Kathmandu – GW Blogs from Abroad

Spending Lunar New Year in Kathmandu

AdminFebruary 20, 2018

I’ve celebrated Lunar New Year every year of my life, but since attending college, I haven’t been able to celebrate with my family. This time of year is usually when I get the most homesick which is why I was so excited to have a host family to celebrate with this year. In Tibetan, the New Year is called Losar and it turned out to be really different from what I’m used to. I came with the expectation that the streets would be extremely festive with colorful decorations and people bustling trying to prepare for the holiday. However, Nepal is actually majority Hindu and huge festivals regarding Losar have been suppressed by the government due to Chinese pressure to silence and oppress Tibetan people and Tibetan Buddhism. So in many ways, the act of celebrating was, by nature, politicized. It was a really unique experience to be in a country where this celebration that was so familiar to me became somewhat foreign.

The Baudha Stupa decorated for Losar

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Everything I Learned About Studying Abroad While Preparing to Study Abroad

AdminFebruary 12, 2018December 14, 2018

By sheldonwongg

Less than 24 hours in Kathmandu and I’m currently reflecting on everything that has happened leading up to finally getting to leave for Nepal. Rewind six months to when I first applied to a study abroad program, and I’ve learned a lot about the do’s and don’ts of preparing to study and live in a country that you’ve never been to before. Here is a comprehensive, no fluff guide to how you can maximize your time pre-study abroad and prepare yourself an experience of a lifetime.

Get Started Early

If you have any inkling of where you want to go or what you want to study, start researching as soon as possible! I guarantee that you will be overwhelmed and probably change your mind about your program at least five times. Look into the different programs that are available, what they offer, how the programs are structure, and how credit gets transferred back to school so that you can pick the program that works best with your needs. Knowing your options early gives you the opportunity to sit on your decision for a little bit. If you still want to attend the program you chose after a week or two, then you know it’s the program for you

Don’t Follow Someone Else

There are literally hundreds of study abroad programs to choose from. Don’t let yourself get boxed into choosing something based on someone else’s opinion or where your friends are going. You’ll be a lot more excited about going abroad if you choose a country or program that really corresponds to your passions. Don’t get me wrong, Europe is a great place, but the world is a big place. When I started my study abroad search, I didn’t even know that Nepal would be an option for a program.

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First Impressions | Kathmandu, Nepal

AdminFebruary 12, 2018

Time literally flies by when you’re having fun. I just finished my first week here in Kathmandu and I’ve completely fallen head over heels in love with Nepal. Ever since I touched down in Kathmandu, I’ve been constantly surprised and astounded by how different I expected everything to be. In my one week here, I’ve seen some of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Buddhists and Hindus, hiked one of the most beautiful trails to catch sunrise, and even crashed a wedding in a local town where they took us in as family. I’m pinching myself everyday wondering if this is real life. Here’s some of the things that stood out the most during my first week here.

Culture Shock

Ok, I’m not going to lie. I really thought I was well prepared to go to a developing country. But when I got out of the plane after thirty hours of travel, I felt overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the people and craziness of everyday life. Nepal is definitely not like the United States. In so many ways already, I feel humbled. This experience has shown me a lot about the inequality of life that appears everywhere. In many ways, it has exposed privilege in ways that I don’t think I would have been able to understand without going through them myself. I’m eternally grateful to be able to learn this lesson.

The Beauty of Hello

In Nepal, the normal way to greet someone is to bring your hands together, bow your head, and greet them with “Namaste” which can be translated into “The spirit within me salutes the spirit in you.” What struck me the most about the Nepalese people is how happy they are. Their lives are simple in nature, but their souls are free from the material obsessions that consume people in the United States. I think part of that comes from the little things like using a beautiful greeting like Namaste to acknowledge the world around us.

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