Gillian and Neyamaa Hammer Out the Details

We had Gillian (a Canadian British woman who is one of the teachers on our team--we teach English classes together) and Neyamaa (one of her students that I have also become friends with this summer), over for supper tonight.  Afterwards, we talked about some really good things.  Here, I took a picture of the two of them rehearsing the details of Gillian coming to visit Neyamaa at her teaching job. 

Gillian: "When will I come?"
Neyamaa: "Thursday at 10 a.m."
Gillian: "What should you have ready?"
Neyamaa: "A lesson plan"
Gillian:  "Will it be inspiring and creative?"
Neyamaa: "Yes, very much!"
Giggle, giggle, giggle.

This was Gillian's way of making sure she and Neyamaa were understanding the same details, while also making Neyamaa laugh.  This is good...to rehearse details with a Mongolian...because many details get lost in the language differences, and you end up somewhere wrong at the wrong time.  It happens all the time!  I recently went to go meet a Mongolian friend in front of the store down the street, but she was standing in front of my apartment building.  I didn't think that was the plan at all.  It was good to see Gillian drill Neyamaa...I'm going to do that in the future...in a lighthearted, fun way as Gillian did!

I think of our Father who goes through the details with us over and over again, to make sure we understand things. 

Him: "Do you remember you can trust me with that little thing you're worrying about?"
Me: "What?  Oh, yeah.  Okay...here it is...again!"
Him: "I'll be waiting right here to listen to you when you wake up in the morning."
Me: "Ah, then that means I should be coming to you, right?"
Him: "Yes, dear child, and what should you have ready for me?"
Me: "My all!"

A Mongolian Evening

Last night we visited a couple that we've recently met; the wife knows a lot of English and the husband knows very little.  This gave us an opportunity to speak in Mongolian to try to include him, yet we sometimes mixed Mongolian with English and charades!  They also had their neighbor friend over since her husband is out of the country right now (she's in the purple and black v-necked shirt).

We had a wonderful, simple Mongolian meal.  It included boiled carrots and potatoes (the best potatoes I've had in a long time!); shaved pieces of beef which had been boiled; a plate of cut up tomatoes; rice; some mantoe bread (dough which has been steamed)...it was rolled in the shape of a cinnamon roll, but steamed (not baked) and no cinnamon and sugar.  We told them about cinnamon rolls and the wife went to the cupboard and got cinnamon and sugar out.  I was surprised, as many Mongolians do not like cinnamon.  Kevin unrolled the steamed dough roll and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on it, then rolled it back up.  They were interested and tried it themselves.  "Mmmmmm..." was the reply. 

We stayed for two hours and enjoyed talking about a book this man has recently written and had published concerning the history of Mongolia and how there is evidence of the Word being around in Mongolian history many centuries ago. 

Their daughter (around 11 years old) played some beautiful selections on the piano.  She has been taking lessons for four years, and I thought she was doing wonderfully for the period of time she's taken.

We then walked home in the dark at 8:15 p.m.  There was much activity in the city, still, but it seemed so late with it getting dark so early again.  It was a mild temperature--perhaps the last evening like this until next summer. 

Today it turned cold, and there were some hours when it was sunny and nice, and other hours when it was rainy and cold.  I think this is all due to being at this higher elevation, and being nestled in between two rows of mountains. 

I am asking for a content attitude no matter what the weather.  I can take notice of the weather, but I want to not grumble about the cold.  When I say, "Oh, it's so cold," it's not like I'm informing someone around me of something they themselves haven't noticed.  So, I want to focus on other things than the weather.  Set my mind on the things above...not on the things that are on earth. Col. 3

A Multi-cultural Experience

These are wonderful Mongolian women, introduced to us by a Wisconsin student who was at a Colorado conference with them; here we are, eating a snack from a Nebraskan friend!

Last month, our daughter, Danielle was married.  We visited with one of the groomsmen and found out he had been at a conference during the summer, and he had met two Mongolian women who live in UB (Ulaanbaatar--where we live!).  So, he gave us their email addresses and we had them over at the end of August.  Here, we are, eating "Moose Munch", a snack given to us by my parent's neighbor in Nebraska.  We had mutual encouragement when they visited us.  These are vibrant women who desire to grow in their walk.

Thoughts in the Last Two Days

I have had some meandering thoughts regarding our new apartment location. Here goes:

I was just thinking as I went to bed last night with the breeze blowing in, after an evening of getting our apartment organized, a good meal on the table, and a movie with Micah and Kevin, that I'm really liking this new place. It's a bit quieter at night than our old spot. I think there are less drunks out in the parking lot (so far, that's my consensus!). We can hear some noises from our neighbors, to give us clues about their lives: a baby cries every so often (distant sound), a dog barking (again, distant), and I think at least two apartments have pianos because I can hear piano music in two different rooms--seeming to come from above in one room and next door in another.

Getting together with people here is so easy. They always are contacting us, so our schedule can stay pretty busy with meeting with people. I'm excited to get together with Azaa tonight, a young Mongolian woman I've developed a friendship with, and who is seeking to know truth. Kevin is getting together with a man we met on the plane August 19 when we were flying from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar. We've been with his family four times since we've been back. He has a son Micah's age. There has been much mutual encouragement with this Mongolian man and and his family.

This afternoon, Diana (country director's wife) is going to show me around the markets and stores that I might like to shop for groceries in this area. They will all be new locations for me, since we were tuned into places 30 minutes (walk) away from here.

Thanks for upholding us with your support and encouragement!

