T.i.M.
So, we still don’t have internet. We were supposed to get it at 10am on Friday, then noon, then four, then seven. We finally told Tuvshu (the AIESECer that is helping us with all of this) that we couldn’t do it at seven because G and I were going to Steppe Inn to schmooze.
Steppe Inn was opened in the backyard of the British Embassy back in the day before there were any bars or nightclubs in UB. The Brits need a place to put back a pint after the long Mongolian winter days. Now, it is an expat hang out. But, you can only get in if you are a member or if you are invited by a member. G and I not being members yet, were invited by David – the Italian we had dinner with last week. We met up with David by MetroMall (more on that later) and walked the 30-40 minutes to Steppe Inn.
It was actually pretty cool. We met a lot of people. Peter who is amateur networker – his wife works here and he hooks people up from various facets of the expat community. For example, G and I got an email from him that we should look another person who has been doing youth leadership programs in UB for several years. We also met the youth leadership guy. And, the British Ambassador and his wife, an ex-jockey and his wife who are trying to bring thoroughbred racing to Mn, and an architect/professor from Britain, and several others. Supposedly now that we’ve made an appearance and met the ambassador applying to SI should be fairly easy.
I also had several small-world experiences on Friday night. At Steppe Inn, I was talking with Steve, one of the first people G and I met at the expat drink on Wednesday. He does IT systems for the Mongolian department of finance, like the stock market. He also had contracts and does work in right around 50 countries. So, I was talking with him and he is originally from Chicago, but has family in Michigan. Mason, Michigan. I went to high school with his niece, and he is familiar with several people I knew at MHS. Weird. Then a bunch of us from Steppe Inn went to Grand Khan to grab a bite to eat before going our separate ways. While the bathroom at GK, I glance over to the back of the line and there is the Mongolian girl I had soccer with this spring. It was kind of amusing. She kept looking at me like she recognized me, but couldn’t figure out why the hell I would be in the bathroom at the GK. I talked to her briefly and ended up giving her one of my business cards that I had leftover from SI. Small. World.
Saturday morning we left for the countryside. Everything in Mn that isn’t UB is “countryside”. We took a three hour train ride to the countryside to a hotel next to a river and just hung out. Andrew (G and my roommate) set up this trip for about 20 people – mostly expats. There were several Australians here for work or volunteering, some Germans that were doing a year with the VOS instead of a year in the German army, another American here with Peace Corp, some Canadians who are doing work with the Mn department of health services, a girl from Singapore doing an @ TN, and a few Mongolians. It was a lot of fun. We went swimming, hung out by the river, went to the hotel’s discotech that night, and did some karaoke. The disco was interesting. They would have the usual lights out dancing music, then would stop, turn on all of the lights, everyone would leave the dance floor, and they would play Mongolian waltz/folk music. The first time it happened there were 15 very confused foreigners left in the middle of the floor. After discoteching for a while we went downstairs to rock out some karaoke, which is apparently very popular in Mn. Go fig. Sunday consisted of more lying around. A group did some hiking around the hotel, but my feet weren’t really up to it. So, I did the river thing instead. We caught the 1:30 train and were back in UB by 5:00.
After some showers and grocery shopping G and I hosted dinner for our @ers. Seven people showed up and it was nice. We made chili, which actually turned out pretty decent considering the time crunch and what we had to work with. We’ve also made several very exciting shopping discoveries in the last few days. MetroMall is amazing. There is a pharmacy with things like tampons and Nyquil and Theraflu and acidophilus and Colgate and razors and shaving cream and shampoo and so many other treasures. (I guess I didn’t really need to pack an entire bag of toiletries). Then there’s the grocery store in the basement of MetroMall with enough Mn versions of American-type food to keep me away from mutton and mutton grease for as long as I am in UB. They even have refrigerated, pasteurized, normal milk. It’s beautiful. And, the yogurt is super delish. Then, next to MetroMall there is an “American” store with American goods. Their food area is small, but they have stuff like Bisquick and Clorox wipes. It’s all much more expensive, but it is also bulk goods from Costco. There is a lot of Kirkland brand there. So, we might not get a whole lot from the Americana store, but at least it’s there if we need or want it.
Mostly for today we are going to be around the apartment waiting for internet. We’re supposed to get internet again today, but we’ll see. Tonight we’ve got more schmoozing with the old expat community. We’re supposed to be going to the North Korea restaurant in town. It’s actually owned by North Koreans with NK décor and NK video propaganda. It should be interesting.
TiM: akin to TIA (This is Africa). This is Mongolia. A phrase expressing the fact that things are done differently here and there's not much you can do about it.
