It's amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time.
New people moving in to the city, old people leaving, making new friends just in time to say goodbye, dealing with Summer-Mongolia again only with a slightly more jaded outlook this time around, planning for the next steps while trying to understand all the steps that brought you here.
In the last few weeks or so there have been a lot of new foreigners moving into the city and the expat circle. They seem so bright and hopeful. They haven't experienced a winter or the pollution yet, they haven't been accosted on the street, or had to detour around the city to avoid nationalist marchers, they haven't explored and found all of the hidden treasures the city has to offer, they haven't had to deal with hoards of street children, they haven't met all the amazing people that have already left, they haven't been able to participate in the neverending rounds of house parties that keep the winter warm, they haven't tasted airag or had to deal with overpowering revulsion to mutton...And, that's all in one year. I can't imagine all of the other treats (and tricks) in store for the longer term. It's odd to think that very shortly this will no longer be my city, it will be somebody else's city. And, while I could always come back - it will never be the same as the first time. It won't offer the same things, it won't be the same, I won't be the same, and it's very possible that all of the people I love here that have made this experience awesome will be scattered around the world. It's like leaving Athens - it will always be an amazing place. But, it's not a place I can ever really return to. Now it's someone else's city.
Why does it always seem that you run into a good thing just as it has to end? Meeting amazing people at international conference, finding a best friend the last semester of university before you move across the world, falling in love in the last minutes of the movies... Do you jump into these relationships deeper because of the time constraint or to you leave well enough alone? Sure, it's great while it lasts. But, what is it worth? There's a great quote that I've found has an interesting application to friendships: "Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires." -Francois de la Rochefoucauld. Over the last year I have found certain friendships strengthened or rekindled largely because of the distance between us. We had to be stronger friends because that was the only option. And, that's great. But, what if you don't want to start fanning the flame because you're afraid it's going to blow out? Sure it's okay in the long run, but what about now? What if you don't want to go through losing another friend? While I love traveling and meeting fabulous people from all over the world, I can't help but be a little jealous of those who get to keep all of their loved ones in one location.
Even in work everything is in a state of flux. For my team, our job now consists of finishing projects while trying to summarize everything that happened professionally in the last year so that the next team is better prepared to face the year ahead of them. Wrapping up all of our handiwork and giving it over the the next team with the hopes that they will take care of our projects, our members, our efforts and surpass everything that we were able to accomplish. Not only that, but now we have to find some closure and meaning from the last 11 months that will make it easier to leave the 2 other people that have made the entire year easier, more fun, and totally worth it. When you travel people talk about culture shock and homesickness. But, how do you deal with the startling change for going from spending nearly every working and waking hour with the same people to being continents apart? How are we supposed to jump from one such intense experience straight in to the next? How does that not mess with a person? And, while we are working on wrapping up the last messy, chaotic, amazing, ridiculous year so that we can move on we are each trying to jump start the next phase of our lives with little or no break in between. Talk about changes.
Even something as simple as the weather can change amazingly fast. From +20C yesterday morning, to -11C today and tomorrow is supposed to be back to +21C. Summer to snow in the space of 7 hours.
Thank you Mongolia.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Let's play a game...
...called "What would YOU do?"
Part 1: You are given scenarios that are either real life or hypothetical situations. You must respond with how you would react in such a situation. Thus, the name "What would you do?" You respond with what you would do.
1) You are walking down the street at 10 o'clock at night. You are alone. As you are walking you hear something rustling behind you. You look back. It's a dog. Not even a dog really, but something between a puppy and full grown dog. You make eye contact. Suddenly the puppy is trotting towards you instead of cautiously following. It starts to wag it's tail. You realize that you've stopped for too long, and now the puppy is hopeful. Clearly, it is a stray. But then again, most of the dogs in the city are strays. Even though you start to ignore it, it follows you all the way home and starts to whine at the entrance to your building. What do you do?
2) It's in the middle of the winter, and it's cold. Very cold. Nearly every day there are children sitting outside near your apartment begging. They sit outside with box singing and begging for money. They might be homeless, but they might be forced by their parents to go out and beg. What do you do?
3) You are walking down the street with some friends. It's during the day in a public place. You are walking on the edge of your group. As you pass a stranger, he reaches out and grabs you. He's not trying to steal your stuff. He just reaches out, grabs you, then walks by laughing. What do you do?
4) You are coming home late at night on a Saturday. It's at most -20C outside. As you climb the stairs to your flat you pass a little boy sleeping in your stairway curled around the heater between flights of stairs. He looks to be about seven years old. What do you do?
5) As you walk to work in the morning (again in the cold - noticing a trend?)you look down. There is a puppy, probably 8 weeks old, curled up near an open doorway trying to catch residual heat. But, it's pretty obvious that he's freezing to death. What do you do?
6) You are in a cab late at night. As you pull up to your stop, the cab driver demands 10x the amount you should pay for the ride you just took. Furthermore, you don't actually have the money that he is asking for. You tell him this, hand him what the fare should have been, and go to get out. But, he grabs your jacket and refuses to let go until you pay him more money. You don't have more money and, he won't let go. What do you do?
Part 2: Guess which scenarios are real and which are hypothetical.
Part 1: You are given scenarios that are either real life or hypothetical situations. You must respond with how you would react in such a situation. Thus, the name "What would you do?" You respond with what you would do.
1) You are walking down the street at 10 o'clock at night. You are alone. As you are walking you hear something rustling behind you. You look back. It's a dog. Not even a dog really, but something between a puppy and full grown dog. You make eye contact. Suddenly the puppy is trotting towards you instead of cautiously following. It starts to wag it's tail. You realize that you've stopped for too long, and now the puppy is hopeful. Clearly, it is a stray. But then again, most of the dogs in the city are strays. Even though you start to ignore it, it follows you all the way home and starts to whine at the entrance to your building. What do you do?
2) It's in the middle of the winter, and it's cold. Very cold. Nearly every day there are children sitting outside near your apartment begging. They sit outside with box singing and begging for money. They might be homeless, but they might be forced by their parents to go out and beg. What do you do?
3) You are walking down the street with some friends. It's during the day in a public place. You are walking on the edge of your group. As you pass a stranger, he reaches out and grabs you. He's not trying to steal your stuff. He just reaches out, grabs you, then walks by laughing. What do you do?
4) You are coming home late at night on a Saturday. It's at most -20C outside. As you climb the stairs to your flat you pass a little boy sleeping in your stairway curled around the heater between flights of stairs. He looks to be about seven years old. What do you do?
5) As you walk to work in the morning (again in the cold - noticing a trend?)you look down. There is a puppy, probably 8 weeks old, curled up near an open doorway trying to catch residual heat. But, it's pretty obvious that he's freezing to death. What do you do?
6) You are in a cab late at night. As you pull up to your stop, the cab driver demands 10x the amount you should pay for the ride you just took. Furthermore, you don't actually have the money that he is asking for. You tell him this, hand him what the fare should have been, and go to get out. But, he grabs your jacket and refuses to let go until you pay him more money. You don't have more money and, he won't let go. What do you do?
Part 2: Guess which scenarios are real and which are hypothetical.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
What do you do? What do you do? Do do do do do...
That's a line from Across the Universe (for everyone who is NOT Amelia, and won't get the reference otherwise.)
It's recently come to my attention that a lot of people (friends, family, strangers, etc) don't really know what I do, or what it is that keeps me moving farther and farther away from home. So, here it is. What I do. I warn you, it's a very long winded explanation.
Part I: AIESEC, The Global Organization.
AIESEC is the largest student-run organization in the world. It is run for university students by university students (and recent graduates). We function at the global, regional, national, and local levels. We started just after WWII in the late 1940s. Originally, AIESEC started in Europe, but it spread. We are now in 110 countries. Overall our aim is the "Peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential." That means that we believe that given the right tools and motivation that humans, particularly youth, can make a positive difference in our world. We can shape the world into a better place, a place in which peace is the overriding theme, not hate.
So how do we go about building peace and all that jazz?
We operate through two main functions. 1) Exchange 2) Leadership
Exchange - Parts of our organization focus on creating relationships and contracts with local/national/global companies to create internship opportunities for international interns. The other side of this is the group of people who recruit local students and AIESEC members to prepare and send them for internships to other countries. So, our exchange facet focuses on sending students (both AIESEC member and non-AIESEC member) around the AIESEC network for internships.
Leadership - We build leadership skills through putting people in leadership positions and letting them learn from the experience. There are tons of leadership opportunities in AIESEC. Students can do anything from leading a functional area team for a year at their local chapter. So, for example, leading the incoming exchange team to create contracts near their university. Or, they can lead team of 4-10 people to plan, organize, and run a conference. AIESEC has regional, national,and international conferences every year in every country that we're in - someone needs to plan those, and someone needs to lead that planning team. There are a lot of different opportunities, but you get the idea.
So, how do these two things create peace and happiness?
The idea is that if a person goes on exchange to a country they are able to build a more accurate idea of that country with less prejudices and assumptions. They make friends in that country and form a better opinion of that country. When they return home they talk to the friends about their experiences and how awesome this other country was. It's hard to hate a country when you have friends and good memories there. It's hard to hate a country when your friends at home talk so highly of their experience. This is particularly important between countries that have negative or wrong views of each other. Mongolia to China, India and Pakistan, US to Bahrain, France to England, the list goes on...
By putting people into leadership experiences they are forced to learn and recognize parts of themselves that may have never been uncovered otherwise. They learn how to motivate their peers, how to relate their experiences in AIESEC to the "real" world, how to be a role model.
By combining the two experience you get someone we in AIESEC idealistically call a "change agent" - someone who realizes the size, scope, and potential of the world AND has the ability to go out and make a positive difference. Wham, bam, peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential.
Yeah, that's great...but what do I do?
Part II: AIESEC in Mongolia
AIESEC started in Mongolia about two years ago. We are very new in a country that has a lot of potential to develop both in AIESEC and out in the rest of the country. My team is the national staff of AIESEC in Mongolia. We run AIESEC in the whole country of Mongolia. Right now AIESEC is just in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, but we'll get bigger. My team consists of three people. The MCP: Member Committee President, Gina Palmisano from the US. She oversees everything and is the boss lady. MC VP ICX: Member Committee Vice President of Incoming Exchange, Tomas Petrzela from the Czech Republic. He works with the businesses in the city to create contracts for internships for international students. MC VP TM: Member Committee Vice President of Talent Management, Bridget Mailley from the US. I work with the university student to create and deliver leadership training, soft skills training, and other organizational education. I am responsible for generating leadership positions, coaching conference organization teams, coaching my local counterparts, and monitoring the satisfaction of members with their experience.
My team is also the first team to come to Mongolia to do what we do. The last "team" was one international guy and a Mongolian girl. I am the first MC VP TM of AIESEC Mongolia. Before me, there was little to no leadership generation, and certainly no one making sure that students were satisfied with their experience.
Since the beginning of our one-year term, my team has done a lot in the way of building structure and precedent. I have run recruitment for new members; run induction training for those members; built local structure for leaders; created the procedures and run the first local leadership elections; created the first conference organizing committee (OC) for the first ever AIESEC Mongolia conference; taken that OC to China to experience an AIESEC conference before they had to plan one; coached the OC for that conference; wrote (parts), edited, and ratified the first compendium of AIESEC Mongolia; and that's just the stuff that's easy to explain. And, all of that was just the first seven months. That's what I've been doing.
Some context...
