Mongolia January 7-17, 2012

MONGOLIA BOUND

(pictured Geri, Pam and Nancy at Chicago O'Hara to Seoul, Korea; Kevin not pictured)

I don't find it ironic that my last blog in 2011 was concerning Mongolia. Returning there to participate in teaching an English Camp for students was a unique privilege; hopefully not my last trip.

(pictured Nancy and Geri at Breakfast in Incheon Airport, Korea with Smuckers!)
The travel was grueling but here's a few tips for international travel. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and DRINK SOME MORE WATER! (an experienced friend gave us that one!) Sleep when you can and use sleep aides when you can't! If the layover is long, get a hotel for overnight and hydrate and sleep! Mongolia is +14 hours so I was wide awake when they were sleeping. Coming home is the reverse; I fell fast asleep when I sat down during the day and was up and down during the night. Oh, did I mention that drinking lots and lots of water is important? Adding a vitamin supplement, like Propel or Gatorade to the water boosts your immune system too. And take a neck pillow for the long plane ride! If they offer you water or juice on the flight, take it! And carry on protein bars. We flew Korean Air (the best service airlines going east) and they offer kosher meals if you want more western-friendly meals. Layer your clothes because the cabin got stuffy and warm. I found a t-shirt with light-weight stretch pants for comfort great.

ENGLISH CAMP

Our students were from ages 14 to 30. They attended the camp to learn conversational English which is different than the school English they are taught. Mongolia is experiencing rapid growth in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, with a steady influx of foreigners because of the newly found cooper mine in the Gobi dessert. Having a working knowledge of English is a marketable skill for the young people. Many want to travel and study abroad and the common language is English.

(pictured Level One class in the afternoon and Level Two class with both Geri and Nancy)

(pictured Geri and Yanjka practicing making a date on the phone in English; the students loved this activity)

MONGOLIAN SIGHTS

Our friends took us to The Zaisan Memorial during our stay (no pictures from my camera). The normal temp during the day barely reached zero F and dropped to -30 during the night. Dawn was around 8:30am with the sun setting (and the temp dropping) around 4:30-5pm. Our camera batteries drained quickly in the cold. At the Soviet Zaisan Memorial we climbed up the icy steps to get a breathtaking view of Ulaanbaatar which is located in a basin surrounded by mountains and steppes. Unfortunately the basin traps smog which we saw up at the memorial as we looked out on the city. UB (Ulaanbaatar) is the most polluted city in the world during the winter months because many of the gers (nomadic felt tents) in the suburbs burn coal.

(pictured a smoggy view out of our guest apartment over UB at 5pm rush hour traffic)

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park was breath taking early in the morning. These two pictures below don't capture the rugged, wild beauty of countryside Mongolia. Erik is standing in front of a large rock formation known as Turtle Rock.


One morning, Bernie walked us to the Buddhist temple complex about a mile from our apartment up a hill. The temp was -30 with a rising sun, when we heard the gong sound and watched the monks walk fast to morning prayer. When we started back to the apartment after being out for 30 minutes covered head to toe, I couldn't feel my feet! But the sights and sounds were worth the pain of thawing out.

(pictured Kevin and Pam stand by a statue near the main temple)

I'll post more about our friends who live and work in Mongolia in another blog. Until then, enjoy the pictures!

Nancy