LOCKED IN

The most exciting thing that happened today was that we got locked IN the house.

I just wanted to scream like Bridget did at home 'YOU CAN'T LOCK ME OUT', 'LET ME IN, YOU CAN'T LOCK ME OUT'.

But of course it would have fallen on deaf ears. We were locked in, with no way of getting anyone's attention. I was ready to go to the gym and Ryan was about to head out for a run. To no avail. I thought the lock was just being tricky (we have to lock the door behind us when we come inside as it's too dangerous to have it open). But it wasn't. It was practically broken.

We would have spent about an hour trying to unlock it. We called people. We racked our brains. Nothing worked. Ryan and I had a half-assed attempt at doing some cardio work in the lounge and then we gave up. Then we made some choc chip biscuits. With no milk or vanilla essence, stinky margarine (it all smells a bit too much of animal fat) and semolina flour (that wasn't fine enough). They taste just as good as they sound.

Anyway, so after hockey the other night, an ex-volunteer's boyfriend walked us home- because he conveniently lives next door. I got her phone number, called her and when she got home after work I threw down my key and she came upstairs (3rd floor, too far to jump) and spent about 10mins fiddling and then............. WOohoO! ENTRY WAS GRANTED!

*relief!*

She came in and had a cup of tea and a crappy choc chip biscuit (how embarrassing) and then headed off. What a saviour!

The other amazing thing today was my lunch. Just downstairs is a '5 star Restaurant' (that's it's name). It's TOTALLY five star. For Mongolian standards anyway. It's bloody amazing. I ordered Korean yellow chicken curry. It was amazing. There was FLAVOUR! I was in heaven. I'm pretty big on flavour in food at the best of time, so having been deprived of it for a good 1.5weeks meant that it was probably the best dish I've ever had.

Language class was okay; today we just revised stuff we've learnt - it was a bit slow and we didn't seem to revise much. The class is getting a bit trying - we obviously all learn very differently and it's not working for some people and then attitudes change and the aura isn't amazing. Occasional rudeness as well, which isn't too much fun.

Nevermind, I'm actually really enjoying the lessons. I mean, they're not super thrilling but it's great to be learning stuff again. Something so different.

What else........... We had a visitor last night! Sarah went and had dinner with a Mongolian we met in Canberra at training - and he came back to our place and stayed for a bit. He's lovely and has a great sense of humour. And has a wealth of Mongolian experience - which has already proved very useful.

So no gym for Sally today. It obviously wasn't meant to happen. Oh yeah - and to prove we're living in a cosmopolitan location: I was watching (briefly) the Mongolian news this afternoon and there was a good two minutes dedicated to OUR BUILDING as we've got roadworks going on out the front. They've literally dug up the entire road to a depth of about 2m so they can replace some pipes. It's making traffic even more chaotic.

I did get some photos tonight though:

SNOW! The view from our kitchen balcony + snow on the railing

L: The view from the kitchen balcony R: View from my bedroom balcony (Lunar Bar)

Both: view from kitchen; Mongolian uni

L: kitchen view R: bedroom view

Both: view from my bedroom

Contortion

I don't like to hype things up much.......... But this contortion show is pretty freaking world class. Makes me feel like a sloth but it's too amazing not to share.

xox

Trust the dentist?

Above: the dentist we walked past on our epic walk to get internet yesterday. Interesting.

Last night we played hockey. About 16 expats altogether. It was a LOT of fun. It was a small indoor court - 4pax per team. Very few rules (can touch your feet; can catch the ball and put it on the ground; can bounce the balls off the wall; basically anything goes). I probably got a bit too into it as per usual but it was still super fun. We used plastic ice hockey looking sticks and a plastic ball with holes in it. Very different to what I'm used to doing but I stuck to the basics and managed to do okay. I'm sure I looked like a retard playing like I had a wooden stick in field hockey, but it worked for me.



Indoor hockey (perhaps floorball?!) at School 6, UB


Yesterday it was plain ole' jumper weather. Today it's snowing. It's so beautiful. Rain is always lovely but snow just totally trumps it.

