I have not posted in a long time! I’m sorry for that but hopefully I can get you guys up to speed!
For Christmas, I organized a party for the volunteers on Christmas Eve at an Indian restaurant. The owner is actually Indian and speaks English. We paid a set price and he brought out tons of food. It was delicious! I have never had Indian food in the states, but it is one of my favorites here. It was a lot of fun! We had trivia and everyone hung out which we don’t normally do. We also did a white elephant gift exchange. I got an ornament and some phone units!
On New Year’s Eve, I went out to dinner with some friends and then we went to a party. Around midnight, people were leaving to go to the Sukhbaatar square (the main square in UB). So we went there and were running to make it by midnight. I think we were a few minutes late but oh well. We were drinking champagne and taking pictures. One guy’s bottle of champagne froze! He turned it upside down and nothing would come out! I was freezing bc I wore a sweater dress and only one pair of tights! Inside it is so hot so my legs were only numb for a little while!
We had a Christmas/New Year’s party for our school too - one with teachers and one with the students. They were both fun but people dress up as if they are going to prom! Santa Claus came to the teacher’s party and gave all the foreign teachers a present. He said my name as “Mindy Nicole” so I don’t think my school knows my name. Oh well… Every other teacher they said the first and last name correctly but they said my middle name! He gave us a bottle of champagne, a thing of chocolates, and a little planner looking thing that you can write notes in. It was nice. He was definitely a Mongolian Santa.
I had a great birthday. We went to a place called The Bull - it is a hot pot restaurant. Everybody has like their own little fondue pot in front of them. You pick your broth and then order meat, vegetables and noodles for the table. It was delicious! I really want to go their again. Plus, if you have a big group, it is very cheap. I also had a special ger-shaped cake made. I thought it was adorable. My friends bought me a birthday hat and candles. It was really sweet. Afterwards some of us went out for drinks at an Irish Pub. It was a good night but I miss my friends in Georgia!!!At the end of January, we had our teachers’ party. Yes, Mongolians actually celebrate teachers! I think America should pick up on this. We had a huge party with lots of food, vodka and dancing. At the end of the party, my department went back to our office and we were drinking and talking. My department head had sat in the office most of the party taking shots of vodka and she was passed out by the time we got up there. It was so funny! Then when the director of the school was leaving, she wanted to take my dept. head with her. They put her hat, scarf and coat on and told her, “Let’s go!” She proceeded to pass back out only to wake up a minute later and throw her hat off! I was cracking up! They finally got her to leave and then one of the teachers started cleaning up because we were getting ready to go. She went to my dept. head’s desk and picked up some trash on the floor beneath it and then she found……..my dept. head’s false teeth!!!!!!!!!!! She grabbed them with her bare hands! They wrapped them in paper and then ran out to catch them before they left! There was also a Karaoke competition between the departments for Teachers' day. My department got 1st place!!! And no...they didn't let me sing!
In January, I was going to the Buddhist Center in UB. There is a monk named Glenda who is from Australia and she had talks once a week that explained Buddhism and how to fit it in your everyday life. She is so great to listen to and what she says really makes sense. Not that I am becoming a Buddhist but I do believe in Karma. One thing I thought was interesting was that she said the things you do in this life affect you in the next. Not in your present life. Then she went through lying, murder, etc. and said that if you do these things certain things will happen in your next life. For example, you might be born where there is a shortage of water or in a place where there is war. It kind of makes sense to me; what do you guys think?
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