A Happy Birthday

For the last three weeks, I've been busy with work at Ulaanbaatar University, the small private school where I'm teaching English. The school is conveniently located right across the street from where I live. I'm really enjoying it! But more about that later. First I've got to update you on one of the most important holidays of the year, my birthday!

I turned 24 on Tuesday, the 19th. I was having dinner with a couple of Japanese friends, Shino and Ruth (Ruth was my classmate during the Mongolian language course, and sadly, has now left Mongolia) and someone told them it was my birthday, so they made it into a little celebration. Also, two packages had arrived from home, and we all enjoyed opening them together and seeing the wonderful care packages my family had sent.

Then Sunday, the young people at my church caught a bus and went together to a sledding/ski hill outside of town. As you can see in the pictures, it was a gray, smoky day, but the weather has warmed up considerably and a good time was had by all. It was yet another adventure for me, and I especially enjoyed getting to know a couple of friends a little better. Also pictured, is the loooong sledding slope. Riding two-by-two on little old-fashioned wooden sleds down that long, rock strewn slope was dangerous! I'm still nursing several small wounds gathered in a string of crashes. However, we all got our exercise, walking back up the hill all afternoon and eventually, trying to keep warm as the snow soaked through our shoes.

After sledding, I just had time to go home and clean up to prepare for '
dinner out. I had invited practically all of the young people I've gotten to know in the last weeks, Mongolian and foreign and I didn't know what to expect. I was surprised when quite a little crowd turned out and it transpired that everone knew everyone else from some connection or another. The group in the picture are some of my fellow English teachers at the University, (there are about seventeen of us, in total; Eva, who is from Hong Kong, and I are the two foreigners.)

Finally, I had to add a picture showing off my new haircut. I cut it
myself first, then went to a salon to have it straightened out a bit, and the hairdresser took off a substantial few inches more! I was really sad to see all of that hair go, but I guess it grows back. Those were just some of the fun things I got to enjoy in what has been a couple of very full weeks. I'll write more about teaching shortly.

The Pink Heart Cafe

the New Year

This weekend, I've gotten to experience a little of Sagaansar (the Chinese New Year) and the biggest celebration of the year. People clean their houses feverishly and make boatz, meat dumplings, by the hundreds. Then Friday kicks off the celebration with a day of visiting family members to eat sheep, various salads, of course boatz, and to drink salty milk tea, fermented mare's milk, and of course, vodka. After Friday, people continue to visit friends and family over the weekend and into the next week.

My mongolian language helper, Oyuna, had me over on Friday night for an informal meal of boatz with her daughter, Oyunga. Oyuna helped me study during my official "Survival Course" and now I'm visiting her to continue learning. She's there in the middle picture, holding a bowl of her boatz.

On Saturday, I drove about an hour out of town with a new Mongolian friend, Toya, who studies at University here, and a couple of other people to visit her school friend and his family. Her friend lives in UB during the week, and commutes out to stay with his family when he can. This time, we had a real traditional visiting experience. We made sure to bring small gifts, and were given gifts in return at the end of the meal. There were a large group of family and friends gathered, and Toya helped me go through the proper greeting procedures and eating etiquette during the meal. It was the first time I'd had arag, the fermented mare's milk, and I'm happy to report it tastes like a thin, plain yogurt. Three of the children of the family are Japanese teachers and were a boisterous, interesting group of people to talk with.

The family lives in Terelsh, in part of a well-known national park; their house is part of the settlement you can see in the bottom picture, as we drive up. A couple of people went out on a horse ride after the meal, and the grandmother brought out a ten-day-old baby goat for me to hold. It was tiny and had immensely soft, thick curly hair. (I also got to try out a real, pit-toilet. You can ask me for details if you're really interested.)

I joined in on visits to a couple of other families as well, and was blessed by their hospitality. I've learned a bit more etiquette, the best way, first-hand. And finally, I have to say that if I was going to live in Mongolia, it wouldn't be in the "big city" of UB. Maybe I am a country girl after all.