I don't want to start work just yet. I'm too busy just being here. Language classes (well, the three that we've had so far) are great. I mean, they're confusing a little - but it's really quite simple. Like reading a recipe. You just have to be patient and start from the beginning every time. I'm not sure how patient I'll be, but it's not AS bad as I imagined. Maybe I've grown up enough to be able to stand my little failures (which are common when you're trying to roll your r's, or remember that a H is actually an N and a Y with a wiggly leg isn't a Y, it's a UU).



A little family crossing the road across from the Nayra Cafe (that serves pretty good {and HUGE} chai tea)

 We got internet connected today - after a massive expedition yesterday. Turns out we've got a business antennae connected to our apartment as the guy here before us ran a business from home. He went through a small service provider. We had to find the service provider (took us 3hours), and then actually tell them what we wanted. It was tricky to get their attention in between playing with their new dart board. Interestingly, the manager spoke english but insisted on talking through one of the women in the office. We also got roped into helping another girl with her english.

It seems to go okay - I just uploaded a photo almost instantly in comparison to a good half hour wait. Hmmmmmm.



A typical downtown view



The view from our very Soviet vehicle - it's SNOW!

Contact details

email: salberries@hotmail.com
skype: salberries
blog: (you're on it)
snail mail:

Munkhtuul Sodnomtseren

Sally Mayberry

Central Post Office

POB 2935

Ulaanbaatar

Mongolia 211213

Early morning (9am) language class. I'm not sure I'll ever get it. Nevermind. I will try, none the less. It's a very gargle-y language. I envy those who have learnt a language prior to Mongolian - although I guess at least I don't know how comparable it is to anything.

STINKY mutton. Stinky, stinky mutton. Why can't they kill the younger sheep? I'll learn all this kind of stuff in due time - when I head out to the 'countryside' for work. It's definitely on my list of things to ask. Eg. Why don't you create a niche market for younger Mongolians/tourists and sell young sheep meat instead of stinky old meat? Why don't you use rotational grazing methods as much anymore? Why don't you grow hydroponic mushrooms for the tourists so they can have mushrooms on toast on the weekends?

I'm going to make it my mission to learn the alphabet asap. I'll make some flash cards this afternoon. And rope learn. I remember the last time someone made me rope learn though - I'm quite certain it was in year 4 when I still didn't know my times tables because I think it's ridiculous to waste brain space and time on learning something that you can use another tool for (ie calculator). I was wrong - it has been very useful to know my times tables (even though I've steered clear of rope learning since then). But it's going to have to come back out of the basket.

I'm sure I can make it fun though. For example, I have one packet of nerds left. Maybe every time I remember a letter and it's pronounciation, I will reward myself with a nerd. YUM.



Spag Bol–Mongolian style

Sally’s first home cooked meal in Mongolia

This is a short video - that I'm sure you will find quite entertaining. It has no plot but the purpose is to show you the ingredients I used tonight to make the spag bol that's simmering away as we speak. What I didn't show you, or mention, was that I had to use stinky mutton mince that reminds me too much of when dad made his first round of sausages and the mince was very course and it must have been quite muttony from memory. Sorry dad. The sausages were probably better than the quality of the meat I'm about to eat BUT it's my first home cooked meal and I am SUPER excited.

Today was our language course; maybe I'll take my camera one day and film the ridiculousness that is the Mongolian language. Today we learnt how to say the alphabet (but not memorise) and how to say three sentences. Seriously. This shit is serious!

Another supermarket shop this afternoon proved fruitful - I got socks, dried herbs (albeit 1/2 a kilo of them) and vodka. I'm about to crack it open. The sun's not set and it's 8:30pm - it's pretty tricky to remember that you should almost be in bed. It feels like 6pm.

I got a hot shower tonight too- BONUS! Last night it was cold. This morning it was cold. My bed is also very comfy - king size. And the pillows aren't lumpy! Sarah bought one yesterday that has a lot of green tea in it (?!?) and she reckons it's pretty awesome. I'll stick to my free pillows for now.

Oh, and I got some vitamin E tablets. Wholey dooley, this dry air is a killer! I've currently got a plastic bag over my hair (not head; I'm not that silly) with some conditioner in it to try to revive it a little.

Right. Off to eat mutton spag bol and drink Chinggis vodka (which costs $13/litre and actually tastes WAY better than any vodka I’ve ever tried).

Daraa Oldsie (that's my phonetics anyway; it means 'see you later').

