0:02 okay I'm going to talk through beyond
0:03 the sky and the earth
0:06 a journey into Bataan by Jamie Zephyr
0:08 this is in preparation for your edexcel
0:11 GCSE English Language exam paper one let
0:13 me just bring my mic closest I've had a
0:15 few people email me saying they can't
0:16 hear me that clearly so hopefully this
0:17 will be better
0:20 many of you have emailed me so thank you
0:22 for that asking where the videos arcs I
0:24 did say they were going to start again
0:26 last week after I finished my masters I
0:29 did get quite ill oh that sounds an
0:31 exaggeration I had a bad cold so that's
0:33 put me behind a little bit I'm going to
0:37 try and post extra ones this week to
0:39 catch up so hopefully they'll be in time
0:40 for everyone's exams I know they're
0:43 coming up soon my students are starting
0:45 their exams at the same time and my I
0:47 have every intention of having all the
0:50 videos on before that time so please
0:52 just bear with me okay let's have a look
0:55 at the title beyond the sky and the
0:58 earth you could say is hyperbolic so
1:00 there is a sense of adventure with the
1:02 title but it also emphasizes the great
1:04 distance this really does feel like a
1:06 completely different world away for
1:08 Jamie Zephyr it's also a memoir and
1:12 memoir sorry and so the purpose really
1:14 is to share her personal experience it's
1:16 a little bit different I would argue to
1:22 just travel writing where it might not
1:25 be as personal so you are going to kind
1:28 of learn about her own take on Bhutan
1:31 rather than a more general idea of the
1:39 place okay I will read paragraph by
1:41 paragraph and then go through my my
1:44 notes it's worth mentioning now that I
1:46 have read lots and lots of different
1:50 interpretations of this and people seem
1:52 to have very different ideas and that's
1:55 obviously absolutely fine so just keep
1:57 an open mind this is just my
1:59 interpretation and you can obviously
2:02 form your own opinion on this I've taken
2:05 the opinion that initially she doesn't
2:06 seem to like Bhutan she's not
2:09 particularly excited by it and then we
2:11 see a turning point where that seems to
2:13 change I've read plenty of her
2:15 rotations that do not see in that way so
2:17 just please keep an open mind okay
2:20 mountains all around climbing up to
2:22 Peaks rolling into valleys again and
2:26 again Bataan is all and only mountains I
2:28 know the technical explanation for the
2:31 landscape landmass meeting landmass the
2:34 Indian subcontinent colliding into Asia
2:37 30 or 40 million years ago but I cannot
2:39 imagine it it is easier to picture a
2:42 giant child gathering earth in great
2:44 armfuls piling up rock pinching mud in
2:47 two ridges and sharp Peaks knuckling out
2:49 little valleys and gorges poking holes
2:53 for water to fall through so immediately
2:56 we get this sense of what the landscape
3:00 is like so we know that a lot of Bhutan
3:04 is mountains and we know this through
3:08 the repetition of again and again and
3:10 that follows basically we're saying
3:14 Bhutan is all and only mountains so all
3:19 and only really reiterates the kind of
3:23 scope of this terrain and it just seems
3:25 to go on and on it's never-ending
3:29 I would argue especially the word only
3:32 creates a sense of negativity almost
3:35 like there's not much to Bataan to get
3:37 excited about that's the way I read this
3:44 it's interesting that she cannot imagine
3:48 it she understands technically what
3:50 happened and how this landscape is the
3:51 way it is but the fact that she can't
3:54 imagine it suggests that there's this
3:56 landscape is nothing like what what
3:59 she's seen before and could that and
4:01 we'll come back to this could that
4:04 create a sense of in is she intimidated
4:06 by the landscape because she's never
4:08 seen anything like it before
4:11 she's a long way from home and is that
4:17 why we have this sense that she's not
4:20 that excited about it also noticed
4:21 places I should have circled these I
4:25 haven't made this I haven't really made
4:26 this that clear
4:31 but you've got picture gathering great
