Dear Mr. Colbert and your writers,

This week Cosmo officially started printing in Mongolia. This is pretty cool. The women of Mongolia are already stunningly beautiful and incredibly well dressed. It is not uncommon to see Mongolian ladies strutting their stuff down Peace Ave in 4-6" heels over ice covered and slick sidewalks. Do they slip? Rarely. Do they even look apprehensive? Never. Now, they have an international publication recognizing them and including them in fashion and women's issues. Superb.
Only there's one problem, Cosmo's move into Mongolia is the brunt of late night TV jokes. I understand that no topic is sacred and that anything can be fodder for comedy. However, they piece that you, Stephen Colbert, did is both ill researched and insulting.
One line insinuates that Cosmo will now be able to help Mongolian women feel self-conscious as well as women all over the world. This could be true. However, the part that you seem to think that is most concerning for Mongolian women are their beards. Here's the quote, "Now that Mongolian women have Cosmo, they'll finally know which body parts to feel insecure about -- it's the beards." Dear Stephen, Mongolian women don't have beards. Actually, Mongolian men rarely wear beards either. One idea that I've heard is that wearing a beard is a sign that a man has lost his father, and is nearly an orphan. Beards are not a good sign on Mongolians. Cosmetically or symbolically. Thanks.
You also posit some possible headlines..."This Season's Hottest Unisex Leather Gerkins"; "Go From Stable Girl to Yurt Flirt"; and "Does Your Mongol Have a Horde on the Side?"
Where to begin? Steve, dear. They're not gerkins, and they're probably not leather. It's called a deel, and you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a warmer piece of clothing. In fact they're absolutely beautiful. Deels are often made of bright, patterned silks and lined with various furs or hides. They are warm and yet pliable to allow for things like riding horses, and conquering nations. Leather, while great for shoes, wallets, and things, would be too heavy to wear for manual labor and riding. Which is mostly what they're worn for because deels are most common among countryside folk. Most people of the younger generations in the city have deferred to western wear, which is a shame. Deels are beautiful - like most things in Mongolia.
Next, "yurt flirt"...really? Fooling around, dating around, and multiple partners doesn't seem to be the style of Mongolian women. American women maybe. But not Mongolian women. Most women I've talked to either live with their parents while they go to school or work. Or, they live with their husbands and families. It's kind of hard to date around when you've got mom and dad and honor looking over your shoulder the whole time. They seem much more interested in finding the one person they can actually share a life with - not just the flavor of the week. Also, it's not a yurt. It's a ger. Kind of like - it's not Genghis. It's Chinngis.
I was recently listening to an interview with John Stewart and he seemed to think that research was one of the most important parts of comedy - because if you don't have the right facts you're not funny, you're just an ass. And, that's what this piece makes you look like - an ass. Most people in America don't even have an inkling of a clue of what life in Mongolia is like, and now you've painted a picture of a homely, backwater, Mongoloid existence and it's simply not true. Mongolian people, men and women, are beautiful and proud people. Who else can look as sexy as Mongolians while surviving -40F/C temperatures?
Don't get me wrong, Mongolia is by no means perfect - it's got it's share of problems. But, fashion is not one of them.
Stevie, dear - get it right please.

With embarrassment and frustration,
An American in Mongolia

If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been.

I suppose that this is the time of year when people start reflecting on the past 12 months. We start measuring how far our lives have come, and plotting a course for the next 12 months. Well, I have come pretty far if I do say so myself. Starting the year at an AIESEC conference, learning about this far off, magical place called Mongolia. Spending a week in India on a mission trip, of all things. Seeing my family in Michigan. Road tripping across the country with my best friend. Moving to Utah to move to Mongolia. Getting kicked out of my apartment. Taking "black" taxis, trains, sleeper buses, and other fun things to get in and out of China. Moving into a new apartment. And so,so many other things.

In 5 days I will have been in Mongolia for six whole months. That's crazy. It certainly does not feel like 6 months has passed. At least, not at a normal rate. In school, time always felt like it was dragging. Not this time, no sir. 5 days until I've been here for six months, one month the first ever conference for AIESEC Mongolia will be closing, in one month and four days I will be going to Italy, and then shortly after that we will have elected and selected the next MC team for Mongolia 2011-2012. And, my team will start passing on the legacy we have been working our butts off to create. Then we will move on and dive headlong into another year of craziness.

In the spirit of reflecting on the last year, I think it would be fun to do a "things I've learned this year" list:
-Road trips are best done with good friends and loud music
-Never eat unwashed street vegetables
-Traveling on a poor man's salary can result in interesting adventures
-Supposedly you can get chlamydia from koalas
-Teammates make tough, awkward situations so much easier
-Skype is truly a gift from the gods
-Downloading is fun for everyone!
-Camping in the cold without a sleeping bag is probably a stupid idea, but will result in great stories and hours of enjoyment, well, for your friends
-Poker is an internationally appreciated way of buying friendship
- -20C really isn't that cold (-4F)
-Getting dragged into teaching English is not at all related to your ability to teach
-Coats can be magic
-If the electricity, the hot water, and the internet are out it's probably time to go out for a beer
-Drinking and working don't have to be mutually exclusive activities
-Sometimes strippers show up at the most unexpected places
-Labels on food should always have pictures, languages are unreliable
-Walking on ice in boots without treads is fun! Or dangerous...
-Sometimes the smallest ideas can lead to the biggest adventures








"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."