AIESEC is particularly important in a place like Mongolia. The education system is lacking. The education content is poor and they expect very little from their students. There are few or no other organizations like us here, that give students the opportunity to challenge themselves and learn valuable business skills and life lessons outside of the classroom. Most other exchange organizations here are expensive and offer opportunities abroad like dish-washing and fast food service. We offer everything from financial internships with Pricewaterhouse Cooper (one of the largest financial consulting firms in the world, and one of AIESEC's largest partners) to educational internships teaching language or arts around the world, to IT internships in the gaming industry in Europe, to internships helping run the administration of an NGO in China. We offer an attainable opportunity for Mongolian students to access the rest of the world in a field of their interest. We tell them that it's not only okay to dream about seeing the rest of the world, but that it's a possibility. In the US, this is not as big of a deal, American students have all kinds of opportunities thrown at them on a daily basis. Mongolian students don't. They especially don't get opportunities from their current university system to take ownership over their projects or goals and the chance to learn through experience. that's what we offer. We offer real-world experience in generating business skills, soft skills, international education, CV building activities, along with international exchange, and leadership opportunities.
When I was explaining some of my recent activities to my Gramma, she said, "So, you're changing lives." I'd like to think that she's right. That's why I'm so far from home, and going even farther away from home. I believe that my generation has the opportunity to change the world if just given the right tools. I'm equipping my peers with the tools to go out and change their world.
It's recently come to my attention that a lot of people (friends, family, strangers, etc) don't really know what I do, or what it is that keeps me moving farther and farther away from home. So, here it is. What I do. I warn you, it's a very long winded explanation.
Part I: AIESEC, The Global Organization.
AIESEC is the largest student-run organization in the world. It is run for university students by university students (and recent graduates). We function at the global, regional, national, and local levels. We started just after WWII in the late 1940s. Originally, AIESEC started in Europe, but it spread. We are now in 110 countries. Overall our aim is the "Peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential." That means that we believe that given the right tools and motivation that humans, particularly youth, can make a positive difference in our world. We can shape the world into a better place, a place in which peace is the overriding theme, not hate.
So how do we go about building peace and all that jazz?
We operate through two main functions. 1) Exchange 2) Leadership
Exchange - Parts of our organization focus on creating relationships and contracts with local/national/global companies to create internship opportunities for international interns. The other side of this is the group of people who recruit local students and AIESEC members to prepare and send them for internships to other countries. So, our exchange facet focuses on sending students (both AIESEC member and non-AIESEC member) around the AIESEC network for internships.
Leadership - We build leadership skills through putting people in leadership positions and letting them learn from the experience. There are tons of leadership opportunities in AIESEC. Students can do anything from leading a functional area team for a year at their local chapter. So, for example, leading the incoming exchange team to create contracts near their university. Or, they can lead team of 4-10 people to plan, organize, and run a conference. AIESEC has regional, national,and international conferences every year in every country that we're in - someone needs to plan those, and someone needs to lead that planning team. There are a lot of different opportunities, but you get the idea.
So, how do these two things create peace and happiness?
The idea is that if a person goes on exchange to a country they are able to build a more accurate idea of that country with less prejudices and assumptions. They make friends in that country and form a better opinion of that country. When they return home they talk to the friends about their experiences and how awesome this other country was. It's hard to hate a country when you have friends and good memories there. It's hard to hate a country when your friends at home talk so highly of their experience. This is particularly important between countries that have negative or wrong views of each other. Mongolia to China, India and Pakistan, US to Bahrain, France to England, the list goes on...
By putting people into leadership experiences they are forced to learn and recognize parts of themselves that may have never been uncovered otherwise. They learn how to motivate their peers, how to relate their experiences in AIESEC to the "real" world, how to be a role model.
By combining the two experience you get someone we in AIESEC idealistically call a "change agent" - someone who realizes the size, scope, and potential of the world AND has the ability to go out and make a positive difference. Wham, bam, peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential.
Yeah, that's great...but what do I do?
Part II: AIESEC in Mongolia
AIESEC started in Mongolia about two years ago. We are very new in a country that has a lot of potential to develop both in AIESEC and out in the rest of the country. My team is the national staff of AIESEC in Mongolia. We run AIESEC in the whole country of Mongolia. Right now AIESEC is just in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, but we'll get bigger. My team consists of three people. The MCP: Member Committee President, Gina Palmisano from the US. She oversees everything and is the boss lady. MC VP ICX: Member Committee Vice President of Incoming Exchange, Tomas Petrzela from the Czech Republic. He works with the businesses in the city to create contracts for internships for international students. MC VP TM: Member Committee Vice President of Talent Management, Bridget Mailley from the US. I work with the university student to create and deliver leadership training, soft skills training, and other organizational education. I am responsible for generating leadership positions, coaching conference organization teams, coaching my local counterparts, and monitoring the satisfaction of members with their experience.
My team is also the first team to come to Mongolia to do what we do. The last "team" was one international guy and a Mongolian girl. I am the first MC VP TM of AIESEC Mongolia. Before me, there was little to no leadership generation, and certainly no one making sure that students were satisfied with their experience.
Since the beginning of our one-year term, my team has done a lot in the way of building structure and precedent. I have run recruitment for new members; run induction training for those members; built local structure for leaders; created the procedures and run the first local leadership elections; created the first conference organizing committee (OC) for the first ever AIESEC Mongolia conference; taken that OC to China to experience an AIESEC conference before they had to plan one; coached the OC for that conference; wrote (parts), edited, and ratified the first compendium of AIESEC Mongolia; and that's just the stuff that's easy to explain. And, all of that was just the first seven months. That's what I've been doing.
Some context...
AIESEC is particularly important in a place like Mongolia. The education system is lacking. The education content is poor and they expect very little from their students. There are few or no other organizations like us here, that give students the opportunity to challenge themselves and learn valuable business skills and life lessons outside of the classroom. Most other exchange organizations here are expensive and offer opportunities abroad like dish-washing and fast food service. We offer everything from financial internships with Pricewaterhouse Cooper (one of the largest financial consulting firms in the world, and one of AIESEC's largest partners) to educational internships teaching language or arts around the world, to IT internships in the gaming industry in Europe, to internships helping run the administration of an NGO in China. We offer an attainable opportunity for Mongolian students to access the rest of the world in a field of their interest. We tell them that it's not only okay to dream about seeing the rest of the world, but that it's a possibility. In the US, this is not as big of a deal, American students have all kinds of opportunities thrown at them on a daily basis. Mongolian students don't. They especially don't get opportunities from their current university system to take ownership over their projects or goals and the chance to learn through experience. that's what we offer. We offer real-world experience in generating business skills, soft skills, international education, CV building activities, along with international exchange, and leadership opportunities.
When I was explaining some of my recent activities to my Gramma, she said, "So, you're changing lives." I'd like to think that she's right. That's why I'm so far from home, and going even farther away from home. I believe that my generation has the opportunity to change the world if just given the right tools. I'm equipping my peers with the tools to go out and change their world.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Around the world in 18 days...
Dear hecklers, you know who you are, I haven't been posting in my bloggy blog, because I'm way cooler than you and have been traveling. Also, China blocks blogs - so there's that too. Anyways, here's your update. Enjoy.
Christmas
Coming in to Christmas was a little rocky. I know I'm a big girl and everything, but this is the first Christmas I've spent away from home. And, at home we have a very specific way of celebrating Christmas. And, there was no way I was going to be able to replicate that this year. It wasn't home, but it was still good. Christmas Eve I started out getting drinks with friends, which turned into a Christmas part back at my apartment. Small, crowded, and very boozy. I opened presents with my parents over Skype, put present under our Christmas tree (both compliments of my ridiculous (wonderful) parents), and finally kicked the last guest out of the apartment around 4:30am. On Christmas morning I went and made eggnog with a foodie friend, although I ended up skipping the party at which it was present. Then came home, opened presents with the roomies, and watched movies all day long. It was glorious. My favorite part of the whole holiday was late on Christmas Eve after I had placed the present from my parents to my roommates under the tree. I thought that those would be the only presents for anyone, but more and more just kept showing up. Some from Tomas, my roommate and teammate, some from Ula and Sylwia, "the Polish girls". It was great to see Santa at work so far from home.
New Years
This one passed relatively quietly over a 13 hour movie marathon. Hooray movies!
Although the fun thing about both Christmas and New Year's is that the Mongolians claim that they don't celebrate Christmas, but there are Christmas decorations and trees, and Santas everywhere! But, if you ask a Mongolia what they're for, they're respond "New Years." They are "New Year's Trees" And, every time I would think. "No, you silly Mongolia, there are no trees on New Year's. Those are CHRISTMAS trees..." Oh well.
Conference
After 3 months of planning, and a lot of blood and sweat (not so many tears, that's an AIESEC China thing...) we pulled it off. 3 days of trainings, dancing, companies, and scant potty breaks. The facilitators did a great job, the organizing committee pulled it together and did a fantastic job, and of course, the delegates were wonderful. AIESEC Mongolia has officially had it's first AIESEC conference. And, it went over very well. I'm so proud of my AIESECers taking responsibility and changing their reality. You go guys! Like my gramma said, "So, you're changing lives and stuff, huh." Yeah, gram, I am. It's okay, they're changing mine too.
Italy
Yum.
I finally got to see my parents for the first time in 7 months, and we didn't even kill each other. Hooray! And, I didn't kill them, even if I did have to play tour guide for a week. Silly parents.
We covered Vicenza, Rome, and Venice. Mostly we just hung out in Vicenza I got a healthy dose of all of the *wonderful* things about American culture on the Army base, and decided I don't need that again for a while. But, Peggy (family friend) was great in putting up with us and sending us on our way. Thanks Peg!
After a few days we drove down to Rome and stayed in a little bitty hotel right.next.to the Vatican. Seriously, I could have spit on the outer wall of the Vatican. If, ya know, I wanted to go to hell. Did Vatican Museums (and didn't get lost this time)and saw a bunch of stuff. The best (new) was Rafael and the School of Athens. Suhweet. Sistine Chapel is always awesome. Actually got to walk by JPII's tomb this time, but it was quick because there were a BUNCH of nuns praying at him and I didn't want to block their prayers... Day 2 in Rome was spent walking the whole city from Vatican to Coliseum to Trevi Fountain to Santa Maria della Vittoria. Got to see the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. So. Awesome. Her with her tricksy little cherub. Then back to Vicenza for a night to regroup and on to Venice. Sigh. Mostly we just wandered around the city. Spent some time on Murano looking at glass. Skip the glass museum if you have the opportunity - so not worth it. But, I did finally find a statue that I've been looking for all three times I've been to Venice. Not a well known one, just a simple statue of a dude sitting on a stack of books - it was in a book I read a while back. So, win for me. And, finally got to go into San Marco. So, obnoxiously golden. And, the originally horses are inside, upstairs. So cool, so. cool.
I've also decided that I way prefer to be an off-season traveler. Way less tourists, lines, etc. Better for sightseeing, better for moods.
After a few days in Venice it was time to take off and start the second leg of my journey.
Shanghai
I guess when you travel a lot you can eventually expect something to go wrong or weird. Lost baggage, irritating passengers, mechanical issues - eventually you run into something. Well, I certainly did on the way to Shanghai. (And, I'm not just talking about the smelly dude I had to sit next to for 10 hours to Beijing. He smelled homeless, honestly. And, he had terrible breath...) No, when I finally got to Beijing and got on my flight to Shanghai, that's where the fun started. So, we're sitting on the runway waiting to take off when the voice of god (or an attendant) comes of the speaker announcing that due to mechanical difficulties we are taxing back to the gate. They offload all 300-400 of us back to the terminal to wait for further instructions. Lots of angry Chinese people are yelling angrily in Chinese. (A very scary noise for you who haven't heard it. Almost as scary as Nigerian accents. Actually, I think the worst would be an angry Nigerian yelling in Chinese.) After about 45 minutes they herd us back on the bus to get back on the plane. And, I'm pretty sure it was the same we're-having-issues plane we were on before. But, we're still not leaving. After a while, god comes back on saying that there is an issue with a passenger and the police are on their way. Oh good. It turns out that one of the angry, yelling men was also and angry, punching man. Someone punched a security guard and was in custody. The kicker, needs-anger-management wanted to get back on the plane and all of the attendants were flipping their shit because they didn't want him on board. Duh. HE PUNCHED A SECURITY GUARD. You can't punch security guards. That's against the rules. Anyways, I think they finally came to a decision that he couldn't get back on the plane and we left for Shanghai. Three hours late. No big deal.
