A brief report from Nepal

Sorry, Abs, a little tired when I "read" your post. 

How's the TV there?  How about DYD stores?

Quote from: abusalam on September 17, 2007, 05:30:08 AM

The typical salary for FTs and Nepalis at state-run schools would be the same - about 6300 rupiahs a month (ca. 100 USD), many hours (at least 10 a day or so).

As I said, a flat (=apartment), fully furnished with at least 3 rooms, kirchen, WC and bath (about 50 - 60 square meters) may cost you between 6000 - 8000 rupiahs a month if you are finding your own accomodatuon. 

Then how are you making ends meet?

Well, as I am working for a private college, my salary is 650-700 USd a month paid in US currency. My accomodation and all facilities/utilities are free and are to be covered by the school. This is what I negotiated with them - similar to the packages you are typically offered in China but a bit more "favorable".
And honestly - I could not afford to work for a state-run school because of the extremely low pay, those many hours, without any accomodation offered. Apart from that, I was offered a position by the Vice President of Tribhuvan University (the best uni in Nepal) but he himself admitted that conditions were not favorable for FTs.
At present, the best is to go to private colleges - but you need to have at least a Master Degree, and a Ph. D. would be even better. Otherwise, you might have less favorable conditions here.

I'm guessing he has a PHD

Yes, that is correct but should not matter here among us in this forum.

He's being given accommodation.

True, but it is only private colleges providing that.

Sorry, Abs, a little tired when I "read" your post. 

How's the TV there?  How about DYD stores?

They have color TV and Nepali programs of all kinds, and they even have satellite TV in the big cities and hotels. Some private people of the emerging middle class,too. Via satellite, you can watch also programs from neighboring countries (India, China). Some English news channels, too.
At least in Kathmandu, I have seen several good DYD stores (shops), I am not sure about neigbouring cities like Bhaktapur (also situated in Kathmandu valley) and in Pokara (200 kms to the north of Kathmandu, a well known tourist place...with many restaurants at the lake side mainly catering for foreign tourists there...You can eat Nepali, Tan and all kinds of other food there.
Hope I have covered your points and did not make you "tired" again...
    

I;m enjoying your posts Abu.....

You mention teachers and foreigners working there.. Are there so Many?  Are there a lot of tourist/hiker groups -backpackers? I know Nepal has been a trekker--hippy destination long before Thailand ever was...But for all the great stuff Ive heard on Nepal, what I have never heard is anyone staying...

I get the feeling it's a bit too edgy for most ESLers. No bar street and all the rest.

anyway, well done.

Yes, A, thanks indeed!

These posts are a valuable addition to the Saloon discussions. It's great to know we have another alternative to China and can begin to consider possible future employment in Nepal. Thanks to your dispatches, we can make a more informed decision before venturing there.

Cheers, buddy! 

I;m enjoying your posts Abu.....

You mention teachers and foreigners working there.. Are there so Many?  Are there a lot of tourist/hiker groups -backpackers? I know Nepal has been a trekker--hippy destination long before Thailand ever was...But for all the great stuff Ive heard on Nepal, what I have never heard is anyone staying...

I get the feeling it's a bit too edgy for most ESLers. No bar street and all the rest.

anyway, well done.

I am not quite sure but nationwide there may be perhaps less than 10 foreign teachers working in Nepal. There are a lot of hiker groups and backpackers but most of them come there because it is cheap and would not even consider staying for a longer time to work there. The market for foreign ESlers still needs to develop, and it just started... ...So, please be a bit patient.... .
Yes, and there are some foreigners who ended up there as "hippies"...from long time ago.. They live near Hinduist temple areas, but normally do not work. How they can survive there is not known to me. But they do not seem to bother anyone.....Some of them may be linked to some ashram or Tan Buddhist community; these native communities are hospitable and easily integrate foreigners with similar visions and worldviews. This is the great thing about Nepal .... towns are still quite dirty, with poor living conditions but outside the cities you have a marvellous landscape, friendly and hospitable but poor people, and it is sooo relaxed - unlike China! It is an entiterely different culture from China and a good place for spiritual minded people to go. Just do not expect paradise on earth there .....
Have a great day!

Yes, A, thanks indeed!

These posts are a valuable addition to the Saloon discussions. It's great to know we have another alternative to China and can begin to consider possible future employment in Nepal. Thanks to your dispatches, we can make a more informed decision before venturing there.

Cheers, buddy! 

I am working hard on it to improve conditions at our college with a vision for next year to invite some more foreign teachers to come there. Other colleges may follow sooner or later...
But it takes time. I will keep you informed on how things develop...promised.
Thanks for your kind words of appreciation, birddog.
Have a great day, and avoid eating certain type of FISH...you know what I mean....

Golly, you could end up being a very influential guy to that country. 

Golly, you could end up being a very influential guy to that country. 

And since we are all such Dear, Close Friends with the (Future) Great Man.....  .....we can certainly expect the plums to fall at our feet, can't we?


Seriously, Abu, I really am enjoying reading your posts on Nepal, as well as your insightful comments.  Thank you.

Golly, you could end up being a very influential guy to that country. 

Becoming somewhat "influential" may be a natural "side product" in a situation where you are doing some kind of "pioneering" work that may effect standards of education first at a single school where you are working and then eventually may be extended to other places as well. My experience is that if you show dedication to your work and that you really try to help them, they might even "praise" and "worship" you to an extent that makes you feel ashamed a bit; some people there even called me "divine", and I had to explain to them that according to our Western cultural context, no human being could ever be "divine"......Well, what really matters for me in this context is that they are ready to take my advice and make the best of it. But I am also telling them that sometimes I may be wrong and that it is good to look at a particular point from different angles. I am well aware that I have been assigned a position with a high (al least) moral responsibility and I would do my best to live up to their expectations. Whether I always do is another matter. My approach in this is to teach them certain things and then enable them to do it themselves/later take decisions by themselves. This is to gradually decrease "dependency" upon a foreign teacher/"expert" which in turn would also gradually decrease the burden of my responsibilities in everything. It is easier if you can share this burden of responsibility in leadership with your colleagues.
Here is a small example: In workshops of continuing education for Nepali English teachers, I am also covering the point of Text-To-speech software and how they can covert English written texts to sound files to create multimedia featured and interactive quizzes/exerises for their students in the internet. I am providing all the (free) software tools and teach them the procedure and also offer them the option between British and US American voices. Later, they are given assignments to do the same for their own students. I am also giving them the pro and cons and the theory behind. They in turn taught their students in class, and I have heard that they had a very positive response from their students in class and that on the whole their students have become more motivated, etc.
I was told that this was the first time that such a thing was taught in Nepal, and nother Nepali teachers may also use this in their own workshops for continuing teacher education outside Kathmandu. If this helps and is good to raise educational standards, then why not?
Have a great day!+ 

Quote from: Con ate dog on September 22, 2007, 04:01:51 AM

Golly, you could end up being a very influential guy to that country. 

And since we are all such Dear, Close Friends with the (Future) Great Man.....  .....we can certainly expect the plums to fall at our feet, can't we?


Seriously, Abu, I really am enjoying reading your posts on Nepal, as well as your insightful comments.  Thank you.

Thank you for your kind words. From my personal point of view, it is not so important whether I or someone else is a "great" person. It is always the impact a certain you do has on others. If it is for the common benefit of other people, it is OK. Likewise, there may be bad impacts (for example, in politics). Then, it may not necessarily be "great".....This is what life is like, I assume.
Have a great day!

Great idea, Con!

Perhaps we should form a coalition of laowai educator-activists setting up covert (soon to be overt) operations around the globe, called the "Third World Raouls"!!!
 