4:38 pile pinch sharp Peaks knuckling said
4:41 the / and the Curt and the guts ound
4:44 poking so all of those are plosive
4:46 sounds there's the harsh sounds which
4:49 reflect the harsh terrain that she's
4:54 witnessing for the first time so again I
4:56 think this creates this sense that
4:58 almost the train seems threatening to
5:00 her and again is that just because it's
5:02 it's really the unknown for her at this
5:04 point because as we know in the next
5:07 paragraph it's her first night there so
5:08 is this just all a little bit
5:11 overwhelming for her so it's a first
5:14 night in thin poo the capital and 90
5:17 minute drive from the airport in Peru it
5:19 took five different flights over four
5:20 days to get here from Toronto to
5:23 Montreal to Amsterdam to New Delhi to Calcutta
5:23 Calcutta
5:26 Calcutta to put her oh I'm exhausted but
5:29 I cannot sleep from my simple pine
5:32 paneled room at the druk sherek hotel i
5:34 watch mountains rise to meet the moon I
5:36 used to wonder what was on the other
5:38 side of mountains how the landscape
5:40 resolved itself beyond the immediate
5:43 wall in front of you flying in from the
5:45 baked Brown plains of India this morning
5:47 I found out on the other side of
5:50 mountains are mountains more mountains
5:53 and more mountains again the entire
5:56 earth below us was a convulsion of
5:59 crests and gorges and wind sharpened pinnacles
6:00 pinnacles
6:03 just past Everest I caught a glimpse of
6:05 the tip sorry I read that incorrectly
6:08 just past Everest I caught a glimpse of
6:10 the Tibetan Plateau the edge of a frozen
6:13 desert 4,500 metres above sea level
6:15 thin Pooh's altitude is about half of
6:17 that but even here the winter air is
6:20 thin and dry and very cold so before I
6:23 talk through those notes I should I
6:24 should have really googled how to
6:28 pronounce the capital so apologies if
6:31 I'm mispronouncing it so it's a fresh
6:34 experience that could explain why she is
6:36 feeling a little intimidated by the
6:39 terrain and we know it's a 90 minute
6:40 drive from the airport
6:46 so she's already met mentioning this
6:48 central creating this sense of isolation
6:50 it's it's an hour and a half from the
6:52 airport she had to take five different
6:54 flights over four days now she could
6:56 have just finished the sentence there
6:59 but the fact that she then lists all the
7:02 places she had to fly to before finally
7:06 getting here helps emphasize how far
7:09 away she is from home so again that adds
7:13 to this sense of isolation I'm going to
7:14 jump a little bit to keep adding to that
7:17 point she then says on the other side of
7:19 mountains are mountains more mountains
7:23 and more mountains again so that listing
7:28 and the word again and the repetition of
7:31 mountains all helps emphasize this
7:35 endlessness of this terrain and one it
7:38 could be really romantic or to which she
7:41 could fill in all of it or two she feels
7:44 really isolated like she can't escape it
7:45 it's just never-ending
7:48 and I would I think it's the the latter
7:50 I think she's overwhelmed by this
7:52 terrain at this point and but you can
7:55 but please obviously offer multiple
7:59 interpretations in your answers there is
8:01 a sense there is some almost romantic
8:04 imagery i watch mountains rise to meet
8:07 the moon so the personification so there
8:10 is that small sense of wonder but I feel
8:13 like because it follows with I used to
8:14 wonder what was on the other side of
8:16 mountains she used to have that sense of
8:18 wonder she used to have that sense of
8:20 all but now she realizes it's just more
8:22 Mountains mountains mountains and
8:25 mountains again so I think she's kind of
8:27 lost that sense of wonder at least at
8:31 this point again we have plosive sand
8:33 which I haven't labeled here so please
8:37 do with your own work convulsion crests
8:42 gorges wind sharpened pinnacles so we've
8:46 got that sense of harshness again almost
8:47 a violent terrain with the word
8:51 convulsion as well so I think that just
8:53 helps support this idea that she feels a
8:54 little threatened
8:58 um she feels isolated
