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."
Thursday, December 9, 2010
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.
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