What I Did - Day 1: Traversing "The Land Without Fences" ... or Roads

The following is a series of journal entries that I made while traversing Outer Mongolia this week.  It was quite an adventure, and I learned a lot more than I expected about Mongolia, her culture, people and history.  I met some amazing people and saw breathtaking scenery.  So I will give you a daily dose of my Five days traveling to the province called "Arhaingai".  These are actual journal entries that are only being edited for spelling and grammar (more or less) - therefore they may be a little disconnected and little more "stream of consciousness" writing than I usually produce.  Nevertheless, I hope you find this somewhat interesting.  I am including some photos here, but I also have a new Photo Gallery where you may view a larger portion of my photos from this trip. 

So with that bit of explanation - here is day 1:

We left the State Department Store at 8:30 AM.  It was supposed to be a 9 hour bus ride.  It was a 15 hour bus ride.  There were reasons for that.  However, I get ahead of myself. 

I traveled to Tsetserleg,  Arhaingai, Mongolia today, by way of a Russian van. 

Some people that I know from language school (they are a part of the JCS organization here in Mongolia) were heading this way anyway - and I was able to hitch a ride with them.  They are going on to a place called Bayanhainger, which is south, toward the Gobi).  I am going north - to Tsagaan Nuur (translate: White Lake).  In any case, I rode with seven girls, two drivers (Mongolian guys) and a cat.  Yeah, a cat.  It wasn't as bad as one would expect, however.  The cat was really pretty well-behaved.  The drivers did okay, as well - other than the fact that they somehow missed the road that we were supposed to be on, and drove about two hours out of the way.  Of course, I can see how this would happen.  Roads in Mongolia are not really roads at all, but more cow paths (I am talking literal cow paths....sheep paths... yak paths... you name it) that vehicles have decided to take in order to get from one province to another.  We took the road to Hustai, and after Hustai the tarmac disappeared and the road degenerated very quickly (not that it was great to start with) to a spaghetti bowl of winding, rutted dirt paths.  The scenery was beautiful, but the roads were atrocious - but that's Mongolia.  There are plans for a good paved road all the way to Tsetserleg - and you can see where some attempt is being made for that road to be built.  However, when we asked the driver when he thought it would be finished, he simply said, "many years". 

After the driver found his way back to where we were supposed to be, we hit tarmac again for a little while.  But it didn't last long.  We were back in the fields heading west.  That was part of the reason the trip took 15 hours. 

On the other hand, I confess that we made several stops along the way, apart from the standard (and frequent) stops at local "guanz" (little hole in the wall restaurants that serve greasy Mongolian food and milk tea) or Tea Shop (not nearly as quaint as it sounds).  We stopped at the following:

1. A wide open place in the middle of nowhere  for lunch by the side of the van.  This was actually quite nice, as long as we stayed in the shade by the side of the van.  I had peanut butter sandwiches and a Snickers bar.  The girls brought a watermelon to share.  The Cat had Tuna.

2. A sand dune area in a little finger of the Gobi Desert.  We stopped long enough to stretch our legs and see camels.  Yeah, Camels.  It's a desert.  There are camels. 

3. A stop a few hours later in Khar Khorin.  This was quite interesting, as it was the capital of Mongolia in the 13th Century.  We're talking Chingess Khan's hang out.  Chingess and the Mongol Hordes actually camped out in this place, and it didn't take long for my imagination to rebuild the ruins, to hear the horses, to smell meat being cooked over open fires and to watch the place bustle with activity while in it's former glory.  There had been talk at one point that this should be made the current capital of Mongolia.  Not sure this will happen any time soon. Methinks they will need to build a road ...

4. We stopped to simply view the scenery (and find a semi-private place to use the restroom - which is really quite an ironic thing to say since there is no room, and it's not all that restful - and it's in particular times like this when I am glad that God made me a boy).  The Arhangai province (called an aimag in Mongolian) is absolutely beautiful.  I couldn't believe the number of sheep and goats and horses and yaks and cows that this land contains.  The van would drop into long valleys dotted with gers and strewn with livestock.  It was really quite beautiful.

 

So we followed the sunset all the way to Tsetserleg and I stayed at a very nice guesthouse called the Fairfield* (NOT by Marriott) and am now writing from a comfortable bed, a cool breeze through the open window and looking forward to a nice breakfast in the morning.  We pulled in at about 11:30 PM.  It is now after midnight.  My next task will be to find a ride to to Tariot after breakfast in the morning.  Now I must sleep. 

