Our second week in Ulaanbaatar. Finding about what we need to do while we are here. presenting on a local TV show, finding cool places to eat and shop in UB.
Ice castle outside Sky Department Store
Katy on the Ice Throne
Taylor written in the old Mongolian script, gift of the Linfords.
Painting by the orphans of Darkhan, gift of the Fredleys
Katy gets miked for her cooking show debut
The interview segment of the pre-Christmas show
After the show in the green room
Drinkable yoghurt, yum
State Department Store, the old comi-shop
Center atrium of the State Department Store
Sisters performing at the Christmas party for all missionaries
Pure felt boots at the Black Market
Typical Mongolian art
Midnight train to Darkhan
LDS Building in Bayanzurkh
Deerskin boots in UB
Design for the 2014 mission pin
Sunday Church 10-12, then met with the President after
church here were his notes for our callings
Taylors:
I.
Assigned Branch:
a.
Nalaikh and American Denj. 3 weeks in Nalaikh. 1-2 in American Denj. Support Weekly Activities in each
branch.
i. Hometeacher
to BP and EQ President
ii.
II.
Calling assignment
a.
High Councilor – Elder Taylor
b.
Interview Sister Taylor about her talents,
desires, etc.
i. YW
President (Ward)
ii. Relief
Society
iii. primary
– music (like primary)
1.
nusery
iv. Temple
Preparation
III.
DIC
English
a.
Oversee all of DIC (will get new couple)
i. You
are DIC director
ii. You
will have couple to do all other humanitarian projects
iii. Maybe
enlist help of HK for those other humanitarian projects until new couple
b.
Oversees TESOL PROGRAM
i. This
program is to be a service to the country—Ammon like missionaries/mission
ii. This
program is to build our name and reputation
1.
Amongst the people
2.
Amongst the government
iii. When
we leave in 1.5 years:
1.
We want to have the best conversational teachers
in the country… it should be a model TESOL program
2.
Hand new MP a program that is fully operational,
self-sustaining, and robust
3.
Maybe consider staying until August or September
2016?
a.
Train new MP re our TESOL program
4.
Want our program to be a model program that
could be duplicated in other countries if necessary
c.
Train missionaries – MOST IMPORTANT
i. How
to teach conversational English.
ii. Specialized
training by mission, zone, district, companionship
iii. Zone
conference
iv. Zone
training
v. District
meeting
vi. Each
missionary
1.
Syllabus
2.
Curriculum
vii. How
to elicit conversation. We are
conversation teachers, not lecturers.
viii.
Develop training plan (consider using the new online program developed by
Professor Evans)
1.
Magnify your efforts by using mission leadership
2.
Senior companions
a.
12 week program?
3.
Use Training Model
a.
Explain
b.
Demonstrate
c.
Practice
d.
Evaluate
e.
Re-practice
d.
Library – Goal: adequately supports all teaching
needs
i. Makes
sure we have enough and the necessary materials
ii. Help
missionaries using the library
iii. Curriculum
– homogenize,
iv. Mongol
/ mission specific – enrichment
1.
Discuss with Sister Gong
e.
Sponsors -- Goal: increase demand, homogenize
our student body
i. Makes
sure our teaching is high quality.
In-class room visits.
ii. Develop
sponsor relations – lunches, visits, etc.
iii. Manage
expectations – review contract (anything to add)
iv. Identify
new sponsors
1.
Develop relationship with Tuvshin and process to
make these decisions
2.
Develop institutional relationships
a.
Universities
i. Health
Sciences University
ii. Ikh
zasag
b.
Ministry of Educataion
c.
Other Govt. agencies
v. Identify
sponsors to drop
1.
Goal is homogenization
2.
Good classroom experiences
3.
Good schedules
f.
Missionary Assignments
i. Develop
process
1.
MP is final decision
2.
Work with Tuvshin
3.
Work on rotation process/How to move
missionaries around
ii. Work
on TESOL trainers
g.
BZ Building English Classes
i. Should
be model teaching. We will get a
certificate for a training center.
This is where we will train our teachers
ii. Organization
it better?
iii. Teach
one night a week in the BZ
1.
Use this as a training ground for missionaries
2.
Have them prepare lessons
3.
Show them lessons
iv. This
class will become a missionary tool
1.
Will have missionaries teach 15 minute, optional
lesson afterwards
h.
Advertising/ building our mission TESOL program
brand
i. Pamphlet
re our English Program
ii. PR
visits
1.