Being in Shanghai at the conference was cool. It was the most relaxing AIESEC conference I've been at but, I was also sick and dying for most of it so whatever. Yay fever! My body got significantly happier when I told it that I was bringing it back to Mongolia. Silly body. Don't you know there's smog and cold here?
Anyways, I'm back to the land of smog and ice now. Hooray! Back to work! Which I'm actually very excited about. There's a lot to get accomplished in the next few months before we move on to different things. For me, that will mean moving to Australia to work for AIESEC there. I'll be based in Sydney, but I'll get the chance to travel a bit. (And, if I can swing it International Congress in Kenya...but I'm not counting that egg yet).
There, that should keep you kids busy for a while. :)
Christmas
Coming in to Christmas was a little rocky. I know I'm a big girl and everything, but this is the first Christmas I've spent away from home. And, at home we have a very specific way of celebrating Christmas. And, there was no way I was going to be able to replicate that this year. It wasn't home, but it was still good. Christmas Eve I started out getting drinks with friends, which turned into a Christmas part back at my apartment. Small, crowded, and very boozy. I opened presents with my parents over Skype, put present under our Christmas tree (both compliments of my ridiculous (wonderful) parents), and finally kicked the last guest out of the apartment around 4:30am. On Christmas morning I went and made eggnog with a foodie friend, although I ended up skipping the party at which it was present. Then came home, opened presents with the roomies, and watched movies all day long. It was glorious. My favorite part of the whole holiday was late on Christmas Eve after I had placed the present from my parents to my roommates under the tree. I thought that those would be the only presents for anyone, but more and more just kept showing up. Some from Tomas, my roommate and teammate, some from Ula and Sylwia, "the Polish girls". It was great to see Santa at work so far from home.
New Years
This one passed relatively quietly over a 13 hour movie marathon. Hooray movies!
Although the fun thing about both Christmas and New Year's is that the Mongolians claim that they don't celebrate Christmas, but there are Christmas decorations and trees, and Santas everywhere! But, if you ask a Mongolia what they're for, they're respond "New Years." They are "New Year's Trees" And, every time I would think. "No, you silly Mongolia, there are no trees on New Year's. Those are CHRISTMAS trees..." Oh well.
Conference
After 3 months of planning, and a lot of blood and sweat (not so many tears, that's an AIESEC China thing...) we pulled it off. 3 days of trainings, dancing, companies, and scant potty breaks. The facilitators did a great job, the organizing committee pulled it together and did a fantastic job, and of course, the delegates were wonderful. AIESEC Mongolia has officially had it's first AIESEC conference. And, it went over very well. I'm so proud of my AIESECers taking responsibility and changing their reality. You go guys! Like my gramma said, "So, you're changing lives and stuff, huh." Yeah, gram, I am. It's okay, they're changing mine too.
Italy
Yum.
I finally got to see my parents for the first time in 7 months, and we didn't even kill each other. Hooray! And, I didn't kill them, even if I did have to play tour guide for a week. Silly parents.
We covered Vicenza, Rome, and Venice. Mostly we just hung out in Vicenza I got a healthy dose of all of the *wonderful* things about American culture on the Army base, and decided I don't need that again for a while. But, Peggy (family friend) was great in putting up with us and sending us on our way. Thanks Peg!
After a few days we drove down to Rome and stayed in a little bitty hotel right.next.to the Vatican. Seriously, I could have spit on the outer wall of the Vatican. If, ya know, I wanted to go to hell. Did Vatican Museums (and didn't get lost this time)and saw a bunch of stuff. The best (new) was Rafael and the School of Athens. Suhweet. Sistine Chapel is always awesome. Actually got to walk by JPII's tomb this time, but it was quick because there were a BUNCH of nuns praying at him and I didn't want to block their prayers... Day 2 in Rome was spent walking the whole city from Vatican to Coliseum to Trevi Fountain to Santa Maria della Vittoria. Got to see the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. So. Awesome. Her with her tricksy little cherub. Then back to Vicenza for a night to regroup and on to Venice. Sigh. Mostly we just wandered around the city. Spent some time on Murano looking at glass. Skip the glass museum if you have the opportunity - so not worth it. But, I did finally find a statue that I've been looking for all three times I've been to Venice. Not a well known one, just a simple statue of a dude sitting on a stack of books - it was in a book I read a while back. So, win for me. And, finally got to go into San Marco. So, obnoxiously golden. And, the originally horses are inside, upstairs. So cool, so. cool.
I've also decided that I way prefer to be an off-season traveler. Way less tourists, lines, etc. Better for sightseeing, better for moods.
After a few days in Venice it was time to take off and start the second leg of my journey.
Shanghai
I guess when you travel a lot you can eventually expect something to go wrong or weird. Lost baggage, irritating passengers, mechanical issues - eventually you run into something. Well, I certainly did on the way to Shanghai. (And, I'm not just talking about the smelly dude I had to sit next to for 10 hours to Beijing. He smelled homeless, honestly. And, he had terrible breath...) No, when I finally got to Beijing and got on my flight to Shanghai, that's where the fun started. So, we're sitting on the runway waiting to take off when the voice of god (or an attendant) comes of the speaker announcing that due to mechanical difficulties we are taxing back to the gate. They offload all 300-400 of us back to the terminal to wait for further instructions. Lots of angry Chinese people are yelling angrily in Chinese. (A very scary noise for you who haven't heard it. Almost as scary as Nigerian accents. Actually, I think the worst would be an angry Nigerian yelling in Chinese.) After about 45 minutes they herd us back on the bus to get back on the plane. And, I'm pretty sure it was the same we're-having-issues plane we were on before. But, we're still not leaving. After a while, god comes back on saying that there is an issue with a passenger and the police are on their way. Oh good. It turns out that one of the angry, yelling men was also and angry, punching man. Someone punched a security guard and was in custody. The kicker, needs-anger-management wanted to get back on the plane and all of the attendants were flipping their shit because they didn't want him on board. Duh. HE PUNCHED A SECURITY GUARD. You can't punch security guards. That's against the rules. Anyways, I think they finally came to a decision that he couldn't get back on the plane and we left for Shanghai. Three hours late. No big deal.
Being in Shanghai at the conference was cool. It was the most relaxing AIESEC conference I've been at but, I was also sick and dying for most of it so whatever. Yay fever! My body got significantly happier when I told it that I was bringing it back to Mongolia. Silly body. Don't you know there's smog and cold here?
Anyways, I'm back to the land of smog and ice now. Hooray! Back to work! Which I'm actually very excited about. There's a lot to get accomplished in the next few months before we move on to different things. For me, that will mean moving to Australia to work for AIESEC there. I'll be based in Sydney, but I'll get the chance to travel a bit. (And, if I can swing it International Congress in Kenya...but I'm not counting that egg yet).
There, that should keep you kids busy for a while. :)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
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
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
Thursday, December 9, 2010
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."
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."
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Winter camping
What's more crazy that spending the night in a ger without a sleeping bag in -15 Celsius? Probably hiking up a mountain at midnight in the same -15 degrees. (5 Fahrenheit). Or driving down the road with 7 people and a dog packed into a car with 5 riding on the outside of it. And, where else is all of the possible, but in chilly, crazy Mongoland.
So, it was one of my friend's birthdays this weekend and for her birthday she decided that an 8 hour hike out to a monastery (which I skipped)and overnighting at a ger camp would be the best way to celebrate. So, 14 crazy people hiked out and another 10 crazy people joined them post hike to party hardy in some gers about an hour outside of the city. And, of course the ger camp was at the bottom of a hill/baby mountain so why not climb it in the middle of the night? I couldn't find an adequate answer so I climbed it with two of the other campers. It was cold, but gorgeous. There was a fully moon to light everything up, which made hiking easier. The stars were big and bright. And, all of the mountains and valleys we could see from top were lit up beautifully. Then I spent the night bundled up in my parka sans sleeping bag huddling between a fellow sleeping bag-less, parka bearing camper and the ger stove for warmth. Fortunately one of the guys in my ger used to live in a ger for real during his Peace Corp days so he got up early and re-kindled our fire. Which was awesome. We hung around for a bit in the morning before Jocelyn's car could get a jump so we could drive back to the city. Most of the people who hiked in to the camp on Saturday were hiking back out to a nearby town to catch rides back to the city. We crammed a few into Jocelyn's car just for the short ride - 7 and a puppy in total. Then when we passed some of the hikers on their way to town to catch a ride a few of them jumped on the car and stood on the runners and held on for the 5k ride to town. All in all we had 12 people and a puppy in or on the car until we got to town. And from there back to the city it was a mostly normal car ride.
Today is team day for MC Mongolia complete with massages at home (from a blind Mongolian lady trained in Japanese style massage - whatever that means), dinner and movies. Yay!
So, it was one of my friend's birthdays this weekend and for her birthday she decided that an 8 hour hike out to a monastery (which I skipped)and overnighting at a ger camp would be the best way to celebrate. So, 14 crazy people hiked out and another 10 crazy people joined them post hike to party hardy in some gers about an hour outside of the city. And, of course the ger camp was at the bottom of a hill/baby mountain so why not climb it in the middle of the night? I couldn't find an adequate answer so I climbed it with two of the other campers. It was cold, but gorgeous. There was a fully moon to light everything up, which made hiking easier. The stars were big and bright. And, all of the mountains and valleys we could see from top were lit up beautifully. Then I spent the night bundled up in my parka sans sleeping bag huddling between a fellow sleeping bag-less, parka bearing camper and the ger stove for warmth. Fortunately one of the guys in my ger used to live in a ger for real during his Peace Corp days so he got up early and re-kindled our fire. Which was awesome. We hung around for a bit in the morning before Jocelyn's car could get a jump so we could drive back to the city. Most of the people who hiked in to the camp on Saturday were hiking back out to a nearby town to catch rides back to the city. We crammed a few into Jocelyn's car just for the short ride - 7 and a puppy in total. Then when we passed some of the hikers on their way to town to catch a ride a few of them jumped on the car and stood on the runners and held on for the 5k ride to town. All in all we had 12 people and a puppy in or on the car until we got to town. And from there back to the city it was a mostly normal car ride.
Today is team day for MC Mongolia complete with massages at home (from a blind Mongolian lady trained in Japanese style massage - whatever that means), dinner and movies. Yay!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Adventures in China!
Gina, Pago, and I - now the only three members of the national team or MC (Member Committee) of AIESEC Mongolia headed to China for Great Wall fun and a conference.
This trip has been an experience if nothing else. Well, the last two and a half weeks - at least. So, I went from being kicked out of my apartment - with my two roommates on Thursday morning. To learning my third teammate was kicked out of his apartment on Friday night. To finding and moving into a new apartment on Sunday. Then packing for China and leaving on Monday. Getting there was only the beginning of the adventures.
We got on a train in Ulaanbaatar around 8pm on Monday and got to Erlian, a city just across the Chinese border around 11 am Tuesday morning. We then caught a "black taxi" for a 7 hour drive from the border to Beijing. Our driver was awesome! But, of course, spoke no English so there were a few scary moments in mis-translation. Like, when he giggled, said Beijing, and pointed in the direction opposite to where we were actually driving. After freaking out for a few minutes, he showed us some receipts that indicated he had done this same long-ass drive the day before and we were indeed still headed for Beijing. We all breathed a sigh of relief. There was also another pretty sweet moment when "Hey, Soul Sister" came on the radio and he started 'singing' along and then giggled some more. It was the only song he knew through the entire drive - we were listening to our iPods on his radio...