9:01 she's just unsure I think of where she
9:03 is she's feeling a little out of place
9:06 and then she describes the air as thin
9:08 and dry and very cold uses synthetic
9:11 listing where you instead of using
9:14 commas continually use and and that just
9:16 exaggerated it can make a list seem even
9:18 longer and that's what she's doing here
9:20 I think she's exaggerating the
9:22 conditions but notice the the type of
9:24 language she's using as well it's was
9:26 very factual it's very informative
9:28 there's not much description really so
9:29 there just seems to be this lack of
9:35 excitement for Zepa at this point the
9:37 next morning I share breakfast of
9:38 instant coffee powdered milk
9:41 plasticky white bread and flavorless red
9:42 jam in the hotel with two of the
9:44 Canadians who have signed on to teach in
9:47 patan for two years Lorna has golden
9:49 brown hair freckles and a no-nonsense
9:52 home on the farm demeanor that is
9:54 frequently shattered by her ringing
9:55 laughter and stories of the wild
9:57 characters that populate her life in
10:00 Saskatchewan Sasha from British Columbia
10:03 is slight and dark with an impish smile
10:05 after breakfast we have a brief meeting
10:08 with Gordon the field director of the W
10:10 USC program in Bhutan and then walk
10:13 along the main road of Finn poo both lon
10:15 and Sacha have travelled extensively
10:17 Lorna trekked all over Europe and
10:19 northern Africa and Sacha worked for a
10:21 year in an orphanage in Bombay
10:23 they are both ecstatic about Bataan so
10:26 far and I stay close to them hoping to
10:30 pick up some of their enthusiasm so we
10:33 look at the adjectives she uses to
10:35 describe her breakfast she is clearly
10:37 unimpressed by the food and does that
10:40 reflect her feelings about Bataan at
10:42 this point as well but notice the
10:43 descriptive detail she gives to the two
10:47 girls in comparison Lorna and Sacha that
10:49 it suggests and also if you compare that
10:51 to the way she describes Gordon which is
10:53 in very little detail it suggests that
10:55 she probably has more investment in
10:57 these girls she probably did get to know
11:00 them a lot more and I can imagine that
11:02 she probably feels a lot closer to them
11:08 having lived there for some time as well
11:11 and I have a put this down but it's
11:13 worth mentioning as well that they've
11:16 traveled extensively so Lorna strapped
11:17 all over Europe and northern Africa
11:20 Sascha worked for an orphan orphanage
11:23 sorry in Bombay and I think it's their
11:25 experience that gives her comfort and
11:27 that's why she wants to stay close to
11:30 them so she feels vulnerable and anxious
11:32 and these girls are a source of comfort
11:36 for her they're also really enthusiastic
11:39 about the experience and this is why I
11:40 think she's not that enthusiastic
11:43 because she hopes to pick up some of
11:45 their enthusiasm so I think she's
11:47 indirectly telling us there that she's
11:50 not that excited at this point about her
11:54 experience ahead although if improves
11:56 official population is 20,000 it seems
11:58 even smaller it doesn't even have
12:00 traffic lights blue suited policemen
12:02 stationed at two intersections along the
12:04 Main Street direct the occasional truck
12:07 or Land Cruiser using incomprehensible
12:10 but graceful hand gestures the buildings
12:13 all have the same pitched roof trefoil I
12:15 think you pronounce windows and heavy
12:18 beams painted with lotus flowers jewels
12:20 and clouds one storage shops with wooden
12:23 shuttered windows I open on to the
12:25 street they seem to be selling the same
12:29 things onions rice milk powder dried
12:33 fish plastic buckets and metal plates
12:36 quilts and packages of stale soft
12:38 cookies from India bourbon biscuits
12:41 coconut crunchies and the hideously
12:44 coloured orange cream biscuits there are
12:46 more signs of the outside world than I
12:49 had expected teenagers in acid-washed
12:51 jeans Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits
12:54 after the news in English on the Bataan
12:57 Broadcasting Service a Rambo poster in a
