12/31/09 Happy New Year everyone!

I was trying to figure out how to explain the holidays here when I read in Leslie & Nathan in Mongolia this week (they are Peace Corps volunteers) and I decided they said it pretty well, so here it is (but check out their blog some time).

We Wish You a Happy New Year and a Happy New Year We've been trying to figure out why there are Christmas trees and lights and "Jingle Bells" and George Micheal's "Last Christmas" playing non-stop wherever we go, but not only is there no Christ in Christmas, there's no Christmas in Christmas. All the fuss around here is about New Years or "Shin Jil". I've had the sneaking feeling this is a Russian thing - since most of the 20th century, Mongolia was closely aligned with Moscow. Determined to get to the bottom of it, I brought it up over lunch with a Russian/English teacher last week. I asked him and his wife how long Mongolians had been celebrating New Year's. They agreed that they began celebrating this way when they were in the first grade. They're 54 now, so it's been about 48 years or so by their reckoning. He explained that since Mongolia had such close ties to Russia, they gladly picked up these fun cultural things and celebrated them as their own. They giddily recounted their childhood plays and dances where she always played a dancing "Winter Girl", and one year he was "Grandfather Winter", complete with a big sack of presents, white beard and red outfit. So, my suspicions were confirmed - it is a Russian thing. But why do the Russians not celebrate Christmas? Why does New Year's look so much like Christmas? The answer lies in the Communist era with the Soviet suppression of religion and non-state oriented celebrations. According to this site: "Before 1917, Christmas was celebrated in Russia in much the same way as it was in the rest of the world: on December 25, with Christmas trees and Christmas gifts, Saint Nicholas and the like. During the years of Communism after 1917, all formerly Christmas traditions were transferred to New Year's Eve, which became the traditional winter holiday. New Year's Eve is now to Russians what Christmas is to most people in the rest of the world, with one exception: there is no remnant of Christianity in the holiday. New Year's Eve is simply a chance to celebrate, to bring in the new year and get rid of the old. It is a chance to exchange gifts, have a day off and enjoy oneself." The Mongolians (and Most Russians) continue to celebrate on the 31st of January, and from what we've heard, it's not the raucous debauchery many of us enjoy in the States, but a family affair just like we might recognize as Christmas. So, when your kids ask how Santa Claus can get all the way around the world in one night, you might tell them he does half the world, takes a week off to restock, and then does the other half around New Year's.

Well, the center had a 'end of year' party last Friday night and it sure was a blast. Not only was there good food (and chocolate) but the whole thing was such a heart-warming affair. After dinner the toasts began. And what seemed like tradition, after you gave a toast, you sang a song. Davaa said that Mongolia has more traditional songs than almost any other culture and all Mongolians are taught to sing them from a very early age. Most people would begin the song and then everyone would join in. They were mostly about mothers, the countryside, horses and Mongolia. After that, the music was turned up and we danced the night away. Good thing too as I think I burned off quite a bit of calories I had eaten during dinner with my 'wild man' dancing. I was even voted best male dancer of the evening. [laugh]

New Years lights on the stupa

On Saturday, one of the guards at the Center, Oyunbaatar (Oogii for short) invited me to his house. We took a 30-minute ride in a 'micro bus' which is a mini-van with about 20 people piled in. Oogii says it's a good place to live because it's easy to catch the bus, water isn't far to fetch, there's a market nearby and it's a lighted street to his house. It was a cozy home and it brought back memories of my grandmothers house when I was a kid. Oogii's wife Uugantsetseg and his daughter Uuyanga who is also one of my English students were cooking dinner. We ate a great dinner of butz with shredded carrots with garlic. His wife makes cans about 20 jars of pickles every year and also makes about 10 liters of cider syrup. The hot cider was incredible. Oogii also has two sons, Baterdene is 10 and 9-month-old Batbaatar is smothered with love by both dad and his older brother. Later we took a family picture then it was time for Oogii and I to catch another microbus back to the city center. I really had a wonderful time and it was kind of Oogii to share his home-life and family with me.

Uugantsetseg, Baterdene, Oyunbaatar, Batbaatar, Uuyanga

Then, another one of the Center's guards, Nyamgerel, invited to to visit his mother at her home in the countryside, about an hour outside of Ulaanbaatar. It was very cold but a beautifully sunny day. One the way, we picked up his sister and her granddaughter. We sat in the kitchen of this two-room house sipping hot tea and eating cookies. Then we went out to see the animals. His mother has cows (which have blankets tied to them to keep them warm) and Nyamgerel was there to buy another 55 goats. After we got them transferred to a holding pen, we went back to his mother's house for some lunch, hot buutz. Mmm. I hope I can visit again this spring and summer.

