Steppe 2: First Week of Teaching

So! Long blog last time, I'll try to keep this one shorter. ;)

Sunday, the day after I arrived, I made pancakes for Steven and I for breakfast, and then he showed me around Darkhan for a good part of the day. There are markets nearby us, in New Darkhan, and a black market in Old Darkhan. The shopping centers basicly look like large warehouses with sort of cubicles arranged by product. Meat is in a cold room, with up to 30 butchers trying to sell... there are cuts on the tables and whole sheep strung up behind. There is one place I can buy chicken. There are some veggies available like mushrooms, onions, potatoes, carrots and cabbage. There is also eggplant but it's quite expensive. The dollar goes quite a way, but I am going to technically be living on a Mongolian salary. Living here reminds me of camping-anything that is not essential is too much. I have a couple towels, but no shower curtain, and cereal is too expensive on my salary so I am finding other things to eat for breakfast. Steven has lovely family in Switzerland and America who send him boxes with snacks, which have been lovely to have as I transition to this new way of life. ;) Also, just as I brought Green Mountain Coffee with me, he has brought coffee from Switzerland. But, our electric water pot is broken, so we heat our water now on the stove. When shopping and going online, the shops are not always open even though their hours indicate they should be. I have already found my favorite internet cafe, which is owned by one of the German teachers from my school and her husband. It is quite nice inside, and the teacher and her husband are very sweet! Just now she has brought me coffee, gratis! As it is Saturday, I am surrounded by young boys who are gaming. Gaming is as big here as it is in America.

So I have started cooking mutton, which is an adventure... It must cook for a long time to get to a consistency that is not exhausting to eat. ;) It's quite chewy. The taste pervades everything, since it is pretty much the only meat available... so I made a stew the other day and put in LOTS of curry and garlic.

I still do not have enough shelves for my clothes, I'm not quite sure when that will be resolved... we shall see. In the meantime, i am living out of my bags, and must be very careful to keep them closed or Peek-A will pee in them. Already I am having to wash several shirts who have fallen victim. 

I started teaching on Monday. The head of the English department, Saraa, told me that Mongolian-English teachers would subsitute for me until I felt ready. This was only the case in a few classes, later on. In the first 2 classes, the teachers walked in, told me where the students were at, and sat in the back waiting for me to teach! Quite an adventure. So far, the students are interesting and fun, of course, it's the first week. It's hard to figure out where to begin with them sometimes, especially the more advanced students, and the middle school and late elementary grades. The younger ones are easier... And yes, I have 2nd grade, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, 7th grade, 9th and 11 th grade, then speaking club (preparing for a sort of English Speaking Olympics) for 10th and 11th grade. Me and the Swiss are teaching pronunciation and vocab and speaking, in complement to the Mongolian teachers who teach grammer. That means we only see a class once or twice a week. I have 18 hours of classes per week. Not counting when the Mongolian teachers ask me to come speak to their class, since I am one of only 2 native English speakers there--the other is Douglas, who is British. So it has been quite a challenge trying to pick up in the classes where they left off last term... and trying to communicate when I don't know how much English they know. 

The second graders are sooooo cute!! They want to try to speak to me and are so enthusiastic... they come up to me and pull my shirt and say "Teacher!"... then get a confused, extremely focused, semi-constipated look on their faces as they begin to realize they can't tell me what they want to say in English... then explode in a torrent of Mongolian! I smile and nod. At the end of one class in the 9th grade, one of the boys who was in the front row said, in a rather awed voice, "Teacher, your eyes!... they're so... big... and... blue!" hahaha A+ on the vocab. ;) In one of my third grade classes I have a half American student, and in another, a boy whose mother is a German teacher and the librarian. They both know enough English to be more advanced than their Mongolian peers, a fact which I realized when they would eagerly shout out the answers to my questions, but the other Mongolian students in their classes knew not at all. In 3rd grade, I have so far been able to integrate the American into helping me teach, and he has been the model of cooperation. in the 5th grade, with the German, it is more challenging, because he is only a little better than the others.

The other teachers are very nice! I have made a couple of friends--one, who is a little older than me, has invite me to come to visit her mother for the big holiday on February 14 (the Chinese New Year... it is a holiday throughout Asia). Also, her mother sells the del which is the national Mongolian dress... she said she could sew me one! Steven has acquired several Mongolian friends, who stop by often to chat. They don't call, they just knock and then come in and then commences the epic communication snarl which is a few words of Mongolian, many jumbled words of English, and lots of gestures and drawing pictures. ;) One of his friends, who calls himself Jack (many have "English names") has agreed with his friends in the countryside to invite us out to their ger (pronounced gare, the Mongolian word for yurt) for a real Mongolian meal. He asked us if we would like to eat sheep or goat or camel or horse?! We said we will eat anything. Then we may also ride out to the mountains and shoot targets on another day! It is lovely to meet these people and I feel as though I have the opportunity to become well acquainted with their culture, for which I am very grateful!