My house in UB

The early sleep last night was amazing. I woke up at 6:30am and starting packing, and felt so much nicer than the last week – just because I got a proper, full sleep. Phew!

Packing didn’t take that long. It is SO weird having all my worldy possessions in ONE suitcase. I never thought it would happen – and I guess it hasn’t – I still have lots more stuff at home in different houses and boxes. I haven’t missed it yet but I would probably like to be typing this in my red slinky lounge instead of my bed.

But it’s MY bed. Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah. Sarah and I had to duck down the street and withdraw another 800000tugriks to cover our bond – one month’s rent deposit + 3mths rent in advance. We were late to meet the real estate agent but made it eventually.

We signed the lease and the dining table was covered in tugs (money; all in notes – the largest is 20000 which means we needed a LOT of notes). We handed over the money and our landlord – the Israeli guy, made sure everything was okay for us and that we knew how to use everything. THEN he took us shopping. He definitely didn’t have to – he just wanted to make sure we knew where the supermarket was, and wanted to drive us there. So we shopped and I got about $65 worth of stuff. Not exciting stuff, I might add. The prices here are same same as Australia. I just got some butter, bread, jam, toilet paper, onions, cabbage, sweet potato (all the vegies they had), tinned tomatoes and tinned apricots (for a fruit fix). And other small stuff as well.

Once we got home we had a bit of a chill out; our house is pretty comfy. I had a rest on the couch and then my counterpart (who I work with) dropped round to pick up my passport to get my visa fixed up. She had just spent the day in the countryside (what everyone calls ‘the country’, or outside of UB') to go and ‘beg’ to a rock that ‘looks like the shape of a human’ because Mongolians are very superstitious. I’m going to have to see this rock – it sounds great. Apparently every Mongolian wants to go to this rock at least once a year. So Tsegi went today.

We shopped again this afternoon. I had to grab some PJ’s. They weren’t cheap! We found a set for about $35 and I reeeeeeeeeally hope they don’t shrink in the wash. Oh well. It was kind of fun getting them. The girls in the shop were so cute. To buy things you have to ask, get them to write out a mini receipt and take it to a cashier. The cashier takes your money and gives you a bag and a receipt and then you go back to the original girls and they check the receipt and you get your stuff. Phew! I also got some purple and black tights.

There’s a big supermarket there as well so I grabbed about $65 more of stuff. Cheese (Jarslberg chunks the size of a double fist for 40c), kidney beans, dodgey looking mince, pasta sauce……. I think I’ll be eating a lot of plain pasta with plain-ish sauce, and a lot of omlettes. Although I’m hoping tomorrow my pancake making will be successful and they’ll be suitable delicious breakfast.

Actually, I should learn how to make potato pancakes like dad used to make. Potatoes are about the only sure thing around here and I don’t go much on them at all. I just bought prunes because we haven’t had any fibre at all for the whole week. (maybe a little, but not much)

Tomorrow I’m hoping to make a mini video of my house to show you. I think you’ll be impressed. It’s way better than I ever imagined.

Tomorrow is our first language session – we have two weeks of it. I hope I’m okay at it. Oh yeah. And I got homesick today for the first time. I guess moving into a new house instead of just being in a hotel makes things more official and means I’m here for a whole year. I already miss everyone SO much.

A totally retarded photo of me – with LOTS of Tugriks

In the supermarket with the BIGGEST bowl I’ve seen

Why I couldn’t buy celebratory vodka today. It’s Sunday

The supermarket checkout

Walking to the supermarket (our apartment is in the middle of UB)

Man-sized holes that go to no where – ALL over the city!

Roadworks on a Sunday – hardhats but NO other protective gear

ALL the trees are pruned to the max!

STOP! Sign

UB – concrete city with a view of all the spectacular hills

More hill views

Standard issue soviet apartments (like ours; built in the 50’s)

You see older men and women in traditonal deels (‘del’) – the full length dress, all over town

Police enforcement. Police are everywhere! But don’t make you wear a seatbelt.

Oh yeah. And I had to have breakfast with about 30 Koreans smoking at the table beside me. On the radio today they were saying China has just banned smoking inside and in public places. Here’s to Mongolia following that change of heart ASAP!

