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Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan
At age 24 Jamie Zeppa, a Canadian who had never been outside of North America, said goodbye to her fiancé and her plans for graduate school and moved to Bhutan, a remote Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth is an autobiographical work that details her experiences and transformations after spending three years in Bhutan. It is as much a book about Zeppa's day-to-day life in Bhutan as it is about the personal awakenings and realizations that she had while living there.
Visitors to Bhutan, an increasingly hot tourist destination, are still few and far between, largely because of tight government restrictions on entry, visa requirements, and a law requiring tourists to spend at least $200 a day there. There aren't many books on Bhutan, and even fewer first-hand accounts of life there. Beyond the Sky and the Earth stands out as both an informative introduction to the people and culture of Bhutan and as a beautiful piece of travel literature set against the backdrop of one of the most remote and unspoiled places on earth.
Zeppa recounts her experiences living abroad, such as learning to live without electricity and carrying on a forbidden affair with one of her students, in such a compelling way that even someone who has never left home will become entranced by her story and captivated by her unique experiences.
Naturally, Zeppa experienced culture shock when she arrived in Bhutan. The hardships she encountered seemed insurmountable, and at first she thought she couldn't bear it and fantasized about returning to Canada. She had to learn a new language in order to communicate with her students, she had to learn to live on her own, and she had to learn to deal with homesickness. Perhaps her biggest challenge was learning how to reconcile her growing love for Bhutan with her nostalgia for her life in Canada, her family, and her fiancé. But after living among Bhutan's Himalayan peaks, lush valleys, colorful villages, and friendly people, and after gaining an appreciation for life in a place frozen in time, Zeppa realizes that she feels at home in Bhutan and wants to stay.
Although to Zeppa Bhutan is a magical land, she cautions herself and the reader not to deem it "the last Shangri-La," as is often done by the lucky travelers who make their way through the red tape required for entry into the kingdom. Bhutan is not without its problems: it is an underdeveloped country plagued by the problems that affect many places cut off from modernity. There is infant mortality, illness, and poverty. There are also domestic and international tensions that stem from the government's stringent regulations intended to preserve the national culture. Among them are the prohibition of foreign television and a requirement that people wear the national dress, a kira for women and a gho for men.
Few of us will ever get to see the place that was Zeppa's home. But her narrative is so clear and insightful that you easily feel as though you are sharing this portion of her life with her. Even if you haven't had the experience of living abroad, or if the prospect of a trip to the furthest reaches of Asia is not in your cards, Zeppa's book is a worthy read on many levels.
From her powerful use of language to describe the superb beauty of Bhutan's landscape to her passionate description of her spellbinding relationship with her future husband, Beyond the Sky and the Earth draws readers in and takes them on her rocky ride to self-realization.
When trying to explain to a friend what she finds appealing about Bhutan, Zeppa writes: "It takes a long time to find the true words, to put them in order, to tell the whole story. It is not just this or that, the mountains, the people, it is me and the way I can be here, the freedom to walk unafraid into the great dark night. It is a hundred thousand things and I could never trace or tell all the connections and reflections, the shadows and echoes and secret relations between them."
But, in fact, Zeppa does tell the reader about these connections and reflections in a lyrical way. After reading the book, you will have a deep understanding, appreciation, and respect for Zeppa's strength of character and for the wonders of Bhutan.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a delight to read in every way. Zeppa's beautiful prose, peppered alternately with funny observations and profound soul-searching, is a truly special and unique work that will leave you craving an adventure of your own.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth is an autobiographical work that details her experiences and transformations after spending three years in Bhutan. It is as much a book about Zeppa's day-to-day life in Bhutan as it is about the personal awakenings and realizations that she had while living there.
Visitors to Bhutan, an increasingly hot tourist destination, are still few and far between, largely because of tight government restrictions on entry, visa requirements, and a law requiring tourists to spend at least $200 a day there. There aren't many books on Bhutan, and even fewer first-hand accounts of life there. Beyond the Sky and the Earth stands out as both an informative introduction to the people and culture of Bhutan and as a beautiful piece of travel literature set against the backdrop of one of the most remote and unspoiled places on earth.
Zeppa recounts her experiences living abroad, such as learning to live without electricity and carrying on a forbidden affair with one of her students, in such a compelling way that even someone who has never left home will become entranced by her story and captivated by her unique experiences.
Naturally, Zeppa experienced culture shock when she arrived in Bhutan. The hardships she encountered seemed insurmountable, and at first she thought she couldn't bear it and fantasized about returning to Canada. She had to learn a new language in order to communicate with her students, she had to learn to live on her own, and she had to learn to deal with homesickness. Perhaps her biggest challenge was learning how to reconcile her growing love for Bhutan with her nostalgia for her life in Canada, her family, and her fiancé. But after living among Bhutan's Himalayan peaks, lush valleys, colorful villages, and friendly people, and after gaining an appreciation for life in a place frozen in time, Zeppa realizes that she feels at home in Bhutan and wants to stay.
Although to Zeppa Bhutan is a magical land, she cautions herself and the reader not to deem it "the last Shangri-La," as is often done by the lucky travelers who make their way through the red tape required for entry into the kingdom. Bhutan is not without its problems: it is an underdeveloped country plagued by the problems that affect many places cut off from modernity. There is infant mortality, illness, and poverty. There are also domestic and international tensions that stem from the government's stringent regulations intended to preserve the national culture. Among them are the prohibition of foreign television and a requirement that people wear the national dress, a kira for women and a gho for men.
Few of us will ever get to see the place that was Zeppa's home. But her narrative is so clear and insightful that you easily feel as though you are sharing this portion of her life with her. Even if you haven't had the experience of living abroad, or if the prospect of a trip to the furthest reaches of Asia is not in your cards, Zeppa's book is a worthy read on many levels.
From her powerful use of language to describe the superb beauty of Bhutan's landscape to her passionate description of her spellbinding relationship with her future husband, Beyond the Sky and the Earth draws readers in and takes them on her rocky ride to self-realization.
When trying to explain to a friend what she finds appealing about Bhutan, Zeppa writes: "It takes a long time to find the true words, to put them in order, to tell the whole story. It is not just this or that, the mountains, the people, it is me and the way I can be here, the freedom to walk unafraid into the great dark night. It is a hundred thousand things and I could never trace or tell all the connections and reflections, the shadows and echoes and secret relations between them."
But, in fact, Zeppa does tell the reader about these connections and reflections in a lyrical way. After reading the book, you will have a deep understanding, appreciation, and respect for Zeppa's strength of character and for the wonders of Bhutan.
Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a delight to read in every way. Zeppa's beautiful prose, peppered alternately with funny observations and profound soul-searching, is a truly special and unique work that will leave you craving an adventure of your own.
321 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 428 reviews
April 29, 2016
You are 22 years old, uncertain about your future. You know the proper thing would be to continue your university studies, but Life beckons. You feel the need to Do Something Real with your life, to have an adventure, to face your fears. So what do you do?
If you are Jamie Zeppa, you apply for a teaching position in Bhutan. This book relates her experiences there, from the first awkward days of being afraid of everything to the realization that the word home can mean something besides that place you lived in all of your life.
At first I was annoyed with our Jamie. I thought she was so nervous, so scared, so full of complaints. But as the book progressed, so did Jamie. She learned to cope with the situations life gave her, she learned to truly appreciate the country she had landed herself in, and she learned important things about her own character. She grew up.
I did not expect to learn many details of the country in this book, it is a personal journey. But Zeppa did weave into her story some history, some political issues, and many customs which made the book extra fascinating. She also expressed insights about any person living in a country other than the one they were raised in. Do you ever truly understand the culture? Can you ever truly be a part of the fabric of the society? No matter how much you may love the country, the land, the people, you are always going to be an outsider. That is a given in any country, but especially in one as complex as Bhutan.
