What made today extra special, aside from it being the second snowfall this month, is that in our aerobics class, they played, not once but twice, The Final Countdown! I was laughing hysterically. Rachel was also rather amused. There we were, in a room full of Mongolians, flailing our arms about to this classic tune. I felt like I was trapped in an episode of the Twilight Zone. It was nothing short of dreamlike, and worth every tugrik.
I can’t tell you how out of my element I felt when I signed up for aerobics class. All my life I have been a “give me a ball and let me charge it down the court” kind of girl. Never have I pranced around, stretched, and used a mat on the floor in a room full of women. Granted, I have no other frame of reference, but I have not given this form of exercise enough credit. My body hurts in the strangest of places and the instructor is fantastic. I am used to a 250 lb coach yelling at me to “get down the court and D up”, but I have never moved so fast as when this tiny lady screams at me in Mongolian. I definitely look forward to it 4 days a week. If nothing else, it allows for some rather hilarious inside jokes to erupt between Rachel and I.
As for work, things have been pretty difficult the last couple of weeks. There are these inspectors in town, they visit once every 5 years, and so a ton of my lessons have gotten cancelled, etc. However, I had meetings at both my schools to sort of brainstorm future projects and the outcome looks pretty promising. I just want to use my creativity and get involved. Rach and I are going to start an art club really soon and next week I am holding a competition for a drug and alcohol free campaign at one school which should be fun. These kids are fantastic artists but there is absolutely no art curriculum here.
I also have been spending my Friday nights at this café doing an English conversation hour. Each week we read a new story with a moral message and dive into how that may apply to our lives and how that contrasts between America and here. I have to say, I have learned more about love, giving, attitude, and honesty with this group of girls than I have making my own decisions throughout my life. It is yet another part of my week that is absolutely irreplaceable.
On another note, Rach and I have fun night Thursdays at her place because she has a TV and there was this random channel that would play reruns of the office, seinfield and scrubs. It was absolutely fantastic. We would work out, cook a delicious meal, curl up in her comfy chairs and laugh till our sides ached. As of this past Sunday, Mongolian television has taken away our joy to Thursday nights. We are on a mission to get it back. That’s right. Operation humor is in full effect. We will see how it all turns out.
--
Oh I almost forgot! So the school I work at now just hired a young Chinese teacher. She is one year older than me and absolutely adorable. We officially share an office and our common language is Mongolian. =) This has been quite interesting because she is fluent and I am still on intermediate level. Aside from that already being a hilarious challenge, all teachers (including myself) are now learning Chinese from her. Our first class was yesterday and I was cracking up because I couldn’t figure out who was at more of a disadvantage. Juan, the Chinese teacher, obviously conducted the entire class in Mongolian. So, I had absolutely no idea what I was repeating pretty much the entire lecture. Plus, the actual Chinese script takes me hours to try and write out. I have no clue how they are combined so I will just have to memorize the lines. I was literally describing them to myself like this: “two lines across, make a ziggity mabobbity, slashity slash, dot, line, scribble. Done.” It was out of control. However, the great thing is that Chinese dialect is transcribed into English alphabet phonetics. So, I hadn’t the slightest clue what I was saying but I could sound it out pretty well. It was quite a hilarious hour.
Later last night I was talking to Uugii, my best Mongolian friend, about how many languages I have tried to learn and we were laughing hysterically about how little I know in each. There is a joke we have about when you know a language well, you can be considered one of those people. We decided last night, since I know only a little of each, maybe just parts of my body are that type of person. For example, Uugii said my face is Italian, my back American, my upper torso is Spanish, my arms are Mongolian, my legs are Chinese, and my feet Russian. I found this rather amusing.
I seriously could not be happier right now. I am having an incredible time integrating, and basking in the relationships that I have been so blessed with in this short amount of time. Everyday I am get more excited and encouraged about what I am able to do here. I am beyond grateful for this experience. I can only hope that those I am in daily contact with feel the same. That in some way I can offer them as much joy, love, and knowledge as they have so graciously bestowed upon me. If nothing else, I hope a few perceptions can change for the better as I know mine have in just four months time.
Now I must clip some pictures out of Newsweek for tomorrow’s lesson and then watch the snow fall while I eat my fresh cut kiwi in vanilla yogurt.
Hope everyone is warm and cozy.
Love love love,
Me.
worst translated shirt of the week goes to:
