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NEW YORK — It was early morning in New York City as thousands of people, yellow- colored cabs and the busy subway trains bustled into life. Among them was a familiar-looking face.

Dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers, it would have been difficult to spot him except for his t-shirt, which bore his country’s name: BHUTAN.

Tshering Dorji, 39, was on his way to Columbus Circle along Seventh Avenue on 43rd Street, a busy avenue in New York City, to set up his business.

There, near an entrance to a subway station surrounded by tall reflecting buildings with giant advertising screens, he would join about a dozen other vendors in the circle including a few other Bhutanese vendors.

It was 7:30 in the morning, but Tshering Dorji, who did a 9-to-5 job in a private company when in Bhutan, said he was already late for work.

For the rest of the day and perhaps even late into the night he would sit by his stall and sell photo frames.

“If you delay for half an hour, you will lose your favorite spot to set up your stall,” said Dorji, who was among an estimated 250 Bhutanese who have moved to New York in search of what he called “greener pastures.”

A Bhutanese picture frame vendor in New York.

“People in this city buy everything that is for sale,” he continued as he filled a frame with a photocopied picture of a jazz group.

On any given day, more than a dozen Bhutanese vendors can be found dispersed around the famous Time Square, Madison Square Garden and Broadway, competing with hundreds of other emigrants from all over the world.

The Bhutanese vendors include retired monks, school dropouts, businessmen, tour guides, drivers, fresh graduates and civil servants on extended leave. They speak fluent English and dress in such a way that they fit in well in the world’s most diverse city.

Most of them left behind family, jobs, schools, practically everything to carve out a future in the land that Columbus supposedly discovered.

They may not exemplify success stories when compared to other immigrants, but they say they make an average $300 – 400 a day and sometimes up to $600 on a favorable day. A live-in babysitter can earn $500 a week plus meals and shelter.

Pema, 27, a student and photo-frame vendor, said the remittances he was sending home were enough to help his parents and start a decent business when he returned to Bhutan. “It is easy to make money here if you work hard,” he said. Pema is a former monk and came to the United States on a student visa. Most vendors work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

For some Bhutanese in New York, their mission is to make sure they have enough when they return to Bhutan. “I sacrificed a managerial post to come here,” another photo vendor told me. “We are far away from home and miss family and relatives. The only consolation is that we can make some money to settle down when we go back. That encourages us to strive harder.”

Time, money and the dignity of labor

Bhutanese also work as waiters, waitresses, cashiers, counter boys and food store helpers. Most of the women immigrants work as babysitters.

Many do not have work permits, which means they are underpaid compared to other immigrants. “Without a work permit we end up working for other, legal immigrants,” said Tashi, adding that for him it was more profitable to sell pictures and frames than to work for others.

A driver by profession in Bhutan, Tashi said that lack of experience and cultural differences had been impediments to starting a business.

But qualities like honesty, compassion, a willingness to work hard and a good command of English are plusses for the Bhutanese, according to a babysitter in Las Vegas.

Apart from increased earnings, working in the United States also teaches and reinforces basic Bhutanese values, according to Sonam Tshomo, another babysitter. “You (learn about the) value of time, family, money and the dignity of labor,” she said.

Meanwhile, the search for greener pastures has Bhutanese immigrants moving to the West Coast. Once only concentrated in New York City, the Bhutanese now have ventured west as far as Las Vegas and California.

But unemployment and homelessness are problems in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of unemployed in the country in 2004 was around 8 million persons.

Given an unemployment rate of about 5.4 percent, how do the Bhutanese find employment?

Leo Estrada, a demographer at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that emigrants are risk takers and find jobs everywhere.

“Immigration clearly contributes to a downward pressure on wage levels and to decreased job availability in certain economic sectors, but (immigrants) are also needed,” he said. “People from all over the world fit well here and we (are well served) by illegal immigrants,” he added. "These immigrants are ready to work for us (and) we do not have to educate (them) or pay for their health care.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the immigrant population is growing six-and-a-half times faster than the native-born population. The bureau projects that over the next 50 years, immigration will cause the population of the United States to increase from 270 million to more than 400 million.
Immigrants pay taxes, stabilize shrinking populations, facilitate economic growth, revitalize neighborhoods and replenish work forces, Estrada said. Nevertheless, the United States deports about two million illegal immigrants every year.

Life is not easy

While Bhutanese can earn much more in the United States than in Bhutan, “life is not as easy as most people back home think it is,” said a Bhutanese babysitter. “We have to work according to the whims of the agencies who find us jobs and the employers because we do not have legal documents,” she said.

Falling sick is also a big worry. “Most of us are without proper documents, and health insurance is beyond our reach," another said. “If you fall sick and need medical attention, you end up paying all your month’s or even your year’s savings.”

Sharing apartments is one way Bhutanese immigrants cut costs although over time sharing can be a nightmare of squabbles and ground for breeding contempt. Rents for modest 2-bedroom apartments range from $1,300 to $1,500 in New York.

Every now and then when lying awake at night, the thought “What am I doing here?” may cross the mind of the Bhutanese. “Sometimes I feel like I have imprisoned myself for the lust of money,” a babysitter said. “It is very difficult to look after other people’s kids when you have left behind your own child,” she added.

To make themselves feel at home far away from home, Bhutanese New Yorkers organize get-togethers, celebrate national holidays and try to help each other in what they call an “alien” culture. Partying is a Bhutanese tradition, but too much freedom has been way too costly for some immigrants. One teacher on an extended leave said that some young Bhutanese enjoy themselves so much they forget why they came to the United States. “Most of them long to go home, but they enjoy themselves so much they don’t have enough (money ) to get home,” she said.

One young picture frame vendor said that people change when exposed to many cultures. “We were very stingy with what we earned in the beginning, but not anymore,” he said.

Bhutanese immigrants all long to go home one fine day.

“New York has everything than a human being craves, (except) the love of parents, the company of old friends and the ambience of our motherland,” said a mother of two who came to the city in 1998. “Folks back at home expect too much from us and that forces us to stay longer.”

Although small in number and spread all over, Bhutanese immigrants feel “at home” whenever they share an emdatshi (a dish made with chilies and cheese) and suja (butter tea) at a weekend get-together. It is only when they are working on the busy streets or with English-speaking children that they realize they are somewhere in the West.