The book ends in 1996, and I was very curious about what happened to Zeppa's life after that. Did the choices she made last? Does she still live in or at least visit the country she fell in love with? Or did it all become one of those magic phases in her life, the kind you can look back on and be happy that you experienced? I Googled Zeppa but I won't say what I learned, only that from what I can see, she seems happy. And good for her, not only to have the courage to fly in the first place, but also for the courage to soar where the winds took her.
If you are Jamie Zeppa, you apply for a teaching position in Bhutan. This book relates her experiences there, from the first awkward days of being afraid of everything to the realization that the word home can mean something besides that place you lived in all of your life.
At first I was annoyed with our Jamie. I thought she was so nervous, so scared, so full of complaints. But as the book progressed, so did Jamie. She learned to cope with the situations life gave her, she learned to truly appreciate the country she had landed herself in, and she learned important things about her own character. She grew up.
I did not expect to learn many details of the country in this book, it is a personal journey. But Zeppa did weave into her story some history, some political issues, and many customs which made the book extra fascinating. She also expressed insights about any person living in a country other than the one they were raised in. Do you ever truly understand the culture? Can you ever truly be a part of the fabric of the society? No matter how much you may love the country, the land, the people, you are always going to be an outsider. That is a given in any country, but especially in one as complex as Bhutan.
The book ends in 1996, and I was very curious about what happened to Zeppa's life after that. Did the choices she made last? Does she still live in or at least visit the country she fell in love with? Or did it all become one of those magic phases in her life, the kind you can look back on and be happy that you experienced? I Googled Zeppa but I won't say what I learned, only that from what I can see, she seems happy. And good for her, not only to have the courage to fly in the first place, but also for the courage to soar where the winds took her.
February 19, 2010
This book is a gem.
When Jamie Zeppa tires of her doctoral studies and ponders whether the world might offer something more, she spots an announcement for a teaching opportunity near Tibet. The book Zeppa creates about her experience in Bhutan represents travel writing at its best. In theory, travel provides knowledge. In reality, many people leave dumb and come home just as dumb. Zeppa’s journey transforms her, and she gains wisdom in its truest sense, a combination of knowledge and humility.
Time may be the largest barrier to comprehending another culture. Zeppa, who describes her three years in Bhutan in the book, Beyond the Sky and Earth: A Journey into Bhutan, comments on the need for time to even start assimilating a culture. Zeppa remarks that, in contrast to rapid traveling and arriving, “Entering [a culture:] takes longer. You cross over slowly, in bits and pieces” and—after a great deal of time—“You are just beginning to know where you are” (emphasis added, 101). Further, voluntary travel—to use James Clifford’s distinction—whether done by members of a “shopping-mall society” or not, may be marked by scanning as its initial perceptual mode.
Before Jamie Zeppa travels to Bhutan to teach in a remote village, she first receives a thorough orientation on Bhutanese history, culture, customs, and language. Even when armed with quite a bit more knowledge than most travelers would possess, initially Zeppa really cannot “see” or interpret Bhutan. Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, seems small, cluttered, and old to Zeppa, and she scoffs when she is told “Thimphu will look like New York to you when you come back after a year in the east” (15). Zeppa grows impatient at a bank where people push and shove rather than forming lines, while the bank clerk, chatting idly with a guard, blithely ignores them all. Silently, Zeppa fumes, “Do these people have all the time in the world or what? (23). The food and water terrify her, and when traveling to her village, Zeppa thinks the landscape looks blank: “The country seems almost empty to me” (30). Finally, she loses her bearings entirely: “Somewhere south is Pema Getshel. Somewhere west is Thimphu. And beyond Thimphu—but no, I am too tired to retrace the journey mentally. I want to just click my heels three times and be home” (38).
Prejudiced by her own cultural baggage, initially Zeppa sees Thimphu as unimpressive, disorganized, and inefficient. The surrounding landscape seems vacant and desolate. After spending five months in Bhutan, Zeppa re-sees her surroundings vibrantly: “The rains have turned Pema Gatshel a thousand shades of green: lime, olive, pea, apple, grass, pine, moss, malachite, emerald. The trees are full of singing insects, flowers, birds, hard green oranges, children” and then remarks: “It’s hard to believe now that I once thought this a landscape of lack” (137). Zeppa could only see the landscape after she learned what to see.
Provocatively, Zeppa’s culture shock occurs both arriving and “returning.” When Zeppa travels back home to visit, after having spent two years in Bhutan, she finds Toronto enervating. She views her surroundings as “glossy and polished and unreal,” and is “overwhelmed by the number of things” (262). Television is “incomprehensible,” the “images fly out of the screen too fast.…Ten minutes of television exhausts” her for hours, she’s “shaken by the traffic, the rush, the speed at which people walk,” and she finds the “number of stores…overwhelming” (263). Zeppa’s reactions demonstrate that her inability to “interpret” her home now parallel her earlier inability to make sense of Bhutan. Significantly, Zeppa’s confusion, her sense of being too slow in the midst of so much “rush and blur,” emphasizes the steady scrim of images typifying industrialized culture (267). In short, Zeppa has lost (at least temporarily) the ability to “scan”—the mode of perception that may be necessary to decipher the contemporary “society of spectacle.”
From a negative standpoint, scanning may mark our present perceptual mode and suggests a type of seeing characterized by superficiality. In a more positive light and in the terms of travel, scanning may be inevitable. When Jamie Zeppa arrives in Bhutan, she can do no more than skim its surface and her vision, her ability to interpret her landscape is similarly compromised when she arrives in Toronto, after being away for two years. Zeppa’s and any other traveler’s ability to remember the journey may fare no better. Just as the initial perception of travel is partial at best, the journey’s recollection, i.e., the “stuff” of travel literature, becomes distorted by the degree our cultural lens blinds us to the journey initially, the amount of time we can spend within a culture, our imperfect memory of the journey itself, and the changes that will occur once our memories have been exposed to the shaping forces of narrative.
Jamie Zeppa, similarly, understands that she will always remain an outsider in Bhutan but wishes—nonetheless—to present her fragments as honestly and completely as possible. Though Zeppa often finds Bhutan a kind of Shangri-la, she presents its political complexity unflinchingly, and never pretends to understand or agree with it. Zeppa recognizes that sight itself does not bring knowledge. What she learns most of all is that “[t:]ravel should make us more humble, not more proud. We are all tourists, I think. Whether we stay for two weeks or two years, we are still outsiders, passing through” (204-5). At best, Zeppa might feel she reaches an enlightened confusion, and perhaps this is the most that any traveler can attain.
adapated from a prior publication
When Jamie Zeppa tires of her doctoral studies and ponders whether the world might offer something more, she spots an announcement for a teaching opportunity near Tibet. The book Zeppa creates about her experience in Bhutan represents travel writing at its best. In theory, travel provides knowledge. In reality, many people leave dumb and come home just as dumb. Zeppa’s journey transforms her, and she gains wisdom in its truest sense, a combination of knowledge and humility.
Time may be the largest barrier to comprehending another culture. Zeppa, who describes her three years in Bhutan in the book, Beyond the Sky and Earth: A Journey into Bhutan, comments on the need for time to even start assimilating a culture. Zeppa remarks that, in contrast to rapid traveling and arriving, “Entering [a culture:] takes longer. You cross over slowly, in bits and pieces” and—after a great deal of time—“You are just beginning to know where you are” (emphasis added, 101). Further, voluntary travel—to use James Clifford’s distinction—whether done by members of a “shopping-mall society” or not, may be marked by scanning as its initial perceptual mode.
