Here comes Santa Claws

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Those of you who have known us for a while know that each December heralds the arrival of Santa Rabbit in our household. This year, A is old enough to anticipate things, and she has also seen pictures of herself with Santa Rabbit. So, we have been awaiting the arrival of Santa Rabbit for some days. Everytime a train went by in the last week A would ask: "Santa Rabbit on a train?"

Last night was a particularly bad one for A's knee. At 3am we were all up wondering if we'd EVER get back to bed. And then another train went rumbling by. Suddenly, A perked up and asked, again, "Santa Rabbit on a train?"

Then and there I knew we wouldn't be waiting until December 1 to meet our old friend.

There was a knock on the door and when Frank carried A over to the door to open it, there stood Santa Rabbit clutching a tiny Mandarin orange. "Welcome home!" cried A.

A has not let go of him since.

Horoscopes worth reading

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, November 28, 2009

I pretty much stopped reading my horoscope in about 10th grade, but the UB Post has given me new incentive to start reading them again. And not just for myself. Every week these horoscopes have at least one profound piece of advice for everyone.

Here are a few excerpts from a recent edition of the UB Post:

Aquarius: "...Lie low Thursday to Saturday. Visit a psychic, hospital or government office Friday/Saturday...."

Libra: "...Family, domestic, real estate, mother nature and security issues go well Thursday to Saturday. Do you take on that associated responsibility or not? That's the question for three years."

Capricorn: "...Tuesday/Wednesday are a good time to visit a psychic or other advisor (but not an astrologer Wednesday)..."

Sagittarius: "...Buy nothing Thursday morning. Your shopping and income luck rise nicely then to Saturday. Now to October 2012, your social life will quietly ebb, but your financial life will improve, maybe massively."

I am not sure which star charts this person is consulting, but believe me, I am hooked.

Back to school, again

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Monday, November 23, 2009

Yippee! School is open again as of this morning, and it's good to have my students back again. Today, Grades 6-12 were allowed to return to school. Alas, it's anybody's guess as to when primary and pre-schools will re-open.

High schools and middle schools throughout Ulaanbaatar have been closed for more than three weeks due to a governmental closure that was designed to try to stop the spread of H1N1.

I am not quite sure what the rationale is for opening schools for older kids but not for the younger ones. I think it has something to do with the idea that older students practice better hygiene and therefore share fewer germs?

After almost a month of NO pre-school for A, we can HARDLY wait for them to open again...

This traditional ger furniture is used by our school's primary students

River running

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 22, 2009

With the temperatures back in the balmy 20's (F), Frank headed out for a nice long run along the Tuul river this afternoon. As he got further from the city, he ran past series of ovoos, or religious cairns. Ovoos come in a variety of forms: they can be special trees, piles of rocks, or built from wood. People fasten silk scarves or khata to the ovoos.

This location is at the base of a sacred mountain and is apparently a particularly auspicuous place for making various ceremonies. At least in the summer.

I am not sure how many hardy souls are out at this location at this time of year...

Your money is no good here

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 22, 2009

One of the completely unexpected challenges that Frank has faced at his new job has been his attempts to purchase software for the school where we work.

First, Frank tried to purchase some software from Adobe for himself. He downloaded a trial version, and when the trial period expired, he tried to buy a license from them. Adobe kept the transaction pending for three days and then refused his purchase without explanation. Thus, instead of paying $400 for Dreamweaver, he was thrown back into the local software market where one can buy a bootlegged copy of Dreamweaver for $3. Albeit, a bootlegged copy in Russian.

Next, he tried purchasing some proxy software for the school. His credit card was rejected once and then again. Next, he tried Paypal. Paypal took the money out of his bank account to pay the software vendor--and then, in mid-purchase, they sent him an e-mail cancelling the purchase.

After much gnashing of teeth and a long time in telephone-tree hell, Frank got through to someone at Paypal in the States (or somewhere in India?). "Sir, we need to verify who you are so we're going to ask you a series of questions." "Alright," said the ever-patient Frank. "First question: in which state does Alejo _______ own property?" Now, there's a trick question if ever there was one. Alejo is the fellow from whom we bought our house in Seattle three years ago. He now lives in Mexico. As Frank was preparing to protest the nature of this question, the telephone connection died.

