Learning and Teaching

June 22 Btw, Happy birthday to my American sister! Its been really busy – I feel way behind with the material in language class. The first couple of days, I learned tons of words but my pace of comprehension seems like it has slowed down. Oh yeah, and we've been working on doing our own teaching too. This was the first day that we held our own language classes of teaching english. I co-taught with one other person and it went fairly well. Somehow, the lesson plan was close to the level of our students. They have knew some english from school but I think we gave them a couple new vocabulary words. Its summertime, so there weren't that many students but it was a good way to ease us into teaching for the fall.

I talked to a few people in my soum for various assignments and one guy actually remembers my name. Everyone is very friendly when I try to talk to them – it reminds me of times that I met people in america that did not know English very well. If you are reading this, make a point to be patient with those that don't know english very well because its difficult procces to work with an entirely new language.   

Reincarnation

June 12

Its a strange feeling to be treated like a child again. The mixture of limited communication and not knowing how things are done create awkward circumstances. I was given something to eat today, and I had no idea how to eat it. After my futile attempt to transport the food into my mouth without looking like a fool, my mom looked at me funny and made motions to me how it was supposed to be eaten. During my lunch break, it started to sprinkle. I was handed an umbrella against my will because I did not know how to explain that I would not melt. At least I can now walk to school by myself without getting lost :) Today was also the day that I finally asked how to take a tumpen bath. I heard from my friends about their odd experiences with a tumpen bath, so I was a little uneasy. It wasn't as bad as I thought though. A tumpen is a fairly small basin which people use for washing. My sister helped me wash my hair, which is different, but it is hard to pour water on your own head without spilling it everywhere. It felt odd washing myself in the kitchen, but it was actually nice because there is no carpet there and I didn't need to worry as much about making a mess. Its quite the balancing act to stand on one foot while washing your other leg with soap, and then rinsing.

There are many things that I don't even think about until they are not there. I finally got a watch, which was a great relief, but I really missed having a mirror. I felt bad about asking for one, but its kind of hard for me to floss my teeth or shave without one. I also had a absurd nightmarish thought of going to school without noticing that my face was painted bright orange or something. Anyways, I brought it up and they got me a small mirror. It could have been weeks before I could go shopping around in a city again, so that was really helpful. I am starting to feel a little more useful because my sister let me wash the dishes once, and my mom has started to let me help with some of the cooking. Even though some things are still frustrating, I have been treated very well and there are slight glimmers of better days to come in my future.

Host Family

June 8

There has been a lot of talk about the host families that each of us are about to meet. I am naturally anxious about everything, and there is no way to really prepare for it. The village that my small group was going to was not that far from where we had been staying, and things happened very quickly. One funny but cool part of the process was that our whole group visited each house where a trainee would be staying, and the families offered us snacks or little candies at every place. One of my friends mentioned that It was kind of like Halloween, which was very true. The house that I will be staying at is a family of three: the parents are in their 50's and the daughter is about my age. I hadn't met her yet, but she just walked in while I was typing this. I call them “mom” and “dad” - the words are short and pretty simple to pronounce. “Mother” sounds just like when we pronounce the letter “H” from the alphabet, Father sounds like “avv.” They are very friendly and eager to help. I forgot to bring a couple things with me such as a clock (I never ended up getting a watch) and slippers/sandals for walking around in the house. Not knowing the language and trying to have a conversation makes me feel paralyzed. I often resort to flipping through my notes or showing them a word from the dual language dictionary I have. Ever since I got here to Mongolia, we have been fed a lot. Its pretty good food, but I have not had a huge appetite. Don't get jealous Mom, but the soup that I had tonight was unbelievable. The only way I can think of explaining the taste is that its the best chicken noodle I've ever had (except it didn't have chicken in it). Though I think that I've had a head start in language learning regarding the recognition of pronunciation and a little grammar, my ability to use the Mongolian language is very slow. I have a lot of work to do. (sorry guys, the rainbow photos do not look nearly as magnificent as it looked in real life)

A glimpse of Mongolian Culture

June 6

I can't really describe the feeling of watching the display of music that we got to experience during one of the training days. I have often listened to music in other languages because I am attracted to hearing sounds of non-sensical words. Lots of english music contains lyrics are unintelligible, but I almost never look the lyrics up because I like it better not knowing what the vocalist was saying. The difference between my fettish for lyrics that I don't understand and the music that we got to hear is that you could see the musician communicating. That only heightens my desire to learn the language and ultimately learn about the people here. I was also fascinated by the stringed instrument that one of the musicians played. If I get to take music lessons with any of their instruments, I will jump at the chance. Some of the songs were their traditional style, but they also played songs in a style which is similar to pop music in america. I don't know why I'm trying to write about what it was like because it would be impossible, but it was definitely a moment that made me ecstatic to be here. I also wonder when the moment will come that I will despise being here. For all of you who read the Game of Thrones books, you may recollect the phrase “Winter is Coming” (in Mongolia, they supposedly have very cold winters). I switch between being a optimist and a pessimist, so its a somewhat troubling thought to imagine when the moment will come that I wish I never came.

PS. To my friends and family: If I do describe difficulties that I'm going through, please don't feel sorry for me or tell me to quit either. Its going to be totally worth it to go through the whole experience – good or bad.

navigating a city

June ? I don't know what the date is

So yesterday was the first day I actually had some conversations with mongolians. I have less of a mongolian vocabulary than my 3 year nephew has of English, so it depended mostly on whether they new a little English or not. I went on a bunch of adventures, but I'll talk about the restrant that me and somebody else went to. Though the words don't exactly look like English, they might sound the same.  I figured out that one of the words was cafe. Menu is a common word in both languages too, but that was about the extent of what we could understand. It was the first time I ordered food while having no earthly clue what it was going to be. All the restraunts that I've been to have no pictures. After pointing to a random item on the list of foods, and pointed to the drink we wanted, we got food without too much trouble.

Today, my goal is to shop for a watch. I think the word sounds something like tsag. Buying a watch doesn't seem like it would be difficult to do, but simple things can get complicated. Using the shower and toilet at the place I'm staying gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I felt like a mechanichal engineer after getting it to work, and who knows if I'll have another hot shower anytime soon. Also walking through a building/climbing stairs without tripping is an art. Never take for granted a flat floor or stairs at the same height for granted.

Things really have been easy so far though, and learning will accelerate once the whole group splits up, and each of us start living with a host family. There will be another month or two of training, but situations will feel much more realistic. A bunch of people have asked me what area I'll be in. I know the city where I'll be going for now, but I'm not supposed to disclose locations and I don't know anything about the area where we'll be. It is in the general vicinity of the southern part of the country if that gives you a better picture.

I have no idea when I'll have access to the internet next, so it could be another month or two until I post anything new.

gers and hiking

June 3

So we stayed at a"ger" camp the first night, but those were some really high class gers. They were equipped with running water, bathrooms, electricity, and chandeliers - really? (The next night we went to a hotel, which oddly wasn't as nice as the gers)

The air is very refreshing, and the sun is brilliant. The mountains look like some of the foothills in California, but they feel totally different. I had a strong desire to do some climbing, so I went with a few of my friends towards the top. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, and I told myself that it was the altitude rather than the fact that I'm not in very good shape. There are some beautiful views, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to hike a lot while I'm here.

We're in the city for some pre-training stuff, and today was really the first time that I have been near actual mongolians. I didn't have courage within me to practice trying out any phrases yet, but I'll try to do some of that tomorrow since we will be more on our own.

I'm here

June 2

Summary of the last 3 (or 4?) days –
1.carry baggage
2.stand in line 
3.travel
4.get baggage
5.stand in line
6.get some sleep
7.repeat.

I'm in the country now, but I know that there is gonna be at least one more round of traveling and carrying baggage (Yay!) By the way, I should have done weightlifting in preparation for carrying my baggage because both arms are going to fall off.

Meeting new people is near the top of my phobia list. I am excited about the peace corps, but within that excitement, I tend to dislike interacting with large groups of people I don't know. There's about 70 of us, and I've gradually learned some names. I finally realized that I what helps me remember someone the most is by having meaningful conversation with them. It feels like opening mystery box – I have no clue what is within a person until you start talking with them and discovering what they are like. Most everyone has done a lot of traveling already and has gone through a lot of studying at universities. That's not too surprising, but I figured out that some of my friends here like the same musicians, authors, and ideas that I like think about too. I guess the peace corps attracts similar types of people.

There have been a lot of pleasant moments in San Francisco and South Korea that I wont have time to describe. Incheon is gorgeous, and they have some fancy technology that I haven't seen in the US. Their airport is better than any other one I've been to (including the customer service). They were patient with us even though communication was a little confusing. I did get searched there in one of their back rooms because my suitcase had this funky flashlight and they thought it was a highly advanced weapon of some sort.

Okay gotta go.