*Note that this hyperlink goes to a website parking place at the writing of this blog.  The Fairfield Guesthouse may be redoing their website so check back.  I am choosing to leave the hotlink for now. 

New for This Summer: Yak Polo 2007

The great people at our home church have created the all new fashion sensation for this summer.  Introducing the "Yak Polo 2007" tee shirt.  Special thanks to Joel at "The Graphics Lab" and Damon at soon to famous "Tee Shirts-R-Us"(?) for design and distribution.  Oh, and also thanks (and a shout out) goes to our official Yak Polo Tee-Shirt Model - Lisa. (I think she's doing a calendar for 2008?) 

If you are interested in purchasing this cool new tee - contact us.  We'll get you set up with the right people. 

Also, be sure to send me your photos of where you have been wearing your Yak Polo Shirt (old or new!)  I will include it in our "Yak Polo Around the World" gallery.  So get out and wear the shirt!

What I am Going To Do

Okay, I have had several folks ask - so here is the plan:

On early Monday Morning I am going to travel by van 10-12 hours west of Ulaanbaatar to a town called Tsetserleg. From there, I will acquire passage another 6 hours north to a place called white lake (Tsagaan Nuur) and the little town of Tariat.

I may watch the last part of the Naadam festival at the little village of Tariat located at the southeast corner of the lake.  There is a dead volcano (see the push pin on the map above) that I'd also like to explore, as well as some small peaks I'd like to see the view form the top off (nothing terribly high mind you. The highest being one to the north that's about 10,000 feet.  Nothing too risky!)

Afterwards, I will find a ride back to Tsetserleg and spend the night there before taking a bus back to UB - hopefully arriving sometime on Friday. 

My pack is out tonight (Sunday evening) and gear is ready.  I made a last minute grocery run and a quick trip to the open market, and I think I am ready to go tomorrow morning.   I will not be around for about a week - so you probably will not hear from me until Friday night.  At which time I will be sure to post some pictures and probably make a new gallery on our photos page. 

Have a great week! 

Of Camel Grass and Personal Space: a reflection on cultural peculiarities

The task that we have in front of us is really quite overwhelming.  I spent the past couple of days dialoguing with coworker Dr. Pieter Theron.  Pieter has been given the ominous task of developing a multi-level training program that will ultimately produce Mongolian pastors and theologians and evangelists and missionaries;  Mongolians who will think and write and speak about the mysteries and the wonders of the Gospel in a way that will be uniquely Mongolian. There's not much of anything to start with. We're baking from scratch.  It's a daunting, yet exciting project. 

As those of you who read this Blog are well aware, Renee' and I (along with the Pieter and his wife Hanaki) are still in the arduous process of language study.  We've completed one year and have one year left.  While we've come a long way - there is still a very long way to go before there will be semblance of what I would consider fluency.  Yet there is something more that needs to happen.  We need to not only become fluent in the use of verbs and nouns and syntax and adjective clauses and post-positions.  Language learning is also culture learning.  It's understanding Mongolian thinking and reasoning.  It's knowing why and how Mongolians react under certain circumstances, and knowing and appreciating and loving them in spit of the  fact that those reactions are quite different than my western white middle class frame of thinking.  Ministry here depends on this understanding.  We want to raise up Mongolian pastors, evangelists, etc.  Not Mongolians who have been forced to think like me.  We must learn to think like them (in as much as it is possible to do so). 

In light of this, I made a list in my Moleskine Journal the other day. It's not an exhaustive list and definitely could be added to.  I am not a cultural anthropologist nor do I have a degree in sociology (my wife has one of those, though!).  But I do want a record of observed facts, figures and differences in Mongolian culture.  A lot of these entries are "things Mongolians value".  If there are team members reading this - please feel free to add or correct these observations in the comments. Bear in mind that these are personally observed cultural generalizations.  Not every person fits into the mold. Also understand the fact that I live in the city.  There is a large cultural difference between city dwellers and herders. I know that a lot more can be added - but this is what I have for the time being, in no particular order:

1. Mongolians value free time.  It's a slower culture than ours and having free time "space" is something they value and appreciate.

2. Mongolians value work for what it is.  (A common greeting among friends is "Is your work going well?").  Some foreigners at a precursory glance might categorize Mongolians as generally lazy.  I have observed quite the opposite.  They generally work hard when it's time to work.  However, their perspective of work is that it's something that is necessary in order to live.  They don't live for it. 