Frank then bravely opened the window and leaned out in sub-freezing temperatures in order to get a better cell phone signal.

Starting over, he got back into the phone queue hell at Paypal. From the other room I heard him (somewhat less patiently this time) trying to explain that, yes, he was trying to purchase software here in Mongolia despite having a mailing address in the States. And that, yes, Paypal was now in possession of $750 of his money and that they had cancelled payment to the vendor....

Finally, that particular purchase went through. It seems that Paypal rejected the purchase because they detected that he was accessing his Paypal account from a computer in Mongolia.

Less than a week later Frank started in on the next marathon effort to buy anti-virus software. This time it only took a series of e-mails and repeated attempts to use his credit card at the company's website.

I won't go into Frank's attempts to straighten things out with another of the school's software purchases, but suffice it to say, the details are hilarious.

Meat & Veges

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 22, 2009

Slowly, I am getting used to buying meat at the markets in UB. In the aisles, young men push by burdened under the weight of frozen animal carcasses. Beef, pork, and mutton in great huge slabs greet one on the counter tops --and hacking them up turns out to be real exercise.

But buying vegetables here presents another challenge.

I know enough Mongolian to be able to ask this question: "Chinese or Mongolian?" At this point in the season, one can't reasonably expect much to still be growing here in Mongolia. (Although there may be some vegetable greenhouses operating here from what I understand.)

So, if you want any variety of vegetables (i.e. peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, etc), it means Chinese vegetables. If you're any kind of an "organic" shopper, you're not going to be happy if you spend too much time thinking about what the Chinese might put on their vegetable to make them look so nice.

So, you choose: either no fresh vegetables for the rest of the winter or vegetables from who-knows-where in China covered with who-knows-what kind of pesticides.

Sometimes, you've just got to close your eyes and buy something.

And don't even talk about ones "carbon footprint" around here: except for meat and milk products, almost all food products are imported to Mongolia.

Seabuckthorn unleashed

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, November 22, 2009

I have commented on several occasions in recent weeks about seabuckthorn and the fact that the Mongolian government is promoting it as a preventative measure to H1N1. I know from the newspaper that the government is giving away seabuckthorn juice to "vulnerable" sectors of the population such as children and poor people. However, this morning when I walked into the meat section of Mercury Market, I did a double-take. Normally vendors everywhere in UB drink salty milk tea throughout their work days. But this morning as I looked around the market, every single meat seller was enjoying a nice big glass of seabuckthorn juice.

Plate o' shrimp, indeed.

A little taste of heaven

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, November 22, 2009

If there is one thing that has pulled us through in the food department in the past six weeks, it is the heavenly food at Ulaanbaatar's Taj Mahal restaurant. Again last night, Frank made the 30 minute walk (in very brisk temperatures) to get some take-out from this fantastic restaurant.

On a very difficult day six weeks ago when we were stranded in the hospital with A, a friend arrived with food from the Taj Mahal. Salvation!

We haven't been the same since.

Since then, we've eaten at the restaurant itself on two occasions, but what we've really come to love is enjoying their delicous food here at home.

It was all vegetarian dishes last night, which is the perfect antidote to the meat-rich Mongolian diet. Paneer jalfrezi. Baigan Pasanda. Daal Saagwala. Aloo gobi. At least three of the four dishes were lovely.

Oh, and the vegetable samosas with hot carrot chutney will brighten even the most difficult day.

Tunnel under the tracks

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Saturday, November 21, 2009

The management of our apartment complex had promised to build a walking tunnel under the railroad tracks to rescue us from our geographical isolation on the "wrong side" of the tracks. We are especially isolated from any stores, which can be a challenge when one does not have a car. Frank used to cross the railroad tracks to go shopping, but each time he had to climb over a barbed wire fence and argue with the guards to let him back into the apartment complex. These antics were a pain, but they saved him 25 minutes of walking time with heavy groceries. And when it's below a certain temperature, 25 minutes can be a particularly long time. I was doubtful that this tunnel would ever happen.