Ministry of education
2.
Labor
3.
Immigration
iii. What
other branding can we do?
iv. GOAL:
get missionaries wearing their nametags fulltime once again.
1.
Maybe start out in English outside. Mongolian in Church
2.
Discuss this with Asia Area
i.
TESOL Conference
i. Every
two years
ii. BYUH
involvement
iii. BYU
Provo involvement
iv. Sister
Gong
v. Ministry
of Education
vi. Develop
sponsor
vii. Showcase
our teachers
viii.
Visits of BYU Professors and TESOL students
1.
They can help train
j.
Assignment
i. Public
relations committee
k.
English for the Elders
l.
Regular report. Use your initiative.
m.
Work hard, be happy.
The list was a bit intimidating.
Monday - we shopped for a few
things and then went to help setup for a party \ open house at the Lewis'. They
used to be in our apartment but moved to be in a bigger place so that they
could do more entertaining. They do a great job and are really sharing.
Tuesday the 30th we worked at the
office for the day. We took the Michigan test which is the test Mongolians have
to take to go to BYUH. It was tricky, the answers were multiple choices and to
a non-native language speaker they would look very similar. They used vocabulary,
which was tough, even for most native language speakers. The test also employed
many idioms, which would require a really good working knowledge of idioms.
Each of the four reading segments were steeped in cultural understanding. One
tough test.
That night we went to the
Ukrainian restaurant again, Katy had a beet salad which was fantastic. I had a
soup which was nice. I even ate the bread with the stripes of fatty fat and the
super hot mustard, quite good.
Wednesday we went to the office,
at 8:30 we went to Immigration. Tsushin went with us, her husband drove us. The
immigration office is out by the airport. it was a fun drive. The density of air
pollution really varied through the city. Out near Zaisen Hill it was quite
light, but out near the airport there were lots of gers. Most burn coal the
poor burn tyre bits, really dirty burning stoves.
We spent the day working on
program that evening we went to the Lewis' home for a New Year's Even dinner.
They invites a family which had a husband from Southern USA and a Mongolian
wife, they had a baby boy. They were also raising a niece, for a sister who
lives in Korea with an abusive husband, they wanted to keep the daughter away
from him. They also had her brother. A very mixed family.
Katy made a salad similar to the
one she had at the Ukrainian restaurant. It was good Sister Lewis made a
chicken and broccoli casserole. Nice meal fun conversation.
We went to bed well before
midnight, but we heard the fireworks from Suhkbaatar square.
Thursday, New years day the
President and senior couples met up at the BZ building at 8:30 and drove to Zaisen Hill and read the
dedicator prayer given by Neil Maxwell. We also sang High On A Mountain Top.
The Doctor told us we needed to be careful to not slip. On the way down he
slipped once and Elder Linford dropped to the ground at least twice, he had
very slippery shoes.
Friday the country was pretty much
shut down, the Zahk was not open but we took the electric bus down to Mary and
Martha to check out some gifts. They were closed, so we walked down to the
State Department Store, which was open! We walked around and found a souvenir
shop on the top floor. None of the other seniors knew about this area, it was
good and had lots of variety, not much that I needed, but a good range. I found
two pins, we also bought four pair of felt boots for kids. Katy purchased a
Kazakh purse and a few smaller purses, which may go to the US for gifts.
We had a light lunch of soup from
the small food court. Only half of the food spots were open. We ate at a Korean
place, but they had no kim bop, sad.
Saturday we went to a Zone
Conference, there are three zones, two in UB and one up north in Darkhan (the K
is silent). We will go up there next week. The conference started at 9:00 and
ended about 5:00. Pizza from Round Table for lunch, it was amazing to see the
Elders stack the pieces on their plates, and then just inhale it before I could
finish my two slices, amazing.
Sunday We went to American Denj
(AD), we have two branches that we are working with, AD, we will attend 1-2
times per month, Nalachk Branch will be our location for 3 Sundays a month.
We had two elders from American
Denj Branch Elder Moore and his Mongolian companion, over for dinner, Katy made
a nice Mac and Cheese baked casserole. It was fun to visit with them. After dinner,
they showed us photo from home, it was interesting.
Monday I reconnected with a little
morning yoga, our floor is slick and so i used a rug. it was only marginally
less slippery. The wood floors in teh Smith Field house were almost as good as
the sticky mats or our home carpet. I never realized how much I needed a pad
until I attempted a down dog in UB.
We began working with Muugii, our
translator. Her English is passable though she did not pass the Michigan test
last time she took it. She has taken it again and harbors hopes of getting to
BYUH, I hope that works out for her. She served a mission in California, her
English is conversational but not correct, very like an American in Mongolia
speaking Mongolian in seemingly fluent steam of words.
She worked with the former DIC
directors and has a lot of working knowledge about how to get stuff done. It is
good someone has a clue here. The President wants us focused on the English
program and do as little as possible to maintain the Charity Program.
We took off for the afternoon to
get some shopping done. We walked down to the Sunday Plaza, it was Monday so
the Sunday Plaza was closed. There was an indoor market, it was organized a bit
better than a Chinese market but very similar. Far fewer customers and not all
the shops were open. The shops seemed to have fewer products, but most of them
are more attractive to me.
The felt and leather product are
particularly cool. The boots have nice style. The women's dress boots are for
the most part very nice. There are some that are ridiculous, with high heels
for those frozen sidewalks. There are a large selection of winter boots, lots of felt and fur very
practical. Many with thick felt insoles, some that incorporate a few layers of
felt sewn in just above the sole, serious protection from the cold. Some boots
are made entirely from felt, thick and firm like a plaster cast, they soften
over time, they perform well in a very dry environment but they do pick up a great
deal of street grim. They are the low cost leader for cold weather.
There are lots of other felt products that
are quite wonderful. We bought several pairs of baby slippers at the State
department store. We will add these to the other material enticements to get
some grandchildren. Monday Katy
bought some nice slippers, double thick uppers with an extra layer below and
then a slim leather sole. They cost about $12, very hand made, nice stitching
around the ankle where the felt was cut after molding.
We walked out to the black market and walked
around, Katy tried on some Reindeer boots, she liked them but they were too
narrow and the soles were hard. She chose to not buy them. We returned to the
indoor market to warm up and use the WC.
I bought a Mongolian Cashmere Sweater. Nice
pale green, just a bit larger than I should have but it was 50% off a bargain
at $35. Most of the cashmere sweaters I've priced were $100., so I was please
with the price and the quality.
We ran into several missionaries while getting
some food at Good Price. They have a good selection of international foods. The
prices are not really as "Good" as the name implies, but not bad
compared to similar imported products in China at the City Shop. It really is
amazing how international the selection is and at decent prices.
We had Family Home Evening and dinner with
the Bensons. He is an avid climber and biker. He rode the LOTOJA several times
when he was underage, one needs to be 17 to ride, so he was 17 for three years
running. Amazing. He was close enough to the mountains to ride his bike to
start backpacking in the mountains.
The family is very energetic, they have a
climbing wall which the kids really enjoy. The kids are really nice and very
gregarious. Their flat is large, which is great given they have 5 kids. We had
milkshakes for desert, Russian ice cream, very nice, they even had some malt.
Tuesday we did a spot of work then began
interviews with the Missionaries, both American and Mongolian. We talked to all
of them about their teaching and English language study. It was somewhat
enlightening as well as confirming of the work Mark James did last summer. We
had lunch with several of the Elders including Elder Radman. Good soup with pan
fried dumplings about $3 per bowl.
Left overs for diner, I have the beginings
of a cold, nasty little hacking cough for now, need more soup and bed rest.
Tuesday
Office work day, went back to the soup place
for Lunch, I have a cold and the warm fatty soup feels great on my throat and
stomach. The hard part is that I order and then 5-9 minutes later they call out
my number when the food is ready. Well my Mongol is not that good and I'm not
sure when the food is ready. So this time I just stood awkwardly by the service
counter waiting for the food. The server looked at me smiled and pointed to an
empty tray. It was as though she wanted me to take it. Then she put a soup on
it smiled and pointed as though I should take it, but the order was incomplete.
So I waited for the second soup, once that arrived she smiled and pointed just
like before, but this time I took it.
TV here is very international. If I spoke
Korean, Russian, Mongolian and Chinese I would have a huge selection.
Fortunately they do have CNN and BBC as well as HBO and Cinimax. I will often
catch a movie. It is hard as they really favor high action films. I think it is
because the non English speakers like them too, and with an action film one
does not need much language knowledge to follow the script, good guy, bad guy
guns and bombs, easy.
Wednesday office day. we went to see the new
apartments. Located just around the corner from our current apartment. It is
about the same distance to the office. The new apartments are actually new, not
just new to us. We walked through three different apartments, one was too small,
one was way too big and the last one was just right. The rooms are large, but
oddly shaped. Large rectangular rooms with very few closets.
