GAIL Trip Inspires, Awes KUA Contingency

They also took in some breathtaking sights along the way.

In all, the 10 students and four faculty chaperons spent more than two weeks traveling to, and attending the conference hosted by the Woodstock School — a private, co-educational institution built on a Himalayan mountainside more than 6,500-feet above sea level that had some in KUA’s contingency rethinking the merits of their campus’s “Hilltop” moniker. They were joined by other GAIL-member school students and faculty.

“This journey was affirmation that there are some places in the world you can never truly imagine until you visit for yourself,” Head of School Tyler Lewis P’28, P’30 said. “It was really a perspective-altering, life-changing experience and our students completely understood and shared in that realization. It was a multi-sensory experience.”

With a conference theme of “Jalam Jivanam,” or “Water is Life,” attendees participated in discussions and workshops fostered around shared experiences, problem solving, and community building. Attendees reflected on the challenges that come with a global dependency on fresh water and created videos describing water’s specific usages at each member school. Over the course of the conference, students and faculty also planted trees in the local community and worked and played with local school children.

Founded in 2013, GAIL is a network of eight geographically dispersed schools committed to developing informed, globally active learning communities that encourage contemporary solutions to international issues. KUA, the only GAIL school in North America, is joined by; Scotch College in Australia, the Kristin School in New Zealand, Newton College in Peru, Prestige College in South Africa, Robert Gordon’s College in Scotland, the Western International School of Shanghai, and the Woodstock School.

As part of the conference, participants from each member school shared a tradition unique to their cultures with fellow attendees. For KUA’s representatives, this meant organizing a game of home-run derby wiffle ball and a sing along to the classic Neil Diamond tune, “Sweet Caroline.” Other schools, like Robert Gordon’s College, showcased traditional dance routines in native kilts.

“Our students really embraced the opportunity to not only interact with, but to truly live with roommates from all over the world,” Lewis said. “The kids stayed in two different dormitories, and they weren’t allowed to room with anyone from their own school. So it was a unique and awesome experience.”

Even before their arrival at the Woodstock School, the KUA contingency made memories that will undoubtedly last a lifetime. The group spent six days in neighboring Bhutan where they experienced local cuisine, enjoyed games with local children, and set off on breathtaking hikes to mountain-top temples. They even connected — and shared home-cooked meals — with Dhamey Norgay ’89, P’19, ’21, ’23 and his wife, Sonam Dorji P’19, ’21, ’23, whose three children are KUA alumni.

Once in India, the group made a pilgrimage to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, spending a day at the centuries-old Taj Mahal. Some, though, may consider their interactions with the region’s wild monkey population — one student had their backpack briefly snatched by the primates — even more memorable.

Below are excerpts of student-written journal entries from the first portion of the trip (students were encouraged to fully embrace their time at the conference once at the Woodstock School):

 

On our traveling day, many memories were made such as when Nolan ’27 got a photo with the pilots and even had the chance to check the flaps for them. Or, when Maeve ’27 went up to the pilots just to ask for a plane trading card.

Albert ’28 met us in the Delhi airport and came with the largest smile many of us had seen. Somehow Ryan's shoes seemed suspicious to the TSA, so those were briefly held up, but otherwise smooth sailing. Ben ’28, Ryan ’28, Scarlet ’27, and Hannah ’27 went exploring on the hotel grounds after breakfast. And Ellicott ’27 and Maeve ’27 went hunting for the peacocks that woke us all up and they were eventually successful!

 

I’m sure you’ve heard Bhutan is like no other place in the world, but what does that mean exactly? As soon as we touched down, awed by the skilled pilot maneuvers, we could already begin to see why. It’s in the little details we have already experienced — all in our first day.

On our drive to the hotel, we spotted cows walking along the road, terrace farming, and the mist-shrouded mountains. We then stopped to experience our first monastery, where the wind rippled through everything — from the traditional prayer flags hung through the trees to our scarves and hair. The mountains and fog were a stunning backdrop to drive through as we made our way to the hotel. For dinner, we ate at the house of a KUA alumni and parents Dhamey Norgay ’89 and Sonam Dorsi. They graciously welcomed us to Bhutan and explained our trip a bit more. It was a fantastic introduction to Bhutan!

Ellicott ’27 & Scarlet ’27

 

We started the day by hiking to a beautiful temple carved into the side of one of Bhutan’s many mountains. Our tour guides showed us how to pray and answered our questions about all the different artwork in and around the temple.

After descending, we played Khuru, a traditional Bhutanese game where large darts are thrown from a long range to a small target. The target only gets hit every couple of rounds so when it does get hit, a celebration takes place. We also had a soccer ball with us and we were playing with it when a group of young Bhutanese boys walked up, and we invited them to play. 

When we got back to the hotel, we heard from Dhamey about how his father was one of the first people to climb Mount Everest and then had a dinner with Dhamey and our group, followed by a quiet evening on our last night in Thimphu. 

 

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel in Thimphu, which was followed by a visit to a local memorial. It had an amazing view of the Himalayas which was unfortunately blocked by thick layers of fog.

After this, we continued our journey to Punahka, which has a much lower elevation of about 4,000 feet. On the way down, we drifted in and out of sleep as we were a little worn from the hike. We then stopped at a local vegetable market where we had freshly sliced cucumbers with chili and tried some sweet rice balls. They were delicious.

Then we headed on a hike toward the fertility monastery. We enjoyed learning about the history and significance of fertility culture in Bhutan. When we reached the monastery, we listened to the prayers and took part in a soccer game with some of the residing monks.

 

Today was a very busy day. We started off with a hot, early morning hike through rice fields, where Mr. Lewis got the chance to experience what planting rice is like. At the top of the hike, we got to go inside a three-story temple with a beautiful rooftop view into the valley. After gazing at the view for a while we walked back down the mountain to a river where we then went white water rafting! At the end of our journey, there was a delicious picnic lunch laid out for us, where we got to eat next to a group of grazing cows.

After the picnic, we were able to visit the most spectacular fortress in Bhutan, the Punakha Dzong. We were all impressed by the size and the history of this fortress and its monastery. Then, we took a little bus ride and went on a walk on the Mendagang suspension bridge, considered the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan. The bridge was moving in all directions, and several people were quite scared.

 

Today we traveled from Punahka back to Thimphu and then on to Paro. Along the way we stopped at a few roadside stands and sampled roasted corn, rice cakes, and Max’s favorite, spicy cucumber.

As we entered the capital’s busiest street, we witnessed the world-renowned traffic police who direct traffic through Thimphu’s busiest intersection (there are no stoplights in the country — they installed one but it did not work). We met up with our hosts, Dhamey and Sonam, in Thimphu for lunch, an amazing dual-cultural lunch combining our local and home favorites pizza and momos. And, of course, Sonam made us a sampling of homemade baked treats. We then visited a local cultural museum and tried our hand at archery, Khuru, and traditional dance.

 

June 24
This was our first full day in Delhi — and the hottest yet, too. Some of us went to the rooftop of our hotel to see old Delhi from up high. Our first stop was the Red fort, about 5 minutes from our hotel. We learned that the fortress was initially built for the Mughal empire, a family who ruled India from the 1500’s to the mid 1800’s (their rule ended at the start of the British colonization of India). Afterwards, we visited the memorial for Gandhi, and learned about the religious conflict, his assassination, and his memorial’s design.

At times, it has been difficult to see the strong wealth divide here and to witness people struggling. Still, we remain grateful to have this eye-opening experience, where there is so much beauty to discover. We send all our love, especially as we realize how lucky we truly are.

Ellicott ’27 and Scarlet ’27

 

Yesterday’s trip to the Taj Mahal blew the kids away; we had to battle through 100-degree heat to get there. The kids loved visiting a local Makrana Marble artisan shop to see how inlay works. 

Our students have loved getting together in the evenings to send formal journal entry updates, but now we are asking them to be present for the next six days on Woodstock’s campus where they will be engaged with students from India, South Africa, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland from sun-up to sun-down.