Goodnight; sleep tight. xox

Burberry Mayberry

That’s right. I own a Burberry coat! How, you ask? MONGOLIA! Mongols don’t like to wear second hand clothes – even though they probably can’t afford it. Which means that the second hand shops are chocka block full of awesomeness that hasn’t been raided by other people.
Why do I care? Because it’s COLD! And I only bought my kangaroo fur coat and jumpers. So now I’m fully stocked with another four coats. I put one back as I thought five was a bit over the top.
These are for you, mum:

Creamy yellow coloured leather jacket. 17000tugrik (50% off – so 8500tugs = $8AUD)

Dark brown detailed leather jacket with funky lining (most expensive at 50000tugs)

Burberry full length, wool lined (removable) cream coloured overcoat (half price; 10000tugs)

Plum-purplish coloured down jacket. Mmmmmmmmm warm! (half price; 8500 tugs)
Today was another big-ish day. After a big night last night (I must admit I piked early and was home – sober – by 12:30. Others were home at much more unfriendly hours after karaoke), we wandered all over town to supermarkets and department stores to check stuff out. The second hand shop was obviously the most popular event of the day. All of the above items for 79000tugrik which is equivalent to about $70aud. YAY!
I also had to cash up – we have to pay bond in cash tomorrow so I had to exhaust all card avenues with limits to get enough (would have been more organised but only found the joint yesterday).
Anyway, I’m excited to sleep in my BED and unpack my suitcase properly. Good news on that front – the vacuum bags worked a treat as they’re both inflated now and there’s no way I can even fit all the clothes in, let alone the shoes and other stuff I put in that suitcase. No wonder it was heavy! Sucky vacuum bags are now my new favourite thing.
I’m also excited to go shopping and buy STUFF to cook STUFF as opposed to eating at restaurants all the time. Apparently most people just do as it’s just as expensive either way. I’m going to cook. I don’t think I’d maintain my sanity if I didn’t cook!
Well, I’m SUPER tired – it’s our first NIGHT without things happening, so we’ve been in bed since about 7pm and intend on remaining a bed bug until at least 7am. Night
xox

Casual Friday

It was okay that my work clothes weren't properly ironed (because I had to iron on the floor as we don't have a board) because it was casual Friday.
Tsegi picked me up yesterday morning. She works at the World Bank. She has a permed wavy bob and speaks amazing english. She's probably a few years older than me and I think we'll be good friends. It was snowing yesterday - the temperature dropped due to that snow storm. It was quite chilly outside! I ended up wearing my new grey pants and my pink polo shirt. I felt like a boy because I am so used to wearing dresses and skirts, and at the very maximum jeans. So grey pants weren't amazing but it had to be done due to weather constraints.

The view out our hotel window on Friday morning - SNOW!

We got to work at about 9:30am. It's a 'normal' looking office building (as in, no different to any office building in Australia). Except I'll have to sign in and out every day with a finger print I think. The office is open plan and has a spectacular view of the mountains. It's a 2mth old building, so it's all lovely inside. Plants and all. My desk is smallish I guess and my computer screen is dismal in comparison to my massive two screens I had at Origin. Nothing to complain about; it's all lovely!

Everyone was excited to meet me. And they were apparently impressed that I was younger than they thought I'd be. For no other reason that I'll probably go out and get drunk with them more often, I imagine. In the couple of hours there yesterday there were multiple references to drinking, getting drunk, vodka, dancing and parties. The Mongols seem to love their parties!

The all speak fluent English. As in they studied in Australia or the UK. They're all great friends (so it seems) and they crack in jokes ALL the time (sometimes in English, sometimes in Mongolian).

The director has an ipad and chews gum but is impeccably dressed. She made a joke that she had no technical knowledge re: pastural management until she got the job (as she's a city girl, not a nomad) and now when she goes to the hairdresser she can chat to them about pastural management (as in, they have something in common to talk about now).

My role is totally set out. How I'll get it all done is beyond me. It's quite overwhelming but I'll take it as it comes and hope that I can do a good job! I mentioned something or other about something (yeah, details) and the director got on the phone and then told me she'd organise for me to go out to the eastern provinces soon when some people go out as it sounds like I'm interested in farming (they farm wheat out east I think). I said I'd LOVE to, of course!

