center, but we also had students visit other hospitals throughout the country during our travels too. There were no prevalent issues, but I did get a couple of vaccines before the start of my program.

The center for the program is situated in Paro, which is an extremely safe city. It is walkable from town (about 15 minutes), and you can truly walk outside at any time of the night and feel very safe. The only concern would be the wild dogs, which is why it can be smart to carry rocks and travel in groups when it is dark out. During the day time, there is truly no concerns though, as long as you are aware of your surroundings to watch for wild dogs.

The program was amazing overall. We got to so many different parts of Bhutan, which all have their own ecosystems and cultures due to the mountainous terrain. It felt like we were constantly getting to participate in experiences that would not be available to regular tourists to Bhutan, and getting to live there for a whole semester was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Even when all of the travel and field exercises got exhausting, there wasn't a moment where all of us weren't extremely grateful and excited about all of the opportunities we had.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Cost of living in Bhutan is very low, and all meals are extremely cheap. Souvenirs can be more expensive if they give you tourist prices, but they always give way cheaper prices if you say you are a student. They also recognize you a lot, even with other tourists there, and will give you deals just because you are a student there for a long time.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

The program did what they could to encourage us to use Dzongkha, the local language, but it is definitely not an easy language to learn. We had opportunities to practice using it with the help of translators at food markets and in the classroom, which allowed us to practice in environments where we felt more comfortable.

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• Other
• Host Family

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• Americans

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• Americans

• travel and exploration
• engaging with locals and officials
• courses and professors

• food (vegetarian proteins)
• more time between travel at the beginning
• helping us engage with locals more at the beginning

The Avid Adventurer