13:00 bar over all these signs of cultural
13:02 infiltration are few but they are
13:05 startling against the Bhutanese nests of
13:09 everything else so it's interesting that
13:11 she finds it even smaller considering
13:12 the way she feels at this point I wonder
13:13 if she it almost feels a bit
13:16 claustrophobic for her or does it seem
13:19 even smaller because it seems so simple
13:21 and there are so many limits
13:24 and that sheet goes to talk about for
13:26 instance she follows with it doesn't
13:28 even have traffic lights so this short
13:30 sentence I would argue offers a tone of
13:35 disappointment especially the word even
13:40 and the adjective occasional helps paint
13:43 this image of this sleepy town and
13:45 everything's really traditional and
13:46 everything's the same now that can be
13:48 really beautiful to have everything the
13:50 same but I don't know if I get that from
13:55 her especially when you look at the list
13:57 of products there's an odd assortment
14:00 but it does suggest a really simple
14:02 lifestyle of the of the things that you
14:04 might need day to day and there is a
14:06 sign of her own judgment and dislike for
14:09 the things that are on offer with her
14:10 description of the cookies being stale
14:16 and the the biscuits being hideous the
14:19 modernism's quite funny I find because
14:22 it's actually decades behind and I think
14:25 that helps highlight the difference
14:27 between Bhutan and where she would be
14:30 from in Canada that what they consider
14:32 modern is still actually really really
14:34 old-fashioned we're talking decades
14:39 behind so does that help exaggerate the
14:42 distance between where she's from and
14:45 Bhutan not only geographically but
14:47 almost in time as well they just seem to
14:51 be so far behind the times in comparison
14:54 the town itself looks very old with
14:56 cracked sidewalks and faded paint work
14:58 but Gordon told us that it didn't exist
15:01 30 odd years ago before the 60s when the
15:03 third King decided to make at the
15:05 capital it was nothing but rice paddies
15:08 a few farmhouses and a I'm not sure how
15:11 to pronounce this a dong dong one of the
15:13 fortresses that are scattered throughout
15:17 the country Dimpy was actually new thin
15:18 pea will look like New York to you when
15:20 you come back after a year in the East
15:22 he said so there seems to be this
15:25 surprising juxtaposition where things
15:27 already seem to be worn out cracked
15:30 sidewalks faded paint work but it's
15:33 that's only 30 years old well 30 years
15:34 new you might
15:38 and so it just seems that to hurt a
15:40 little worn out already
15:42 but there is a huge contrast between
15:45 where it's come from 30 years ago
15:47 it was rice paddies and a few farmhouses
15:50 so it's come a long long way in those 30
15:54 years and the word the adverb actually
15:56 indicates her surprise that actually
15:58 this is a new place even though it seems
16:03 so worn out already so Gordon tells her
16:06 that it will look like New York once she
16:08 comes back after a year in the in the
16:11 East and I think what follows is this
16:13 descriptive detail to justify why she
16:15 thinks it will never look like that for
16:17 her at the end of the main road is
16:20 Toshiko dong the seat of the royal
16:23 government of Bhutan a grand whitewashed
16:27 red roofed golden tip fortress built in
16:29 the traditional way without blueprints
16:31 or nails beyond Hamlet's are connected
16:34 by footpaths and terraced fields barren
16:36 now climbed steadily from the river and
16:39 merge into forest thin poo will never
16:42 look like New York to me I think so
16:44 those details I think just help justify
16:48 that it is so different real traditional
16:50 details as well the Red Roof golden tip
16:53 fortress the Hamlet's as well it's quite
16:56 an archaic word we don't have Hamlet's
17:00 really anymore well in the modern world
17:03 and I've indicated here with this blue
17:05 line this is where I think there's a
17:07 turning point have a look now at her
17:09 descriptive detail I think there's much
