creative writing essays

My province just participated in a creative writing competition and I decided to share some of them with you. Some of these people are my students, some aren't. I did not edit them, you will notice mistakes and unrecognizable words. They only had one hour to write, but they got their point across and had some good and funny ideas. Enjoy

If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be and what would you do?

Hi, my name is Khulan. I could be cat. I am sleep a bed. I rainbow sky cow cat, horse, red apple, and green grass drave. I wear pink dress on hot day. I wear casual clothes in summer. My favorite weather, meat, jam, fish, and milk. My friends color’s white, browin, and black. I like play food ball. My friends is super. We are children love. I like warm day. I like ficher’s drave. I like listen to music.

 6th grade student

Pretend that you have been shrunk down to the size of an ant for a day. What do you do and see?

             If become ant for a day I will go shopping. I will eat bread apple and drink water eat cake a candy salad eat food. I see stone. I eat robbing a lot of candies. I scare people. Tomorrow I would like to become big. and people I never kill. Ants.

            7th grade student

If you could invent a candy what would it be? What ingredients would it have and what would it taste like?

            This candy is nice big, round but I sweets like. My candy name is mixed fruit. My candy name is mixed fruit. 

1. Ingredients: first.                 9. chocolate

2. cream                                10. potatoes

3. marrow                              11. red colour

4. fruit                                    12. yellow

5. apple                                 13. sun

6. orange                               14. star and

7. banana                              15. moon

8. chocolate

Then: pot to mix. and put 

Next - to take chape freeze. Next osillalate.

            7th grade

If you could make a new animal, what would it be like?

I could make a new animal. This animal is friendly, honest, generous, beautiful and very lovely. The animal’s name is Friho-Genebe. Because this name is friendly, honest, generous, and beautiful – all Friho-Genebe.

Friho-Genebe is look like people. It is no small and no big. It is small nose, small mouth, two hands, two legs, big eyes, and big ears. This animal color is pink, blue, yellow and green. Because child very like there colors. It has long and short hear. Friho-Genebe’s best friend is child. They play basketall, voleball, football and other toys. Friho-Genebe like help people. People love this animal. Friho-Genebe never angry. People and child in Friho-Genebe’s hearth. It like job. Friho-Genebe can does all jobs. Friho-Genebe very good buy no ba. I dream appear Friho-Genebe in our world. Our love Friho-Genebe.

8th grade student

What do trees think about?

            I think all thinks living. And they always thinking of something. For example trees think about people, children, and animals. Because people, children and animals are free. Trees can't move. Unfortunetally they fall in love with other tree, they can't meet, talk and hug. trees really like Spring and Summer. Because this time grow their leaves and people with they. They don't alone. Trees don't like Autumn, because their all leaves fall. it is very sad. Trees hates Winter because they very alone and very boring. And bad peoples chop they. for use chrismas tree, new year tree, make wooden things and fire.

            But trees really like living :)

            9th grade student

You are one of the first settlers on Mars. You have lived there for one year. Write about your first year.

                I remembered my first come to day in Mars. I, astronaut and scientist we are got off from spaceship in Mars. We will come to learn how to live in Mars. We lived in for one year. If we will can success this work, earth’s people shall arrive from earth. I beginning to think as Robinzon Cruzo. But I think Robinzon Cruzo is very lucky because he lived in nature. He has a food, water, and stay place, trees. But we first need food, and stay place. I think if we eat enough food, we shall respond other needs. Then, we are walking to looking around place. But, I see small black and circular thing in sand. I’m running to this thing. Then I took this thing. This thing as cocos as earth’s fruit. We slowly first smelled, looked, listened, and touched. Wee called fruit. We think this place ave many many trees. Then, we walking again. Walking is very boring. And I missed my family, my friends and love things in earth. These fruit wade in our way. We didn’t bring food because we believed to live in Mars. “I can”, I did someone shouted in outside. This voice is broke my think. He is my neighborhood. He bringed seed of cabbage from earth.  He successes to plan tiny seed of cabbage. Every day, our lifes has been growing new future. If Describe you in Mars asked me. My answer is this place is very warm.  There no season. No animal. No night. Always rise the Sun. We always eat food and fruit. This place is very nice. Because this place never bad things.

            11th grade student

If you were a superhero, what would be your weakness?

                Who is a superhero? Many people think this person has many abilities, incredible strength and fights for the loyal. But I think it’s completely different.

                For me “to be a superhero” -> its mean to be like a my father! Because he is the best man in the world. He is respectful, kind, honest, hardworking and can do everything.

                In Movies and cartoons, weakness of superheroes has been being family! Before I didn’t understand this. But when I see my dad’s activities I realized. He has never concealed something or diverged with “mother.” Everybody wants happiness and well-being for their family. I will take after my father now and in future. So that if I were a superhero, my weakness would be love for family or mother!

