While SojournAsia is not currently running its Nepal Semester Program, we have included a description of the program so you can gain a greater understanding of what Sojourn has offered in the past and what we may offer again in the future.

The SojournAsia Nepal Semester is a three-month cross-cultural apprenticeship program in experiential learning designed primarily for students wanting to take a break from the classroom and learn directly from life experience. Much of our emphasis is on independent exploration and apprenticeship. Our program is designed for students taking a break from busy lives in their home countries who have a sincere desire to experience and learn from a foreign culture. It is vital that students come to Nepal sensitive to others' beliefs and with a willingness to temporarily live by Asian ways. Our guiding credo is "comprehension of the self through detour of the other". The most important luggage you can bring, is an open heart, open to learning from new experiences. We believe there is an enormous amount that one can learn by immersing oneself in an unfamiliar culture.

Group Involvement & Independent Emphasis
Many of the activities that take place during the program will call for the entire group, usually 14-16 students to be together. During these times a strong emphasis is placed on group process. As a balance to this, students are given a great deal of unstructured time in which to experience Nepal on their own. We urge students to consider the SojournAsia house a home base, resource center and community from which to explore. We believe that the best way for us to help students to come to know Nepal is by providing opportunities for direct contact and close interaction with Nepalis while allowing participants the freedom to pursue their personal interests.

Orientation
We begin with orientation in and around the Kathmandu Valley. Introduction to Nepali culture and language combined with meeting other Sojourners and discussing apprenticeship possibilities establishes the foundation for your Nepal Sojourn. The group visits important religious, historical and commercial sights and students learn about the cultural differences between American and Nepali ways.

Kathmandu Homestay

The SojournAsia Nepal Semester is a three-month cross-cultural apprenticeship program in experiential learning designed primarily for students wanting to take a break from the classroom and learn directly from life experience. Much of our emphasis is on independent exploration and apprenticeship. Our program is designed for students taking a break from busy lives in their home countries who have a sincere desire to
experience and learn from a foreign culture. It is vital that students come to Nepal sensitive to others' beliefs and with a willingness to temporarily live by Asian ways. Our guiding credo is "comprehension of the self through detour of the other". The most important luggage you can bring, is an open heart, open to learning from new experiences. We believe there is an enormous amount that one can learn by immersing oneself in an unfamiliar culture.

Students will live with Nepali families for approximately five weeks. The character and structure of these families vary considerably. In a very traditional household, as many as twenty relatives may live together in the same house. Yet more modern families may surprise you with their relative adoption of Western values. During homestay, in addition to sleeping in your family's home, you will eat breakfast and dinner with them. The standard meal is called "daal bhaat", rice with a lentil soup and vegetables. Living and eating with other people always entails giving up some independence and privacy as well as certain habits, but the benefits of temporarily adjusting your lifestyle can be enormous. By adapting to the lifestyle of a family, you will be able to see and experience the essential nature of Nepali life.

Language Study
During the homestay period, language classes will continue. You will be given two hours of organized language instruction every day, five days per week, for four weeks. Your own additional review outside of class will greatly facilitate mastery of the language. Do not let past experiences with language training discourage you; Nepali is very easy to learn. Unlike most other languages, in a short time you will be able to communicate with Nepalis in their own language if you choose to apply yourself.

Lectures & Field Trips

		During homestay Sojourn offers lectures, discussions and field trips concerning environmental and development issues, geography and geology, arts and architecture, healing, government and politics, religion and the history of Nepal. Sojourn attempts to expose students to prominent Nepali scholars, artisans, women's advocates, environ- mentalists, healers, and religious figures. Field trips may include Indian classical music
performances, yoga classes, meditation classes, and trips to temples and villages around the Kathmandu Valley.

Apprenticeships
As a way to enhance one's experience in Nepal, a vast variety of internships are available for this period. This offers students the chance to explore and focus on their individual pursuits. The coordinators will help arrange apprenticeships.
Options includes:

		Working with an artisan-woodcarving, bronze casting, stone carving, pottery, thangka (ritual art) painting, silver jewelry making, women crafts and carpet weaving.
		Learning a musical instrument-string (sitar, sarod), percussion (tabla, madal, dhime), flute or vocals, and dance, both traditional and folk.
		Learning native healing techniques and philosophy of Ayurvedic and Tibetan medicine.
		Practicing meditation or yoga.

There are many challenging volunteer opportunities for meaningful service - contributing to environmental-related projects, women's issues, working with street kids and orphans, helping the indigent, old and mentally handicapped.

Learn massage, or have one! Have your palm read. Visit the royal astrologer. Check out tantric healers and former living goddesses. Explore the ancient Kathmandu Valley. The choices are limitless. This can be an unbridled learning experience if you disregard the fences into which academic learning is often penned. It is one thing to know facts about a place. It is another to experience it, to interact with it. In the process of learning about Nepal, you will learn about yourself.

Village Excursion
Taking a break from the city, we explore the rural countryside, living with Nepali farm families and experiencing village life. This experience provides students with exposure to the ecological and ethnic diversity of Nepal as well as insight into the complex issues of rural development, deforestation, village politics, social structure, religious practice, musical and healing traditions, and the rich folk beliefs, myths and stories which compose their worldview.

Himalayan Trek
Following the homestay and apprenticeship period, students will be given the opportunity to trek from two to four weeks, exploring the plains, hills, and mountains of this remote Himalayan country. This time away from roads, electricity, and modern convenience is a rare and unforgettable experience, offering students time for reflection and decision-making.

Camping in tents or local village lodges, we will trek through areas frequented by foreign trekkers as well as areas relatively unexposed to Western influence. Trekking requires some adjustments in lifestyle, but in exchange for giving up a few luxuries you can have the experience of a lifetime. You will share trails with Nepali porters, water buffaloes, and yaks in the shadows of the world's highest peaks. You will encounter
rural Nepali life far from the city of Kathmandu. Trekking in Nepal, unlike hiking in other parts of the world, is more a cultural experience than a wilderness experience. For maximum enjoyment of the trek, we recommend that students come to Nepal physically fit for strenuous walking.

Whitewater Rafting & JungleTrip
Sojourners raft the Trisuli River on a two-day trip to the jungles of Chitwan National Forest in the lowlands of Nepal.