A Glimpse of the Grill

I have now been in Mongolia a full week. I have had plenty of experiences this week. During this week I have gotten a glimpse of Mongolian culture, my school, where to get groceries, and more about my job. This glimpse is been very exciting as I have been learning so much, but then also challenging. It has been challenging, because I want to remember everything I have learned and that glimpse showed me how much I still need to know.

One thing I know how to do is get to my school and to the country office. I also know how to get to a few stores for groceries now. I like walking to school, but some people may think I am crazy for doing so. I usually bundle up by wearing my down jacket, a winter hat, scarf, boots, mittens, and a pair of athletic pants over what I am wearing for the day. I stay pretty warm while walking. My legs get a little cold while my hands and upper body sometimes get too warm. The weather this week was about -23°F to 8°F on average. When I walk in the morning it is usually around -20°F or a little warmer. That may seem cold, but it does not bother me too much. Also my walk takes me across much of the city. It is actually really fun to look around and notice all the different building and art on the buildings. I notice something new every day. The two pictures below are examples of art on buildings.

My walk is 50 minutes long. During that time I lift up the day and think through my lessons. On part of my walk home on the first day I walked with one of my students. It was a great opportunity to talk with my student and get to know him. He also told me about the school I was teaching at and how the students at the school have come from many different schools in the city. It was encouraging to talk with him and get to know a student better. Not only did the student and I get to know one another, but the student got to practice his English. I hope I will get to have more conversation like that with my students. Another thing I know is that when I go to school I kind of turn into an icicle. I am not cold, but the condensation from my breath makes me look like this picture.

My school is a laboratory school or in America you may think of it as a charter school. The name of the school is above. It has 40 students in it and they are all in the 9^th grade. Almost all of them speak some English. There are few students who have very good English. This week I taught Wednesday through Saturday. I taught on Saturday because next week is a holiday where teachers and students spend much of their time with family and they wanted off all week. I am teaching 6 hours of English to 2 different groups of students each week. I am teaching 3 hours of Chemistry and 3 hours of Biology. I then help in a math class and physics class. I will also be teaching English to the teachers one night a week. I enjoyed teaching my students this week. I only taught English this week since the most of the teachers were at some training this week learning about the curriculum they use. It has also been fun to get to know my fellow teachers.

This week has been great to get a glimpse of Mongolia and all that I will be doing here. I am excited to get a fuller picture of Mongolia and I look forward to the many challenges and exciting things that will happen in the months to come. Funny note I have not found a Mongolian grill here yet.