Before Jamie Zeppa travels to Bhutan to teach in a remote village, she first receives a thorough orientation on Bhutanese history, culture, customs, and language. Even when armed with quite a bit more knowledge than most travelers would possess, initially Zeppa really cannot “see” or interpret Bhutan. Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, seems small, cluttered, and old to Zeppa, and she scoffs when she is told “Thimphu will look like New York to you when you come back after a year in the east” (15). Zeppa grows impatient at a bank where people push and shove rather than forming lines, while the bank clerk, chatting idly with a guard, blithely ignores them all. Silently, Zeppa fumes, “Do these people have all the time in the world or what? (23). The food and water terrify her, and when traveling to her village, Zeppa thinks the landscape looks blank: “The country seems almost empty to me” (30). Finally, she loses her bearings entirely: “Somewhere south is Pema Getshel. Somewhere west is Thimphu. And beyond Thimphu—but no, I am too tired to retrace the journey mentally. I want to just click my heels three times and be home” (38).
Prejudiced by her own cultural baggage, initially Zeppa sees Thimphu as unimpressive, disorganized, and inefficient. The surrounding landscape seems vacant and desolate. After spending five months in Bhutan, Zeppa re-sees her surroundings vibrantly: “The rains have turned Pema Gatshel a thousand shades of green: lime, olive, pea, apple, grass, pine, moss, malachite, emerald. The trees are full of singing insects, flowers, birds, hard green oranges, children” and then remarks: “It’s hard to believe now that I once thought this a landscape of lack” (137). Zeppa could only see the landscape after she learned what to see.
Provocatively, Zeppa’s culture shock occurs both arriving and “returning.” When Zeppa travels back home to visit, after having spent two years in Bhutan, she finds Toronto enervating. She views her surroundings as “glossy and polished and unreal,” and is “overwhelmed by the number of things” (262). Television is “incomprehensible,” the “images fly out of the screen too fast.…Ten minutes of television exhausts” her for hours, she’s “shaken by the traffic, the rush, the speed at which people walk,” and she finds the “number of stores…overwhelming” (263). Zeppa’s reactions demonstrate that her inability to “interpret” her home now parallel her earlier inability to make sense of Bhutan. Significantly, Zeppa’s confusion, her sense of being too slow in the midst of so much “rush and blur,” emphasizes the steady scrim of images typifying industrialized culture (267). In short, Zeppa has lost (at least temporarily) the ability to “scan”—the mode of perception that may be necessary to decipher the contemporary “society of spectacle.”
From a negative standpoint, scanning may mark our present perceptual mode and suggests a type of seeing characterized by superficiality. In a more positive light and in the terms of travel, scanning may be inevitable. When Jamie Zeppa arrives in Bhutan, she can do no more than skim its surface and her vision, her ability to interpret her landscape is similarly compromised when she arrives in Toronto, after being away for two years. Zeppa’s and any other traveler’s ability to remember the journey may fare no better. Just as the initial perception of travel is partial at best, the journey’s recollection, i.e., the “stuff” of travel literature, becomes distorted by the degree our cultural lens blinds us to the journey initially, the amount of time we can spend within a culture, our imperfect memory of the journey itself, and the changes that will occur once our memories have been exposed to the shaping forces of narrative.
Jamie Zeppa, similarly, understands that she will always remain an outsider in Bhutan but wishes—nonetheless—to present her fragments as honestly and completely as possible. Though Zeppa often finds Bhutan a kind of Shangri-la, she presents its political complexity unflinchingly, and never pretends to understand or agree with it. Zeppa recognizes that sight itself does not bring knowledge. What she learns most of all is that “[t:]ravel should make us more humble, not more proud. We are all tourists, I think. Whether we stay for two weeks or two years, we are still outsiders, passing through” (204-5). At best, Zeppa might feel she reaches an enlightened confusion, and perhaps this is the most that any traveler can attain.
adapated from a prior publication
October 20, 2009
Consider reading instead of Eat Pray Love for a similar experience sans the egocentricity.
December 11, 2019
'Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan' by Jamie Zeppa is a very interesting, a rare memoir about Bhutan, published in 1999. Bhutan only has a population of 742,000 (2019). Today it is still isolated, mostly Buddhist, a constitutional monarchy between India and China. Thimphu, with a population of 115,000, is the capitol of this small Himalayan country. Surprising, local politics looms large in this tiny land of valleys and mountains, along with the building of dams for hydropower (after 1999). Because of a recent national policy of emphasizing Bhutan culture, expelled Bhutan-Nepali refugees now live in Indian refugee camps. Bhutan is mostly agricultural, though, with almost no roads. There is about 60% literacy, and a couple of small colleges, but basic education mostly comes from tiny little schools spread about in the mountain communities, manned by teachers of whom many are outside volunteers.
Zeppa volunteered at age 24 to become an English teacher for two years in a foreign country instead of finishing her doctorate. She answered an ad by the World University Service of Canada (now bankrupt). She was scared, but she went to Bhutan anyway after finding out that was where her new job was. She had never traveled much before this.
Culture shock! At first, she felt she had made a terrible mistake - her posting was in an extremely small school set in an isolated mountainous valley, which was reached by traveling in a dilapidated truck/bus on a bad road which washed out after they passed. Local resources were extremely primitive - no running water, no indoor toilets, no electricity, no technology, no stores, no Western household goods, no books! She had brought a bag of minimal stuff with her. She was afraid of the food, water, bugs, people and environment. However, other volunteers, their postings miles away from hers, that she met gave her some comfort, although they intimidated her by their calm expertise and familiarity with the primitive conditions.
Everything changed after she got lost on an hours-long trek along a mountain path to visit another teacher. Suddenly she felt ok. Even the rats and constant rain stopped bothering her. Well, a little bit. When her first paycheck came finally after five months, it was better. People had allowed her to promise to pay for things (mostly local food and some local clothes) until she got money, though.
Soon after her paycheck came, she was posted to teach English in a college rather than a village school. Bhutan in the north is rainy and mountainous, but in the south where Sherubtse College near Trashigang was, it was more tropical. She had an actual apartment with modern amenities. Her students were not only adults, but some were very sophisticated. She found them very different from her students in the first school. She also found a twenty-year-old student who attracted her. He was beautiful, articulate and passionate about politics and ideas. He hung out around her a lot. But as the students' professional lecturer and professor, she knew she couldn't begin a relationship. Could she? Could she? Two years....and she had already broken off her relationship with a Canadian man...
Zeppo's memoir is one of the few books about living in Bhutan. It is very well written. She loved Bhutan, although some things - constant beatings of the children by teachers, the xenophobia towards Hindus - offensive and sad. I would not have stuck it out, personally.
Zeppa volunteered at age 24 to become an English teacher for two years in a foreign country instead of finishing her doctorate. She answered an ad by the World University Service of Canada (now bankrupt). She was scared, but she went to Bhutan anyway after finding out that was where her new job was. She had never traveled much before this.
Culture shock! At first, she felt she had made a terrible mistake - her posting was in an extremely small school set in an isolated mountainous valley, which was reached by traveling in a dilapidated truck/bus on a bad road which washed out after they passed. Local resources were extremely primitive - no running water, no indoor toilets, no electricity, no technology, no stores, no Western household goods, no books! She had brought a bag of minimal stuff with her. She was afraid of the food, water, bugs, people and environment. However, other volunteers, their postings miles away from hers, that she met gave her some comfort, although they intimidated her by their calm expertise and familiarity with the primitive conditions.
Everything changed after she got lost on an hours-long trek along a mountain path to visit another teacher. Suddenly she felt ok. Even the rats and constant rain stopped bothering her. Well, a little bit. When her first paycheck came finally after five months, it was better. People had allowed her to promise to pay for things (mostly local food and some local clothes) until she got money, though.
Soon after her paycheck came, she was posted to teach English in a college rather than a village school. Bhutan in the north is rainy and mountainous, but in the south where Sherubtse College near Trashigang was, it was more tropical. She had an actual apartment with modern amenities. Her students were not only adults, but some were very sophisticated. She found them very different from her students in the first school. She also found a twenty-year-old student who attracted her. He was beautiful, articulate and passionate about politics and ideas. He hung out around her a lot. But as the students' professional lecturer and professor, she knew she couldn't begin a relationship. Could she? Could she? Two years....and she had already broken off her relationship with a Canadian man...
Zeppo's memoir is one of the few books about living in Bhutan. It is very well written. She loved Bhutan, although some things - constant beatings of the children by teachers, the xenophobia towards Hindus - offensive and sad. I would not have stuck it out, personally.
February 22, 2007
A wonderful book about living in another (extremely remote) culture as a young person. This is Zeppa's true story about the years she spent teaching English in remote villages of Bhutan in the early 70s when Bhutan was just opening its borders to foreigners. The descriptions of the landscape are lush and Zeppa takes you along with her as she struggles against isolation, hardship and the process of falling in love with with a culture and also a young Bhutanese man. An enjoyable read.
August 16, 2012
The author speaks of her personal experiences as a teacher in Bhutan and how this changed who she was and what she did with her life. I have never run into someone who had such a hard time with change, even those changes she herself chose! There is an awful lot of worrying and whining in these chapters! Nevertheless, you do learn about life in Bhutan at the end of the 1980s, about Buddhism and occasionally she just so perfectly expresses her thoughts. She will take a complicated idea and say it in a few simple words. And I loved hearing about her experiences teaching small children. I fell in love with some of those kids.
Just remember, this is not the book to choose if you want a thorough book about the country. It is a book about one woman's personal experiences. This is about how Bhutan changed her/u>.
Just remember, this is not the book to choose if you want a thorough book about the country. It is a book about one woman's personal experiences. This is about how Bhutan changed her/u>.
December 20, 2016
It's not a unique story, but it's well-told and the setting is far eastern Bhutan, a remote region that I didn't know much about. At the start, Zeppa had me so convinced that she'd made a mistake in accepting her posting to teach in Bhutan, that I fully expected her to jump on a plane, return to Canada, and spend the rest of the book kicking herself for her lack of resilience. But no, within a fairly short time she fell in love with it all; the children (of course), the school, her village, her simple life, and of course with Bhutan itself. I was with her all the way.
February 20, 2008
What coulda been: travel memoir of Bhutan comes woefully undone by a writer seemingly incapable of distinguishing between self reflection and self absorption.
July 9, 2022
This book is nicely written and narrated account of the author's experiences in Bhutan. Leaving her academic studies in Canada, travels for the first time abroad, to work for two years, in one of the most (if not the most) secluded countries in the world. What began as an adventure before settling down turned out to be a life changing experience, given to us with sincerity and emotion. The only thing that bothered me, is that occasionally, Mrs Zeppa appeared as a self appointed saviour in a way, the one person that could see everyone's wrongdoings (whether it was sexism, politics, culture) and got frustrated that people would not listen.
Having said that, I caught my self wishing I could visit Bhutan some day...
Having said that, I caught my self wishing I could visit Bhutan some day...
November 11, 2021
In 1988, the author withdrew from her doctoral program to take a two year teaching post at a remote village in Bhutan. She had no experience working with young children, with international travel, with the culture of Bhutan prior to signing her contract. This is her memoir of moving through terrible culture shock to falling in love with Bhutan and with a Bhutanese man. 3.5 stars
November 18, 2015
The Bhutanese phrase 'Name same kadin che', translates into 'I thank you beyond the sky and the earth'. Quite a poetic way to say thank you, I must say.
I was in Bhutan recently, and on my last afternoon in that beautiful country I had visited this really cozy bookstore in Thimphu, aptly named Junction Bookstore. I had gone in hoping to pick up a book about Bhutan. I'd been recommended a few by various people I met there, from books on the Royal Dynasty (The Raven Crown) to books on practical everyday Buddhism (What makes you not a Buddhist). What I wanted was a book which talked about how people lived in Bhutan, what they believed in, what their customs were. I wanted a book about the common man's everyday life, rather than the life of the elite. It is not easy to find such a book, considering how the publishing industry in Bhutan is still in a very nascent stage. I ended up picking up this book, at the kind recommendation from one of the girls who work/chill there(if you are reading this, thank you, I loved the book, and it was exactly what I was looking for).
Jamie Zeppa leaves her comfortable academic life in Canada at the age of 22, to become a teacher in the remote Bhutan. In this autobiography, she wonderfully presents life in rural eastern Bhutan and how she adapts to a completely different society than her own. Set against the backdrop of the a mystical land where demons, ghosts and karma dictate everyday life, Zeppa brings to life a society where the spiritual trumps the material.
A fascinating read, recommended for anyone who wants a glimpse into the last shangrilla.
I was in Bhutan recently, and on my last afternoon in that beautiful country I had visited this really cozy bookstore in Thimphu, aptly named Junction Bookstore. I had gone in hoping to pick up a book about Bhutan. I'd been recommended a few by various people I met there, from books on the Royal Dynasty (The Raven Crown) to books on practical everyday Buddhism (What makes you not a Buddhist). What I wanted was a book which talked about how people lived in Bhutan, what they believed in, what their customs were. I wanted a book about the common man's everyday life, rather than the life of the elite. It is not easy to find such a book, considering how the publishing industry in Bhutan is still in a very nascent stage. I ended up picking up this book, at the kind recommendation from one of the girls who work/chill there(if you are reading this, thank you, I loved the book, and it was exactly what I was looking for).
Jamie Zeppa leaves her comfortable academic life in Canada at the age of 22, to become a teacher in the remote Bhutan. In this autobiography, she wonderfully presents life in rural eastern Bhutan and how she adapts to a completely different society than her own. Set against the backdrop of the a mystical land where demons, ghosts and karma dictate everyday life, Zeppa brings to life a society where the spiritual trumps the material.
A fascinating read, recommended for anyone who wants a glimpse into the last shangrilla.
April 4, 2007
This is one of my favorite books of the last five years. Jamie Zeppa does a fantastic job exploring what it means to be an outsider in a new culture, what we gain and lose ourselves when we try to become an insider, and weaves that delicately in between the sites and sounds of an exotic and distant land. Reading this book can't help but make you want to both travel and wonder what you might be holding onto too dearly in your existing life.
September 2, 2014
'Thank you very much' in Dzongkha the Bhutanese dialect is 'name same kadin chhe' which means 'thanks beyond the sky and the earth'. In the late 1980's Jamie Zeppa had just graduated after a masters in English Literature in Canada and decides to sign up with WUSC and go to Bhutan to teach English.
In the 1960's a Canadian Jesuit named Father Mackey founded some secular education initiatives in Bhutan. The lessons were taught through the medium of English, so they needed to recruit foreign teachers. WUSC.World University Service of Canada provided successful applicants with two year contracts, free accommodation and a local salary. Jamie challenges her own education and asks what she really knows. She feels trapped. "I wanted to throw myself into an experience that was too big for me and learn in a way that cost me something". Jamie's grandfather who's education was cut short by the depression argues with Jamie about finishing her P.H.D. "He wouldn't understand if I told him that my future seemed to be closing in, getting smaller and narrower and more rigidly fixed with each essay I completed".
