One Month

One more month exists before the completion of our second school year in Mongolia and our return to the United States for the summer.  I mean one month literaly.  We will board a plane on May 15th and arrive in the States on May 15th.  Talk about a long day!

The time has passed quickly, perceptively more so than last year. I wouldn’t entirely contest that it has passed more quickly because of busyness. When we began the year we expected to be very busy throughout. However, we soon learned that teaching one day a week doesn’t take up a lot of time, especially when that three hours is split between three teachers. Granted, the student observations and grading homework has been time consuming, but we have not had a large number of students. Because we found extra time, we filled it with other things. Joshua devoted two days a week both last semester and this to graduate school work. Jennifer has acted on a committee or two and has been tutoring two people (more on that in the newsletter). Life itself takes considerably more time for us to live here than it does in the U.S. In short, we have stayed busy enough to cause the months to pass quickly at least in our perception. We are thankful for the time that we have had and for the experiences as well. This year has been unique. Last year had its set of challenges as we made Mongolia our home for the first time. This year has had a different set of challenges as we continued to live life day in and day out in Mongolia. We have been plunged into the teaching program that we were only told about last year. We realized our lack of experience and ability. We have felt our lack. It is in that lack that we have and continue to seek His sufficiency.

A Little Bit of April

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The process of ending out this year and preparing for next has been a long and painful process. As has already been mentioned, going into our time at Thailand, we lacked a desire to return to Mongolia next year. During our time there, we were guided to return for at least one more year. Our organization has been reeling with the outgoing of the former country director and incoming of a new one. Many things that had not been said finally came out and have facilitated the process of change and expansion. However, it is difficult to expand when the number of people is decreasing. Not only will the former director no longer be working with our organization, we are also losing several very valuable teachers. But we are assured that He is in control. This is another of the reasons that we have been spurned to remain faithful to the work here.

Currently, our organization focuses exclusively on the retraining of Mongolian English language teachers. This has been the case for well over a decade. With the change of location from the countryside to the city and the passage of time, it has been identified that what we are doing needs to be modified to fit our current situation. Training of teachers will continue, but what that looks like is still a mystery of sorts. Next year, there will be a team of teachers who will finish up the requirements of our current student class, but at the same time there will be a process of reworking that program to be more effective in the current and future eras of English teaching in Mongolia. However, this is potentially no longer going to be our sole focus. There have been many ideas on the table. Some doors have opened while others have closed or are nearing that point. One option is of placing our teachers in high schools to help train the English teachers of that particular school. Another option has been to work side-by-side with some of the Mongolian teachers to hopefully exemplify good communicative English teaching as well as build relationships. Yet another option is to place some of our teachers in a university to teach English as well as teacher training to some of the future English teachers of this country. It is still uncertain at this point what we as an organization will be doing next year.

Despite the ambiguity there are two things that we know for sure. First, Joshua will once again be a team leader. This is nothing new, but the team of which he is leading will likely be far different than this year. Our preference would be to teach university. This is what we came to do and feel most confident in doing. This is in no way assured at this point though it is the direction that we have been asked and feel most led to go. Much still rests on the direction of our organizational leadership and opportunities.

Second, we will remain in the apartment that we have been living in this year. This is big for both of us. Not more than a month ago, it was announced that practically all remaining teachers would have to move next year because of the reorganization of teams. That would make three moves in three years for us, something that neither of us liked the thought of. Despite that, we were willing to move should that be deemed absolutely necessary. However, after a large amount of reasonable protest, our director has been moved to allow us to continue living where we have already put down roots and begun to build relationships. We are very thankful for this.

We all realize that though change is both good and necessary it is uncomfortable. We are seeking His guidance and wisdom concerning what we will do and where we will be next year. More details will come as we learn them ourselves. But for the time being we would like you to join us in seeking wisdom and guidance and peace of mind concerning our work for next year.

Blessings to you and your family until you hear from us again!

Spring

After spending a month in balmy northern Thailand, it was not a lot of fun returning to the frozen north of UB, Mongolia. We were happy to get home after having been gone for a month, but the sub freezing temperatures became a little much. While much of the US was already seeing flowers and green of all kinds, we were still tramping through snow, ice, and slush.

Finally, that is all past. About a week ago, the temperatures finally soared above freezing. This may sound a little surprising, but it feels quite warm here once the temp hits the mid 30s. That may be for one of two reasons. One, it has been well below zero for three to four months. After so long at those temps, even freezing feels warm. Two, Mongolia is dry as a bone. Maybe it is a little of both. Whatever the case, we are happy to be able to shed the winter coat and clothes and begin working our way into the spring clothes (pretty much the same as winter just in fewer layers).