Batbold is very keen to have us move. The
president is also desiring and upgrade for the couples. I have really enjoyed
our little Soviet apartment. It is too hot at night, the toilet is two steps up
off the floor level and we are 3rd floor walk up, but it works.
Thursday, office day. It the evening we
taught an English class at the church. there were about 25 folks there. we
taught chapter 1 of the Side By Side class. This is the class the Mission
president want the missionaries to teach from this text. The class was good,
the students were all at very different levels in there English language
experience. Overall a very enthusiastic group, those who know a bit more
English just wanted to have a chance to talk. Others wanted to try to start
working on it.
Friday depart for Darkhan about 7:30 am.
Still dark and cold, but the car has a heated garage and it is warm. We drive
almost due north for 4.5 hours. Vast open spaces that look like a smoother
version of Nevada. Small town and Gers along the way. As we approach Darkhan
there is a steel mill that makes rebar from local iron and coal. Pretty stinky,
next to it is a Power plant. The wind is from the south and so the bad air is
carried into town. Usually it is born south, away from the town, not today.
We check into the Bodaii Hotel, it means
wheat. There are farms all around this area. It is hard for the Nomads to keep
their livestock out of such great grazing. They are growing wheat and other
grains. At the edge of town there is a grain elevator. So they must be growing
well enough.
The hotel is much nicer than I would have
thought. It was very clean and quite posh, we were almost the only inhabitants.
We grabbed a quick lunch and then went on our way to hold interviews at the
Church. We talked to the companion of the missionary that the President was
talking to. We talked to them about their teaching situation and their
institutional sponsors. The situations vary widely from great to lousy. We will
work to improve it.
We wrapped up about 8, had dinner at the
Hotel, soup, and went to bed.
Saturday We started with breakfast the
dining room was closed, they asked if we would take the breakfast in our room,
we asked if we could just sit in the lobby and eat, they then opened the
dinning room and we ate a breakfast of their choosing. Egg, toast, French
fries, and little wieners artfully sliced. The OJ was good.
We had a few interviews before the Zone
conference began. We stayed in the meeting til 10 then took off with Batbold
the mission driver. We went to a department store that had been built by the
Soviets. It had a large sculpture above the entryway. Unfortunately the sun was
right behind it, making it almost unphotographable. We looked at different appliances
for the new apartments.
We then picked up Sister Fredley and her
translator. We went to lunch at BBQ Chicken. It was OK but the first three
things I ordered were not available, what a place. After lunch we dropped
Sister Fredley and went to the black market, here in Darkhan half the black
market is indoors. It was really fun, with the translator; we were able to find
a few things we have not found before. We found a boot place that offered
Russian Reindeer boots. At $450 I was glad they were not to Katy's liking.
After the Conference we went to visit the
home of one of the assistants to the President. His mother, father and older
brother live in a ger (yurt) on the outskirts of town. It was our first time in
a ger. they are a single room with two beds, a metal stove, washing machine and
TV. There was a set of fluorescent bulbs that illuminated the space well. Each
ger has a fence around it. The fences are made of the outer cuts from trees. the
fences are tall and it makes for a real isolating feeling. There are no street
signs, no numbers and a lot of very dark smoke from all the gers, burning coal
wood, tyres, really anything they can get a hold of.
The family are not member and the President
wanted to chat with them and let them know that there son was doing a great
job. He told them that he could tell that they were great parents by the way
their son had turned out. It was a nice visit. They gave us some small baked
good and water. The family has a small restaurant. I wish we had known about it
and had a chance to get lunch there.
We returned to the zone conference and
concluded with some interviews. Back to the hotel and a funny dinner. Katy and
I ordered a plate of nachos, and a chocolate shake, but what came was a plate
with two burritos and a strawberry shake, ah the things that get lost in
translation.
Sunday, up early, breakfast in our room,
steak and egg with French frys and little hot dogs. Odd but good. at 7:30 we
took off for Erdenet in the west. Two hours driving and we arrived at the
church building just before 10 am. We greeted folks there and then enjoyed Sacrament
meeting. It is a bit hard when it is all in a foreign tongue. I guess it is
really the ears that are foreign. We usually have translator that will sit
right behind us and speak quietly in our ear. it feels as though paragraphs
pass without a word and then we get a few lines of broken English. Oh well.
