Winter starts this week in Bhutan. At least, it does for government workers. The office I share with a growing community in the base of Thimphu is quite bright and warm, getting the sun all day. In winter, particularly because of its southerly aspect (northern hemisphere, remember) and we had curtains installed recently so people could see their PC monitors. But for all the brightness of daylight, it doesn’t last long. At 4pm, we had to turn all the lights on because the sun had gone down. That’s the problem of living in a north-south valley with walls a couple of kilometres high.
In the spirit of Gross National Happiness, the government, being the primary employer of Bhutanese people, lets staff go at 4pm from November to February. Unfortunately for me, my office mates and I are all in the private sector and work under capitalist principles. A reduction of work hours means a reduction of income, so when I work in town, I try to stay until at least 5pm. Somehow, I think I’ll be working at home more often and cycling up to BBS tower in the noon warmth.
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