The only nasty thing about the warm up is the wind and dust.  All winter, the ground has been frozen.  It is windy but only makes things a little colder.  After the warm-up, the wind which blows pretty regularly out of the west picks up a lot of dust on its way into the city.  Because the city is located between two mountain ranges, one north and one south, the wind and dust is channeled right through the city.  Whereas two months ago the city was shrouded in smoke from the coal burning gers, it is now covered with a swirling cover of dust which varies in density.  We have found it quite important to keep our mouths shut if we are walking outside while the wind is blowing.  It is also quite surprising how quickly we get zapped of energy when we are outside in the wind.



The wind through an open window can even frustrate computer work.

When we were young, we learned that spring is a time of new birth, a time of refreshment after winter.  Mongolians see spring a little differently.  Traditionally, Mongolian people believed spring to be the worst season of all.  At first, that seems a little shocking but makes sense after hearing the reason.  The Mongolian winter is long and harsh.  Aside from a handful of other places on the earth, Mongolia is one of the harshest environments and has one of the fiercest winters.  Mongolians are a hearty people who have over a long period of time learned how to adapt to and live through such winters.  It is amazing to think that many Mongolians still live all year long in a felt covered tent.  Winter is harsh and rough on both people and animals, so by the time spring comes, everyone and everything is simply worn out.  We can attest to this fact.  Though we don’t exert a lot of energy during the winter time, the season still drains us.  Spring, though much warmer, is a very unpredictable time of year.  One day might be warm and the next might bring snow.  This kind of dramatic change can wreak havoc on an already worn out system.  For this reason, it is common for many animals that survived the winter to die in the spring.  Therefore, it is traditionally viewed as the hardest though not harshest season.  In the city, it is a little different.  People feel the drain of winter but not so much the ill effects that those in the country often experience.

Spring time signals two things for us.  First, it brings birthdays!  There are several team member birthdays in the spring but especially in April.  One of them is Jennifer’s.  Her birthday came on the 3^rd while Jessica’s, one of our teammates in the Han Uul district, came on the 4^th.  In celebration of Jennifer’s birthday, we had our team over for peach cobbler and ice cream after our morning gathering at fellowship. 

We had a good time “partying” together.

On Jessica’s birthday, we had our weekly team meeting at her and Matt’s house.  She fixed us lunch, but Sarah brought the cake and Jennifer made some delicious whole wheat rolls to go with lunch.  That evening, we had dinner at the house of our fellowship leader, so Jennifer made another cake to take for that.  The rest of us have simply enjoyed partaking in the birthday festivities!

 Speaking of visiting our fellowship leader’s house, that was a fun time.  Come to find out, their family moved in December into an apartment building just across the street from our apartment building.  We just now found that out.  They have been wanting to invite us over for dinner (we had them over to our house early last semester), but there had not been a convenient time for all of our schedules and their’s.  Sunday, they invited us over for Monday dinner, and that time worked for all of us.  Their oldest daughter speaks very good English as that has been her degree focus in university.  Their older son also speaks decent English.  The rest only speak Mongolian.  The six of us foreigners brought our combined Mongolian brain together and were able to have a unique but fun conversation.  For dinner, we had a yummy soup, rice, fried egg, and some kimchi (?).  It was all very delicious.  For dessert, we ate the yummy chocolate cake that Jennifer brought.  After dinner, the family pulled out photo albums (a very Mongolian thing to do with visitors), and we enjoyed looking through them and joking about past funny hair styles and lengths.  Some of the pictures were of the younger children playing Asian instruments.  In honor of the birthday girls, the father asked the younger daughter to play a piece on a dulcimer type instrument.  That was quite a treat!!

Second, spring signals that we will be returning to the States very soon. May is a very busy month for school teachers in Mongolia. The entire month is nothing but rounds of tests for Mongolian students. For three weeks straight, the teachers are swamped with giving and grading tests. Because of this, our program has sought to finish of the courses that we teach by no later than the first of May to free up some time in the teacher’s schedules. Therefore, our final class of the year will be on May 7th. Because everyone is finishing by the first of May, we have been given permission to leave on or after May 15th. Though we would like to experience some of the Mongolian summer, we want to maximize our time in the States, so we will be returning to the US on May 15th. Our plans for the summer are still a little unclear, but we know for sure that we will be in Wheaton, Illinois at Wheaton College for the month of July. During the time before that, we will be visiting with family and friends while seeking rest, refreshment, and fellowship. We know that the summer will once again pass quickly.


We apologize that this post has been later than usual. Life has been both busy and stressful over the past month. Thank you to all who read this and lift us up. We would be able to do nothing apart from His graciousness and your generosity.