Everyone seems so scared of the director! I think bosses are SUPER important here. Nothing like sitting next to Grant and Jamie at work and giving them shit all day. Hashaa has a massive office with a round table that no one likes to enter - they all cower as they knock on the door. I'm not sure why; she's amazing! She's very similar in character to the lady we met the previous day. Apparently she's very bossy. I'm happy with that, because that's what bosses are suppose to do!

We had a staff meeting that I was introduced at - briefly and then they all started chatting in Mongolian. I was given a 100page report from last year's findings in Mongolian - and told that I should be able to read that by next week. Yeah, RIGHT!

I start work on the 9th May, half days. That week we have language training in the morning so they want me to work in the afternoon. Eek. I'm going to be so tired! Language training is pretty full on.

My contract says I'll be going out field either 3-7days/month or 7-10days/3months. Sounds great to me. I'll just have to get over my fear of no showers, sleeping on the floor and eating offal and fat.

That's kind of all that happened at work. I left for lunch at 12:30 and we had vegan. Again. Nevermind. After lunch we got our phones unlocked. Mine was obviously locked to Australia. It cost me about $30 to get it unlocked - they took it apart and hooked it up to a computer, read the locking code, entered it and it was all mine. So now I've got a Mongolian phone number. We went downstairs and managed to get internet put on it too. I realise it'll get stolen but I hope it's not for a little while because I do really like my phone.

Anyway, post lunch we had a look at ONE more apartment. It was a 3br place, with a little bit of potential. We walked in and were suitably impressed. The main bedroom (mine now) has a massive bed and a tv. The other two rooms are big enough and the spare room is big enough for another bed anyway. There are 2 bathrooms (rare), an open kitchen (big thing here as most are separate rooms), a double door fridge/freezer (the deal was sealed) with an ice machine, an 8 person dining table, massive, super comfy couches......

blah blah. It was great.

It didn't have a lot of things we needed. So I started a list. Moral to that story is that Sally's an awesome negotiator and we're getting a fully decked out kitchen and house with a spare bed and desk - just because I asked (maybe slightly demanded).

The landlord is the best part. He's Israeli and is a photographer. He's got a very dry sense of humour, speaks perfect English and Mongolian (big deal as things go wrong a lot here, so it'll be easy to contact him)....... Once we'd decided, Sarah (new housemate) and I went downstairs to the French bistro and had a coffee with him. He talked for about 2 hours about a. using Mongolian elders to gain knowledge and increase sustainability of pastures because they know shit (aka the indigenous Australians that are only just starting to be recognised as having legit knowledge of the land) and b. about Israeli military.

I didn't stop smiling the whole time. That guy knows his shit! As in, he totally understood everything we said, cracked jokes, made reference to things, used analogies and just totally knew how to captivate his audience (me) and tell me in the exact way I like to learn things - and exactly WHAT I need to know/learn for this role I've taken in Mongolia.

Oh man, once we left I couldn't stop bouncing up and down with excitement. Literally. It's always a bit embarrassing when I get that excited but I didn't even care!

We finished coffee and walked to the house we were meeting people at. Said hi, tried to watch the Royal Wedding but couldn't as the channels were down and the electricity off.



Chinese for dinner - our own private room!

Had Chinese for dinner, walked to an open mic night at the Xanadu gallery and had a lovely night! It was the majority of UB's expat community in one room with lots of smoke, art on the wall (eek, I'd die if my artwork was in there getting smoked on) and a microphone + guitar. People everywhere. I was sleepy but so happy to people watch. I'll start getting roudier once I know how things work, once I've organised myself and can iron my clothes.



Open mic night at Xanadu



All in all, a freaking fantastic day. My job - as I see it today, is freaking amazing. The World Bank, the European Union, some Japanese aid agency and the Mongolian government seem to have their head totally screwed on. I'm sure I'll find faults or whatever, but at face value - what they're doing, and what I'm now a part of is SUPER freaking EXCITING.

Today is a shopping day. I also have to manage to get me 1.6million tugriks out of the ATM to pay for our bond tomorrow. Not sure how I'll do that.

Oh yeah, the third person moving in to our house is the American geo that I was so excited to meet. He seems really nice.

The week just gets bigger!

 

Wholey dooley. It is HARD being in a group! Especially when you’ve all come together from different backgrounds. I mean it’s great – learning about all these different things, but it also makes it hard.

Never mind. It’s also hard being with ANY of the same people all day every day, even when they’re pretty cool.

Today was full again but NO MORE house hunting, thank goodness! (still haven’t sorted it out though) We started at the SOS clinic to learn about where we go if shit hits the fan. They’ve got an emergency room, western imported drugs/vaccinations and a dentist. It was the nicest doctors surgery I’ve ever been into. I also want to be friends with the girl that showed us around but that would have been a bit weird straight up, so I’ll wait til we run into each other somewhere else. I was particularly stringent with the quality of my form-filling-out as it’s the form they use when you’re unconscious and need to be helped. They need the approval of your health/travel insurance before they do ANYTHING even if you’re dying. Hence the need for super accuracy. I also made them photocopy the cards they need and put them in my file just in case someone has trouble reading my writing. I did forget to write down my blood type and passport number even though they didn’t ask. Oops.

Below: The government building at night ( Sukhbaatar Square); Walking to the performance; the National History museum

THEN we went to the National History Museum that was SO well run. The things in there are fantastic. And written in English (as well as Mongolian Cyrillic). I enjoyed it but my tummy was pretty rumbly by the end.

This is a photo of the statue out the front. It’s been there 10 years, to remind people that the death penalty in Mongolia still exists and that they don’t think it should.

 

Lunch was at another popular western style pub. It seems that western style pubs aren’t western style for the westerners that come through town. The locals love the joints! We met with the honorary Consul to Australia who was super helpful and really knowledgeable. He is a very successful lawyer who studied in Australia for a couple of years. He studied Australian business law because it’s more advanced than Mongolian law – so that he could bring the knowledge back to Mongolia and help evolve Mongolian law.

We also had lunch with a lovely lady from the Mozzies association. She was SO great! Mozzies is a large group of Australian and Mongolians living and working in Mongolia who have lived or worked in Australia. She chatted all afternoon about the difference it made to her – having studied in Australia, and the craziness of the change from a communist lifestyle to a market economy. It was so amazing to hear. (below: us at lunch today)

Post-lunch we sat in our room for an hour to match my apartment notes with Claire’s apartment photos. It was quite fruitful and we got yet another shortlist.

Post-fruitful shortlisting, we headed through the city to a SPECTACULAR display of Mongolian traditional dance, singing and contortionism.

It was colourful, well choreographed, well performed and to the point. Nothing went for too long and everyone genuinely enjoyed themselves. The throat singing was amazing as I expected (the guy was also pretty cute). The dancing was great. I never knew anything about traditional Mongolian dance. Not that I imagine it’s anything but a Mongolian tradition, but the dancing was very graceful and light footed – with ballet arms and legs. There was a bit of highland dancing feet, some amazing indo-china based movements and facial expressions and then the part that didn’t seem to be related to anything – shoulder jiggling. It was amazing. It was just like shrugging your shoulders, except very fast – and made to look like it’s suppose to happen.

We went to a pub for dinner. I ordered a lasagne. They didn’t have it. Then I ordered a Greek salad. I didn’t get it. Lucky I wasn’t hungry anyway. It wasn’t an amazing dinner; group dynamics were given a bit of a shake up which is never fun. Anyway, we wandered home through the square (video below) and it was lovely. Laughing in the cool (but not cold) air, crossing roads and just chatting all the way. NOW, it is bed time. But first, videos below for those of you interested.

Awesome dancing

The cover band at the pub–playing covers of western songs. I can see myself having a LOT of fun here!

Oh yeah. We got an email tonight warning us of a storm tonight. There’s suppose to be a snow storm. Seriously. It was 17 degrees today. Tonight we’re having a storm and tomorrow snow. It’s amazing. And when they say storm, they MEAN storm. And I know because for the last half hour I’ve listened to the buildings almost be ripped away by the gusts of windy blowing through. It’s on the way and it’s pretty exciting. A Mongolian storm!

ALSO I get to meet my host organisation tomorrow – which is who I’ll be working for and with for the next year. I’m pretty excited. I think I know what I’ll wear. It’ll have to be WARM though!

Ready for a rest....