She is posted to a school in the remote village of Pema Gatshel. She feels harassed at first, her small dwelling is flooded, she can't use the pressure cooker, she lives on biscuits terrified of the local food but little smiling faces appear and show 'Miss Jaymee' the way. She lets the spirit of the place and the Arra (Rice based alcohol) flow.
There are some immediate cultural differences. The people believe in karmic retribution. If you become ill it is surely because you have committed some crime or another. Shakespeare's Macbeth takes on a new meaning in a land where omens and superstition are common place. Her cultural misunderstandings lead to some problems. She pays for vegetables given to her by her pupils and then an army of kids arrive at her door, she is very circumspect when it comes to these misunderstandings "the same imperfect self immersed in a completely new and incompletely understood setting, the same desires and longings clouding judgment, the same old heedless mind, leaping from impulse to action". She holds a mirror up to the naivety of western thought on idyllic landscapes, "You can love this landscape because your life does not depend on it".
Bhutan was a Buddhist monarchical system, the Nepalese settlers felt they were second class citizens. There were calls for a democracy in 1960's and 1970's. In 1975 the 334 year rule of the Sillimese Buddhist kings came to and end. In 1958 citizenship awarded to those who lived in Bhutan for more than 10 years and owned land. Jamie witnesses the tension between these co-habiters which boils to the surface because of national dress codes and language rules being enforced. The Southern want their human rights to be respected the Northern want their culture and traditions to survive. Jamie feels caught in the middle. Jamie doesn't mention it but today Bhutan seems to have moved forward considerably, in 1999 the ban on television and the internet was lifted. In 2005 a new constitution was put in place. In 2007 and 2008 there were parliamentary elections.
She certainly captures the atmosphere of this time in Bhutan. My favourite part of the book concerned her time teaching in Pema Gatshel. 'Today, I hand back spelling tests and Sonam Tshering promptly stuffs his in his mouth and swallows it. For a moment, I am too surprised to speak. Karma Dorji says, "That boy is very hungry", and everyone laughs..... My announcements and queries are growing more absurd daily. ... Tshewang Tshering, you cannot write your test with a cat in your gho. ... Class II C, who is gassing? Class II C, why is there a bottle of pee in our room?"
Speaking now in 2006 our author is more the wiser. I wonder how much of the insight in the book was from her younger self or her perspective from an older point of view. There was a nice description of the Tashigang tsechu series of masked dances representing Buddhist stories preformed at temples. There are lovely descriptions of the landscape and lots of humour. It's wonderful to witness her transformation from bungling culturally inept foreigner to savvy ex-pat. Some readers have noted some moral objections to her behaviour but I can't help but think that given the circumstances I wouldn't be able to condemn her so harshly.
I found this travel memoir absorbing and a well written piece of journalism.
In the 1960's a Canadian Jesuit named Father Mackey founded some secular education initiatives in Bhutan. The lessons were taught through the medium of English, so they needed to recruit foreign teachers. WUSC.World University Service of Canada provided successful applicants with two year contracts, free accommodation and a local salary. Jamie challenges her own education and asks what she really knows. She feels trapped. "I wanted to throw myself into an experience that was too big for me and learn in a way that cost me something". Jamie's grandfather who's education was cut short by the depression argues with Jamie about finishing her P.H.D. "He wouldn't understand if I told him that my future seemed to be closing in, getting smaller and narrower and more rigidly fixed with each essay I completed".
She is posted to a school in the remote village of Pema Gatshel. She feels harassed at first, her small dwelling is flooded, she can't use the pressure cooker, she lives on biscuits terrified of the local food but little smiling faces appear and show 'Miss Jaymee' the way. She lets the spirit of the place and the Arra (Rice based alcohol) flow.
There are some immediate cultural differences. The people believe in karmic retribution. If you become ill it is surely because you have committed some crime or another. Shakespeare's Macbeth takes on a new meaning in a land where omens and superstition are common place. Her cultural misunderstandings lead to some problems. She pays for vegetables given to her by her pupils and then an army of kids arrive at her door, she is very circumspect when it comes to these misunderstandings "the same imperfect self immersed in a completely new and incompletely understood setting, the same desires and longings clouding judgment, the same old heedless mind, leaping from impulse to action". She holds a mirror up to the naivety of western thought on idyllic landscapes, "You can love this landscape because your life does not depend on it".
Bhutan was a Buddhist monarchical system, the Nepalese settlers felt they were second class citizens. There were calls for a democracy in 1960's and 1970's. In 1975 the 334 year rule of the Sillimese Buddhist kings came to and end. In 1958 citizenship awarded to those who lived in Bhutan for more than 10 years and owned land. Jamie witnesses the tension between these co-habiters which boils to the surface because of national dress codes and language rules being enforced. The Southern want their human rights to be respected the Northern want their culture and traditions to survive. Jamie feels caught in the middle. Jamie doesn't mention it but today Bhutan seems to have moved forward considerably, in 1999 the ban on television and the internet was lifted. In 2005 a new constitution was put in place. In 2007 and 2008 there were parliamentary elections.
She certainly captures the atmosphere of this time in Bhutan. My favourite part of the book concerned her time teaching in Pema Gatshel. 'Today, I hand back spelling tests and Sonam Tshering promptly stuffs his in his mouth and swallows it. For a moment, I am too surprised to speak. Karma Dorji says, "That boy is very hungry", and everyone laughs..... My announcements and queries are growing more absurd daily. ... Tshewang Tshering, you cannot write your test with a cat in your gho. ... Class II C, who is gassing? Class II C, why is there a bottle of pee in our room?"
Speaking now in 2006 our author is more the wiser. I wonder how much of the insight in the book was from her younger self or her perspective from an older point of view. There was a nice description of the Tashigang tsechu series of masked dances representing Buddhist stories preformed at temples. There are lovely descriptions of the landscape and lots of humour. It's wonderful to witness her transformation from bungling culturally inept foreigner to savvy ex-pat. Some readers have noted some moral objections to her behaviour but I can't help but think that given the circumstances I wouldn't be able to condemn her so harshly.
I found this travel memoir absorbing and a well written piece of journalism.
August 12, 2013
I get weekly emails about jobs for librarians in other places, both in this country and abroad. Recently, a job opening was listed in Bhutan. I remembered that Bhutan is the country with a Gross National Happiness Index (I kid you not), and into my imagination came an image of working in a library in the Himalayas. Hmmm...When I searched for books about Bhutan, this one popped up. The author had put her life in Canada (which included a fiance and plans for getting a PhD) on hold to take a two-year teaching assignment in Bhutan back in the 1980s, when she was in her early twenties. The original position would have been as a lecturer in the university there, but at the last minute she was told they considered her too young for the position, and she was sent to a remote village to teach second-graders. Her primitive housing had no electricity and was sometimes shared with rats. The teaching methods were questionable to her, as children were beaten for just about anything, including asking questions. The lifestyle was communal, with her students and other villagers popping into her home at any time to bring her vegetables or just to see what she was doing. At first she was crushingly homesick. Little by little though, as she kept telling herself that "anyone can live anywhere", she grew to love the people and the place. She was eventually transferred to the university position for which she had first applied. It was in a bigger town with nicer accommodations and the students were the best in the country, with many near her age. This is a beautifully written book. Perhaps because the author has a masters degree in English, she is so able to perfectly capture the feel of the place, and of her own perceptions of it, with her well-chosen words. It is not only a memoir of travel, but an introspective comparison of cultural values and a philosophical look at aspects of Buddhism, which she embraced. There is a beautiful love story too in the last quarter or so of the book. I just couldn't put this down. I may never get to Bhutan in this life, but I have experienced a little bit of it in the pages of this book.