We finally made it to Beijing around 7pm on Tuesday, crashed the MoC (Mainland of China) MC office, and went to dinner. MC Mongolia and MCP of Canada then went back to the MC flat for a "nap". Only to be woken up 8 hours later to go to the GREAT WALL!! Holla. It was an awesome nap. There is only one working shower in the MC flat and my team had not showered in several days. But, when we went to shower the electricity was out in the half of the apartment with the one working shower and toilet. No, worries there was still water. And, of course the Mongolian MC has been dealing with far more interesting things than cold, dark showers for the last four months so we got to be stinky free for the first time in a few days. The rest of the MCs were too chicken.
Then, on to the Great Wall! It was pretty great. There were LOTS of people at the bit that we went to. Silly tourists. But, it was still pretty awesome. At one point my group blocked off a section of wall for jumping pics, which of course none of them turned out right. Eventually, some guy with a professional camera came over to help us out - hopefully we'll get those pictures, but who knows...
After the Great Wall we went to visit the Temple of Heaven, which I don't really know what that was. I think it was some kind of religious grounds or something. It was really pretty though.
Then we went for dinner at a hot pot place that served free beer all night. That was awesome, and a little absurd. After the free beer and hot pot we went to a hookah bar and club for a going away party. With a small cover charge (about 3$ USD) there was an open bar. Yay open bar! There was lots of dancing and helping my guy friends get drinks when they got ignored by the male bartenders. Oh feminine wiles - how useful you are.
The next day we left for the conference, bright and hungover early. Four days of dancing, learning, AIESECy awesomeness. And, of course, damn China being as freaking huge as it is had nearly 500 NEW members at their induction conference. My team and I were facilitators for sessions which was pretty cool working with new members. But, as conferences usually are, it was exhausting.
We made it back to Beijing too late on Sunday to figure out our return travels so we just "napped" again. Got up Monday morning trying to find a car or something to take us back to Erlian so we could catch a train to UB. Well, that didn't work. So, we decided to catch the Tuesday Trans-Siberian and come back all the way by train. But, when we went to get the tickets we found out that they had switched the schedule - because why would you ever have the correct schedule posted online? And, the train only went on Monday and Wednesday mornings... Eff. Well with lots and lots of logistical assistance from the MoC MC we found a bus that was leaving Monday afternoon for Erlian and we could catch a train to UB on Tuesday evening. So we hauled ass back to the MC flat to pack and then rushed to the bus station just in time to grab our tickets and jump on the bus. At first we were confused there were only 4 other people on the whole bus which had space for 30 (it was a sleeper bus, so we had bunks not chairs). Well, we drove around the block to the stop where all of the Mongolians got on the bus with their heaps and heaps of boxes, bags, and other goodies. The aisles were filled with boxes and luggage so that when the rest of the people finally got on the bus they had to scramble over all the junk in the aisles to get to their bunks. It was pretty absurd. Then 15 hours later we arrived in Erlian only to have to wait for another 9 hours to catch the train back to UB. And, after 15 hours on the train the last leg of our epic 42 hour journey from BJ to UB was finally completed.
All in all it was a fantastic experience - I got to meet lots of cool people including the MC from China, the MCP of Canada, and all of the new members. I got to hang out and bond with my team, which we haven't been able to do yet in our term because we've been so damn busy working. I got to talk TM with other VP TMs and finally feel like I have a direction to take the rest of my term. It was a pretty awesome trip.
This trip has been an experience if nothing else. Well, the last two and a half weeks - at least. So, I went from being kicked out of my apartment - with my two roommates on Thursday morning. To learning my third teammate was kicked out of his apartment on Friday night. To finding and moving into a new apartment on Sunday. Then packing for China and leaving on Monday. Getting there was only the beginning of the adventures.
We got on a train in Ulaanbaatar around 8pm on Monday and got to Erlian, a city just across the Chinese border around 11 am Tuesday morning. We then caught a "black taxi" for a 7 hour drive from the border to Beijing. Our driver was awesome! But, of course, spoke no English so there were a few scary moments in mis-translation. Like, when he giggled, said Beijing, and pointed in the direction opposite to where we were actually driving. After freaking out for a few minutes, he showed us some receipts that indicated he had done this same long-ass drive the day before and we were indeed still headed for Beijing. We all breathed a sigh of relief. There was also another pretty sweet moment when "Hey, Soul Sister" came on the radio and he started 'singing' along and then giggled some more. It was the only song he knew through the entire drive - we were listening to our iPods on his radio...
We finally made it to Beijing around 7pm on Tuesday, crashed the MoC (Mainland of China) MC office, and went to dinner. MC Mongolia and MCP of Canada then went back to the MC flat for a "nap". Only to be woken up 8 hours later to go to the GREAT WALL!! Holla. It was an awesome nap. There is only one working shower in the MC flat and my team had not showered in several days. But, when we went to shower the electricity was out in the half of the apartment with the one working shower and toilet. No, worries there was still water. And, of course the Mongolian MC has been dealing with far more interesting things than cold, dark showers for the last four months so we got to be stinky free for the first time in a few days. The rest of the MCs were too chicken.
Then, on to the Great Wall! It was pretty great. There were LOTS of people at the bit that we went to. Silly tourists. But, it was still pretty awesome. At one point my group blocked off a section of wall for jumping pics, which of course none of them turned out right. Eventually, some guy with a professional camera came over to help us out - hopefully we'll get those pictures, but who knows...
After the Great Wall we went to visit the Temple of Heaven, which I don't really know what that was. I think it was some kind of religious grounds or something. It was really pretty though.
Then we went for dinner at a hot pot place that served free beer all night. That was awesome, and a little absurd. After the free beer and hot pot we went to a hookah bar and club for a going away party. With a small cover charge (about 3$ USD) there was an open bar. Yay open bar! There was lots of dancing and helping my guy friends get drinks when they got ignored by the male bartenders. Oh feminine wiles - how useful you are.
The next day we left for the conference, bright and hungover early. Four days of dancing, learning, AIESECy awesomeness. And, of course, damn China being as freaking huge as it is had nearly 500 NEW members at their induction conference. My team and I were facilitators for sessions which was pretty cool working with new members. But, as conferences usually are, it was exhausting.
We made it back to Beijing too late on Sunday to figure out our return travels so we just "napped" again. Got up Monday morning trying to find a car or something to take us back to Erlian so we could catch a train to UB. Well, that didn't work. So, we decided to catch the Tuesday Trans-Siberian and come back all the way by train. But, when we went to get the tickets we found out that they had switched the schedule - because why would you ever have the correct schedule posted online? And, the train only went on Monday and Wednesday mornings... Eff. Well with lots and lots of logistical assistance from the MoC MC we found a bus that was leaving Monday afternoon for Erlian and we could catch a train to UB on Tuesday evening. So we hauled ass back to the MC flat to pack and then rushed to the bus station just in time to grab our tickets and jump on the bus. At first we were confused there were only 4 other people on the whole bus which had space for 30 (it was a sleeper bus, so we had bunks not chairs). Well, we drove around the block to the stop where all of the Mongolians got on the bus with their heaps and heaps of boxes, bags, and other goodies. The aisles were filled with boxes and luggage so that when the rest of the people finally got on the bus they had to scramble over all the junk in the aisles to get to their bunks. It was pretty absurd. Then 15 hours later we arrived in Erlian only to have to wait for another 9 hours to catch the train back to UB. And, after 15 hours on the train the last leg of our epic 42 hour journey from BJ to UB was finally completed.
All in all it was a fantastic experience - I got to meet lots of cool people including the MC from China, the MCP of Canada, and all of the new members. I got to hang out and bond with my team, which we haven't been able to do yet in our term because we've been so damn busy working. I got to talk TM with other VP TMs and finally feel like I have a direction to take the rest of my term. It was a pretty awesome trip.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Dear Landlord,
I don't care that your brother needs a place to live. I don't care that you might be having business problems with the current renter which I am subleasing from.
What I do care about though is the fact that I have a lease with you and you are breaking it for absolutely no legitimate reason and leaving me homeless. I care that while I should be packing for an awesome trip to China, I am packing up my small and apparently insignificant life to start living as a drifter. I care that every time I show up to look at an apartment the price suddenly changes from 600,000Tugrik to 600 US Dollars - a significant increase of about 200USD. A jump which takes an apartment from the realm of affordable to the realm of impossible.
My favorite moment so far in apartment hunting was when we were meeting with our third or fourth landlord of the day yesterday and the reason he gave us for not dropping the price was that "he needed money for things". True, I'm sure. We all "need money for things". But, he is barking up the wrong girl on that front. You need money? You? A wealthy businessman who rents to foreigners on the side? And you plan to get that money from NGO workers who get paid a salary that is lower than the rent of the apartment? I appreciate your plight sympathetically, I'm sure. But, I'll just keep looking.
Or, new favorite moment of the day, when another landlord wanted us to help her run her company and teach English in exchange for lower rent. I swear, if one more person, company, or otherwise wants me to teach English in exchange for anything other than a salary I will scream.
Anyways, landlord - I have a few choice words and accompanying songs for you. (Click the words to hear/watch the songs...)
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.
Love, Bridget
What I do care about though is the fact that I have a lease with you and you are breaking it for absolutely no legitimate reason and leaving me homeless. I care that while I should be packing for an awesome trip to China, I am packing up my small and apparently insignificant life to start living as a drifter. I care that every time I show up to look at an apartment the price suddenly changes from 600,000Tugrik to 600 US Dollars - a significant increase of about 200USD. A jump which takes an apartment from the realm of affordable to the realm of impossible.
My favorite moment so far in apartment hunting was when we were meeting with our third or fourth landlord of the day yesterday and the reason he gave us for not dropping the price was that "he needed money for things". True, I'm sure. We all "need money for things". But, he is barking up the wrong girl on that front. You need money? You? A wealthy businessman who rents to foreigners on the side? And you plan to get that money from NGO workers who get paid a salary that is lower than the rent of the apartment? I appreciate your plight sympathetically, I'm sure. But, I'll just keep looking.
Or, new favorite moment of the day, when another landlord wanted us to help her run her company and teach English in exchange for lower rent. I swear, if one more person, company, or otherwise wants me to teach English in exchange for anything other than a salary I will scream.
Anyways, landlord - I have a few choice words and accompanying songs for you. (Click the words to hear/watch the songs...)
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.
Love, Bridget
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Holidays...
So, I guess for my first birthday out of the country it was decent. Some of the highlights... The night before my birthday some friends sang happy birthday to me in at least three different languages at the same time (Czech, Mongolian and Japanese). Then Wednesday evening I went out for drinks with some of the Fantasticks cast before practice. Which then led to the four of us being late and slightly tipsy for rehearsal. Oops. One of the ladies from the play made me cupcakes and so the cast sang Happy Birthday to me and we devoured cup cakes. And, the other lady who is doing tech crew with me brought me a bottle of wine. After wine and cupcakes most of the cast and I went to go watch a jazz jam session at The Square. The band even started one of their jams with Happy Birthday. I ended up going home early because I was tired and being a butt. The end of my birthday was pretty good, but it was just a really long, tiring day.
It's challenging to figure out how to celebrate when you can't use any of the traditions you've used in the past. This is less for birthdays, although still applicable for lots of holidays and celebrations. It's not the just the date that makes a day special, it's everything else that happens before and during that little black number on a calendar. Is it really a birthday without cake and presents, friends and family? If no one sings happy birthday, how can it be a happy birthday?
And, then there's Christmas. Because I tend to think that organized religion is a bunch of phooey, Christmas is not completely about the angels and wise men for me. It's about people being nicer to each other. It's about getting together with friends and family and appreciating the good things in life and the past year. It's about believing in the impossible whether it is Santa Clause or peace on earth or flying deer or good will towards all men. For one brief blink in time the impossible seems possible. It's about having faith in people again. About believing that good things can and do happen. It's about showing that you care about somebody, letting them know that they matter.