Goodness gracious me. I am very grateful re: everything being organised for Mongolia for us, but today - we just need a rest! I'm getting sick (bleeding nose this morning, sore throat and headache. Boo), we're all getting irritable and we just want to do our own thing in UB! We can't, of course, because we can't go anywhere alone because it's too dangerous. But BOO!

We're checking into the doctor's clinic this morning in case of future use and then heading to a museum and traditional performance this avo. At least we're not looking at bloody houses.

Yesterday we racked up our 13th apartment. I took notes and at the AYAD dinner last night with all Mongolian's, some very lovely and diligent AYAD's scrutinised my notes (which, I might add, were more than adequate and were summarised and prioritised anyway) - we crossed out all but three. The remaining 3 apartments are all 'good' according to everyone. I'm happy with that.

Now we just have to figure out who goes where. I didn't sleep last night because I was worrying about it. Boo Boo Boo.

We headed to the state department store and I got some shampoo - WIN! They have a LOT of cool clothes.
Might I add they also sell Australian Woolmark products. Proof:

A lovely wool skivvy in the State Dept Store made of Australian wool

I don't even know what we're doing tomorrow but on Saturday we're heading to the Black Markets where I am a. very likely to lose my cool and b. very likely to have everything flogged.

Apparently everything is crazy cheap though. I don't want to take any money because I don't want to buy shit I don't need - I tend to impulse buy and overspend. But apparently it's worth it and I need to buy stuff because we won't be going again soon. Bummer.

Hanging out waiting for instructions for the day in UB

The building I would have been working in (World Bank head office) if my group hadn't moved to the ministry of finance a couple of weeks ago (but I'll still be running meetings and courses here)

Don't get me wrong - I'm still grateful and excited to be here. I'm just not 100% happy about it all today. but that was to be expected. And it's only really because looking for a house sucks balls. Nevermind. I could have to live in a cardboard box, and that would suck. It would also probably freeze to me and I'd have to wear it all day too. So I guess I'm lucky.

The view from the apartment we had dinner at last night

Running in a sea of Mongolians

Claire (my roommate) and I woke up at 7 this morning and went for a jog/walk around the place. We're not allowed to go alone - luckily Claire and I both like to get out and do stuff.

We didn't blend in so well. It was still below zero outside but the sun was out (as per usual) and the air was crisp. Everyone's on their way to work - they all wear black! I kind of knew that already. I got a photo of my workmates and they're all neatly dressed in black, black and black. And I guess I don't always blend in at home either. But we stuck out like sore thumbs! I felt SO silly. But no one jeered or laughed or pointed, they just kind of looked for an extra second and that was it.

The paths are practically non existant so you have to be careful where you step. There's snot and gollies of spit all over the ground. I was wearing my brand new awesome sneakers so I made an effort to go around them.

Breakfast is a bit different, but totally do-able. The toaster is a grill but it works eventually (albeit slightly burnt). The bread is pretty stale. There was salami, tomato, deep fried eggs and cucumber that very closely resembled yesterday's spread (we stayed away from that!). Milk tastes like milk and the cereal had bits of dates. I am totally open to eating things other than weetbix for breakfast. I mean, this morning I had cereal that looked like sultana bran and cornflakes. Big step.

We're house hunting again today. I'm kind of over it, mainly because it's too tricky to figure out what to do. There are too many options of two or three bedroom places, and then the people you're going to share with for the year - can I imagine living with them; will they be tolerant of my mess I make in the kitchen and my lax attitude towards tidying up in general.

We're also heading to the State Department Store which is where everyone shops for 'stuff'. Maybe the equivalent of BigW but in Mongolia?! Will update you on that one. I need soap, shampoo (haven't washed my hair since Sunday), writing books, adapters, a bag to carry on the front, gloves and whatever else takes my fancy. I also have to remember I'm not earning money - which I know is going to be a massive shock to the system!!!!

And no - gma and Wendie, I didn't eat the shaved sheep head brain salad last night. I'm not that brave. I'll save it for the field when I have to eat it or I'll die of starvation/be ridiculed for not accepting offerings of food.

Sleep was amazing; I still don't feel 100% but never expected to. Still defo packing my VitB stress tablets for the day, just in case. I am totally missing my pillow but will find one soon that does the job. My current pillow is about 10yo and has no structure - the bed is concave and the doona cover is covered in hair (not my own). Not complaining - any bed is a welcome rest at the moment!