The title, by the way, comes from a Bhutanese saying: Name same kadin chhe. (Beyond the sky and the earth, thank you.)
The title, by the way, comes from a Bhutanese saying: Name same kadin chhe. (Beyond the sky and the earth, thank you.)
October 18, 2012
Jamie is young, sheltered woman with a well-constructed plan for her life when she experiences something of an epiphany and decides to embark on a two year teaching committment to Bhutan in February of 1989. A Canadian who for the most part had never left her native country, this decision shocks her family, friends, and fiance but off she goes to a country few have heard of, never mind find on a map.
The novel succeeds at introducing Bhutan through Jamie's eyes as she adapts to a vastly different culture, environment, and religious norms. There is a multi-layered aspect to the tensions that exist amongst different ethic fractions of the country and Jamie struggles to understand both sides as she grows to love her adopted country. It also is a wonderful depiction of her journey of self-awareness and theologic questioning. Where the novel falters is depictions of Jamie's new found relationship towards the end of her stay in Bhutan - what was a great travelogue becomes unfortunately like a teenager's love journal ramblings. The novel initially coasts along, unfolding in stages as the country reveals itself to Jamie; however, the ending arrives rather abruptly once Jamie decides not to extend her teaching contract and you only know what became of her life for approximately the next six months. Since this novel depicts events that took place over twenty years ago, it would be interesting to learn what became of the author since this literary foray. For those interested in an outsider's view of the country, it is a nice introduction and worth a preview.
The novel succeeds at introducing Bhutan through Jamie's eyes as she adapts to a vastly different culture, environment, and religious norms. There is a multi-layered aspect to the tensions that exist amongst different ethic fractions of the country and Jamie struggles to understand both sides as she grows to love her adopted country. It also is a wonderful depiction of her journey of self-awareness and theologic questioning. Where the novel falters is depictions of Jamie's new found relationship towards the end of her stay in Bhutan - what was a great travelogue becomes unfortunately like a teenager's love journal ramblings. The novel initially coasts along, unfolding in stages as the country reveals itself to Jamie; however, the ending arrives rather abruptly once Jamie decides not to extend her teaching contract and you only know what became of her life for approximately the next six months. Since this novel depicts events that took place over twenty years ago, it would be interesting to learn what became of the author since this literary foray. For those interested in an outsider's view of the country, it is a nice introduction and worth a preview.
July 12, 2009
This might be my favorite book--EVER. Jamie Zeppa creates Bhutan in such an accessible way I feel like I've lived there. Her heartbreaks became my own. She becomes a broader person in Bhutan. She says (not a direct quote), when I lived in Canada, I didn't really think about the consequences of my actions. When I put the garbage out, it was taken away. Here in Bhutan, I am forced to contemplate what will happen to something when I am done with it.
This book also asks, am I doing more harm than good? I think every person who has lived overseas has contemplated this exact thought.
Jamie shows us that we are all connected--that our actions here in North America have a far-reaching impact that we may never see or hear about. She also shows us that one decision can forever alter our life path. It's the journey that's important--and those we love!
This book also asks, am I doing more harm than good? I think every person who has lived overseas has contemplated this exact thought.
Jamie shows us that we are all connected--that our actions here in North America have a far-reaching impact that we may never see or hear about. She also shows us that one decision can forever alter our life path. It's the journey that's important--and those we love!
September 12, 2023
A recommendation from my Mum and a great one at that! A beautiful and engrossing book which had me hooked from page 1. You follow Jamie and she debates letting go of all she knows for a life in Bhutan. As the book matures so did Jamie, she learns to let go of her western prejudices and see the true beauty in Bhutan, the culture of its people, fully being able to appreciate the country she has discovered and through this process discover herself. The book however does not paint an unrealistic or simplistic view of life in Bhutan and Jamie comes to realise the beauty does have its imperfections and that she has to love the good with the bad in Bhutan.
March 21, 2021
“Mindfulness is the abode of eternal life, thoughtlessness the abode of death. Those who are mindful do not die. The thoughtless are as if dead already.”
July 17, 2025
Very interesting and inspiring. Makes an excellent case for the existential benefits of voluntarily entering extreme and challenging environments, although to me the message felt slightly amplified by the writer's own very sheltered background prior to her time in Bhutan.
February 24, 2017
I think I set myself up for disappointment with this one. I had seen a review of it about 4 years ago, and put it on a list of books to track down. It took 4 years for me to locate a copy at a price I was happy with, and so had really been looking forward to it, despite not having read anything further about it.
I have just finished reading it, and it was a good book, but I guess I had elevated my expectations with the long wait. It is likely to effect the rating I give it.
I have always had an interest in Bhutan - a country that I think has got it right. As a Himalayan Kingdom, it is already fairly inaccessible, and wedged between India and China, (or more accurately Sikkim and Tibet - already in somewhat fractious company), Bhutan has or a long time excluded tourists except those who pay a high daily fee (something like USD250). This has the obvious effect of minimising the impact of tourism, and as the country is among the least developed in the world, this to me is a positive thing for their culture and their environment.
But I digress. This book, while basically being a description of the change in thinking (eg growing up) of the 24 year old author during her three years of teaching English there, examines in some more detail some of the culture and people of Bhutan. The particular thing happening at the time the author was The Situation which was the governing north who imposing requirements for all the people of Bhutan to wear traditional dress - despite many of the south Bhutanese being ethnic Nepali. The southern Bhutanese (who to be clear had been in Bhutan for around 100 years at that time) were significantly under-represented in any form of senior governmental roles or decision making. The reasoning was to strengthen and maintain the culture of Bhutan. This caused some protesting and sporadic violence.
Other themes covered by the book included Buddhism, and the Buddhist way of life; gender inequality - the role of women in Bhutanese society; reincarnation and how this changes the outlook of the school children in their goals for life.
As well as these much more interesting aspects, the book largely concentrates on the authors experiences. This is things such as hating her first month or so; her change in understanding the value of material possessions; her interaction with the other teachers (many of whom were from India, and had taken the positions in Bhutan only as a last resort having no jobs at home - which puts them in a much different situation than Canadians in an 'experience of a lifetime' situation); falling out of love with her fiancée, and in love with a local. There is a lot included about her family and friends not really understanding the change in her outlook and her love for this essentially third world lifestyle.
For me there was a lot of the author being naive, being only young (24 - which to me is not young enough to be this naive - by 24Y old I had left my parents home for 6 years alerady and lived overseas for 3 of them) and some pretty straight forward growing up themes. The author also finds it hard to acknowledge her eventual love for Bhutan and the Bhutanese way of life (after hating it at the start she loves it after a month or two) in a short term visitor situation is much different from living this way for her whole life. There are a couple of the other teachers she is friends with who point this out to her on the way through the story. Similarly, because so many of the people are poor, they have little in the way of possessions - the author considers this a conscious choice rather than a situation of having no option, unable to see that if they had a disposable income, their outlook would be different.
There is no doubt the author is being straight up and writing what she thought at the time, so it is honest in its nativity. For me it was just a bit simplistic.
As I said at the start, it is my own fault that this book didn't reach the heights I expected, but as such it is really a 3 star book. Very interesting for some background to Bhutan, less so for me the outlook of a 24 year old who had never left Canada before, being chucked into a remote and isolated environment.
I have just finished reading it, and it was a good book, but I guess I had elevated my expectations with the long wait. It is likely to effect the rating I give it.