3. Mongolians place a high value on family.   It is interesting to observe the esteem that is placed on parents.  There is high symbolic value placed on the father (the oldest man in a home is called "the Lord of the Home"!).  He is given the place of honor during holidays, at meals, etc.  However, the emotional esteem is usually placed on the mother ("the wife of the Lord of the Home").  Most traditional (and much contemporary - including Mongolian rap!) music has a theme of 'mother'. They will sing (and rap) about 'walking with my mother, and listening to her wise words".   A person's mother is emotionally esteemed in this culture.

4. Mongolians place a high value on nature.  They don't cut the grass around my building.  I really want to cut the grass around my building, myself.  I dare not, however.  The reason is that this grass is food for the animals (sheep, yak, goats, horses, camels, etc).  It would be a waste of food to cut it now.  Trust me, there have been no camels anywhere close to my building, although I have seen the occasional horse cart come through town. (I live in the dead center of Ulaanbaatar!) They will not cut the grass for that reason.  The "countryside" holds a mystique for Mongolians, even for city folks who only get to the country side in the summer, if they're wealthy enough to have a summer home.  Nature is important to them.

5. Mongolians value community over individual.  Always. 

6. Mongolians place a high value on friends and friendship.

7. Mongolians are never afraid to share a song - and will be quite eager to have you share a song, as well. 

8. Personal space in Mongolia is pretty much non-existent.  In America we have a good 2-3 foot bubble that we count on as personal space.  There is no 'bubble' here.  Americans just have to get over the Bubble. 

9.  Mongolians don't like being told what to do.  They have a fiercely independent spirit.  In spite of this, Mongolian leadership style is extremely hierarchical.  This is a great challenge when thinking through leadership training in the church.  We must teach the servant leadership model of Jesus to a culture that places no value in such.

10.  Mongolians tend to think beginning with the minutia - and eventually (maybe) working up to the big picture.  Westerners tend to think about the big picture first, and then move to the smaller items.  I am sure there is some philosophical name for the logic patterns that I am talking about here - but the more I think through this one, the more I think it is a big deal.  In teaching, my typical pattern is to move from the big to the small.  I think culturally Mongolians tend to move from the small to the big. This may prove to be quite a challenge. 

11. I think it is also very important to remember that this culture is fragmented and broken.  Years of Russian and Chinese rule, urbanization, problems like alcohol abuse and a tendency to anger all lead to a broken society.  The culture is also changing because of the fact that the vast majority of the population is under the age of 35.  Things are changing - and changing fast.  The younger generation values all things western. They like western music and clothes and movies. This is a critical factor to bear in mind, lest we think that it's necessary to put ourselves and everyone else back in gers (the felt tents lived in by countryside herders, and many city dwellers who have moved in form the countryside) and dells (the traditional long coat-like clothes worn by older Mongolians - and by others during national holidays). Most young people don't want that.  It's changing.  We have to move with the change. 

So it's all a challenge.  I believe that the Gospel can redeem a culture.  It makes that which is good, great - and that which is broken, repaired.  It's our task to humbly submit to and learn from the culture, in order to effectively communicate the great news that Jesus Christ redeems those who bow to Him. 

Ahhh ... �§Ó©�»Ó©Ó©Ñ‚Ñ?�¹

There is a word in Mongolian that means "space" or perhaps "margin".  It is the word "Ã?§Ó©Ã?»Ó©Ó©" (choloo).  I actually think it's a great word and so describes what it's like to finally be out of School for the summer!  It's all reminiscent of grade school days when the final bell on the final day of the school year would ring.  Ã?§Ó©Ã?»Ó©Ó©Ñ‚Ñ?Ã?¹. "With space".  It's a great word for a great feeling.

Today was the final day of Language school for this term.  We now have two months to relax, not do homework, prepare for next year and practice.  I am actually happy to have the free time. 

In reality I am going to have more free time than I am used to in the three weeks with Renee' and the kids in the states.  As I type this blog they are somewhere over Northern Siberia, on their way to Atlanta (dare I use the cliched "Hot-lanta"? I think my family's thick Mongolian blood is going to cook in the Southern US in July!). 

Yesterday, before they left, we had a little post-test (one which we both A-ced), end-of-school-year party with our language teachers.  We ate Chinese food and Renee' made a very nice Italian Cream Cake (of which the left-overs I am now eating - thank you Renee').  The other couple (Jeff and Shauna Spence) have been our classmates all year.  We will be studying with them for most of next year, as well. 

Ahhh ... �§Ó©�»Ó©Ó©Ñ‚Ñ?�¹