Tshechu

The Tshechu is a sort of festival where many beautiful dances go on and people receive blessings. There are mask dances including world record-jumps and twirls. Usually the last days of the Tshechu are the most popular; the blessings go on during that period.
There are also clowns (also masked). You can see the mask of one in the left picture (the one with the red mask with its face to you).
Occasionally, traditional Bhutanese plays are acted out, though this is uncommon, and the Tshechu consists mostly of dances.
If you plan to go to a Tshechu, wear a good hat, bring water, and be generous with sun-lotion since the Tshechu is usually conducted in the afternoon, in summer, when the sun blazes on your unfortunate shoulders.

Languages

The official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha (pronounced dz-ong-ka) , a confusing, hard-to-learn, interesting.. etc. language. Some people, especially in rural places, have a difficulty or even don't know how to speak Dzongkha. In the provincial lands, some common languages are Sharshop (often also called Sharshogpa), and Nepali. In Bumthang, Bumthap is spoken. There are many, many, many kinds of languages in Bhutan, and now in Thimphu most schools teach in English, Dzongkha as a second language.
Hindi and other Indian languages are not too uncommon, too. But don't worry! People, especially in Thimphu, will have a good vocabulary of English, and if you are from other nations, Bhutanese guides with knowledge of different languages like Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Chinese and other strange and wide-spread languages are being paid 100$ a day!

If a urgent desire urges you to learn Dzongkha, then Bhutanese friends are just the people to teach you, so come on - it isn't as complicated as it looks (well, kind of).

Bhutanese Clothes

Where should I start?

Kira

Well, Bhutanese clothes, women's wear called kira (pronounced kee-ra) and men's wear called gho (go, not jo), are very, very complicated to wear. The kira is basically a big piece of cloth wrapped around the body with a belt and clipped back with pins. Along with it come two "jackets", one which has to be worn and folded under the kira itself. The other "jacket" is a big, starched, well... crispy one which you put on after the ordeal of wearing the main thing.
The gho is also a piece of cloth, but it already has sleeves sewn into it, so it just has a short white jacket.

Gho

When going to dzongs and lhakangs, or when dressing formally, women wear a rachu, a red belt with criss-cross designs. It is wide and long and after being folded over some times, the rachu is slung over the shoulder.
Its partner, the kabney is a big soft cloth, white for the "common people", blue for the Parliament, orange for the ministers and yellow for the King and Je Khenpo. It's worn over the body with some complicated twists and is finally slung over the shoulder (again).

Rachu and Kabney

So be ready to sweat! Kiras and ghos are designed to be warm - and in hot days, so it won't be very clever to wear one of these in a heatwave (even if you want to show off to the neighbours).
But the current generation is eager to wear "foreign dress": pants, shirt and sweater. It seems "cool" to wear foreign clothing, imported from Korea or Thailand.
Fortunately, in schools it is mandatory to wear the national uniform, so the culture is safe for a while.

Archery Matches and Kuru

Archery is the national sport of Bhutan, and by far the oldest. Traditional bows can be as tall as an average man, but the recent modern ones are less than half that size. Archery is always professionally played by men. The Bhutanese tradition of archery consists of two teams, taking turns to shoot at the target. The target is usually very far away and I’ve seen one that was 5 km from the archers. The archery performed is very, very dangerous. The team which is at that time not playing (it is not their turn) dance cheerfully in front of or very near the target (!) while the other team is shooting! A father of one of my classmates is an archer, and he often goes to other dzongkhags for the matches.

Kuru is a heavy dart, adorned by a great variety of colourful feathers, and again, the game consists of two teams, taking turns to shoot at the target. One difference is that Kuru is commonly played by women in official matches, while men often play it on holidays as a hobby.

Dance, dance, dance...

Dancing is a frequently found hobby in Bhutan. The twenty dzongkhags all have a similar style, but there are a few different movements that emphasize the culture. Dancing these days is now done mostly by girls, but boys also have a unique way of Bhutanese dancing.

I, for instance, love dancing with my Bhutanese friends Chimi and Gyem, both naturals. "Cheerleaders" dance at archery matches, and have a special short dance when they get a good hit.