Testing

After a busy week of language class, we were ready to crash for the weekend. However, there was still work to be done, and we were asked to participate in the activities. On Friday, one of our co-workers called and asked if we would help her and two other teachers give a test to prospective English students on Saturday. Seeing this as a great opportunity to get into the classroom scene, we offered our time. On Saturday, we were met and escorted to the west side of town by one of the teachers we were helping. The reason she came all the way into town to get us was we had not yet ridden a bus. Now, we are all about buses, but when you still don't speak the language making sure you get on the right bus can be a challenge. The bus ride itself was fun with plenty of bumps, jars, and jerks. We made it to the west side in record time due in part to the fact that most everything gets out of the way of a bus. We helped with the test which took about three hours. There were not a lot of possible students, but a large majority of the test takers passed. Afterwards, our co-teachers provided dinner, tacos and cornbread. It may sound like a weird combo, but it was a great taste of home. Following dinner, we rode home in a taxi. This was our first solo taxi ride. Taxis here are almost all privately owned vehicles of people looking to earn a little extra cash. We were able to converse with the driver enough to get home. Plus, we put a smile on our driver's face when Jennifer and Jess, one of our teammates, sang along with the radio. In Mongolian, I reminded the driver that they are foreigners and then had to confess that I am too. That made him smile even more!
We will not actively teach until next semester, but being in the classroom was a nice reminder of what we are here to do. We also enjoyed the opportunity to visit more with three of our co-teachers and see them in action. I guess it gives us something to look forward to as long as we can survive language study.

Language Lisps

The head guy for our organization here in Mongolia has a great saying about life. He says that there are things that you don't even know you didn't know. That may sound confusing, but it makes a lot of sense when you step into a completely different culture. There are a lot of things about life that we didn't even know we didn't know until we got here, including the sounds a human mouth can make. It is very unfortunate for us that there are letters and sounds in the Mongolian alphabet that have no counterpart in the English alphabet. In fact, some of them sound right down impossible to make. Even worse is when multiple of said letters come in the same word. For example, the Mongolian word for lion has a rolling R followed by an IS sound followed by an L made by putting the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth and blowing air out the sides, and that is only part of the word. Now if that doesn't sound painful enough for you, try putting all of those sounds together and making them understandable. Also, there are seven basic vowels and six auxiliary vowels. This means there are 13 vowels in Mongolian, and many of them sound so similar that our ears cannot identify the difference. While we may struggle with such sounds, we are amazed by the sounds that can be made. Learning a new language is a very humbling experience.

A Few Pics

This is the view from the new house of our Cultural Relations Director.

We got to visit the ger pictured below which is owned by the man pictured above and his wife. They were very hospitable giving us traditional milk tea and some cookies and candies. All was very delicious!

Learning the Language

This morning we began our Mongolian language class. We are being taught by two Mongolian ladies who work for our organization here in UB. The classes are being held at the office which is just fine for us because we live less than a block from the office. We began our day with anticipation and butterflies (in our stomach of course). It has been said that Mongolian is one of the top most difficult languages for an English speaker to learn. There are sounds that are unnatural to us. There are combinations of letters that sound impossible to make. However, we have a couple of wonderful teachers. It is their first time teaching Mongolian, but we did remind them that this is our first time learning Mongolian. We will just help each other through this process. We started out this morning by learning a portion of letters in the Mongolian alphabet. Mongolian uses the Cyrillic alphabet which has a few letters similar to the Latin alphabet; however, few of them have the same sound. The H actually has an N sound while the P has an R sound. There are also some letters that just look weird.
We also worked on introductions, how to ask someones name, some verbs, and how to count from 1 to 10. Our heads hurt after the class, but we learned several new words and phrases that we did not know going into class. We have a long road ahead of us. Our class will continue every week day from 9 am to noon until January. However, we are hopeful of the possibilities! Understanding the language will allow us to interact with the people around us. We will be able to build meaningful relationships with the people of the community. We will be able to feel like a useful member of our new home. We will be able to share our story of hope and joy!
This afternoon we were able to put some of our language into use at the local market. This morning we learned the Mongolian names for several animals and how to order meat. Up until now we had not been brave enough to purchase meat, but today we marched into the meat section and bought lamb using only Mongolian. It may not have been a lot, but it was a small victory. It proved that we can learn Mongolian and that we can communicate effectively!