Thailand Travel Log, Part 2

January 23,

After three nights at the Rainforest, we moved this morning to the YMCA in the northwestern part of town. For some reason, I can’t shake thinking about the Village People. That’s weird! Honestly, it is hard to look at the next two weeks positively. Who likes the idea of doing school work in Thailand? At least it’s about a hundred degrees warmer here than Mongolia!


January 26,

Things haven’t been quite as busy as we were expecting. It has been a nice ease into the grad program this week. Our accommodations are not too bad. It is off the main road, but there is a large mall within ten minutes walk. In fact, if we look out our window we can see the mall. It has been a nice place for Jennifer to go walk while I have been in class. It has also been a good meal stop. There are a couple pizza joints, an Auntie Anna’s Pretzel place, Duncan Donuts, Dairy Queen, etc. We love Thailand!!

Class has been more enjoyable than expected. There are about fourteen of us. Three-fourths of the class came to Asia at the same time we did, so we already have a familiarity with most of them. We have also made several new friends including two married couples living in Vietnam. It has been fun to meet new people and share stories.

The other great part about being where we are at is the little convenient store just outside the YMCA door. It may not look like much, but they have the best fruit smoothies in the world. What is even better is that a large smoothie is only a buck! Besides smoothies they also have great milkshakes, coffees, and various snacks. It has already become a regular stop and will probably continue to be through our stay here. The couple that owns and works at the place are also very sweet. They speak pretty good English and love to interact with the grad students that frequent the Y every year at this time.


January 29,


Time really flies when you stay busy. The first week of class is over, and our time at the Y is half over. As an encouragement to get through the week, we decided to make a trip to a popular attraction today, Saturday. We went to Tiger Kingdom!! First, there is not much better than a tiger in the animal kingdom. Second, there is not much better than getting to actually be in the presence of a tiger without a fence separating us.

The attraction of Tiger Kingdom is that you get to go in a cage with tigers that are not drugged in any way.  There are handlers and rules to follow, but it is perhaps the most natural encounter that any person can really have with a tiger.

We got a group of friends (new and old) together and made arrangements for a saung tau (a popular red truck taxi) to take us to Tiger Kingdom which is about 45 minutes outside of Chiang Mai.  Having a group made the trip more affordable and more enjoyable!  There are three groups of tigers that one can choose to be with: biggest, medium, and smallest.  We all decided to do the biggest and the smallest.  After entering a door reminiscent (in a much smaller way) of Jurassic Park, we were conducted to the cage of the biggest tigers.  We had to leave our loose articles on a table outside the cage before climbing into the cage.  What an exhilarating feeling to look up and see two tigers just a few yards of open ground away.

We approached the tigers from behind as the regulations stated.  Several of our group were a little hesitant at first, but the handlers encouraged us to rub away.  The tiger’s fur was much softer than you would think.  How incredible to rub, pet, and scratch a creature of such great power and prestige!!





The tiger, of course, was loving the attention and did not really appreciate the handler constantly waking him up to get pictures.  Though a tiger is always a wild creature, these had obviously become very accustomed to people and had probably had people around since they were cubs.

Before we left the big tigers, one rolled over so that I could rub its tummy.  WOW!!!  Our incredible time with these two years olds came to an end much sooner than any of us would have liked, but that only meant that it was time to visit the two month olds.

 We had to take off our shoes and wash our hands before going into the infant area.  The young ones were so cute!  They were like big kittens.  

Jennifer was allowed to hold one in her arms like a baby, and one spread out on my lap for a little snooze.  As small as they were, it was evident that they would grow up to be big and strong.  At two months, their paws were already as large as Jennifer’s hand.

There are no words to adequately describe how awesome this experience was.  There were also a couple four month olds, but we spent most of our time with the youngest ones.  Again, our time with these wonderful creatures ended too soon, but none of us will ever forget that experience!!

 



A little scary, isn't it?

While at Tiger Kingdom, we had two more join our group.  As they played with the small tigers, the rest of us had some lunch at the restaurant.  Since we had a driver and a truck for whatever and however long we liked, we asked him to take us to the Orchid Farm that Jennifer and I went to during our elephant camp day.  We all had such a wonderful time strolling leisurely through the flowers.  It was nice to have more than thirty minutes to explore this wonder of creation.

By the time we were done there, we were all so tired that we were ready to head back to the Y.  What an adventure!!  PTL for the opportunities that He has given us!!  Our time in Thailand is much more than the work of the grad classes.  We are resting and enjoying just another aspect of this wonderful world we live in!!