English Practice

Yesterday I met with Gunjee (23 year old woman who knows English well), her 16 year old male cousin Luka, and his younger sister (13) Ochermaa. Kevin and I have met with Gunjee and Luka twice before to speak back and forth, practicing their English (and we get to learn a few Mongolian words along the way).

This time, Kevin couldn’t join us, so I walked over to the restaurant where we were to meet, and we had our talking time there. After we had talked awhile, they presented me with a leather messenger bag with a leather business card holder and pen holder. It is really pretty. I confirmed with them that a man or woman can carry this bag and I assured them that Kevin and I would both use it often. We talked for awhile longer. After about an hour, I asked, “Do you need to be going anywhere?” They looked questioningly at me, “No, do you?” I said, “No, I just don’t want to have you stay longer than you want. I don’t want to bore you.” They laughed, “Oh, no, this is FUN!” So, we talked for another half hour.

I had brought some cards from a new game we had purchased in the States called “Things”. We each took turns answering questions like, “What are things you should not write in a Valentine’s card?” We talked about the holiday for awhile (just recently some Mongolians have begun giving cards…before it was always just chocolates or flowers). Luka said, “You should not write ‘You are ugly’ in a Valentine’s card.” We laughed. We also talked about disabilities and handicaps (new words to them). I commented that even though a person might have a disability or a handicap, they are still valuable to God. Gunjee looked at me thoughtfully and shook her head in agreement.

Our conversation definitely strengthened our friendship today. I look forward to our time together next week.

Excuses, Excuses!

Ahh…blog, sweet blog, how I have missed Thee, let me count the ways. My heart has had no written pathway to speak out. But, now my keyboard is loosed once again!

“Why the silence for so long,” you may ask. I tell you, “I have a ton of reasons.” And now, my reasons are gone and I can again compose posts and again post posts and again post photos. Again, my heart can run free on a computer screen.

So, since time lacks for me to post on all past events, I will only declare shortly herein what has kept me from blogging and blabbing away for so many weeks. Here is my declaration:

July 20-22—I did extra study for our BIG Mongolian language test, and then the test itself. I passed, but that doesn’t in any way mean I am fluent in this new language. I have decided I will never be fluent. But, I want to weekly learn new words and how to put them together properly.

July 23—A 24-hour travel to the U.S. Loved the time change deal: left Ulaanbaatar July 23 mid morning, travelled 24 hours, but still ended up in Minneapolis at 8:30 p.m. . . .on July 23!

July 24-August 6—A grand time of swiping the Discover Card ensued (don’t worry—it’s paid off!), as Danielle, Kevin, Johnny, I, and others in our family went hunting for many of the items we needed for our daughter’s wedding and reception. It was a lot to accomplish in a short time (maybe we have the makings for a new reality TV show—“The Amazing Race for the Bachelorette to get to The Wedding Story”; but everything was ready the evening of August 6, and we gained a son-in-law out of the deal!

August 7-17—We enjoyed time with both of our families and many friends.

August 18-19—Travel back to Mongolia took a few hours longer because of a longer layover in Beijing; we left at 9:30 am. August 18 and arrived in Ulaanbaatar at 11:30 p.m. August 19. Real travel time was around 28 hours.

August 20-September 2—No internet at our apartment, and looking for a new apartment (what an adventure). We saw a super-plush place as well as a hole in the wall that looked “mafia-like”. We ended up with a spacious apartment with a few upgrades from our last apartment. Our new apartment has a larger frig/freezer (still smaller than in the States) and a larger washing machine (now two double sheets can fit into the same load!).





We moved September 2, so this new apartment is still very new to us. We are also the first people to live in it (in a one-year old building, but this unit had never been rented yet). Not everything is new, though, as an old Russian oven (see in these kitchen pictures) was moved into the unit for us (many Mongolians don’t even own an oven). I spent over half an hour grating the baked-on oily stuff off the insides so it won’t smoke us out of the kitchen when it’s turned on (as happened the first time we used it!). I’m thankful I brought some Brillo pads from the U.S. with me!

Here's the living room on move-in day. It will soon look like "home", but I wanted you to see the new couch our landlady found for us, the light fixture, and cool French doors which can close off the living room from the rest of the apartment.





September 3-4—Now, we are settling into a new routine and exploring our new neighborhood. I had to walk back to our old neighborhood (35 minute walk away) yesterday, and it felt so “comfortable” since I knew where the bumps in the sidewalks exist, aware of the timing of the crossing lights and where the curbs and fences are which need to be avoided for walking. It will take a few months for this new neighborhood to feel as comfy as that old one was becoming. I realized I don’t know our jujor (the lady who picks up the trash from our hallways and keeps an eye on the people who go in and out of the building). It won't be long before we are smiling and waving to one another as at the old place, I hope! I don’t know what’s in all the stores underneath our apartment (by the way, we’re now on the 6th floor, but we have an elevator). At our old place, we were on the 2nd floor (no view because of the buildings all around us. At this new place...we have an awesome view. We can see the north hills (Ulaanbaatar is nestled between two rows of mountains/hills...some to the north and some to the south.


The photos (above and below) show the view out of our north window. I'm so excited that we'll be seeing sunrises and sunsets, as we have a very wide view as well as a distant view. See the hills off in the distance?

Here's the view below our apartment just as the morning is beginning. The streets get busier than this, but this gives an idea of what our few blocks around us look like. The white building (upper left in photo) is a grocery store close by. It is also the "All Mart" (real name!) which has household items and even some furniture in the upper level.






School begins soon...next weekend we give English teachers the test to see who can enter our program. These will be the new relationships we will enjoy for the coming year!