Of course it's also about Christmas cookies, and pie, and Christmas movies, and making wreathes at your grandparents house, and decorating the tree, Christmas music, and waking up at 4:00 in the morning to sneak downstairs before your parents wake up. Even at 21, I had to set an alarm to wake up before my mom to sneak downstairs. Although I'm pretty sure that she was already awake. What is Christmas without that overwhelming scent of pine that will always bring me back to my grandparents workshop when I would help them build wreaths? What is Christmas without phone calls from family and text messages from friends wishing a Merry Christmas? What is Christmas Eve without Scrooge and snacking all day? What is Christmas without a tree?
I suppose it will have to be an opportunity for new traditions. For making new friends into family.
It's challenging to figure out how to celebrate when you can't use any of the traditions you've used in the past. This is less for birthdays, although still applicable for lots of holidays and celebrations. It's not the just the date that makes a day special, it's everything else that happens before and during that little black number on a calendar. Is it really a birthday without cake and presents, friends and family? If no one sings happy birthday, how can it be a happy birthday?
And, then there's Christmas. Because I tend to think that organized religion is a bunch of phooey, Christmas is not completely about the angels and wise men for me. It's about people being nicer to each other. It's about getting together with friends and family and appreciating the good things in life and the past year. It's about believing in the impossible whether it is Santa Clause or peace on earth or flying deer or good will towards all men. For one brief blink in time the impossible seems possible. It's about having faith in people again. About believing that good things can and do happen. It's about showing that you care about somebody, letting them know that they matter.
Of course it's also about Christmas cookies, and pie, and Christmas movies, and making wreathes at your grandparents house, and decorating the tree, Christmas music, and waking up at 4:00 in the morning to sneak downstairs before your parents wake up. Even at 21, I had to set an alarm to wake up before my mom to sneak downstairs. Although I'm pretty sure that she was already awake. What is Christmas without that overwhelming scent of pine that will always bring me back to my grandparents workshop when I would help them build wreaths? What is Christmas without phone calls from family and text messages from friends wishing a Merry Christmas? What is Christmas Eve without Scrooge and snacking all day? What is Christmas without a tree?
I suppose it will have to be an opportunity for new traditions. For making new friends into family.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Snow and Salsa
So, it is probably an understatement to say that things have been crazy around here. Chaotic, mind-blowingly hectic, topsy-turvy, yes. Those are closer. But, eventually rewarding.
I've been running recruitment for the last two weeks, and it should be officially over next Saturday. While I enjoy meeting new, potential members, and seeing the next generation of AIESECers at the very start of their journey, it is still an intensely draining process. Doing interviews was a fascinating process. It was fun to watch the current AIESECers learn how we wanted them to interview and then have them interview and evaluate potential new members. It was also impressive to watch the interviewees stand up under the pressure of being drilled about AIESEC. Although Gina and I may have been more intimidating at the start because we don't speak Mongolian, we were definitely the more lenient interviewers. Some of our members, Adiya and Boldko, were pretty damn tough. Although, it had to be difficult for them too to interview in English (which they both speak well), but had to do it and not let the interviewee speak in Mongolian - which several of them wanted to. But, they did pretty awesome...
I'm also working on pushing AIESEC Mongolia to take shape and have leaders and such - which is interesting. Some people that the MC had thought would be good for leadership positions are not interested and all, and then there have been some surprises for people who are interested who we didn't think would be. As long as the people who eventually end up in leadership can be reliable and communicative, I think we'll be in decent shape.
Mostly, I've been slowly climbing a pretty respectable learning curve. Work ethic in college is completely different from the work ethic required for running a nearly brand new NGO. The hours are wonkier, the days longer, and the level of adaptability required to keep sanity is through the roof, as is the ability to bullshit believably. With possible members, potential partners, current partners, complete outsiders, current members asking all kinds of questions you never thought of or thought you would have to answer - it helps to be a little quick on your feet to assemble enough of the truth with just a hint of bull and a dash of eloquence (more or less used to obfuscate the language than anything) to convince the questioner that you actually do know what you're talking about. College so did not prepare me for this - then you could offer to answer with prepared BS, or just write it down in term paper format with a well cited list of people who did know what they were talking about. Here, it's all original. Thank you, thank you I'll be here all year.
Anyways besides working my little brains out recently, there has been a sneeze of social life. The play that I am tech crew for is slowly chugging along and hopefully will live long enough to make it to production. Meeting more people from the ex-pat network which is nice to have people to share experiences with. I re-attempted shopping. It went better this time. Still not great, but better. Slowly accumulating more acceptable clothing. Slowly. Finally found shoes that fit, and a few shirts, but I'm going to have to locate a tailor to get pants. Also, Saturday it snowed and I went to a fund-raiser salsa event. The whole eventing was kind of a cultural conundrum - It was at an American bar called American Ger'll. My group drank red wine (while salsaing), ate pepperoni pizza, and danced to salsa music - in Mongolia. Sounds more like a night in Athens than Ulaanbaatar.
Also, you should probably watch this http://vimeo.com/15041403
It might not make a lot of sense if you don't know Mongolia. But, it's pretty fun. (And, I know them.)
I've been running recruitment for the last two weeks, and it should be officially over next Saturday. While I enjoy meeting new, potential members, and seeing the next generation of AIESECers at the very start of their journey, it is still an intensely draining process. Doing interviews was a fascinating process. It was fun to watch the current AIESECers learn how we wanted them to interview and then have them interview and evaluate potential new members. It was also impressive to watch the interviewees stand up under the pressure of being drilled about AIESEC. Although Gina and I may have been more intimidating at the start because we don't speak Mongolian, we were definitely the more lenient interviewers. Some of our members, Adiya and Boldko, were pretty damn tough. Although, it had to be difficult for them too to interview in English (which they both speak well), but had to do it and not let the interviewee speak in Mongolian - which several of them wanted to. But, they did pretty awesome...
I'm also working on pushing AIESEC Mongolia to take shape and have leaders and such - which is interesting. Some people that the MC had thought would be good for leadership positions are not interested and all, and then there have been some surprises for people who are interested who we didn't think would be. As long as the people who eventually end up in leadership can be reliable and communicative, I think we'll be in decent shape.
Mostly, I've been slowly climbing a pretty respectable learning curve. Work ethic in college is completely different from the work ethic required for running a nearly brand new NGO. The hours are wonkier, the days longer, and the level of adaptability required to keep sanity is through the roof, as is the ability to bullshit believably. With possible members, potential partners, current partners, complete outsiders, current members asking all kinds of questions you never thought of or thought you would have to answer - it helps to be a little quick on your feet to assemble enough of the truth with just a hint of bull and a dash of eloquence (more or less used to obfuscate the language than anything) to convince the questioner that you actually do know what you're talking about. College so did not prepare me for this - then you could offer to answer with prepared BS, or just write it down in term paper format with a well cited list of people who did know what they were talking about. Here, it's all original. Thank you, thank you I'll be here all year.
Anyways besides working my little brains out recently, there has been a sneeze of social life. The play that I am tech crew for is slowly chugging along and hopefully will live long enough to make it to production. Meeting more people from the ex-pat network which is nice to have people to share experiences with. I re-attempted shopping. It went better this time. Still not great, but better. Slowly accumulating more acceptable clothing. Slowly. Finally found shoes that fit, and a few shirts, but I'm going to have to locate a tailor to get pants. Also, Saturday it snowed and I went to a fund-raiser salsa event. The whole eventing was kind of a cultural conundrum - It was at an American bar called American Ger'll. My group drank red wine (while salsaing), ate pepperoni pizza, and danced to salsa music - in Mongolia. Sounds more like a night in Athens than Ulaanbaatar.
Also, you should probably watch this http://vimeo.com/15041403
It might not make a lot of sense if you don't know Mongolia. But, it's pretty fun. (And, I know them.)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
backgui tom
When I first moved to UB, it didn't feel much different than moving across the country. The biggest differences were the language barrier and the time difference. And, I still maintain that feeling. Shopping in UB doesn't make me feel any better than shopping in the US. And, Ice cream still makes everything better.
However, when I do shopping here instead of having to try things on for hours and going home discouraged, now I just have to walk into a shop and they look at me and go "backgui tom." Kind translation "We don't have your size." Actual translation: "Holy shit, I don't think I've ever carried clothes or shoes big enough to fit you. You mammoth." Okay, so that might be an exaggeration. But, it still doesn't make for happy shopping trips. I've even been losing weight like crazy, so that most of the clothes I brought with me are baggy. And, usually while shoe shopping is kind to the ego - they don't really have sizes larger than an (American) 8. I wear a 10. It's swell. At least the ice cream is cheaper and still delicious enough to sooth a smarting ego.
However, when I do shopping here instead of having to try things on for hours and going home discouraged, now I just have to walk into a shop and they look at me and go "backgui tom." Kind translation "We don't have your size." Actual translation: "Holy shit, I don't think I've ever carried clothes or shoes big enough to fit you. You mammoth." Okay, so that might be an exaggeration. But, it still doesn't make for happy shopping trips. I've even been losing weight like crazy, so that most of the clothes I brought with me are baggy. And, usually while shoe shopping is kind to the ego - they don't really have sizes larger than an (American) 8. I wear a 10. It's swell. At least the ice cream is cheaper and still delicious enough to sooth a smarting ego.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Dear...
Dear Eyes,
If you start replaying any part of our last two months together I will sell you on the black market and get new ones. I don't think you understand that I need you to be reliable, and you are not keeping up your end of the deal on this one.
Love,
Bridget
Dear Eye Doctors,
If you could fix my shit the first time and not the twelve hundredth that would be super. My pockets are not deep enough to support the rent on your third vacation home in the countryside.
Love,
Bridget
Dear Internet,
You are adopted.
Love,
Bridget
If you start replaying any part of our last two months together I will sell you on the black market and get new ones. I don't think you understand that I need you to be reliable, and you are not keeping up your end of the deal on this one.
Love,
Bridget
Dear Eye Doctors,
If you could fix my shit the first time and not the twelve hundredth that would be super. My pockets are not deep enough to support the rent on your third vacation home in the countryside.
Love,
Bridget
Dear Internet,
You are adopted.
Love,
Bridget
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thoughts on traveling and karma...
More thoughts stemming from a conversation with a friend on traveling to places where the locals can be assholes to person of the non-local persuasion...
For me, it's just being rude to traveler's in general - for any country- that is a no go. I understand pickpockets and such, in a lot of places if you have the money to travel - you are richer than the local population. But, not always. Just because we chose to travel doesn't mean we are rich. It means that this is a particular life choice. It means that this is what we want to do with our lives, and we'll make it happen whether or not we are rollin' in the Benjamins. It does not necessarily logically correlate to travelers making bank. In fact it can just as easily be other other way. Obviously we have some money because we can make it from place to place. But, some of us are still surviving on a tight budget...
But the people who really bother me when they choose to be dirt bags are the people who work in the travel/tourism sector or run businesses that end up catering to travelers. There's no reason for them to be crappy. We are still bringing business. Our money works just as well as locals. And I'm convinced there are only a few other ways to rack up karma points quicker than being nice to someone in need - this includes travelers. Which, although travelers of the vagabond variety have to be self sufficient and independent - everyone needs a hand sometimes. And, especially if you ever plan on traveling yourself, you had better be nice to your fellow travelers. One day you will need help, and if you've been a douche bag --this goes for all of the hotel managers who charge triple normal rates for skin tax, and taxi drivers who over charge and grab at people to prevent them from leaving the car, among others-- who knows how favorable Karma is going to look upon you. She is meticulous in her tally.