Nyamgerel's mother

Three generations of Mongolian women

And New Year's Eve was the TV Special "Where is Santa Claus?" on Education TV in Mongolia. And they also showed everyone celebrating New Year's at the station with a surprise visit from Santa Claus. Please, no autographs.

Can you tell I forgot my lines?

Santa makes a surprise visit to Education TV

12/25/08 Merry Christmas

Not sure how I feel about the holidays this year. I always hate the commercialism back home in the States but right now, I think I miss my family the most. Every year, the Pabst clan (from grandmother on down) get together the Sunday before Christmas. It is usually a full house (sometimes we even rent a hall because it's too many people). Despite all my travels, I think this is the first gathering I've missed in 25 years. But here's a picture of the clan my uncle Bob sent me.

I count 43 descendants of Grandma Lorene

The center has a children's program, sort of like a Sunday school, where they are taught about Buddhism. The kids put on a play about Buddha's life for the parents and staff. They worked so hard on it.

Some of the children in their play

At the end of every semester, the students throw a party where the teachers give out the class certificates and awards (top students and attendance). I didn't really know what to expect but it was fun. The students brought fruit, juice and chocolate.

With some of my students

I gave a little speech thanking all of them for teaching me as this first semester has been a real learning experience for me. After I handed out everyone's certificate, the students surprised me by presenting gifts. Even though they don't celebrate Christmas, I made out like ol' Santa dropped a bundle down the chimney.

I was given a drawing written in traditional Mongolian script with my portrait. I was also give another print of 'Teacher Jim' written out in brush script. So cool.

'Compassion' prayer and 'Teacher Jim'

Other gifts included a wooden puzzle, Mongolia's answer to the Rubic's cube, some cash, a key holder, and a glass plaque with sand of the Gobi Dessert (you can tilt the frame and the sand moves). But the big surprise was I was presented with a beautifully carved morin khuur, a horse-head fiddle.

Horse-head fiddle, or morin khuur, is a distinctively Mongolian instrument and is seen as a symbol of the country. The instrument is two-stringed and is bowed like a cello. There is some controversy regarding the traditional carving of a horse on the upper end of the pegbox. Some scholars believe that this is proof that the instrument was originally a shamanistic instrument, as the staffs of shamans have a horse similarly carved on top; the horse is a much-revered animal in Mongolia. (music sample)

After the students party, I was picked up to head over to the Education TV Christmas/New Years party at the Brauhouse Restaurant. I was the special guest of Ariunbat who runs the station. It was a very swank affair with everyone dressed in their best suits and evening gowns. Unfortunately, I was severely under-dressed. It was a grand spread - the meal was five or six courses with waiters hovering constantly to make sure everyone was fed well and glasses never became empty. I sat at the head table between the beautiful Erdenechimeg, a financial manager, and Mongolia's Memory champion, a law student who is currently ranked 8th in the world. Many of Mongolia's singing stars performed with lots of dancing and many year-end gifts were presented to the crowd of about 200. Finally, the special surprise of the evening arrived and I was introduced as Santa Claus. I told them I was so busy I could only attend one party on Christmas Eve and I was glad I picked theirs. Everyone seemed to think it was funny. But I don't think 'show business' is for me. But they did tell me my TV show 'Where is Santa Claus?' should air on Saturday night. Can't wait!

That's me with Ariunbat doing a little Santa Claus stand-up

I finished the holiday with a long Skype video call to my brother's house in Kansas City where I could join them for Christmas Eve dinner with all the family. It was good to see mom and my brothers and everybody really. I miss them a lot. Then I gave my 94-year-old grandmother a surprise call on Christmas morning.

But that's not all, I also was the guest on the radio show "Let's Talk English" with host Ari and Shuree, who runs the Yeti Institute. Shuree invited me back, maybe in February during the Tsagaan Sar holiday.

12/20/08 Dress Warm Santa

What a wonderful week. We've had a bit of snow here in Ulaanbaatar, making everything a bit white (instead of sooty gray). And I gave my last exams and already have the final grades posted. This morning as I type though, I think we've hit another milestone in the winter weather. Even though it had been colder a few weeks ago, with the gusting winds today, the windchill is extremely low. But at least those winds have blown all the smog away. Here's the weather report for today. Check out those windchill temps!