I have always had an interest in Bhutan - a country that I think has got it right. As a Himalayan Kingdom, it is already fairly inaccessible, and wedged between India and China, (or more accurately Sikkim and Tibet - already in somewhat fractious company), Bhutan has or a long time excluded tourists except those who pay a high daily fee (something like USD250). This has the obvious effect of minimising the impact of tourism, and as the country is among the least developed in the world, this to me is a positive thing for their culture and their environment.
But I digress. This book, while basically being a description of the change in thinking (eg growing up) of the 24 year old author during her three years of teaching English there, examines in some more detail some of the culture and people of Bhutan. The particular thing happening at the time the author was The Situation which was the governing north who imposing requirements for all the people of Bhutan to wear traditional dress - despite many of the south Bhutanese being ethnic Nepali. The southern Bhutanese (who to be clear had been in Bhutan for around 100 years at that time) were significantly under-represented in any form of senior governmental roles or decision making. The reasoning was to strengthen and maintain the culture of Bhutan. This caused some protesting and sporadic violence.
Other themes covered by the book included Buddhism, and the Buddhist way of life; gender inequality - the role of women in Bhutanese society; reincarnation and how this changes the outlook of the school children in their goals for life.
As well as these much more interesting aspects, the book largely concentrates on the authors experiences. This is things such as hating her first month or so; her change in understanding the value of material possessions; her interaction with the other teachers (many of whom were from India, and had taken the positions in Bhutan only as a last resort having no jobs at home - which puts them in a much different situation than Canadians in an 'experience of a lifetime' situation); falling out of love with her fiancée, and in love with a local. There is a lot included about her family and friends not really understanding the change in her outlook and her love for this essentially third world lifestyle.
For me there was a lot of the author being naive, being only young (24 - which to me is not young enough to be this naive - by 24Y old I had left my parents home for 6 years alerady and lived overseas for 3 of them) and some pretty straight forward growing up themes. The author also finds it hard to acknowledge her eventual love for Bhutan and the Bhutanese way of life (after hating it at the start she loves it after a month or two) in a short term visitor situation is much different from living this way for her whole life. There are a couple of the other teachers she is friends with who point this out to her on the way through the story. Similarly, because so many of the people are poor, they have little in the way of possessions - the author considers this a conscious choice rather than a situation of having no option, unable to see that if they had a disposable income, their outlook would be different.
There is no doubt the author is being straight up and writing what she thought at the time, so it is honest in its nativity. For me it was just a bit simplistic.
As I said at the start, it is my own fault that this book didn't reach the heights I expected, but as such it is really a 3 star book. Very interesting for some background to Bhutan, less so for me the outlook of a 24 year old who had never left Canada before, being chucked into a remote and isolated environment.
March 28, 2013
I absolutely loved this book; it felt like a story I've been waiting for, and I think anyone else who has considered dropping all their plans for a safe, solid life in favour of the unknown will feel the same. When Jamie Zeppa decides to leave behind her marriage plans and graduate school applications behind to teach English in a remote corner of Bhutan she is not entirely sure of her motivations or whether she has what it takes, but she does know that she is determined to try. At first it all seems like a horrible mistake. She is horrified by her living and working conditions, lives in terror of a plethora of tropical diseases, subsists on a diet of crackers and biscuits and cannot communicate at all with her students, let alone teach them anything. Yet slowly she learns how to cope and eventually thrive, discovering that "anyone can live anywhere. You think you can't in the beginning, but then you do".
Zeppa's memoir is many things. It is a vivid love letter to Bhutan, and her descriptions of the spectacular landscapes make it easy to fall for the country as well, despite having never laid eyes on it. There are some wonderfully touching moments with the people she meets as well, especially her first class of eight year olds, who bang on her door at all hours asking to be let in, teach her how to cook and "roam" with her in the nearby forest after school. She does not shy away from the harsher aspects of reality though; accepting that whilst Bhutan may be beautiful in many ways it is still no "Shangri-la-di-da". It is also an account of her own personal development and whilst some may view this as overly self-absorbed, it didn't seem that way to me at all. Zeppa's self-reflection is well-balanced and does not take away from the exploration of Bhutan, its people and its culture. In particular I loved following her exploration of Buddhism, especially her struggles to come to grasp with mindfulness and the concept of impermanence. In fact, I think there are some really nice explanations of the basic tenets of Buddhism scattered throughout the book.
My copy of this is riddled with highlights; there were so many lines which resonated with me, especially as I am on the brink of my own teaching stint in Cambodia, and have been agonising over whether or not I have what it takes to live overseas long-term after that. Beyond the Sky and Earth is not a sugar-coated version of that experience. It is honest about the challenges faced by both Zeppa and Bhutan and the ending is bittersweet, supporting a message woven throughout the book, in Buddhist doctrine s well as warnings from friends. Nothing lasts forever. Yet that is not necessarily a bad thing. And even taking the bad with the good, finishing this book has left me even more eager to “throw myself into an experience that's too big for me and learn in a way that costs me something”.
Zeppa's memoir is many things. It is a vivid love letter to Bhutan, and her descriptions of the spectacular landscapes make it easy to fall for the country as well, despite having never laid eyes on it. There are some wonderfully touching moments with the people she meets as well, especially her first class of eight year olds, who bang on her door at all hours asking to be let in, teach her how to cook and "roam" with her in the nearby forest after school. She does not shy away from the harsher aspects of reality though; accepting that whilst Bhutan may be beautiful in many ways it is still no "Shangri-la-di-da". It is also an account of her own personal development and whilst some may view this as overly self-absorbed, it didn't seem that way to me at all. Zeppa's self-reflection is well-balanced and does not take away from the exploration of Bhutan, its people and its culture. In particular I loved following her exploration of Buddhism, especially her struggles to come to grasp with mindfulness and the concept of impermanence. In fact, I think there are some really nice explanations of the basic tenets of Buddhism scattered throughout the book.
My copy of this is riddled with highlights; there were so many lines which resonated with me, especially as I am on the brink of my own teaching stint in Cambodia, and have been agonising over whether or not I have what it takes to live overseas long-term after that. Beyond the Sky and Earth is not a sugar-coated version of that experience. It is honest about the challenges faced by both Zeppa and Bhutan and the ending is bittersweet, supporting a message woven throughout the book, in Buddhist doctrine s well as warnings from friends. Nothing lasts forever. Yet that is not necessarily a bad thing. And even taking the bad with the good, finishing this book has left me even more eager to “throw myself into an experience that's too big for me and learn in a way that costs me something”.
November 26, 2013
Several years ago I was walking down an aisle of book shelves in my local library, looking for something to read, when all of a sudden, “Beyond the Sky and the Earth” by Jamie Zeppa, leapt off the shelf and fell into my hands like a gift. At least that is how I remember finding this book, or it finding me!
Since then I have given, “Beyond the Sky and the Earth”, as a gift a number of times, smiling, knowing what a wonderful treat the recipient of the book was in for. Judging by the feedback I have received, on every occasion, I have been right! “Beyond the Sky and the Earth” is Ms. Zeppa’s true life account of her time spent working as an English teacher inBhutanin the 1980’s, a time when virtually nobody had heard of this remote, and beautiful Vajrayana kingdom.
Ms Zeppas portrayal of her life in Bhutan is written with such insight and care for the world around her, that even the most jaded world traveler would find enchantment in its pages and be captivated by her story. Obviously the subject matter of the book lends itself to a special story, but in Ms Zeppas hands, we are the recipient of a something very memorable.
Reading reviews on the internet for the book, I was not surprised to find that there are many people out there who like me, feel so fortunate to have found “Beyond the Sky and the Earth” – and those were just the reviews in English! The book has been translated into five languages German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean.