For me, it's just being rude to traveler's in general - for any country- that is a no go. I understand pickpockets and such, in a lot of places if you have the money to travel - you are richer than the local population. But, not always. Just because we chose to travel doesn't mean we are rich. It means that this is a particular life choice. It means that this is what we want to do with our lives, and we'll make it happen whether or not we are rollin' in the Benjamins. It does not necessarily logically correlate to travelers making bank. In fact it can just as easily be other other way. Obviously we have some money because we can make it from place to place. But, some of us are still surviving on a tight budget...
But the people who really bother me when they choose to be dirt bags are the people who work in the travel/tourism sector or run businesses that end up catering to travelers. There's no reason for them to be crappy. We are still bringing business. Our money works just as well as locals. And I'm convinced there are only a few other ways to rack up karma points quicker than being nice to someone in need - this includes travelers. Which, although travelers of the vagabond variety have to be self sufficient and independent - everyone needs a hand sometimes. And, especially if you ever plan on traveling yourself, you had better be nice to your fellow travelers. One day you will need help, and if you've been a douche bag --this goes for all of the hotel managers who charge triple normal rates for skin tax, and taxi drivers who over charge and grab at people to prevent them from leaving the car, among others-- who knows how favorable Karma is going to look upon you. She is meticulous in her tally.
The road goes ever on and on... Or musings on home and travel.
The first question people usually ask me when the find out I'm in Mongolia is how long I'm staying in Mongolia. I get this from people here as well as people in the US. It's a fairly easy question. I should be here a year barring great love or great loss.
The second question people usually ask me is when I'm going home. This one is a bit trickier. I know that I'll be here for a year, but I haven't a clue where I'm headed after that. Or, for how long. The other part that makes this question tricky is that "home" is a rather abstract idea to me. For me, it's not a place. I've lived in a lot of places all of which have had their merits and downfalls, but none of which have captured my heart forever. Clearly, I'm still moving around. It's hard to even label it as a set of people because all of the people in my life that as an aggregate would make up "home" are never in the same place. So, really my home is spread all over the world right now. This makes it hard for me to pin point a time at which I will be going home. Safe to say, it probably won't be for a while. Recently, a friend labeled me as "undomiciled". I am on the move without a permanent fixture to which I return. I think that's a pretty accurate description
When people ask the second question they are usually asking when I will be returning to the US. I don't even really know that. (Sorry Mom and Dad). I have been dreaming about traveling for a very long time. I still remember sitting on the bus in middle school plotting travels to New Zealand (thank you Lord of the Rings...). Or just buying my own island somewhere in the world. It'll happen. It's not that I don't like the US. Well, not all of the time anyways. And, even in the three months that I've been gone I have learned to appreciate the US. But, now that I'm out, I want to see what else is out here.
I want to have adventures and travel before I get too overwhelmed by a sense of "responsibility". Or, if I'm lucky, I'll be able avoid it altogether. I don't ever want to be trapped doing something soul crushing. I know that doing the crappy work that no one else wants to do builds character or something equally unpleasant. But, it's not that I'm against doing grunt work. I'm against doing things that bring down the soul. Things that are frustrating, and detrimental to emotional well being. No one should be stuck doing something that they hate. It makes for unhappy people, and unhappy people never did anyone any good.
In another recent conversation a friend was asking my plans next, which of course I don't know. To which he rebuttals, Bridget you're probably going to end up somewhere interesting and stay there, aren't you? I hope so. I don't know what I want to do, but I don't think I have to know that yet. I'll find it. Or, it'll find me. Eventually.
The second question people usually ask me is when I'm going home. This one is a bit trickier. I know that I'll be here for a year, but I haven't a clue where I'm headed after that. Or, for how long. The other part that makes this question tricky is that "home" is a rather abstract idea to me. For me, it's not a place. I've lived in a lot of places all of which have had their merits and downfalls, but none of which have captured my heart forever. Clearly, I'm still moving around. It's hard to even label it as a set of people because all of the people in my life that as an aggregate would make up "home" are never in the same place. So, really my home is spread all over the world right now. This makes it hard for me to pin point a time at which I will be going home. Safe to say, it probably won't be for a while. Recently, a friend labeled me as "undomiciled". I am on the move without a permanent fixture to which I return. I think that's a pretty accurate description
When people ask the second question they are usually asking when I will be returning to the US. I don't even really know that. (Sorry Mom and Dad). I have been dreaming about traveling for a very long time. I still remember sitting on the bus in middle school plotting travels to New Zealand (thank you Lord of the Rings...). Or just buying my own island somewhere in the world. It'll happen. It's not that I don't like the US. Well, not all of the time anyways. And, even in the three months that I've been gone I have learned to appreciate the US. But, now that I'm out, I want to see what else is out here.
I want to have adventures and travel before I get too overwhelmed by a sense of "responsibility". Or, if I'm lucky, I'll be able avoid it altogether. I don't ever want to be trapped doing something soul crushing. I know that doing the crappy work that no one else wants to do builds character or something equally unpleasant. But, it's not that I'm against doing grunt work. I'm against doing things that bring down the soul. Things that are frustrating, and detrimental to emotional well being. No one should be stuck doing something that they hate. It makes for unhappy people, and unhappy people never did anyone any good.
In another recent conversation a friend was asking my plans next, which of course I don't know. To which he rebuttals, Bridget you're probably going to end up somewhere interesting and stay there, aren't you? I hope so. I don't know what I want to do, but I don't think I have to know that yet. I'll find it. Or, it'll find me. Eventually.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Meditations on Mongolia.
When I found out I was moving to the other side of the world, it didn't dawn on me right then that I would moving to the other side of history as well. And, to me it is incredibly eye opening to be on the other side.
On the world stage, America is probably the popular, flashy jock. He's pretty good at a lot of things, he can be a good guy, everyone wants to be on his good side (even if they don't really like him), but there are a lot of people who just don't like the bastard. Mongolia would be the quiet Asian girl who is smart, older girl, who mostly flies under the radar, has seen a lot of things, made some mistakes, and is trying to get back on her feet. She's proud of who she is, she's opinionated, but she gets along with most people, even if she does have a few weird hang-ups.
It's interesting to go from the US where there are people who still consider Communism a threat to Mongolia where it's simply part of their history. There are buildings with Marx and Lenin on them. There are giant monuments celebrating Russia and the Russo-Mongolian friendship. Here, Russia is the good guy because he chased out the Chinese. And, although China is not exactly our favorite country in the US, I don't know if anyone could hate China as much as Mongolians. In a way, it's understandable - Mongolia is a sparsely populated, small, mineral rich country. China is a very large, hungry, densely populated giant with the political and man power to take what they want without being stopped. In many ways it seems to me that the Mongolian hate for China is just fear that turned sour. But, it also has something to do with a long, bloody, angry history between the two. Should the Mongolians hate the Chinese? Probably not, because hate is never the answer. But, then again who am I to judge I'm from a hungry superpower, not the country whose land and resources get poached by the hungry superpower...
Mongolia is also one of the few countries in the world with an open North Korean presence. There is a North Korean embassy. There are North Korean restaurants, and North Korean people who work in them. This would be pretty much unheard of in the US. As far as I know, in most places in the US, it just wouldn't happen. I still remember Freshman year of college I had a t-shirt on that was pro-human rights activities in NoKo (not pro-NoKo), and I was angrily approached by some of the ROTC kids in the dining hall. Once they realized I wasn't a Kim-Jim-whatsisface supporter, they backed off (one even apologized). But, still, it's just a country that is not really tolerated in the US. But, here it is.
But, the one thing I'm still trying to wrap my head around is the Mongolian appreciation Hitler. As in, Adolf Hitler. The fellow who is responsible for WWII. Yeah, same guy.
I've seen several people throw up the Nazi Salute for pictures the way I use the thumbs up. And two seconds later they're putting up a peace sign. I've seen several people with swastika earrings or gear. These are people I know, friends, students - people who seem sane and peaceful. There is a blossoming anti-Chinese, Mongolian purity movement. I think it's something akin to a KKK movement. It's not super large, but it is definitely present. I'm pretty sure that the two are linked to a mis-seated sense of Mongolian pride. Not, normal pride. But, the kind that spawns hatred, fear, paranoia, and a twisted desire for absolute purity. Although, of course the desire for purity only seems to be concerned with the behavior of Mongolian women, not Mongolian men, and the activities of foreign men not foreign women. (How convenient.) Anyways, I want to know where this fascination and approval of Hitler came from. Is it taught in schools? Or just passed through families? How can a family be pro-Hitler, pro-Mongolian exclusivity, and yet still be interested in learning several languages, still encourage their children to learn languages, still want to travel outside of Mongolia? It's okay for Mongolians to infiltrate the rest of the world, but it's not okay for the rest of the world to reciprocate? I can understand national pride. I'm not really very patriotic, and even I can summon my heart to feel a twinge of pride when America does something right. I can understand being afraid of your neighbors. (It makes me wonder how Mexico and Canada feel about the US). But, I can't understand idolizing Hitler. I just don't get it.
I can't really rectify the two different Mongolia's. There's the Mongolia who has a relationship with NoKo (which I don' really think is a negative thing, just a thing), and fond memories of the Russians. The Mongolia who has decent relations with most of the world. The Mongolia who will be a significant presence in the global mining industry. With the key word being "global". There are a lot of countries who are going to be dipping their sticky fingers into Mongolian mining as this business takes off. The Mongolia who has been growing, and internationalizing rapidly over the last decade. Then there's the Mongolia who hates China almost more than it loves itself. The Mongolia who fosters fond feelings for Hitler. The Mongolia that is dangerous to foreigners simply for being foreign... I could understand if these two Mongolia's were manifested in different people, it's when I see both of them represented in the same individual that I'm confused.
It also makes me wonder what conflictual ideology is leaking out of America. At least Mongolia is fairly small and homogeneous. America is neither. What kind of wonky rhetoric are we spewing forth for the benefit and confusion of the world?
I do know that even children whose English is patchy at best, American vocabulary is being slowly dispensed through music. They know what umbrellas are - thank you Rhianna. They know terms from various Lady Gaga and Beyonce lyrics. At least one person I know contributes her interest in English to her love of boy-bands in the 90s. And, oh yeah, they know, and use with ease - nigger. As does the rest of the world apparently. From what I've gathered from different people from Mongolia and Europe and maybe a few other places that America is one of the few, if not only, places where this word still has a huge stigma. And, I'm okay with it having a stigma. It's a nasty word with a vulgar history in the US. And, it seems to me that most people who use it with ease are from places with little racial heterogeneity, and little history of racial violence and discrimination. So, I don't really expect them to understand the gravity of that word because they don't have a history to accompany it - just a library of vulgar rap songs. Fantastic.
As always it is interesting to see which parts of history make it into circulation, and which parts do not. What bits of information make it around the world, and which get stuck in their country of origin. I wonder if we all took off our rose colored glasses a long time ago and replaced them with those shiny mirroirized sunglasses. Because I'm pretty sure that no one can see anyone else clearly. But, it is interesting to see how different interpretations of history manifest on the other side of things...
On the world stage, America is probably the popular, flashy jock. He's pretty good at a lot of things, he can be a good guy, everyone wants to be on his good side (even if they don't really like him), but there are a lot of people who just don't like the bastard. Mongolia would be the quiet Asian girl who is smart, older girl, who mostly flies under the radar, has seen a lot of things, made some mistakes, and is trying to get back on her feet. She's proud of who she is, she's opinionated, but she gets along with most people, even if she does have a few weird hang-ups.