Steven and I are beginning quite a nice routine-we begin most days around the same time, have coffee and walk to school, which is not even a 2 minute walk away. In the evenings, he does the dishes and I cook dinner, then after dinner we watch MTV or HBO or the BBC or Euro News or some Australian Channel (The only channels in English) or perhaps a movie on one of our computers, and we play chess and play with Peek-A. Nadine and Steven both work out at the gym frequently, and have been lovely about inviting me... so I went on Friday. It is an alright gym, although the other Mongolians working out there love to stare at us, especially Nadine and I. Nadine has light brown hair and light skin, and though Steven definitely doesn't look Mongolian, he has Indian(India) heritage so he has dark hair and skin. Apparently the Mongolians often think he is a Turk or Afghani. 

Nadine's brother (a little older than her) is visiting while he waits for his work visa. He is also here for teaching English in a different village south of UB, also through Anita. He was living in Moscow studying Russian, and then Kirgistan teaching in a school for the disabled. We 4 went to a volleyball game this morning, of Japanese parents and teachers. Tonight we will eat dinner together at Nadine's and then perhaps go clubbing with the Peace Corps people whom I have yet to meet. 

So the first week has gone quite well. I am enjoying the adventure and looking forward to getting to know new friends better, getting to know the community better, and traveling. Of course there is much more I could tell now, but I will leave that for another blog. I will try to post pictures soon!

Steppe 1

I'm Here! It was a really really really long trip... but I have finally landed in my hom efor hte next 5 months. Here's the low down on the journey here and the state of things:

Warnings: Sorry for the really long sentences!!! I'm just trying to get all of this down and posted. 
Sorry this is soooo long! I've sectioned it off a bit so you can skim. :) 

Wednesday/Thursday, January 20/21st

So woke up prodigiously early with the lovely family and we hit the road at 3am to get to Burlington Airport for a 5:40am flight. There is a sad fact of extremely bad packing on my part which I'm going to skim over... let's just say it wasted some time and money packing and repacking throughout the boardings and disembarkings of planes. Anywaayyyss, I finally boarded the plane to Dulles Int'l Airport in Washington, D.C.
Extremely frusterating situation #2 (baggage was #1), the lady who checked me into the Burlington flight had become distraught when the computer was asking her if I had a visa because she was silly and ignorant. I didn't have a visa, because I didn't need one. She was worried about the airlines getting fined "millions" for letting me check in without a visa. But since I was going to miss the flight, she checked me in only for hte flight to D.C., where I would have to collect my bags and re-check-in. Once I got to Dulles, of course, Korean Air knew the ropes and checked me in without a glitch. God bless them.

HOWEVER, Korean Air also did not remember to order perfect weather fo rme so that I could fly into Seoul on time. So my flight to Seoul was delayed 3 hours. So they booked me for a new flight to Beijing out of Seoul. I finally get on the flight to Seoul, and spend 14 + tedious hours between two sweet ladies, watching movies and trying to sleep, and eating delicious Korean food at the allotted times. Finally arrived in Seoul--LATE AGAIN. Hooray. And the next flight to Beijing? The next morning at 8:45am. So I got a free hotel room at the Hyatt and free dinner and breakfast. All of this worked out because my flight from Beijing to UB (UB: Ulaanbaatar, Capitol city of Mongolia) I had originally booked 15 hours after my original flight to Beijing. So the fact I had an almost 12 hour layover in Seoul, with amenities, was in fact a Sweet Deal compared to a 15 hour layover in the Beijing Airport, without amenities. Anyways, I slept and ate well in Seoul.

Friday, January 22nd

Free breakfast and shuttle to the airport, security check, and on my way to Beijing by 8:45am. Once I arrived in Beijing, I was all in a panic because it was 11:45am or so and my flight for UB left at 12:55. So I collected my bags, went through numerous security checks, and found the shuttle to the correct terminal--after asking exactly 1 million people where I needed to go LOL. So I'm panicking about missing  my flight, and the shuttle bus driver is absolutely dtermined to squeeze as many people and baggage as possible onto his shuttle bus. We waited what seemed to me an age until everyone was crammed on. Then we get on the road. Only to stop at the next terminal and squeeze even more people on! Then we return to said road. Now I learn an important lesson about the Beijing airport: it's fucking HUGE. I'm pretty sure it took us about 20 minutes to take the HIGHWAY around to the next terminal (These 20 minutes seemed to me like an hour. ) Finally I arrive in Terminal 3--I think this is the "Turtle Shell" Terminal, the largest in the world. Naturally, I'm lost. Especially because Air China has way too many check-in desks and each has a specific designation. My watch is telling me it's 12:55. So I rush an innocent China Air check-in clerk and beg to be checked in. China Air check-in clerk seems to be quite unconcerned and assures me I will make the flight. I'm mystified, but I get checked-in and then proceed to attack several security lines which lie between me and my last flight... I reach a pinnacle of despari when I realize I must board a train shuttle to get to the departure gate! (Are you paying attention? A shuttle bus, now a train shuttle...) As the train shuttle runs on for a seemingly endless time, I finally turn to a nice Chinese person next to me and ask for the time? It's 11:55. An hour earlier than I thought: I had my watch set to Seoul time. Thank you, God, but that was a horrible joke. So I finally get to the departure gate, from which I take YET ANOTHER shuttle bus... to the plane. Short flight, great views, terrible food.