Since then I have given, “Beyond the Sky and the Earth”, as a gift a number of times, smiling, knowing what a wonderful treat the recipient of the book was in for. Judging by the feedback I have received, on every occasion, I have been right! “Beyond the Sky and the Earth” is Ms. Zeppa’s true life account of her time spent working as an English teacher inBhutanin the 1980’s, a time when virtually nobody had heard of this remote, and beautiful Vajrayana kingdom.
Ms Zeppas portrayal of her life in Bhutan is written with such insight and care for the world around her, that even the most jaded world traveler would find enchantment in its pages and be captivated by her story. Obviously the subject matter of the book lends itself to a special story, but in Ms Zeppas hands, we are the recipient of a something very memorable.
Reading reviews on the internet for the book, I was not surprised to find that there are many people out there who like me, feel so fortunate to have found “Beyond the Sky and the Earth” – and those were just the reviews in English! The book has been translated into five languages German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean.
February 10, 2019
I love reading travel literature but this book is much more than that. Maybe it's because I already had a soft spot for Bhutan and I had been aching to do something like what Jamie Zeppa did. She leaves her 'ideal' life in Canada and goes to teach English in the remote villages of Bhutan for 3 years. I've read and watched a lot about Bhutan, "the happiest place on earth", but nothing made me appreciate the uniqueness of this little country and its people like this book did. I wish to experience it myself someday, but reading the beautifully-written struggles and joys of Zeppa's everyday life there and her journey with Buddhism was as close as I can get to it for now. Zeppa says "I wanted to throw myself into an experience that was too big for me and learn in a way that cost me something." If you know what she means, if you've ever felt that, read this.
May 4, 2024
I really loved this quiet, honest, thoughtful travel memoir about a 23 year old Canadian woman, Jamie, who decides to leave a future PhD program and her fiance to teach abroad in Bhutan in the late 1980s.
Like Jamie, I knew 0% about this small landlocked country near India, and through her vivid, concise writing, I felt like I learned and grew right along with her as she moves in a rural town to teach grade school. The culture shock, the vastly different landscapes, living situations, language, dress, her students' behavior...you're right there alongside her. Things change and improve, and before you know it, you fall in love with Bhutan too.
Like Jamie, I knew 0% about this small landlocked country near India, and through her vivid, concise writing, I felt like I learned and grew right along with her as she moves in a rural town to teach grade school. The culture shock, the vastly different landscapes, living situations, language, dress, her students' behavior...you're right there alongside her. Things change and improve, and before you know it, you fall in love with Bhutan too.
May 21, 2013
I have used Goodreads to only include books that I have read since getting on this site in 2007 but I recently came across a list of books that I read when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and this book was on that list. I vividly remember the emotions of this book as the author details her experiences living and working in Bhutan and I highly recommend it if you are looking to be transported and moved.
June 11, 2016
3.5, really. I warmed to this slowly, sort of like the author warming to her new surroundings, but ultimately really enjoyed her reflections on culture, language, religion, and more. Very thought-provoking and full of beautiful landscape descriptions.
November 11, 2019
This is the story of the author's time living in Bhutan. In the 1980s, Jamie took a leap of faith and left the comforts of home in Canada - along with a fiance - and decided to take a teaching job in Bhutan. For two years. She would be home only once a year during that time, but she felt she needed to explore and try this.
At first, Jamie was very homesick. Within a few weeks, she felt she had made the biggest mistake of her life, and was going to try and return to Canada. She was living basically in squalor in a third world country, and it was more than she bargained for.
What she didn't see coming was the help she received not only from the other expat teachers that befriended her, but the Bhutan people themselves. Some of her students taught her how to cook on her propane stove so she would stop eating just biscuts. Her students would come to her house at all hours around school - wanting to help, wanting to keep her company, and soon Jaime began to feel at home. She opened up her eyes to the beauty of the country around her and realized there was no where else on earth she wanted to be.
I really liked this book. It is very well written and an intriguing read. I am always impressed with the teachers who take the leap to teach English in these very remote, third world areas, and fall in love with not only the area, but the people. I have read several of these stories for this challenge, and each one has been better than the last. I love to watch how real they explain the situation from the beginning - explaining exactly what it was like for them and how out of their depth they felt.
We moved to Switzerland two and a half years ago on a leap of faith. It was the biggest decision we have ever made for our family and we felt out of our depth for awhile living here. And this is one of the richest countries on the planet. We still struggle being outsiders here - I cannot imagine how it felt in a place like Bhutan.
Great read. Highly recommend. Glad I found this book.
At first, Jamie was very homesick. Within a few weeks, she felt she had made the biggest mistake of her life, and was going to try and return to Canada. She was living basically in squalor in a third world country, and it was more than she bargained for.
What she didn't see coming was the help she received not only from the other expat teachers that befriended her, but the Bhutan people themselves. Some of her students taught her how to cook on her propane stove so she would stop eating just biscuts. Her students would come to her house at all hours around school - wanting to help, wanting to keep her company, and soon Jaime began to feel at home. She opened up her eyes to the beauty of the country around her and realized there was no where else on earth she wanted to be.
I really liked this book. It is very well written and an intriguing read. I am always impressed with the teachers who take the leap to teach English in these very remote, third world areas, and fall in love with not only the area, but the people. I have read several of these stories for this challenge, and each one has been better than the last. I love to watch how real they explain the situation from the beginning - explaining exactly what it was like for them and how out of their depth they felt.
We moved to Switzerland two and a half years ago on a leap of faith. It was the biggest decision we have ever made for our family and we felt out of our depth for awhile living here. And this is one of the richest countries on the planet. We still struggle being outsiders here - I cannot imagine how it felt in a place like Bhutan.
Great read. Highly recommend. Glad I found this book.
January 25, 2018
Definitely a five-star book for me: I had houseguests this week and it nearly killed me to socialise with them and not read this book instead. You know the feeling. I should note that I am heavily biased on two fronts: first is that I have been to Bhutan and think it is one of the best places on Earth; and second, I had one of my first formative overseas experiences with the organisation that sent the author to Bhutan (World University Service of Canada), so related to that aspect. Even without the bias, this book is wonderful, and the author beautifully and accurately (sometimes painfully) describes experiences like: the wonder of being somewhere completely foreign; the evolutionary process of settling into a new country; that feeling of having multiple homes; the sheer gratitude and love and relief that comes when you are overseas on your own and your other foreign friends or your new friends get you out of jam. So much - too much to list here. I cannot think of many people to whom I would not recommend this book.
June 29, 2021
I think travelogues to obscure places are a new favorite genre of mine. I loved her adventure in Bhutan, the culture shock, the adoration for people and place, and the the moral dilemma of whether to get involved in the affairs of another country or not. I zoomed through the book, it was an easy read, and I loved it. Published in 1999 and she traveled to Bhutan in 1988. Although it was really not that long ago the world was a different place back then. Pre internet, pre-9/11 travel, Bhutan had not opened itself to the West very much at all. I think she does a great job of balancing romanticizing Bhutan and thinking 'oh wow these people are so simple they live a happy rural life without all these modern distractions' and also recognizing the harsh poverty and drawbacks of not having western advancements. I really loved the book and it makes me want to go and visit Bhutan.
September 7, 2019
This is an intriguing true story about a teacher from Canada who goes to teach in the country of Bhutan. As often happens when people go far away from home into cultures that are fairly unknown to them, she is not prepared for what she finds. However, despite the hardships, cultural differences, and politics she dislikes, she finds that she falls in love with her students and the country, and eventually, one of its inhabitants. The story of her journey as school teacher and then university teacher is fascinating, but even more so is her internal journey as she progresses from the person she used to be to a totally new person with different values and different perspectives on the world and its people.
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