About two weeks ago, Frank come home excitedly from a shopping expedition. "They built the tunnel!"

Only today did I find the tunnel for myself. It may not seem like much, but believe me, this is Big Happy News around here!

Merry Xmas

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Well, it seems that even here in faraway Buddhist Mongolia, it's time to break out the tinsel and the plastic Christmas trees. And here we don't even need to wait for Thanksgiving. The grocery stores are decked with plastic fir boughs, and I haven't even seen the department stores yet...

Heck, there was even a Christmas Bazaar today at a nearby apartment complex (which is inhabited mostly by foreigners). Lots of wonderful creations in felted wool for sale.

And this morning I learned from my Dutch friends that Sinterklaas will be making an appearance here in Ulaanbaatar on horseback on or around December 5th. Unlike days of yore, horses require permits in Ulaanbaatar these days. At this time, Sinterklaas is still waiting for his permit to be approved. No, I am not joking.

Lots to look forward to!

German meats

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Thursday, November 19, 2009

One of the shops to which I make a regular stop each week is the German deli located near the Wrestling Palace. I would be curious to know how this place ended up here. A little bit of Europe located there at the end of a maze of small clothing shops.

In addition to a somewhat boring (but safe) selection of bolognes and salamis, they also sell tasty pre-spiced cutlets, sausages, and various cuts of meat. In fact, it's one of the few places that I've seen that sells meat as I am more used to seeing it--that is, cut up and ready to cook--instead of a great huge chuck of meat which I have to take home and hack away at.

And it has some interesting decor, too.

Three cheers for the German deli!

Follow the frozen river

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 15, 2009

Last week Frank became the first person to sign up for Ulaanbaatar's first marathon in June 2010. It took three trips to the marathon office to actually get him signed up, but he's on the list now.

Frank also entered the Tokyo Marathon lottery and "won" a spot in the Tokyo Marathon which is scheduled for late February. There were 330,000 entrants for 30,000 spots, and he was pleased to get one.

So, now the challenge is on: how to train in Mongolia's freezing winter temperatures.

This afternoon Frank passed an important test: he did his first run (8 miles/13K) in sub-zero F temperatures (-17° C).

He's been reading up on cold-weather running and among the more useful tips was to smear Vaseline on exposed skin (like the cheeks) to cut down on wind burn. Frank reports that this helped a lot on this latest run.

Frank has noted with some pleasure that one of the advantages of our somewhat isolated living situation is its proximity to some low-traffic running roads. We are also somewhat outside the city's main pollution core which makes breathing on these runs a bit easier.

Despite the freezing temps, Frank took his glove off to document his route along the Tuul River with his camera phone.

Looks chilly, no?

Plate o' shrimp

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 15, 2009

Two weeks ago I had never heard of seabuckthorn. Suddenly, it's everywhere.

I mention seabuckthorn at work, and my colleague brings in a bottle of the juice for me to try. (It smells kind of funny, but tastes quite nice.) Next, my friend in Finland informs me that she's just purchased some baby food in seabuckthorn flavor. Frank comes home from the grocery and reports having seen seabuckthorn wine. Then an e-mail from my Armenian friend: "Do you know that sea-buckthorn is quite common in ... sunny Armenia?! The well-made juice of it is fantastic!" Frank brings home the latest UB Post and there, on the front page, is a picture of school children receiving bottles of seabuckthorn juice to ward off Swine Flu. And finally, a trip to the market today revealed a new product for sale. What could it be? Bags of seabuckthorn berries.


It rather puts me in mind of the 1984 cult movie "Repo Man" when Miller says:

"A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, "plate," or "shrimp," or "plate o' shrimp" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness."

Throughout the rest of the movie, "plate o' shrimp specials" show up everywhere. As you may know, I don't see many movies, but Repo Man is one of my favorites.