Finally, I landed in Mongolia! They didn't want to let me through cause I didn't have my address or a phone number, but eventually I got through. Tuya was waiting for me (Tuya and Amartuvhsin: Wonderful Mongolians who have been taking care of the Mongolian side of arrangements for my working and living in Mongolia), and after loading her care with my atrocious luggage and exchanging some money, we hit the road. Two plans were considered and eventually discarded for the last leg of my journey, the 3 hour drive north to Darkhan. The first involved taking a bus immediately and the second plan became for me to spend the night in UB and drive to Darkhan Saturday morning. After a dinner of Mongolian pizza, (...) Tuya dropped me off at an empty apartment for the night.

Thus, my first night in UB, Mongolia: alone in a quite nice 6th floor apartment, in my sleeping bag on a sofa, with a lovely view of the city. Was actually quite lovely! Mostly because I was too exhausted to care about being alone in the middle of a new city and a new country where almost no one speaks English!

As far as what UB was like, it was full of cars which don't appear to have any traffic rules, and a variety of buildings, many of which are lefover from Communist days, when Soviet influence was heavy. The air is thick with smoke from the many fires and factories. The pavement is rough and many of the homes are arranged in "suburbs" on bare dirt. Of course, it's winter right now, so perhaps it is greener in the summers. The people are wonderful! They are friendly and pleasant, despite the fact they love to stare at foreigners; it is a very friendly stare. UB is nestled in a slping valley crowned by a ring of the clustered peaks that break up the steppes throughout the country.

Saturday, January 23rd

The next morning I was up at dawn with jet lag, and a couple hours later, Amartuvshin picked me up and took me for some water, breakfast, and put me on the bus to Darkhan! The bus was a MARVELOUS adventure! I got placed in the far back of the bus (the only, rather conspicuous white, blond, blue eyed person) on elevated seats, from which I had a WICKED view of the countryside (and an acute feeling fo rhte speed and insanity of Mongolian driving!!). And countryside it most certainly is!! Once the suburbs of UB dissipate, the steppes are absolutely amazing! They are broken up by clusters of peaks, as I mentioned in describing UB, and the peaks are mostly comparahble to the hills and mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, as far as I can tell, espeically in the central regions, as far as height goes, not shape. These clustered mountains are quite provacative against hte expansive steppes. Everything is frosted with snow, which has been blown smooth by the wind, and in many places trampled down to the remnants of the grass by the grazing livestock. As the bus drove north, there were more peaks clustered together and they grew higher. The road (yes, singular, there's only one paved road that goes directly norht from UB, through Darkhan, to Russia) passes by many small villages as well as ger (also known as yurts) camps. Herds of sheep, cows, and horses are seen often, especially farther north. One of the most beautiful scenes: the traditionally dressed Mongol men and women riding the ponies, herding more ponies, or sheep, or cows. 

The bus ride was about 3.5 hrs long, and I knew when we had reached Darkhan, because of a conspicuous 16 story apartment building, which used to be the tallest in Mongolia. Saraa, the head of hte English Department at Darkhan School #19 picked me up, and took me to the apartment where I'll be living...

The Beginnings of My Life in Darkhan

I am living in a 3 room apartment. My flatmate is a Swiss guy named Steve, from Zurich. He's been here since the beginning of school. Both he and Nadine, another teacher from Switzaerland, were at the apartment to greet me yesterday and both are absolutely lovely! They have been giving me tips on living among the Mongols and teaching the children. They are both quite close to my age, and speak amazing English, of course. Nadine lives a couple of buildings away. The schools is also a few few buildings away. 

The building I live in was also built in the Communist period--it's ugly as sin, and any degredation that doesn't have to do with proper fuction has been allowed to happen without repari... But it is pretty tight, hot water is plentiful and heat is, thus far, quite satisfactory. Our apartment, since it has revolving inhabitants, is not quite as nicely repaired as the apartments of Mongolians who live here permanently. The toilet is flushed with a wire sticking up from the basin, and the sink in the bathroom is held up by a wire! But it's all quite exciting and adventuresome! Steven has been eating out quite a lot cause he doesn't like to cook, and can't very well, but it appears we will have a great arrangement: I want to cook and save money, and he loves to clean, which I don't. 


And we have a third roomate: Peek-A-Boo, the Mongolian kitty! She's an orange tiger cate Steven took in as a kitten. Apparnetly Mongolians are not fond of cats once they are grown, so they are mostly out on the streets. Peek-A-Boo is absolutely lovely! She loves to play and talk, and will be quite wecome company throughout the quiet and cold. :) 


Must return to the apartment, Steven is coming back from boxing class and we only have one key... more later.

the day after tomorrow!

Packing like CRAZY! Almost done I think... Caught halfway between horror and excitement! Especially with all that is still to be done regarding law school, and all that is unknown about where and what and how and everything about living and teaching in Mongolia. Ach!

So I'm back to packing... Insane to think that one week from today, I'll have finished my first day of work, on the other side of the world!