Food, Food, and Various other things!

We also promised at the first of October to tell you about our grocery shopping. It may seem mundane, but anything done in an unfamiliar context is anything but mundane. In the States, we (or Jennifer) would jump in our car once a week and go to Wal-Mart and other grocery stores like Kroger or Aldi in order to get our food stuffs. We would even take coupons and watch sale adds in order to get the best price for the things we needed. Things are a bit different here. First, we don’t have a car to hop into in order to go to the grocery store. Second, there are few grocery stores as we would call them in the States. Third, we have never seen a coupon in Mongolia and sale adds, not to mention sales, for food items are extremely rare.

Our Favorite Mini Market VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We have to eat, so we find what we need. While there are few conventional grocery stores, there are small convenience type stores all over the place. There is no need for a car since our main grocery store is right across the street. This has been one of our favorite places to shop for food and basic items since we returned in August. The picture shows where it used to be. It is now in the basement of the same building but with the same general layout as before. We have frequented it so often that the owner and most of the ladies who work there know us. It reminds me of a time when people in a community actually knew one another. Honestly, how many people do you know and see regularly when you are running your weekly errands? What we can’t find here, we can usually find at two other more traditional grocery stores which are about ten minutes and fifteen minutes walking distance from our apartment. These larger stores carry more import goods. If we have a craving for or need something that is less Mongolian, these are the places we go. One is between our house and Craig and Sarah’s house which is very convenient since we walk to their house at least once a week. This is also the store where we get our breakfast cereal! Yes, we have found a reliable and cheap source for imported breakfast cereal! The boxes we get are usually 750 grams which last a while, and at just over 4 dollars, they very reasonable even with our limited budget!

Another Favorite Store VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

There is another store that we go to often, the Eggmart!!! It is next to our apartment building all of a minute walk from the outside door. Guess what we get here? If you guessed beef, you need to think about it a little more. We get all of our eggs as well as chicken from this place. We can get both cheaper here than any other place we have found. They also have turkeys for a reasonable price. This year we will have turkey during the holiday season! Two were purchased for our all team holiday meal, but we got one for us as well. We love turkey, and it is not a popular meat in Mongolia. Last year, we were quoted $100 for a single turkey. The ones we got for the team meal were about $28 a piece. A little pricey but affordable!

Occasionally, we need to go to a market. Two markets that Jennifer went to regularly last year are located to the north in the center part of town. Sometimes when we have to go into town we will swing by one or both of these places to stock up on stuff that we can only get there or that is the best price there. Walking into town has not been uncommon for us, but we generally take a bus. A third market is east of us. It is our least favorite market to go to, but it is also the best place to get certain things. The quickest way to get there from here is by micro bus, a souped up minivan that can usually fit twenty plus people. Needless to say, we try to avoid these except when absolutely necessary.

There is no guarantee that any of our regular stores will have what we need at any one time. Frequently, we may have to look around or do without. However, things here are much better than they were a few years back, as we have been told. Today, there are a lot of things available that used to not be including a wide variety of import items from Germany (we love the Germans!), Russia, China, the USA, as well as other countries. Many of these things are not only available, but they are affordable. Most food and staple items are regularly available, or if something is not around it probably will be in a week or two. It is certainly not the States, but we have nothing to complain about and are very thankful for the blessings that we have!

Next time we will tell you about our favorite Mongolian restaurants and food! Mutton and fat, there ain’t nothin’ better! (That is actually Craig’s opinion not ours!)

The Ins and Outs and Back Ins Again

Life in Mongolia is progressing normally. Our workshops are on a regular schedule, we are getting accustomed to the homework grading, and it is getting cold. Though it is just the first of November, we have had several snows including one that has remained on the ground for several days. It is this time of year that we think of when we think Mongolia. This is probably the case because the majority of our time spent in this country has been during the frigid months. Mongolia doesn’t really seem like Mongolia if we don’t have to bundle to go outside or watch our step while walking so as not to slip on the ice and break something. This may sound sick, but we actually enjoy the cold. There is a beauty in the cold months that cannot be matched by the warmer months. Besides, the warmer months aren’t as entertaining, there is no ice!

As promised the first of October, we are going to give an update of our class structure as well as more information about the curriculum that we are using. As is to be expected, we have had several more students drop out of the program over the past month. Two of Joshua’s dropped because they were pregnant and did not feel that they could handle all of the added responsibilities of EXCEL. Others have quit because they are currently too busy, and some we just haven’t heard from. This brings an element of discouragement, but most of the students who began the program are working hard to continue.

We currently have twenty-five students still in the program. Craig still has his original ten, Jennifer has nine which may be eight on Saturday, and Joshua is down to six. It is understandable that some have dropped because EXCEL is not an easy course. Besides being required to attend at least one if not two three hour workshops a week, they must also complete a sizable homework packet every two weeks and be observed teaching in their classrooms by their supervisor twice during the semester.

Teaching Fun VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We are in the thick of the semester right now as we near the mid point. The students turned in their third homework packet this past Saturday, and we have been actively grading. Each homework assignment is comprised of three parts: Methodology, Literature, and Listening. In the Methodology section, students must read a section about English teaching methodologies, answer ten or more questions regarding the reading and their own classroom experiences, and complete two classroom application activities. This all requires a great deal of planning and writing on their part. In the Literature section, students must read two chapters out of a literature book (usually simplified), answer a number of comprehension questions, and write half to full page answers for one or two deeper thought questions related to the reading. The literature book for this semester is a simplified version of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. In the Listening section, students must listen to a short audio clip and answer twenty or more comprehension questions. To wrap it all up, there is a writing exercise in which the student is required to write one page about a particular topic and their thoughts, feelings, etc. The writing exercise is usually related to the listening topic.

The course teaching material is likewise split up into three sections: Methodology, Oral, and Listening. The semester includes several three hour workshops for each topic. The Methodology is considered to be the most important material because this is why the government wants us to teach the program. The topics vary but are all related to how each teacher can become more effective in teaching English as a foreign language in their classes. The Oral material focuses on teaching new topics while having the students listen and talk usually to each other. The underlying goal, at least as we were told last year, is to get all of the students talking as often as we can. This is also the principle that we are trying to instill in them as teachers. Language, after all, is a subject that one cannot remember without using. Listening workshops challenge student listening comprehension. There are other aspects of the course that are involved to some degree in all lessons, but for sake of time and space, they are going to be omitted at this time. Perhaps we will give some more detail at a later date.

This post will be continued in one week with information about grocery shopping in Mongolia. Stay tuned for the latest information from your very own Mongolian correspondents!