MONGOLIA!
Awhile ago I promised I'd post about my upcoming move to Mongolia. Yeah. That didn't happen. But what did happen was a gmail chat with buffra last week that brought up all the details I'd been meaning to tell you about. So rather than type it all over again, I thought I'd just include it here for your enjoyment and education. ;)
B: are you going to be teaching there? when do you go?
what is the plan, Stan?
1:36 PM me: I'm scheduled to leave the 13th. Really hoping I get my visa in time, otherwise I may as well wait until after Christmas. And that would put me off until mid-January. I don't even want to think about it -- it's too depressing. I'm just hoping everything falls into place.
1:37 PMI'll be teaching english-speaking kids over there -- mostly Americans and Koreans whose parents are in Mongolia working with non-profits. I'll teach some writing and hopefully some literature, start a book club for the high school girls, work in their library a bit.
Wow, I should just copy this and post it on LJ since I still haven't done my "why I'm going to Mongolia" post. ;)B: are you going to be working at all with the kids from Mongolia? or not so much?
1:40 PM me: Probably not so much. We'll see. Their English isn't great -- it's only just recently begun being taught in the schools. It was always Russian before.
1:41 PM B: staying with families? Mongolian? Korean? American?
ah...are there special schools, then, for the "foreign" kids?
1:42 PM me: I'll be in my own apartment, but staying in the same building as an American family I know (and babysat for while I was in highschool).most of the "foreign" kids go to different schools -- the Mongolian language is really difficult and their school system leaves much to be desired. I think most of the ex-pats are too aware of how good education can be to put their kids in Mongolian schools. I'm sure it'll get better with time, but Mongolia is still recovering from its membership in the USSR1:43 PM B: (babysat at home or in Mongolia?)
me: babysat here in the states -- they moved to Mongolia during my sophomore year of college1:44 PM B: ah....now....is Mongolian (the language) more similar to Russian or is more of an Asian/Chinese sort of language? do you know any of it?
do you want to learn?
1:46 PM me: Mongolian is actually most closely related to Turkish. It doesn't sound Asian -- isn't tonal or anything like that. They use the cyrillic alphabet now (because they were forced to by the Soviets) and there are some similarities to Russian, but it doesn't really "sound" Russian.
1:47 PM I'll actually be studying the language while I'm there. I took Russian in high school, so I already know the alphabet (which will be a big help), but they say it's really difficult to learn. I'm a little scared. ;)
1:48 PM B: You can do it!
besides, you'll be immersed....that will help.
me: that's true. I'll have to force myself to be brave and try to talk to people at the store and stuff. And maybe I can ask some folks to let me practice with them every day.
1:50 PM B: yeah. I'm sure they'll help you. (or they'll be so excited to practice English that you'll never even HEAR Mongolian!)
1:51 PM me: THAT is exactly what I'm worried about. ;)
1:52 PM B: :)
well, good luck. and gosh, it is coming fast...
are you planning to be gone a year or how long?1:53 PM me: I'm probably only going to be there for 7 months.
1:54 PM B: have you just arranged this independently or are you going through some group?1:55 PM me: I'm going through a mission organization. I thought about going independently, but I think it would've been a lot more work and I would've had a lot less support. It's been nice to have help. :)
B: are you going to be teaching there? when do you go?
what is the plan, Stan?
1:36 PM me: I'm scheduled to leave the 13th. Really hoping I get my visa in time, otherwise I may as well wait until after Christmas. And that would put me off until mid-January. I don't even want to think about it -- it's too depressing. I'm just hoping everything falls into place.
1:37 PMI'll be teaching english-speaking kids over there -- mostly Americans and Koreans whose parents are in Mongolia working with non-profits. I'll teach some writing and hopefully some literature, start a book club for the high school girls, work in their library a bit.
Wow, I should just copy this and post it on LJ since I still haven't done my "why I'm going to Mongolia" post. ;)B: are you going to be working at all with the kids from Mongolia? or not so much?
1:40 PM me: Probably not so much. We'll see. Their English isn't great -- it's only just recently begun being taught in the schools. It was always Russian before.
1:41 PM B: staying with families? Mongolian? Korean? American?
ah...are there special schools, then, for the "foreign" kids?
1:42 PM me: I'll be in my own apartment, but staying in the same building as an American family I know (and babysat for while I was in highschool).most of the "foreign" kids go to different schools -- the Mongolian language is really difficult and their school system leaves much to be desired. I think most of the ex-pats are too aware of how good education can be to put their kids in Mongolian schools. I'm sure it'll get better with time, but Mongolia is still recovering from its membership in the USSR1:43 PM B: (babysat at home or in Mongolia?)
me: babysat here in the states -- they moved to Mongolia during my sophomore year of college1:44 PM B: ah....now....is Mongolian (the language) more similar to Russian or is more of an Asian/Chinese sort of language? do you know any of it?
do you want to learn?
1:46 PM me: Mongolian is actually most closely related to Turkish. It doesn't sound Asian -- isn't tonal or anything like that. They use the cyrillic alphabet now (because they were forced to by the Soviets) and there are some similarities to Russian, but it doesn't really "sound" Russian.
1:47 PM I'll actually be studying the language while I'm there. I took Russian in high school, so I already know the alphabet (which will be a big help), but they say it's really difficult to learn. I'm a little scared. ;)
1:48 PM B: You can do it!
besides, you'll be immersed....that will help.
me: that's true. I'll have to force myself to be brave and try to talk to people at the store and stuff. And maybe I can ask some folks to let me practice with them every day.
1:50 PM B: yeah. I'm sure they'll help you. (or they'll be so excited to practice English that you'll never even HEAR Mongolian!)
1:51 PM me: THAT is exactly what I'm worried about. ;)
1:52 PM B: :)
well, good luck. and gosh, it is coming fast...
are you planning to be gone a year or how long?1:53 PM me: I'm probably only going to be there for 7 months.
1:54 PM B: have you just arranged this independently or are you going through some group?1:55 PM me: I'm going through a mission organization. I thought about going independently, but I think it would've been a lot more work and I would've had a lot less support. It's been nice to have help. :)