It's interesting to go from the US where there are people who still consider Communism a threat to Mongolia where it's simply part of their history. There are buildings with Marx and Lenin on them. There are giant monuments celebrating Russia and the Russo-Mongolian friendship. Here, Russia is the good guy because he chased out the Chinese. And, although China is not exactly our favorite country in the US, I don't know if anyone could hate China as much as Mongolians. In a way, it's understandable - Mongolia is a sparsely populated, small, mineral rich country. China is a very large, hungry, densely populated giant with the political and man power to take what they want without being stopped. In many ways it seems to me that the Mongolian hate for China is just fear that turned sour. But, it also has something to do with a long, bloody, angry history between the two. Should the Mongolians hate the Chinese? Probably not, because hate is never the answer. But, then again who am I to judge I'm from a hungry superpower, not the country whose land and resources get poached by the hungry superpower...
Mongolia is also one of the few countries in the world with an open North Korean presence. There is a North Korean embassy. There are North Korean restaurants, and North Korean people who work in them. This would be pretty much unheard of in the US. As far as I know, in most places in the US, it just wouldn't happen. I still remember Freshman year of college I had a t-shirt on that was pro-human rights activities in NoKo (not pro-NoKo), and I was angrily approached by some of the ROTC kids in the dining hall. Once they realized I wasn't a Kim-Jim-whatsisface supporter, they backed off (one even apologized). But, still, it's just a country that is not really tolerated in the US. But, here it is.
But, the one thing I'm still trying to wrap my head around is the Mongolian appreciation Hitler. As in, Adolf Hitler. The fellow who is responsible for WWII. Yeah, same guy.
I've seen several people throw up the Nazi Salute for pictures the way I use the thumbs up. And two seconds later they're putting up a peace sign. I've seen several people with swastika earrings or gear. These are people I know, friends, students - people who seem sane and peaceful. There is a blossoming anti-Chinese, Mongolian purity movement. I think it's something akin to a KKK movement. It's not super large, but it is definitely present. I'm pretty sure that the two are linked to a mis-seated sense of Mongolian pride. Not, normal pride. But, the kind that spawns hatred, fear, paranoia, and a twisted desire for absolute purity. Although, of course the desire for purity only seems to be concerned with the behavior of Mongolian women, not Mongolian men, and the activities of foreign men not foreign women. (How convenient.) Anyways, I want to know where this fascination and approval of Hitler came from. Is it taught in schools? Or just passed through families? How can a family be pro-Hitler, pro-Mongolian exclusivity, and yet still be interested in learning several languages, still encourage their children to learn languages, still want to travel outside of Mongolia? It's okay for Mongolians to infiltrate the rest of the world, but it's not okay for the rest of the world to reciprocate? I can understand national pride. I'm not really very patriotic, and even I can summon my heart to feel a twinge of pride when America does something right. I can understand being afraid of your neighbors. (It makes me wonder how Mexico and Canada feel about the US). But, I can't understand idolizing Hitler. I just don't get it.
I can't really rectify the two different Mongolia's. There's the Mongolia who has a relationship with NoKo (which I don' really think is a negative thing, just a thing), and fond memories of the Russians. The Mongolia who has decent relations with most of the world. The Mongolia who will be a significant presence in the global mining industry. With the key word being "global". There are a lot of countries who are going to be dipping their sticky fingers into Mongolian mining as this business takes off. The Mongolia who has been growing, and internationalizing rapidly over the last decade. Then there's the Mongolia who hates China almost more than it loves itself. The Mongolia who fosters fond feelings for Hitler. The Mongolia that is dangerous to foreigners simply for being foreign... I could understand if these two Mongolia's were manifested in different people, it's when I see both of them represented in the same individual that I'm confused.
It also makes me wonder what conflictual ideology is leaking out of America. At least Mongolia is fairly small and homogeneous. America is neither. What kind of wonky rhetoric are we spewing forth for the benefit and confusion of the world?
I do know that even children whose English is patchy at best, American vocabulary is being slowly dispensed through music. They know what umbrellas are - thank you Rhianna. They know terms from various Lady Gaga and Beyonce lyrics. At least one person I know contributes her interest in English to her love of boy-bands in the 90s. And, oh yeah, they know, and use with ease - nigger. As does the rest of the world apparently. From what I've gathered from different people from Mongolia and Europe and maybe a few other places that America is one of the few, if not only, places where this word still has a huge stigma. And, I'm okay with it having a stigma. It's a nasty word with a vulgar history in the US. And, it seems to me that most people who use it with ease are from places with little racial heterogeneity, and little history of racial violence and discrimination. So, I don't really expect them to understand the gravity of that word because they don't have a history to accompany it - just a library of vulgar rap songs. Fantastic.
As always it is interesting to see which parts of history make it into circulation, and which parts do not. What bits of information make it around the world, and which get stuck in their country of origin. I wonder if we all took off our rose colored glasses a long time ago and replaced them with those shiny mirroirized sunglasses. Because I'm pretty sure that no one can see anyone else clearly. But, it is interesting to see how different interpretations of history manifest on the other side of things...
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Dear Eyes
While I love you dearly, and have come to rely on you quite heavily. I would appreciate it if you would stop taking advantage of my love and abusing our relationship.
I know that I should probably pay more attention to you. But, I treat you pretty well. You get contacts and glasses. You get dressed up to go out. And, you always, always look pretty. I take you to wonderful places around the world and let you see the sights. I read books with you. We watch movies together.
While, you keep getting weaker and causing my vision to worsen. And, now this. First an infection, and now a corneal abrasion. Really? Was this entirely called for? What did I ever do to you to deserve two weeks (at least) of itching, burning, oozing, dizziness, nausea, and eye patches? Not to mention that you have been freaking other people out. It's hard to teach with students staring at you because you insist on looking like a freak.
Whatever I did I'm sorry. I hope we can resolve our issues soon as I am living in an incredibly beautiful place and would like to be able to share it with you. Or even just look at my computer screen without feel nauseous.
Dear eyes, please accept my apologies and get well soon.
Love,
Bridget
I know that I should probably pay more attention to you. But, I treat you pretty well. You get contacts and glasses. You get dressed up to go out. And, you always, always look pretty. I take you to wonderful places around the world and let you see the sights. I read books with you. We watch movies together.
While, you keep getting weaker and causing my vision to worsen. And, now this. First an infection, and now a corneal abrasion. Really? Was this entirely called for? What did I ever do to you to deserve two weeks (at least) of itching, burning, oozing, dizziness, nausea, and eye patches? Not to mention that you have been freaking other people out. It's hard to teach with students staring at you because you insist on looking like a freak.
Whatever I did I'm sorry. I hope we can resolve our issues soon as I am living in an incredibly beautiful place and would like to be able to share it with you. Or even just look at my computer screen without feel nauseous.
Dear eyes, please accept my apologies and get well soon.
Love,
Bridget
Friday, July 30, 2010
Back to the "Real World"
If you can call living and working in playing in Mongolia the "real world".
So, camp is over for reals this time. I ended up missing four days of the last week of camp which was a pretty big bummer. Not only did I have to put up with swollen, red, itchy eye, but I had to miss out on the last week with my kids to do it. Suck.
We had class for half a day yesterday, and then played games, hung out, and went wild strawberry hunting in the mountains behind the camp in the afternoon. There are mountains all around the camp and a pine forest right behind the camp boundaries. So, a group of us went traipsing through the woods to hunt for strawberries. They were super tiny, but oh so delicious. And, of course the kids took tons of pictures with their super hip camera phones - I am so last generation with a separate camera and phone. We finished off the day with a goodnight song and camp stories (none of which I understood because it was all in Mongolian). They have been trying to teach me some words and my repertoire is up to 10 or 12 words on a good day. My favorite words so far are pronounced (I have no idea how they're spelled because their in cyrillic) "Yahwee" which means let's go, "Bicham hayartay" which means I love you, and "Yahsembeh" which means what's happening or what's going on. And, every time I use a Mongolian word they would be surprised and occasionally clap for me. It was fun.
Then today we packed up, and left, and that's that.
There were a lot of ups and downs with dreading going in the first place, hating my boss for making me do it, missing everyone at home like crazy, and then finally enjoying the kids as people and as students. The whole experience was way more emotionally interesting and personally fulfilling than I thought possible. They really were fantastic kids. I really enjoyed being Bridged Bagsh, and the younger of the two teachers. So, I got to be teacher Bridged during class and just Bridged after class for games and football and water fights and strawberry hunting. I will miss them a lot. But, it was good - no, it was freaking awesome.
Now, onto the next adventure.
So, camp is over for reals this time. I ended up missing four days of the last week of camp which was a pretty big bummer. Not only did I have to put up with swollen, red, itchy eye, but I had to miss out on the last week with my kids to do it. Suck.
We had class for half a day yesterday, and then played games, hung out, and went wild strawberry hunting in the mountains behind the camp in the afternoon. There are mountains all around the camp and a pine forest right behind the camp boundaries. So, a group of us went traipsing through the woods to hunt for strawberries. They were super tiny, but oh so delicious. And, of course the kids took tons of pictures with their super hip camera phones - I am so last generation with a separate camera and phone. We finished off the day with a goodnight song and camp stories (none of which I understood because it was all in Mongolian). They have been trying to teach me some words and my repertoire is up to 10 or 12 words on a good day. My favorite words so far are pronounced (I have no idea how they're spelled because their in cyrillic) "Yahwee" which means let's go, "Bicham hayartay" which means I love you, and "Yahsembeh" which means what's happening or what's going on. And, every time I use a Mongolian word they would be surprised and occasionally clap for me. It was fun.
Then today we packed up, and left, and that's that.
There were a lot of ups and downs with dreading going in the first place, hating my boss for making me do it, missing everyone at home like crazy, and then finally enjoying the kids as people and as students. The whole experience was way more emotionally interesting and personally fulfilling than I thought possible. They really were fantastic kids. I really enjoyed being Bridged Bagsh, and the younger of the two teachers. So, I got to be teacher Bridged during class and just Bridged after class for games and football and water fights and strawberry hunting. I will miss them a lot. But, it was good - no, it was freaking awesome.
Now, onto the next adventure.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Eye Cold
There are a lot of things that I did or experienced as a child that I just didn't understand or appreciate at the time. And, now that I'm older, I can fully appreciate these things because some things just get better with age. Pink eye is not one of those things. It still sucks even when you're not a kid. Itchy, puffy, oozy, gross pink eye.
Dear Camp Kids,
I love you, but stop giving me diseases. K, Thanks.
Love Brijt Teacher.
Anyways.
I spent all of last week back in the city to catch up on AIESEC work. Most of my attempts at catching up on AIESEC work were foiled either by getting nailed with more hours for my second, not-as-important job or blackouts during my only free hours of the day. Oh adventures. Teaching in the city has made me appreciate camp-time even more. The kids in the city are just boring. I pretty much have to threaten them with torture and almost certain death to get them to talk at all. Except this one girl, who NEVER shuts up. I don't think she's aware that she signed up for a group class instead of a tutoring session. She doesn't give other kids a chance to talk. And, one day when we were playing a game (which the rest of the class was enjoying - I asked them to make sure) she actually asked if we could do book work instead. What. The. Fuck. Crazy child. There's another boy who is apparently a model. And, so some of the days he just decided not to wear a shirt. He had a cardigan on over his chest. But, no shirt. Just a cardigan. I was very confused. And, kind of wanted to laugh at him, but I can't dress myself for shit - so who am I to judge.
But, most of my week consisted of wallowing because I had to teach or pouting because the electricity (and internet) was out again, or sleeping.
We did have a Polish guy staying with us last week - and AIESECer friend of a friend who was passing through. One night when we were drinking with and Aussie fellow and a German fellow, the German and Polish fellows got into a fairly long winded argument about WWII. Who was or was not a victor, boundary disputes, whether or not Poland is right to trust the US over its European neighbors in security matters now, and more. It was really interesting to listen to, of course not being European myself and not really know the European side of that particular conflict, I was mostly listening.