                Of course everybody think different things. Everybody is unique. For people whatever can be weakness. Its’ just my opinion.

           12th grade student

Peace Corps Work

So what have you accomplished in the last 2 months Will? I am working at a school, but December and January mostly focused on holidays. In Mongolia, they celebrate the western and eastern versions of new year.

I'm at a loss of words to describe the western version of new years... a pageant maybe? Students and teachers have their own separate parties weeks before the new year. There is usually a small show at the beginning, some games, food, and dancing. Have you ever learned how to waltz? me neither, but its an important thing at these formal parties. the day of, many of my teachers were scrambling to find a fancy dress to wear. I played a small song on my horse fiddle during the performance section, and was really nervous. People said it turned out okay though. On actual new years eve, families celebrate at home. I made pizza for some of my Mongolian family and friends and we watched the countdown on TV.

As opposed to staying up until midnight, for the lunar new year, people get up early and go up on a mountain to greet the first sunrise of the new year. this time I visited the small town where I spent the first summer training.

For some reason I didn't end up doing this last year, so it was a first for me. It was pretty cold in Selenge (where I traveled to) but thankfully, I had some hand warmers and toe warmers with me :) So it wasn't too bad. In this picture you can see a mound of rocks with some colorful scarves in the middle. Here people sprinkle milk, or vodka around it clockwise. Also people light incense, offer food, and leave money on it. Only the men come up to the mountain, and traditionally, only people born certain years are supposed to go. For example, I was born on the year of the cow, but this year is the year of the horse.Anyways I, got to meet my host family's sons as well as some other relatives.

 

Here's a picture of one of my host family's neighbors houses. On the table, everyone decorates a centerpiece made out of bread and dairy products and sugar. Also they place a large plate of sheep meat on the table. This holiday has no defined ending - officially it lasts for 3 days, but people may still invite you to their house to celebrate weeks afterwards.

Last week, my school had their traditional costume day. Its one of my favorite events to see all the students in their fancy clothes. During winter, everyone wears a long piece of clothing, called a "deel." They wrap it with a belt, generally made out bright colored cloth. Some guys also wear a Mongolian jacket "hurem" over their deel. As a final touch, people often wear a fancy hat made out of animal fur.

So, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, work. Its not productive to try to push projects while everybody else is busy with preparing and celebrating holidays. It can be pretty frustrating when volunteers are ready to work, but there's a lot of other stuff happening such as competitions or what not. Now that it will be March soon, me and my school will begin practicing for some English competitions coming up the following month. April will probably be the last big project month before the school year starts to slip away.

These are a few of my favorite things

Gifts are not the most important part of my time here, but I have been gifted alot of things. I will tell you a few stories about them.

Spontaneous - I got invited to a Russian teacher's house. Its really fun visiting a Mongolian's house by the way. Usually about five people live in a house. (Me living alone in a ger is really strange by mongolian standards) So the person who invited me is busy cooking food while I talk to the rest of the family who I don't know. They showed me their photo album, the little daughter sang some songs. And I learned that the Russian teacher's father is an artist. After a nice filling meal, I saw some of his paintings and to my surprise, he decided to give me one of his paintings. I have also been given alot of other gifts randomly. While I was walking down the street one time, a little kid that I didn't know ran up to me and gave me a coin. That was actuall really nice of him because I like to collect coins and they are not readily available here because Mongolia stopped making coins a couple years ago.

Puzzles - Mongolians sometimes make some outrageous claims about things that they invented, but I totally believe that this puzzle made out of bones is Mongolian. I saw this in a school fair and asked if I could buy it, but they gave it to me for free. Also, somebody gave the puzzle with the metal rings to me as a birthday gift. When I brought these to school with me, it automatically draws me into a conversation with teachers that I usually don't talk to. They are the ones who taught me how to solve them.

Gifts from my school teachers and workers. My school has done alot for me. Way more than I ask. For example, I invited my counterparts over for my birthday last year, and I made them tacos. My school teachers decided to get me a bottle made out of stone. Mongolians use these during holiday events. The stone bottle usually has some tobacco powder in it. When going to new house parties or visiting people during Tsagaan Sar, Mongolians are surprised and thrilled that I have my one "horog."

Its nice to have American friends to be here with me. Its a good way to vent frustrations/exitement about Mongolia - because even if you try to understand what I'm going through, you won't really understand it unless you live here. I wrote down a poem that one of my sitemates made for me last year.

