The High School Graduation of a Friend

Friday I went to the high school graduation of a friend of Kathy and I. Her name is Munguu. Unfortunately Kathy was not able to go with me because she had to teach a class Friday morning. I had never been to a graduation in Mongolia before, so it was really interesting to be there. And I met a man from England named John Gibbens who has lived in Mongolia since 1972. Needless to say he is a wealth of knowledge about everything Mongolian and speaks the language fluently.

The students were all excited about the graduation. Of course I am proud of Munguu and other friends we have here in Mongolia who are graduating this year. It was so nice to be there on Friday!!

My friend Munguu and me at her graduation

Every country has its customs regarding many events in life such as graduations, marriage, funerals, and so on. I have posted a photo of my friends and I when we graduated from high school in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 1972. The reason I post it here is because to us in America, what we are wearing in the photo is totally normal. But if you think about it, don't you think it is strange for teenage boys to be wearing red robes and a hat with a square piece of cardboard on the top?!! The dresses the girls typically wear in Mongolian high schools are traditional graduation clothes. The style dates back to the mid to late 1800's in Europe and America. I have posted a few photos for you to see. The famous impressionist artist DeGas painted a family in 1859 where you can see two girls with quite similar dresses.

Friends and I at our high school graduation. I am on the far right.

The Belleli family by Degas - 1859

A Russian girl in the late 1800's

A New York grammar school - about 1880

Some of the students who graduated at Munguu's high school

The graduation ceremony

Munguu and her mother Nergui

John Gibbens from England, whose son attends the high school.

John with his son

Country and City Life

This week has been good. Monday, Ricardo and I went out to Terelj National Park, an interesting large area east of Ulaanbaatar, to find a suitable camp for the LEI teaching staff. This weekend the teaching staff will go there for an overnight time together. I will post photos of that next week. The atmosphere in the LEI office continues to be so good. The semester is coming to a close in the next few weeks, and some of the teachers will need to make some difficult decisions about the coming year, whether they will teach for another year of move on to other things. Anyway, you can see a few photos here of Terelj National Park.

MIU made a presentation of the TESOL program we offer to help teachers in UB improve their English. James, Puje, Chimgee and I gave a presentation at a local high school. You can see some of the kids who discovered our presence there... :)

You can also see a few views of city life. Sometimes the view from our apartment is amazing. Sometimes taking photos is all about timing and lighting. I love the affects that light makes on what we see. I often see that if I carry my camera around, great photo opportunities come to me. There are amazing photos waiting to happen, if we only keep our eyes open!

Remember you can click on a photo to see a larger file size and then right click to save it.

James speaking to the Mongolian English teachers

Chimgee, me and Puje before the presentation

This guy and a bunch of others in a class came out to say hi

Snow in May, visits to several churches, and Mongolian Culture Day at MIU

The days have been full here in Mongolia for Kathy and I. It snowed this week, which was nice. But the roads and sidewalks are not constructed well for drainage, so everywhere you walk you must be careful, and still there is no way to keep your boots or shoes clean! 

We visited New Life Church with our friends Sainaa and Tsoomoo, which was very nice. We also visited Jubilee Church with Grace, who has been working with stroke victims, the elderly, and needy children. We also continue to get together with friends often, and love to invite people over to our home!

Things are going well at MIU. My title is now officially Director of the English Learning Center. The teachers I am working with are super. Next week I will be doing an hour of conversational speaking and listening with the students. It will help them and also give us an opportunity to get to know each other. There are about 600 students at MIU, and 80 in are in the English Language Center acquiring a year of English in order to begin their studies at MIU. Since all classes are in English at MIU, all students must be at a sufficient level of English comprehension in order to begin.

Sainaa and Tsoomoo, friends of ours who took us to their church.

New Life Church

New Life Church

Kathy, Tsoomoo and Me

After it snowed here in Ulaanbaatar... :)

Our apartment with the addition of a few things... :)

Our two friends Otgo and Kherlen, who Kathy and I took to UBean for coffee.

Boogii and I. Boogii meets us on the basketball court sometimes to play.

A typical sidewalk on the main street after it snowed!

Our friend Nomin came for dinner one evening.

Our friend Grace is doing a great job working with the poor of Ulaanbaatar. She knows Mongolian quite well, and works hard to help as many as she can. She took us to her church where the anniversary was being held for the NGO she is involved with.

Grace on the road to Jubilee Church

Interesting what you find lying on the roads... :)

Some of the elderly helped by the church

The children helped by Jubilee church put on a play... :)

A snack afterward ...

Here are some new photos of MIU. One of the days we had a snowstorm! Well... still it isn't as cold as it could be... :) 

A view of several of our MIU buildings.

LEI teachers Inna, John, Gereltuya and Eva during a snowy day.

John :)

Serena, wife of my boss Ricardo, with one of their children.

Miu held Mongolian Culture Day last week. It was a good time to watch a few demonstrations, eat some typical food, and spend time talking and having fun. Here are some photos... :)

Dr. Kwon, president of MIU at the Mongolian Cultural Day.

Kathy and I tasted camel milk (a bit sour!) and horse milk (very sour!)

Kathy and others making buuz, a favorite food of the Mongolians.

yes, that is a goat's head at the lower left...

A student doing a traditional Mongolian dance.

A student playing on the morin khuur, a traditional Mongolian musical instrument.

Kathy with our Mongolian language teacher Ganaa.

I am wearing typical sheepherder's clothes... but I look more like Robert E. Lee, right?!!