Rika is the new Japanese volunteer. She’s going to teach PE just like Kazihiro did. Her first day was Wednesday, then Thursday she went to Trashigang with Tenzin, so today was her real first day actually in the classroom. In her I see myself as the new person, not that we’re very much alike. But I can recall all the “firsts.” The first morning assembly, the first time with the students, the first staff function, the first feeling of loneliness, the first conversations. And because she doesn’t speak Dzongkha or Sharchop (although already knows more than I do), I feel like I should speak to her. At tonight’s staff sick visit to Lopen Ugyen’s house, we were both the silent ones among the Dzongkha dominated conversations that oftentimes led to laughter. But her English is not that good either, so I don’t say as much to her as I would if I sensed that she was more comfortable. Our strongest similarity is our difference to everyone else. But in my over five months here, I am actually more a part of the staff, more a part of the students, the school, the country than she is. And that’s a very surprising thing to realize.