Cops on segways, mining demonstrations and shaved sheep head brains (day one in UB)

 

We left Korea at 3:35am. That took our entire transit to 50hours. I got maybe 4 hours sleep. Needless to say I’m wrecked. Anyway, as the plane was descending the landscape became clear. Wholey dooley. This place is amazing. How the hell people can make a living is beyond me.

The landscape was dusted with snow that looked just like cornflour. The mountains are uneroded and the ridges are all angular – the mountain peaks just rise from nowhere. The tree line is inverted – and even those trees are hidden in the most sheltered crevices.

The landscape is unbelievably sparse. Brown grass. My job will definitely be interesting. The road from the airport is such that 20km/hour is too fast. There have been futile attempts at planting trees. The poor little things; they’d be better put out of their misery than being coaxed to life in the few months of the year that allows growth. I was kind of excited about seeing some stratigraphy – to no avail. There is just enough soil on the ground to prevent most rocks from poking through.

Above: chilling out in the Korean airport – getting on to our 10th hour in the airport and night 2 of no proper sleep

We’re all pretty tired – okay. REALLY tired.

We had a quick sleep this morning and then headed out for lunch and then house hunting. It’s always tricky trying to figure out who’s going to live with who; how many bedrooms you need etc. etc. – especially when you don’t know everyone particularly well. Never mind; no big deal. I have to grow up and become a semi-easy to live with person at some point in my life.

Apartments were great. $600USD/mth for a 2br apartment with a new kitchen, fully furnished. The outside’s something your mother would never let you step foot in. The hallway is worse. The garbage is kept inside the front door and kind of stinks. The steps are so worn that they’re on a negative slope. But the apartments are great! No stove though – so I guess no baking for Sally.

Day 1 in UB VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

There’s a bunch of photos in the album above – I can’t figure out how to caption them individually, but that’s my day in pictures. Photos of dinner (the big meat tray), Sukhbaatar Square (the 6 of us lined up with the statue of Chinggis in the background), the view from the plane, the cops on segways.

A very fancy video of Sukhbaatar Square

Have I mentioned I’m epically tired? Wholey shitballs. So much happened today. Maybe I’ll just dot point for a bit:

* cried a little behind my glasses at the demonstration in Sukhbaatar Square at the Mongolian herders and their gers, trying to make their point clear that mining is making their lifestyle impossible. Sometimes I hate that I’m a part of it, even indirectly in this case. There’s method to my madness but sometimes I wonder if I’ll get past the madness of earning awesome money to the real reason I studied what I did

* ordered a blue cheese and something else salad and was given a salad that was actually shaved sheep head and capsicum (I didn’t eat it)

* Ate huushuu with meat and mini chunks of cubed fat (I picked out as much as I could)

* Drank the largest chai latte I’ve ever seen

* Almost keeled over from tiredness

*Sucked in awesome fresh, crisp mountain air

* Talked to our convenor about my position. Apparently the staff are all quite young Mongolians, friendly and super excited to meet me. They have planned lots of trips to the field – but were worried I wouldn’t want to go because I won’t shower for two weeks at least. They were told that of course I want to go, for as long as possible. Which of course I did. Until I was plated the shaved sheep head salad for dinner. Shit shit shit. I can’t eat that stuff. And I hate going to bed dirty. And there’s NO privacy in a single room ger for me to bucket bath. I can’t eat boiled intestines filled with coagulated blood and onion (I was assured the onion makes it taste good). Moral to the story is: I’m going to have to. It’s only a different part of the animal. I just wish I had a pocket sized Lai Lynn Choong so I could feed her my unwanted offal without anyone knowing.

* Learnt that there are a lot of ‘incidents’ of people getting punched, groped, blah blah – and that I can’t even walk to the gym by myself.

* Loved my kangaroo fur coat more and more every second

* Squealed with excitement at the sight of a Mongolian baby wrapped in blankets so heavy she had to be belted in to them, with only her eyes and nose visible. SO cute.

I think that’s all. I mean, there’s MORE. I guess. But there’s not because my brain is fried. Love Love Love to all; this place is freaking awesome – I can’t wait til tomorrow when we sort out housing a bit better and I have enough energy to show excitement rather than just feel it inside. xox

My room–for the next few days