17:12 more enthusiasm there's a admiration
17:15 that's present beyond this point the
17:18 Bhutanese are a very handsome people the
17:20 best-built race of men I ever saw wrote
17:23 a misery George Bogle on his way to DES
17:27 bet in 1774 and I find I agree of medium
17:29 height and sturdily built they have
17:32 beautiful aristocratic faces with dark
17:35 almond shaped eyes high cheekbones and
17:37 gentle smiles both men and women wear
17:40 their black hair short the women wear a
17:42 kira a brightly striped ankle-length
17:45 dress and the men ago a knee-length robe
17:47 that resembles a kimono
17:49 except that the top part is
17:51 exceptionally voluminous the bhutanese
17:54 of Nepal a Nepal a sari Nepali original
17:57 origin tend to be taller with sharper
18:00 features and darker complexions they too
18:03 where the NGO and Kira people look at us
18:05 curiously but they do not seem surprised
18:07 at our presence although we see fewer
18:09 the foreigners in Teheran we know they
18:10 are here Gordon said something this
18:12 morning about them whose small but
18:16 friendly expat community and so I just
18:18 draw your attention to the descriptive
18:20 detail she presents them as
18:24 aesthetically striking but also with the
18:28 adjective gentle also friendly as well
18:32 so I think that potentially helps her
18:35 anxiety and also mentioning the fact
18:36 that there's this small but friendly
18:39 expat community is this going to be a
18:41 source of companionship an intimate
18:44 group for her that will be comforting
18:47 for her while she's here away from home
18:49 when we stop and ask for directions
18:51 austere hotel the young man behind the
18:53 counter walks with us to the street
18:55 pointing out the way explaining politely
18:58 in impeccable English I search for the
19:00 right word to describe the people for
19:03 the quality that impresses me most most
19:07 dignity unselfconsciousness good humour
19:10 grace but can find no single word to
19:13 hold all of my impressions so she
19:16 clearly has a positive perception of the
19:19 people she mentions the man speaks to
19:21 her politely he has impeccable English
19:26 and she's so in all of them that she
19:28 can't even find a word she tries to
19:30 offer some and they are all very very
19:32 positive dignity unselfconsciousness
19:35 good humour grace but none of them will
19:38 do none of them sum up just how
19:40 impressed she is by them so I think that
19:43 speaks volumes for the way she feels
19:45 about the people and again I think this
19:48 helps explain why there's that turning
19:50 point she's starting to appreciate the
19:53 people in Thimphu we attended a
19:55 week-long orientation session with 12
19:57 other Irish British Australian and New
20:00 Zealand teachers new to baton our first lessons
20:01 lessons
20:02 bhutanese history of the most
20:05 interesting historical records show that
20:07 ways of Tibetan immigrants settled in
20:09 returns sometime before the 10th century
20:11 but the area is thought to have been
20:14 inhabited long before that in the eighth
20:17 century the Indian Saint I'm not sure
20:20 how you pronounce that Padma Sam bhava
20:24 brought Buddhism to the area where it
20:27 absorbed many elements of baan the
20:29 indigenous Harmonist
20:32 religion the new religion took hold but
20:34 was not a unifying force the Aerie
20:36 remained a collection of isolated values
20:39 each ruled by its own king when the
20:49 now wang nam yo arrived in 1616 he set
20:51 about unifying the valleys under one
20:53 central authority and gave the country
20:56 the name drop your meaning land of the
20:59 thunder dragon early an ace for Bhutan
21:02 are just as beautiful the Tibetans knew
21:04 the country is the southern land of
21:07 medicinal herbs in the South sandalwood
21:09 country districts within baton were even
21:13 more felicitous li solicitously named
21:15 rainbow district of desires lotus Grove
21:18 of the gods blooming valley of luxuriant
21:20 fruits the land of longing and silver
21:22 pines baton the name by which the
21:24 country came to be known to the outside
21:27 world is thought to be derived from