But the best news this week was I had my first acting job. Yes, a paid (at least I think it's paid) acting job for Mongolian Education TV. What was my role you ask? Why, Santa Claus of course! They were filming a show called "Where is Santa Claus?", kind of an investigative reporter kind of thing and one of the TV executives who works a lot with the Buddhist Center (February will be Buddhist Month) and thought I'd be a perfect Santa. They picked me up on Wednesday and we went to shoot 'on location' outside of UB up into the mountains where they had trees and more snow.

Here's the setup for my scene. I was pretending to be a forest ranger working with my trees when I was approached by a TV reporter. He had heard that Santa Claus lived around here and asked if I was him. (The reporter spoke in Mongolian but I answered in English) I emphatically told him no, I wasn't Santa Claus. He commented that I sure did look like Santa Claus, and even asked to tug on my beard to see if it was real. But I kept insisting that no, I wasn't Santa Claus, and I thought Santa must live over the mountains, north of here. As he turned away to talk to the camera, I pulled out my red hat and opened my coat to show my Santa Claus outfit but looked over his shoulder and put my finger to my lips telling the audience to keep quiet, not to tell. But when the reporter turned back around, I had to whip off my red hat. As the reporter left to search in other places we both waved goodbye to each other. And when he was almost out of sight, I lifted my finger and snapped my fingers. Just like magic, I turned into a Mongolian Santa Claus. Wow, what a finish.

A Mongolian Santa Claus
(I'm not fat, I'm wearing four coats)

It was fun but I really thought my acting was oh so bad. The producer thought it was fine and thought it will look good on TV. Hopefully the crew can dub in real Mongolian dialogue over my terrible English lines. It was very, very cold while we were filming but in the end, the Santa suit was nice and toasty. Supposedly, they want me to film for another show this weekend. "Where is Santa Claus?" I think will air on Christmas Eve. I'll let ya' know how my debut goes. Don't worry, I'll keep my teaching job just in case.

12/14/08 Semesters almost over

Actually not much to write this week as I've been busy with exams as the semester finally winds down. I give my last final on Thursday, then we have a student party on the 24th where we hand out certificates. And on the 25th, I'm supposed to be a guest on a Learning English radio show.

The weather has been up and down, but I gather from talking to everyone that it's been a pretty mild December so far but I shouldn't expect January to be the same. I still don't know how they keep warm in the gers so I feel pretty fortunate to have steam heat, except when it goes off. It's been a while since we had any power outages but this week we had a long one, over 7 hours, and the boiler doesn't work without electricity. Besides not being able to hold classes or cook any meals, with the low temperatures we have it doesn't take the building long to cool down, a lot. But power did come back on and I slept nice and warm. Definitely makes you appreciate the little things.

Outside my office window
Not much snow but those streets are covered with ice


These kids are tough, playing soccer when it's -20F


Daria, one of the translators in my office
She translates Tibetan Buddhist texts into Mongolian


I teach Tibetan Geshe-la English every Sunday


Lydia & Hannah showing very red cheeks
Esther & her kids are regular visitors whenever they are in UB

12/6/08 Goodbye Ani Deki

Last Saturday, Ani Deki left for Katmandu and Kopan Nunnery. She and Ani Tsultrim came here two years ago to help teach the Mongolian nuns at the Dolma Ling Nunnery. And then, Ani Tsultrim left today, hopefully to return next month bringing back a new teacher to replace Ani Deki. I will miss them both. They were always so full of smiles.

Jim, Ani Deki, Tsetsgee

My very good friend Ani Deki

Nuns from Dolma Ling Nunnery say goodbye

Praying one more time at the stupa

And if that wasn't sad enough, Bodhichita, the cat, has been missing for over a week now. With temperatures reaching the minus 20s at night, I hope she is somewhere warm.

Some of you might not know that for the last year I have been following quite a few blogs that have to do with sketching and drawing. The artists always post wonderful pictures of their work. These are finished pieces of art to sell (even though I still think they are very valuable art) but just those doodles the put on paper. Cindy Woods is one of those artists. She posted things to her blog up to the last week of her life as she battled cancer. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen her work while she was alive and would like to pay tribute to her. If you would like to see some of her work and writing, her blog is LearnDaily