Although were not from the same state
I'm glad that you are my sitemate
Us M23s must stick together
Because those M22s may haze us forever
From site announcements, Halloween, to this day
We will survive the winter, I pray
Time is flying by so fast
Before we know it Mongolia will be in our past
So lets make our time here worth it
For this will be an experience we won't forget
I hope your birthday will be memorable
because you my friend are unforgettable

news worthy of noting

Mongolians have compound names and they tend to have an actual meaning to them too. I am Will (future tense). I teach English to people like Sunflower and Radiating Emerald. Eternal Destiny skipped class because she's meeting with No Name (yes, some people actually are called Anonymous). Firm rock and Iron Hero are repairing a classroom along with White Child. The training manager Treasure of Knowledge is in a meeting now with Golden Light... Sometimes I forget how beautiful their names are. My memory is terrible - over the span of 30 days, I have misplaced or lost: a dictionary, gloves, a wallet, a flashlight, and I forgot what else. Some of them I've found, but I wonder what my memory will be like 10 years from now... I'm taking care of my friend's cat for a week. Motivation for me to make fires in the morning so it doesn't freeze. One day my little sister came over and asked me a bunch of questions about it. "Does your cat play chess?" and then she realized that it can't play chess because it doesn't have any hands. Also she told me that its chin is hairy just like mine. One of the rewards of learning Mongolian is listening to her funny comments. Um, what else? Speaking of Winter, I got much better coal this year. Making fires are so much easier and they last longer. That is going to make the next few months a lot more pleasant.

things that I'm thankful for (in no particular order)

Friends - Life is much funner when you can vent your frustrations/bizzare moments with others that can understand where you're coming from. Me and my training buddies have gone through a lot together. It has been nice to meet some of the people from the new class of volunteers (M24's) but I also miss having the previous class here too (M22's). Regardless, I feel that there's a pretty strong bond even though I've known these people for a short time. Family - It is great to be able to talk to my parents, brother, and sisters (via skype) and keep in touch through facebook. Also the packages are wonderful. I also have an extended Mongolian family that watches over me. Yesterday I came home late and was surprised to find that my ger was warm. I had been gone all day, but my sister made a fire for me. School - Work isn't always easy, but I have a lot of people watching out for me. They have provided my ger with a washing machine and refrigerator above and beyond Peace Corps standards. I have made friendships with some of the teachers outside of the English department and they are very wonderful people. The school also makes sure to involve me in activities such as holidays, competitions, and so on. Counterparts - Its fun to see people grow and develop. Though progress is slow sometimes, I do work with a great group of English teachers and other community members. Though communication is not always perfect, they really help me to stay informed and are my main group that I interact with. My home here and my home far away - When I think about America, I get homesick. When I think about Mongolia, I realize that I will sincerely miss it. It can be emotional for me when I realize that my time here is going to be only a little bit longer. It is a mixture of happiness and also feelings of how much I will miss one place when I am at the other.

A little better, a little busier

I've had a good September and a good start to October. Nevertheless, its been really busy. Last year, I had know idea what was going on, and I was just starting to meet people. This year, I'm still disoriented at times, but now that I already know a lot of people - and consequently, I have not had any dull moments. thanks to the friendships that I have made I got to go on several countryside trips. One was a wedding, another was camping out, and another was just hanging out together. They can make an amazing meal with just meat vegetables and an open fire. I got to see a ram in the wild, and the wedding was really fun too. I like being a figurative fly on the wall but since I'm a foreigner its hard to do that. I decided to not take as many pictures on these outings because I don't want to seem like a tourist. Thanks to one of my counterparts I also got to see a shaman for the first time. it was - well I don't know how to describe it, but I was happy to experience it.

My regular English classes for students remain pretty much the same, but I'm doing a lot more English teaching outside of the classroom now. I started a class for other subject teachers again, and this year the attendance way more consistent (people actually show up). Last year I went to my counterparts and tried to set up weekly trainings, but it failed. This year, they came to me and asked for weekly trainings. I've also had other requests from people outside of school for help in improving their English. Not exactly sure why the sudden change. Maybe my understanding of Mongolian makes it easier to explain rules and translate phrases. Or maybe its because they know that I'm leaving next year.

culture preservation

Some of the things that I like most about Mongolia is its unique culture. For example, a ger is very different from houses in the US. Also the clothing is very decorative and colorful. I'm a music nerd, so throat singing and their traditional instruments are really intriguing to me too. And the nature here is breathtaking. I can also tell that some of this is changing though - and its partly because the country is developing. For example, along with electricity comes power lines. Even though I like gers, they are mostly suitable for herders - not town dwellers. The music is being influenced by technology too. Style is adapted towards pop music, and electronic effects are added onto recordings. Mongolian clothes are worn by some people (usually older folks) on a regular basis, but usually reserved for holidays. Mongolians are known for their hospitality, but not everyone displays it and actually a few people are not friendly towards foreigners. To a certain extent, I am a part of this progress by exposing Mongolians to English (along with its culture). At the same time I wouldn't advise Mongolia to stop these changes - exposure to new things, improved roads, electricity, etc. I think that the only way to really "preserve" culture is to freeze time, and well - that isn't life. I can't tell people to stay as they are and not change. But I think the Mongolian people have something to be proud of - their history and their present culture. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't have a brighter future in front of them though :)