Day-to-Day

A "palm tree" livening up the median in UB.

A small shrine on a hill overlooking Erdenet

This is my money shot, I've titled it, "Lonely Ger".

Erdenet men playing soccer on a Saturday afternoon.

Favorite Discoveries, Notes.
1. Sumo wrestling is quite popular. I've decided to learn as much as I can while I'm here, and so far I can recognize the Mongolian wrestlers on TV. It seems that two Mongolians are currently the #1 and #2 best sumo wrestlers in the world.

2. Adults like to play. We went sledding on Saturday and Sunday in Erdenet, and there were more adults than kids on the sledding hill. At social events, people of all ages like to join in on games.

3. Everybody's name means something. Many people are named for things found in nature, or even for the day of the week they were born on. I'm often asked what Tamara means, (Mom???)

4. Hospitality is a big deal, and so Mongolians are good at it. A teacher I'll be working with at the Ulaanbaatar University here was visiting her mother in Erdenet and spotted me on the street. We met the next day and she took me out to her mother's ger where I got the full (and standard) treatment of several cups of salty milk tea, a bowl of noodles and mutton, and home made dried yogurt curds to take back home with me. (Her mother, sixy-seven, still helps to manage livestock outside the city in the summer. She was curious about whether there are Buddists in Alaska.)

Learning

Since I last wrote, I have been busy studying three hours a day for almost three weeks, a Mongolian language "Survival Course." I'll summarize by saying that Mongolian is very different from English in almost all aspects and will continue to be a challenge. I had one classmate for most of that time, a Japanese woman who was following the results of the American presidential primaries closer than I was, and would update me with exciting wins. Our teacher was a 22 year old Mongolian, Ariuka. She recently graduated with a degree in German and hopes to move to Germany to live and continue studying there.

On thursday evening of the third week, I caught the night train to Erdenet with Rachel, a fellow JCSer with whom I've been delighted to find I have a lot in common. The overnight journey in a cozy "coupe" compartment was a fun
experience.

Erdenet is a mining town established in the 1970's around a deposit of (?) something valuable, and now boasting a population of 100,000 and it's own link to Mongolia's single rail line, running between Russia and China. There was a tight-knit group of people there who welcomed us and I stayed for a week. The JCS projects out there include a cafe, run by and for youth, and a school for disabled children. I really getting to know Magda and Gerdina a couple of exuberant dutch girls working at the school.

I taught a beginners English course for a week at the cafe. It was a good chance to be creative and I was excited to hear the students using what they'd learned at the end of the week! On Wednesdays the cafe usually provides some kind of entertainment, so I was signed up to present, (*drumroll*) "Alaska Day." Mongolians have been unusually curious about other world cultures and a good-sized little group showed up to hear about Alaska, with the girl in the picture kindly translating for me. I practiced my Mongolian alphabet by translating Alaska place names into Cyrillic on my homemade map, taught them how to do the "seal hop" a grueling Native sports event, and shared "blubber" or the nearest substitute, red jello.

Erdenet turned out to be a welcome respite from the smoke in UB. I went running for the first time since I've been here, enjoying the clean air to the fullest. I also got to see a few things I don't see in the big city:
For instance, the other day, there was a car parked in front of the apartment complex with a dead wolf tied to the hood (and blood frozen all over the front of the white, four-door.) A group of neighborhood men were standing around, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the kill, and I heard it's generally considered good luck to bag a wolf.
Also, one afternoon, I thought I heard a shot, and some yelping. A bit later, I was making my way to another apartment when I turned a corner of the building and almost ran into a man carrying a gun. There on the ground was a freshly shot, furry, gray dog. It was later explained to me that it's usually the garbageman's duty to shoot stray dogs. :(

I caught the night train back by myself (Rachel just stayed for the weekend), and the trip went smoothly. I shared a sleeper car with a woman who fed me snacks and showed me pictures of her husband and children. I was happy to arrive back in my room in UB Friday morning without incident.