Thailand Travel Log, Part 1

January 20 (Bangkok),

Traveling the world is, at some times, highly overrated. Like right now. We left UB early this morning for a short (four and a half hours) flight to Seoul, South Korea. The Incheon airport is really nice. Aside from looking suspiciously like a western mall, it also has traditional Korean culture centers throughout. Our layover there was too short to do all the things that we would have liked to. We did get to see a traditional music presentation and make parchment/ink pictures all for free.

 

We had a great five hour flight to Bangkok and arrived there around 10 pm last night.  We are still here. (Insert glumness and extreme fatigue)  The Bangkok airport is okay but not for setting around all night… I think I just fell asleep for a second because there’s a small wet spot on my paper.  Thankfully the flight to Chiang Mai is just over an hour, and it is leaving shortly.

January 20 (Chiang Mai),

What a beautiful morning it was! It was also great to finally get here. We feel like we just traveled to the States, but we are still in Asia. The sunshine and feeling of completion gave us a short boost of energy. We took a cab to our hotel, the place we stayed last year during pre-conference, and got checked in quickly even though it was before 9 am. This is our vacation time. Once classes start next week, I (Joshua) at least will be busy practically till conference is over.  Our vacation time is about to begin with sleep.  After a valiant attempt to read our books (that didn’t work so well), we ordered room service and watched TV.  The bed feels great, so we are going to get some much needed rest.

January 22,

Since we are spending all of our time during vacation here in Chiang Mai, we have decided to do some of the more touristy things this year that we skipped out on last year. Yesterday, we stayed pretty close and just relaxed, that is, until mid afternoon. Then we took a Scorpion Tail riverboat cruise along the Mae Ping River.

 

It wasn’t long or fancy, but we practically had the boat to ourselves.  The hour and a half ride included us, a friendly couple from Nebraska, and the comedic tour guide.  The tour included a brief history of Chiang Mai (a city whose name means “New City” but is over 700 years old, older even than Bangkok), a description of certain riverside sites, and a brief stop ashore for some mango and sticky rice which is a local delicacy.  We laughed and talked and had a great time cruising through the city.

 

Today was our big event.  After eating our delicious Thai style breakfast, we were picked up by a tour van and taken to a local elephant camp.  Elephants are a big part of Thailand (no pun intended) and its history and something that we gravely missed out on last year.  We determined to not do so again this year.  The first leg of our day long excursion was a float through the jungle on a bamboo raft.  A bamboo raft is nothing more than two layers of bamboo tied together.

It was a little disheartening to see water coming up between the bamboo poles, but we also knew that if it sank we could just stand up (the water was only about knee deep).  Once we got to smooth water, I was asked to help pole the boat.  Though style was perhaps lacking, I at least did not overturn the boat.

 Perhaps the coolest part of this trip, besides the knowledge that Rambo 4 was filmed in those jungles, was the constant sight of elephants wandering along the river bank and up along the hills.

After we set back aground, we ate a delicious albeit hurried lunch in order to make it to our Ox Cart ride.  Exciting as it was, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t want to ride that thing for a long distance.  Again, I was asked to take the reign though quite literally this time.  The driver, after introducing his oxen Moe and How, asked me to cross over the railing and take his seat while he took my camera.  The oxen were well trained, so I didn’t really have to do anything.  But, it felt pretty cool.  I mean, how many other people can say they have “driven” an ox cart in Thailand?

The third leg of our journey was the much anticipated elephant ride.  Thankfully, there was a high platform from which we were able to mount our steed.

Again, the road was a bit “unstable” and certainly not for the faint of stomach, but all this we could overlook from the sheer AWESOMNESS of riding an elephant through the Thai jungle.  As our ride came to the river, the mahout dismounted taking with him my camera.  It was perhaps a bit more unnerving to sit atop an elephant with no “driver” than to “take the wheel” of the ox cart; however, we got some great pictures out of the deal!

After an awesome elephant show where elephants danced, played soccer, and even painted, we greeted a mother and her young calf.

 Our time at the camp now over, we stopped at a hill tribe village.  This was not part of our trip, so we sat and waited patiently for the rest of our group.  What a strange group it was!  We hit it off with a young couple from Munich, Germany who had also been at our hotel.  We also talked a bit with a young man from Australia.  Also in our group, but whom we didn’t speak with much, were a group from Chili, two men from Italy, and one man from Japan.  We were quite the “party” group, but the diversity also made it rather interesting.

Our last stop was at an Orchid farm.  The Orchid is Thailand’s national flower and symbol as well as Jennifer’s favorite flower.

 There were more varieties in one place than I even knew existed, so our thirty minute stay was anything but long enough.  However, our day was quite exhausting, so it is nice to be back in our room.

Now I have to face the fact that “vacation” time is nearly over.  We move tomorrow to the YMCA where I will be occupied with classes for the next two weeks.  Work in Thailand just doesn’t seem right!