Walking Hazards

Mongolia is really a great country. The more we learn about its culture and history the more we are interested in it. One unique aspect of living in Mongolia is walking. I have shared in previous posts that we have been walking a lot. That in and of itself does not seem like a big deal, but you have probably never walked in Mongolia if you are thinking that way. It takes a lot of skill and focus to move from place to place. First, due to the unusual amount of rain this summer, there are often large puddles. Some, I thought, rivaled Loch Ness in size. Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but they are often very large nonetheless. Second, many man holes around the city are left uncovered. It is very important to watch out for these unless one would like to explore the underground passages of UB. Third, no sidewalk is completely even. Many have been the times that I have already tripped. I find myself walking with my eyes on my feet. These things only make life a little more interesting. It may be challenging sometimes, but we have learned to take one step at a time, both while walking and while adjusting to the culture. We know that we are not going to adjust overnight or that we are going to learn Mongolian in a week. We may be adults, but in many ways we are becoming like children again. It will take us time to learn, but with work and perseverance we will complete our journey.

First Week

This past week has been full of new experiences as we have been acclimating to life in Mongolia. A lot of our time has been spent with the country director learning about the culture and what we will be doing in it. There are many new cultural things that we are going to have to get used to, such as handing things with either the right hand only or both hands as well as recieving things the same way. We have had to get used to crossing streets with a lot of traffic. Here in Mongolia pedestrians don't really have the right-of-way, so you just have to look for a hole and run. Actually, it is not too bad. We just get behind some of the locals and go when they go. There is the great concept of size. If the group of people is bigger than the vehicle coming then the car will stop. It is, however, dangerous for any size group to cross in front of an oncoming bus. We are being challenged to walk in faith.
We have seen a lot of the city, and have learned how to get practically anywhere from our apartment. We have not yet tried out public transportation, so most of our travel has been by foot.
The weather has been great since we got here. It has rained several days, something that is unusual for Mongolia. The rain has cooled the air. In the mornings it is cold enough to see your breath, but the days have been in the 70s or so with no humidity. It is a far cry from the current weather in middle TN or north AL I am sure. When it is not raining, the sky has a brilliant blue color.
We have also had to get used to going up stairs. That may sound like a simple thing to do, but we are over five thousand feet above sea-level. At that altitude the oxygen is a little thinner than we were used to.
This week we also went to a Mongolian culture show. Traditional dances were performed, local instruments were played, and native songs were sung. They played the horse-head fiddle and performed throat singing. It was a wonderful display of the rich cultural heritage that Mongolia has, but it also highlighted their need for the Father. We are excited to be here! Next week we have a few days of training with the rest of our team. We begin our formal language training a week from this Monday.
I would add more pictures, but we only have a very slow connection speed and a limited amount of time. I will post lots of pictures after we get hooked up to faster and more abundant internet.

Small Steps, Long Walks

Our mode of transportation before coming to Mongolia was our beautiful Mustang. In the past few months we rolled the odometer on that baby driving all over the place. Here our primary mode of transportation are two pairs of tennis shoes. Since we landed Sunday we have walked a lot. Not that I am complaining by any means. Walking is a great way to get around plus a wonderful form of exercise that most Americans have almost forgotten about. The last few days we have been shown more around town. The girls were clued in on the good grocery stores and markets while the guys were shown the "Home Depot" district of UB. Besides going out with some of our new friends here, we have also taken it upon ourselves to get out and explore a little on our own. It has been a lot of fun. The Mongolian culture and language are very different from our own. It is easy to feel very different even scared because of this. With such great barriers before us it is not always the big things that excite us. The past few days the small steps have been encouraging. Learning our way around our part of town, eating at resturants without anybody to translate, and learning a few words that can be recalled later are all just a few of the small victories that can help carry us through this time of transition. We are encouraged by the quality of our living space and the new friends that we have already made. It is going to take a lot of time for us to become more at home in our new home, so we must rely on our Father for humility and patience. Something we learned in our preperations to get here was that there is joy in the journey. Every stage of transition, growth, or travel has its own unique characteristics and pleasures. Our goal is to make the best of and enjoy every moment of our learning experience.