See my 2 other posts on seabuckthorn:
King of Fruits?
Swine flu diet

Seek the sun

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 15, 2009

As I peered down into the courtyard yesterday afternoon, I saw a sight that I knew would warm the hearts of my Finnish friends. It was 5 °F (-14 °C) outside, and a group of moms was outside sunning themselves and their babies. Even if you look closely, you won't actually SEE the babies, but they ARE there. Fresh air lovers, eat your heart out.

Swine flu diet

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

When H1N1 hit Ulaanbaatar about a month ago things seemed to happen pretty quickly. First the face masks came out, and then Fall school vacations started early. Next, school vacations were extended indefinitely. On Friday, October 30th, the order went out to close all daycares and pre-schools. It was our turn to "feel the pain" as we were now without childcare.

A week ago on Nov. 3rd, a state of "high alert" went into effect closing all cultural and sporting events, marketplaces, clubs and bars (after 9pm), public gatherings, primary and secondary schools, and delaying all non-emergency surgeries at local hospitals. The Ministry of Education is making plans to start broadcasting school lessons on television.

This evening Frank arrived home with some heavenly Indian food and the latest edition of the UB Post.

The headline article about H1N1 brought this interesting point to my attention:

"Doctors recommend general public to eat more vitamin-rich foods, drink seabuckthorn juices and to consume more horsemeat, garlic and cruds (sic) to keep the winter flu at bay."

I don't know about garlic (although the proprietor of the Indian restaurant informed Frank that the price of garlic has risen 500% locally), but I'd certainly stay away from the "cruds".

Dried milk curds, however, ARE a tasty and important staple of the Mongolian diet.

Cold weather shopping

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, November 8, 2009

As I got ready for my Sunday shopping run this morning, a mysterious text arrived from our always-reliable driver: "I will be late. I am making my car." Nearly two hours later, I began to worry about him.

I called a mutual friend to help with communication since I couldn't get through to to our driver on the phone. From our mutual friend, I learned that the extreme overnight temperatures (-14 °F / -26 °C) had frozen our driver's engine block. He couldn't answer his phone because he was busy lighting a fire under his car in order to get it started.

Lighting a fire?

Nonetheless, he arrived shortly after that, in fine shape.

Wow, you gotta be tough in this country.

Ankle bones

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Friday, November 6, 2009

We live at the edge of giant new housing complex whose name translates to "Rich Mongol Apartments." Construction seems to be nearing completion--or at least going into a "sleep phase" for the winter. At any rate, they recently planted a number of trees and installed what appears (in the summer) to be a fountain. But wait, what are those huge white things arranged around the center of the fountain? Dinosaur molars? (Mongolia is, after all , home to many of the world's most famous dinosaur finds.)

No, indeed, they are giant versions of sheep ankle bones, which are used in Mongolia in a game of chance called shagai. There are 4 different ways that the ankle bones can end up when they are rolled: horse, camel, sheep, or goat. As Wikipedia suggests, they seem to be one of the world's first dice games.

I recently developed a probability lesson for my students based on shagai, and we all had a fine time "shooting" ankle bones instead of dice. It makes for a much more interesting lesson because the probabilities of the 4 "faces" are not equal--unlike the 6 faces of a die.

Here is more from Wikipedia on shagai.

Pictured here: the huge apartment complex that is our home...

Mongolian tooth fairy

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Friday, November 6, 2009

One of the great things about my job is the Mongolian colleague with whom I share an office. He is an endless source of interesting information about Mongolia--and of course we have mathematics in common, as well.

This morning he mentioned that his daughter had just lost her first tooth. In a moment of "cultural sharing" I decided to tell him about our tradition of putting the tooth under ones pillow and waking the next morning to some money. He thought that sounded like an excellent idea --and then proceeded to tell me this story:

"When I was young we would put our 'lost' baby teeth in a piece of fat and feed it to the dog. We would tell the dog 'Ok, here is my tooth. In exchange, I want some strong teeth later on.'"