You mean Raoul-istas. Like Zorro appeared for the oppressed of 18th century So Cal, they have appeared in times of need to avenge the wrongs done to an FT or two or three.... Qingdao's Uncle Paul has experience with Raoul-ista retribution.... but, suggesting world wide is so, so, so USAnian policeman of the world-ish.... There's enough to do in China.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program about Nepal. Sounds like the schools are still developing so your general reports are good. I think we'd like to read about your impression of the food, their habits -what do you find endearing/disgusting. Pictures of a typical apartment as best you can. Sounds like people are friendly enough...
Oh, why so many learning Chinese. Is it because they see China as their future "big brother" as opposed to India. I do know a good many USAnian businesses are thinking of moving their China operations to India. India more affluent, quality in China is going downhill, Indians deliver better product with less "cost/corner-cutting corruption" etc. So, is Nepal buying into the current "China frenzy" or is it more practical?

But mostly, just be Abusalam. I think your occasional report. YOu have yourself an adventure and more than a few of us are envious. 

Quote from: birddog on September 11, 2007, 09:35:24 PM

Great idea, Con!

Perhaps we should form a coalition of laowai educator-activists setting up covert (soon to be overt) operations around the globe, called the "Third World Raouls"!!!
 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program about Nepal. Sounds like the schools are still developing so your general reports are good. I think we'd like to read about your impression of the food, their habits -what do you find endearing/disgusting. Pictures of a typical apartment as best you can. Sounds like people are friendly enough...

I will make a special posting on that topic some time later when I have time.

Oh, why so many learning Chinese. Is it because they see China as their future "big brother" as opposed to India. I do know a good many USAnian businesses are thinking of moving their China operations to India. India more affluent, quality in China is going downhill, Indians deliver better product with less "cost/corner-cutting corruption" etc. So, is Nepal buying into the current "China frenzy" or is it more practical?
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In Nepal, tourism from China is a certain ecomomial factor, and diplomatic relations between the the two coutries also seem to be without any problems - despite the fact that Nepal hosts a considerable number of Tan refugees. Relations with India are sometimes instable as the Indians close the border to Nepal from time to time because of Nepal´s ties with China. Then, certain goods cannot come through. All in all, it seems that the two big brothers seem to compete - interms of economical and politial influence in Nepal. Many ordinary Nepalese people, however, are not happy with the behavior of certain Chinese tourists in Nepal and seem to be "pissed off" (sorry for the vulgar expression) by it. I know a number of Nepalese people studying Chinese, and I even helped some of them of providing them with software for Chinese character input, software to read Chinese texts aloud on a computer (one such tool was even developed by a friend of mine and me...ha!), electronic dictionaries, etc. Nepal is still far behind China in many respects but there are clearly efforts to catch up with them in next years.
Doing business in China for a Western enterprise is not unproblematic for many different reasons - honesty (something we as FTs working in China may only know to well - unfortunately!), corruption, bureaucracy, and spying/copying products illegally. I would not make the claim that these problems do not exist in Nepal but it is much easier to deal with them as the real cooperation and the willingness to honor contracts seems to be higher here than in China. Maybe it is a matter of mentality and culture..as I said it is much more relaxed than in China. My personal estimate is that, however, Nepal is not a real alternmative to the Chinese market - with ca. 22 mill. of inhabitants it is not only much smaller but it even is less developed in infrastructure... there is no train network in Nepal,roads generally are in a pretty bad condition and the national airline system also does not really seem to work well because of lack of funds (due to corruption), poor infrastructure, etc. All this is the result of a government not interested to deal with these problems in an appropriate manner. Hopefully, this will change, Nepalese people would really deserve it, and many are waiting for it. Expectations on a new government are high over here.

P.S.: Nepal with a main Hindu culture has a caste system like India. There seem to be some slight differences in comparison to the Indian caste system. People are more "revolutionary minded" over here and thus less conservative than in India - this is what leading Nepali intellectuals say. Perhaps, the caste system will decrease in importance much earlier here than it ever would in India. Who knows....

I am thinking of posting an article on how the caste system as a social institution has influenced the Nepali language. I have come across some interesting linguistic data that I would like to share with all of you - if you like.
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But mostly, just be Abusalam. I think your occasional report. YOu have yourself an adventure and more than a few of us are envious. 
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Thank you, I will try to do my best....
Have a good day!