21:30 butantã meaning the end of Tibet or from
21:33 the Sanskrit Bhutan meaning Highlands so
21:37 here I don't want to go into huge detail
21:41 about this but I just think the the
21:44 length of the amount of detail that she
21:47 gives to their history indicates a great
21:51 interest for this place now and I think
21:52 maybe that the week-long orientation
21:55 actually worked for her she's grown this
21:58 great appreciation for the history and I
22:02 think with that maybe has come with come
22:06 a huge respectful for the country that
22:12 they are oh it is now I think the the
22:13 old news but Bhutan really helped emphasize
22:14 emphasize
22:18 Beauty as well and also not to mention
22:20 that you know the fact that she had this
22:23 week-long orientation with other Western
22:26 foreigners could have been also a source
22:29 of comfort for her and have changed her
22:34 her perception of this feeling well the
22:36 rest of Asia was being overrun by
22:38 Europeans are varying hue but similar
22:41 cry only a handful of Westerners found
22:43 their way into Bataan to Portuguese Jesuits
22:44 Jesuits
22:48 came to call in 1627 and six British
22:50 missions paid brief but cordial visits
22:53 from the late 1700s until the middle of
22:55 the next century relations with the
22:57 British took a nasty turn during the
23:00 disastrous visit of Ashley Eden in 1864
23:02 Eden who had gone to sort out a small
23:04 problem of the Bhutanese raids on the
23:07 British territory had his back slapped
23:09 his hair pulled and his face rubbed with
23:12 wet dough and was then forced to sign an
23:14 outrageous treaty that led to a brief
23:15 war between the British and the
23:18 Bhutanese considering the consolidated
23:20 British Empire in the south and the
23:22 great game being played out in the north
23:25 between the colonial powers Bhutan's
23:26 preservation of its independence was
23:29 remarkable and full of admiration for
23:31 this small country that has managed to
23:34 look after itself so well so there's a
23:36 juxtaposition here that highlights
23:38 Bhutanese is different history to the
23:41 rest of Asia so while the rest of Asia
23:44 was really being overrun by Europeans
23:46 during colonial time that didn't happen
23:48 to Bataan and actually there's just very
23:51 few Westerners who managed to find their
23:55 way there and so that is the source
23:56 there's something that's really
24:02 impressive to zepa as well I haven't
24:04 really highlighted anything here but you
24:06 could meant you could mention that maybe
24:09 there's an element here that she's
24:11 looking at this from a Western
24:20 where is it Eden who had gone to sort
24:22 out a small problem of the Bhutanese
24:25 raids and the British territory there's
24:26 an element of ganja sort of--it's that
24:28 the old colonial way of thinking
24:31 where they you know the white man has to
24:33 go over and sort things there and tell
24:36 tell the Asian person how to do it
24:38 themselves that sense of patronizing
24:41 element that's so linked with them
24:44 colonial powers so you could argue
24:46 that's the case and the fact that I
24:48 don't know anything about this treaty
24:51 that was that he was forced to sign but
24:55 she is showing her personal opinion by
24:57 saying it was an outrageous treaty that
25:01 he had to sign so there's a sense there
25:03 where she's she is seeing this from a
25:05 Western point of view and that might be
25:09 unfair she does however show that she is
25:11 really impressed with them the fact that
25:13 they maintained their independence in
25:15 comparison to many Asian countries that
25:18 didn't however a game is there a
25:19 patronizing tone I'm full of admiration
25:22 for this small country that has managed
25:24 to look after itself so well something
25:27 quite patronizing about that almost like
25:30 you know you find a a child that's too
25:32 hot to look after themselves for an hour
25:33 and you go I can't believe you looked
25:35 after yourself you're doing so well I'm
25:37 so impressed something a little bit
25:38 patronizing but it that doesn't sit well
25:41 for me but at least does show us a