At first I thought he was joking, but when I realized he was serious, it was one of those wonderful moments when I find myself marvelling at this thing called "cultural difference." Here was an example of something completely outside my experience.

When I got home this afternoon, I mentioned the story to Frank, and off he went to the Web. Sure enough, dogs are considered guardian angels here, and this is exactly the tradition for baby teeth.

The world is a wonderful place.

King of Fruits?

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Thursday, November 5, 2009

An item in one of UB's English language newspapers caught my attention this week:

"The second consultation entitled "Organic Seabuckthorn - King of Fruits" urged the necessity to develop seabuckthorn industry as a priority among other natural fruits growing in Mongolia." (UB Post, Nov 3, 2009)

I was ready to learn more. Seabuckthorn? I'd never heard of it. Although we have seen something like blueberries for sale in the markets here, fruit is not your first thought when you think about Mongolia. Obviously, I still have much to learn about the flora and fauna of this country...

I share with you these four random facts from Wikipedia:

1. Sea-buckthorn berries are multipurposed, edible and nutritious, though very acidic and astringent, unpleasant to eat raw, unless 'bletted' (frosted to reduce the astringency) and/or mixed as a juice with sweeter substances such as apple or grape juice.
2. The plant is the regional flora of the Finnish region of Satakunta.
3. When the berries are pressed, the resulting sea-buckthorn juice separates into three layers: on top is a thick, orange cream; in the middle, a layer containing sea-buckthorn's characteristic high content of saturated and polyunsaturated fats; and the bottom layer is sediment and juice.
4. For its troops confronting extremely low temperatures, India's Defence Research Development Organization established a factory in Leh to manufacture a multi-vitamin herbal beverage based on sea-buckthorn juice.

To read still more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-buckthorn

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

Boss Wife Foods

Ningbo-Beilun, Zhejiang, China

I just returned this afternoon from chaperoning a school sports trip to China. This latest trip to China is my sixth trip to China over the past 27 years, and it makes my head spin to think of the changes I have seen since 1982. One area of huge change that struck me is food.

We spent time in a mega-grocery store (the students wanted treats), and I was amazed by the aisle after aisle of what I would truly call "non-food" items. And all the plastic packaging. China is a very, very different place than it was 27 years ago. And then there were the trips to McDonalds, KFC, and Starbucks. Of course, only a relatively small percentage of China's population are buying these "foods" since they are quite expensive by Chinese standards. 

One item in particular that caught my eye at this mega-grocery: fruit jellies. It seems that in my gastronomic isolation, I have missed the emergence of this "food" item. My students bought them by the kilo, but honestly, I was too afraid to try them. Every color, flavor & texture seemed to be on offer. The things one learns when one travels!

I skipped the food at McDonalds and KFC, but I will confess to one latté and a chocolate muffin at Starbucks.

But what was really wonderful was the take out trays they brought to the sports venue every day for the kids. Now, maybe I've been in Mongolia too long, but that food, though a bit greasy, was like heaven. Clockwise from top-left: lovely duck, egg pancake, beef stir-fry, and spicy (delicious!) cabbage.

Coming home to the Mongolian diet will not be easy.

Oh, and my favorite food-related advertisement? A huge billboard selling the virtues of "Boss Wife Foods".

 

Pictured: 1) inside a mega "food" store, 2) fruit jellies, and 3) a heavenly take-out lunch

"Save the water used"

Ningbo-Beilun, Zhejiang, China

Monday, November 2, 2009

Water was another theme of my 5-day trip to China. The hotel awkwardly encouraged us not to waste water ("Warm suggestion!"), and despite the amazing infrastructure changes in China, water remains a critical issue.

In 1987, when I studied in China, every work place and apartment had a huge water boiler that was fired up 2-3 times a day to sterilize drinking water. 

Twenty-seven years later, those boilers are still hard at work. Pictured here are a long line of thermoses waiting to be filled with freshly boiled water.

And then there was the downtown shopping mall in Ningbo--an enormous affair with water and fountains everywhere. Pictured here--a boy floats in his plastic bubble.

Say, how much oxygen is in that thing anyway?