But, those are pretty much the highlights of my week. I should be able to go back to camp tomorrow afternoon. Unless the drops are making my eye worse by tomorrow. Then, I'll have to change the plan...
But, for now I have another week (less than) of camp. Some of the kids from the first two weeks are supposed to come visit this week, hopefully I'm back by time they visit.
Dear Camp Kids,
I love you, but stop giving me diseases. K, Thanks.
Love Brijt Teacher.
Anyways.
I spent all of last week back in the city to catch up on AIESEC work. Most of my attempts at catching up on AIESEC work were foiled either by getting nailed with more hours for my second, not-as-important job or blackouts during my only free hours of the day. Oh adventures. Teaching in the city has made me appreciate camp-time even more. The kids in the city are just boring. I pretty much have to threaten them with torture and almost certain death to get them to talk at all. Except this one girl, who NEVER shuts up. I don't think she's aware that she signed up for a group class instead of a tutoring session. She doesn't give other kids a chance to talk. And, one day when we were playing a game (which the rest of the class was enjoying - I asked them to make sure) she actually asked if we could do book work instead. What. The. Fuck. Crazy child. There's another boy who is apparently a model. And, so some of the days he just decided not to wear a shirt. He had a cardigan on over his chest. But, no shirt. Just a cardigan. I was very confused. And, kind of wanted to laugh at him, but I can't dress myself for shit - so who am I to judge.
But, most of my week consisted of wallowing because I had to teach or pouting because the electricity (and internet) was out again, or sleeping.
We did have a Polish guy staying with us last week - and AIESECer friend of a friend who was passing through. One night when we were drinking with and Aussie fellow and a German fellow, the German and Polish fellows got into a fairly long winded argument about WWII. Who was or was not a victor, boundary disputes, whether or not Poland is right to trust the US over its European neighbors in security matters now, and more. It was really interesting to listen to, of course not being European myself and not really know the European side of that particular conflict, I was mostly listening.
But, those are pretty much the highlights of my week. I should be able to go back to camp tomorrow afternoon. Unless the drops are making my eye worse by tomorrow. Then, I'll have to change the plan...
But, for now I have another week (less than) of camp. Some of the kids from the first two weeks are supposed to come visit this week, hopefully I'm back by time they visit.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Camp Baby Deer - part 2
This week at camp went much better than the first, and much better that I ever expected camp to be. I finally got used to the food, to the fact that my cabin leaks when it rains, to doing work without internet, to winging the whole teaching thing, and it was good. Camp is beautiful and the air is incredibly clean. The weather is a little wonky, but it's okay. And, I really like the kids. They can be hellions in class sometimes, but they are still mostly decent kids. This doesn't mean that I like all kids - it means that this group was decent.
I really like the fact that in the camp atmosphere I get to see them in the classroom as students and get to learn about them out of class as people. It makes this teaching schtick way more worthwhile. It's easier to be patient with the student who doesn't participate in class when you know that he's mildly hard of hearing, doesn't understand English at the pace that class travels, and is willing to show up for an extra hour during lunch to practice at a pace that he understands. It's easier to keep giving up that extra hour at lunch (on top of being in class for 6 hours a day already) when you get to see the progress he's making and that it's getting easier for him to listen, understand, and respond in English - even if it is only a little bit. It's way easier to like the hellions in class when you get to pelt them with water in an epic water bottle fight outside of class. And, it's probably easier to like a foreign teacher who talks too fast, doesn't know how to teach, and is kind of an ogre when you get to watch her be foolish in games after class and pelt her with water in an epic water bottle fight. It's much easier to work together when you get to play together.
I really like the other teacher Sara-bagsh. (Bagsh is teacher, so that would make me Bridget-bagh. Or rather, Brijd-bagsh since the kids skip pretty much all of the vowels in my name. But, that's okay I can't pronounce theirs correctly either.) It's fun to be one of the teachers trading teacher stories. Talking smack about the kids in our classes when they need to have smack talked about them. It's nice to know that at least someone needs me as a lunch buddy as much as I need her. I skipped lunch one day and the next day she was very glad to have me back so she didn't have to eat alone. The kids are too cool to sit with their teachers, of course.
Some of my favorite moment throughout the week...
Toward the middle/end of the week I stopped talking at the intermediate class and started having them tell me what they know about stuff, or asking them what they wanted me to talk about. So, I would tell them about America, and they would tell me about Mongolia. I got all kinds of good suggestions for places to visit while I'm here. I got a whole lesson on things that are Mongolian - NOT CHINA.
The horse-headed fiddle is Mongolian National Instrument - NOT CHINA. The deel (a wrap around coat) is the Mongolian National Clothes - NOT CHINA. A wide variety of mutton concoctions are Mongolian National Foods - NOT CHINA. It is sadly true how much the Mongolian seem to hate their neighbor, but then again I am not from a history that has a hungry, culture munching giant for a neighbor. Although I am a little surprised that they don't reserve at least some animosity for the Russians. But, hey - that's their call I guess.
I also got to listen to the horse-headed fiddle (and if you check out my facebook page you can see some videos of one of my students playing it).
During a class with the beginners, one of my students asked me if I liked Ahz-i-ahn music. To which, I replied with a very confused look until one of the kids next to him whispers, "Asian!". So, I had to giggle to myself over that one.
Then trying to teach the kids the word "sheet" was kind of a debacle. I didn't really realize how incredibly close to another unfortunate word it is until i had a room of 23 youths yelling "SHIT" at me. I lost it on that one. I could not stop myself from laughing my ass off. Then one of the girls at the back goes, "Oh, wait. Shit? That's poo isn't it?" Yes. Yes it is.
Some of the kids that were only there for two weeks left the day before I did. So, Friday was their last day to hang out with their new camp friends. We had morning class and then just hung out for a while. During which time Brijd-bagsh got unceremoniously dragged into a water fight. It. Was. Awesome. It started up by my cabin, but quickly moved down toward the bathroom where there is a whole trough of facets. I started out on a team by myself, but quickly gained allies. On my team was Mohno, Undrakh, Badmaa, Anu, and Bymbaa. The other team was Osko, Tuvshu, Ebe, Ohinoo, and Tomko and Sulde. My team totally won. Even though Brijd-bagsh was soaked head to toe. Then later that night of a fairly hilarious game of "Do you like your neighbor?" (It's like How the Wind Blows, but instead of naming characteristics you name clothing. When kids don't remember which gender certain clothing is specific to, it's pretty funny), there was a disco. For one thing, the disco room is totally creepy with a giant mural of Bambi for Camp Baby Deer. But, Sara and I went in to issue awards to the kids who were leaving after their two weeks, and on the way out some of the kids stopped me to stay and dance with them. So, I did. I was exactly like being back in middle school! Girls on one bench. Boys across the room on the other. No mingling. And, when people did finally start to dance, they weren't really dancing, but standing in a circle. And, the crazy white teacher was the only one dancing. I finally left because they were boring me. I prefer college parties.
I find it interesting how such simple things can be so different around the world, and yet there are some thing that just don't change. A toilet can be several different shapes and sizes depending on where you are in the world. But, Mongolian teenagers, just like American teenagers, are still too cool to dance at the ripe old age of 15.
It was a very fun week. And, I actually get to go back. I'll be in UB all this week, then I'll go back for the last week of camp.
Once again, no acronym
I really like the fact that in the camp atmosphere I get to see them in the classroom as students and get to learn about them out of class as people. It makes this teaching schtick way more worthwhile. It's easier to be patient with the student who doesn't participate in class when you know that he's mildly hard of hearing, doesn't understand English at the pace that class travels, and is willing to show up for an extra hour during lunch to practice at a pace that he understands. It's easier to keep giving up that extra hour at lunch (on top of being in class for 6 hours a day already) when you get to see the progress he's making and that it's getting easier for him to listen, understand, and respond in English - even if it is only a little bit. It's way easier to like the hellions in class when you get to pelt them with water in an epic water bottle fight outside of class. And, it's probably easier to like a foreign teacher who talks too fast, doesn't know how to teach, and is kind of an ogre when you get to watch her be foolish in games after class and pelt her with water in an epic water bottle fight. It's much easier to work together when you get to play together.
I really like the other teacher Sara-bagsh. (Bagsh is teacher, so that would make me Bridget-bagh. Or rather, Brijd-bagsh since the kids skip pretty much all of the vowels in my name. But, that's okay I can't pronounce theirs correctly either.) It's fun to be one of the teachers trading teacher stories. Talking smack about the kids in our classes when they need to have smack talked about them. It's nice to know that at least someone needs me as a lunch buddy as much as I need her. I skipped lunch one day and the next day she was very glad to have me back so she didn't have to eat alone. The kids are too cool to sit with their teachers, of course.
Some of my favorite moment throughout the week...
Toward the middle/end of the week I stopped talking at the intermediate class and started having them tell me what they know about stuff, or asking them what they wanted me to talk about. So, I would tell them about America, and they would tell me about Mongolia. I got all kinds of good suggestions for places to visit while I'm here. I got a whole lesson on things that are Mongolian - NOT CHINA.
The horse-headed fiddle is Mongolian National Instrument - NOT CHINA. The deel (a wrap around coat) is the Mongolian National Clothes - NOT CHINA. A wide variety of mutton concoctions are Mongolian National Foods - NOT CHINA. It is sadly true how much the Mongolian seem to hate their neighbor, but then again I am not from a history that has a hungry, culture munching giant for a neighbor. Although I am a little surprised that they don't reserve at least some animosity for the Russians. But, hey - that's their call I guess.
I also got to listen to the horse-headed fiddle (and if you check out my facebook page you can see some videos of one of my students playing it).
During a class with the beginners, one of my students asked me if I liked Ahz-i-ahn music. To which, I replied with a very confused look until one of the kids next to him whispers, "Asian!". So, I had to giggle to myself over that one.
Then trying to teach the kids the word "sheet" was kind of a debacle. I didn't really realize how incredibly close to another unfortunate word it is until i had a room of 23 youths yelling "SHIT" at me. I lost it on that one. I could not stop myself from laughing my ass off. Then one of the girls at the back goes, "Oh, wait. Shit? That's poo isn't it?" Yes. Yes it is.
Some of the kids that were only there for two weeks left the day before I did. So, Friday was their last day to hang out with their new camp friends. We had morning class and then just hung out for a while. During which time Brijd-bagsh got unceremoniously dragged into a water fight. It. Was. Awesome. It started up by my cabin, but quickly moved down toward the bathroom where there is a whole trough of facets. I started out on a team by myself, but quickly gained allies. On my team was Mohno, Undrakh, Badmaa, Anu, and Bymbaa. The other team was Osko, Tuvshu, Ebe, Ohinoo, and Tomko and Sulde. My team totally won. Even though Brijd-bagsh was soaked head to toe. Then later that night of a fairly hilarious game of "Do you like your neighbor?" (It's like How the Wind Blows, but instead of naming characteristics you name clothing. When kids don't remember which gender certain clothing is specific to, it's pretty funny), there was a disco. For one thing, the disco room is totally creepy with a giant mural of Bambi for Camp Baby Deer. But, Sara and I went in to issue awards to the kids who were leaving after their two weeks, and on the way out some of the kids stopped me to stay and dance with them. So, I did. I was exactly like being back in middle school! Girls on one bench. Boys across the room on the other. No mingling. And, when people did finally start to dance, they weren't really dancing, but standing in a circle. And, the crazy white teacher was the only one dancing. I finally left because they were boring me. I prefer college parties.
I find it interesting how such simple things can be so different around the world, and yet there are some thing that just don't change. A toilet can be several different shapes and sizes depending on where you are in the world. But, Mongolian teenagers, just like American teenagers, are still too cool to dance at the ripe old age of 15.
It was a very fun week. And, I actually get to go back. I'll be in UB all this week, then I'll go back for the last week of camp.
Once again, no acronym
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