Hello all! So clearly I survived the transit from San Francisco to Mongolia. It was quite the adventure, let me tell you. Our plane from SF to Seoul had a little character and made things interesting. As we took off, the condensation from the AC started raining down on people from the cracks in the ceiling. Luckily not my section so it was hilarious instead of horrifying. Our reading lights didn't work and another really bright light would turn on every once in awhile. But even though we grumped about that the whole 11 hours, it was a really good flight. A good number of us used the time to wander the plane, stretch our legs, and meet / get to know our fellow trainees. It's really cliched to say this, but I feel like I've known these people for much longer than less than a week. It's completely unreal to think that this time last week I was still in Rochester packing and running errands.
Mongolia is absolutely the most beautiful place I've ever been. Like I loved Mexico and Munich but it's absolutely incredible here. We flew over the Gobi on the way in (I think - probably wrong) and it's just been amazing ever since. We had a 4 hour drive from UB to Darkhan for orientation and I stared out the window for most of it. It's surprisingly green and the mountains look pretend. I've tried taking pictures but they do no justice. I'll try my best to post pictures when I get to more steady internet / not at an internet cafe where young boys are playing World of Warcraft. Some things are the same whereever you go.
I guess I'm halfway through orientation now because on THURSDAY we head out to our host communities with our host families. I'm not allowed to post exactly where in public on the internet, but if you ask me privately I can tell you so you can google it if you want. Just know I'm pretty pumped. We have a training group of 11 and I'm really excited to spend the next 11 weeks with them. It lucked out that most of the TEFLs that I've spent time with / got grouped with are with me in training. So I know them decently well (or as well as possible a few days later). We're going to rock this.
Let's see, what else.. The language is pretty tough. They talk to us and have us repeat so there is no writing so far. I like my alphabets, so hopefully I'll get a better grasp once we start our 4 hour a day language training sessions. Orientation is a lot of talking but I did learn how to deal with dogs and drunks. Other things too obviously, but those are my main safety concerns at this point. Um. I don't even know what else. Sometimes it seems completely weird and foreign to be here but other times it already seems natural and like home. I'm really excited to get going and really begin this adventure.
Just remember that my internet situation is pretty sketch from now until August. There are random times until then that I'll be back in a city but don't be shocked if my posting is sparse. Over on the right are links to other M22 (my generation of trainees in Mongolia) if you want to check them out to keep up on Mongolia training. Obviously they won't be as cool as me (more likely they're more interesting) but yeah.
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