Our Work at Mongolia International University and Time with Friends

Kathy and I finished our first week at work. Kathy and I met a lot of teachers and students this week. No way we can remember all the names, but all is going well. There are so many super people at the university. It was a week of introductions in so many ways. There is much to learn about the Mongolian culture, about how MIU operates, and about learning my new position as Director of the Foundation Course at MIU.

Kathy and I take the bus to and from work. It only costs 25 cents each for the ride, and it is fairly fast. The way traffic is here, the bus is often faster than any other way. We live on the same main road, called Peace Avenue, as the university. So it is easy to catch the bus. And after work today we walked 25 minutes into the center of the city and had a meal with our friend Anji. So things are easily accessible for us. I have posted photos here of our way to work each day so you can get a feel for how things are here. There are also photos of the university and of some of the teachers and staff I work with.

After photos of our daily travels and of the university, I have posted others of some of our dear friends.

One evening Kathy and I went with our friends Tsoom and Julia to visit a home where a little 4 year old has Wilm's Tumor, a type of cancer of the kidneys and liver. Of course visits like this involve much sadness, but our hope in all we do here in Mongolia is to be of encouragement to people, and even see some intervention by the Lord in their lives.

This evening Kathy and I met our friend Anji at the center of the city called Sukhbaatar Square. We had a really nice time having something to eat at Big Burger. Good meal... :) I love the Mongolian food, but it is nice to take a break and try some almost authentic American food. Anji likes it too :)

Our New Apartment and Time With Friends

Kathy and I found an apartment on Saturday and moved in on Monday. Everything takes time but we finally made it! You can see photos here of the building... a light yellow and beige 10 story building over a grocery store called My Store. We are on the main street in Ulaanbaatar, which is great location-wise. We have already had friends visit us and expect many more times of the same. I have also posted a few of the inside of our place. We still are waiting for 8 boxes that we shipped by boat from California, which should arrive in a week or two. We will see... :) :) And you can also see some views from our windows. When the sky is gray the view can look a bit bleak, but when the sun is shining it is really nice to see. 

Remember that you can click on a photo to see a larger size and save it to your c drive if you want... :)

Here are some of the friends who we have met or who have visited our home. They have been so kind to us, and have also been happy that we have moved to Mongolia... :)

We also have had some time to do some shopping before our first day of work tomorrow at MIU. Here are some photos of the places we went to. There are all kinds of stores ranging from the high-end expensive places to the low-end stores and areas that are much cheaper but where we have to be more careful so that we don't get pick-pocketed or have stuff stolen that we are carrying. The best bargains are at what the Mongolians call the Black Market. It isn't called that because the stuff is illegally sold but I am not sure why... :) Anyway, take a look!