teachers' day

6 February 2012

There’s a fantastic holiday out here in Mongolia which I think should probably be adopted by the US government – Teachers’ Day!

The holiday technically is on February 3^rd, but since I’m in the hudoo (countryside), it was stretched out like every other holiday. The festivities began on Thursday the 2^nd when the older students (9^th grade – 11^th grade) taught all the classes for us. I happily accepted this arrangement because it meant that I didn’t have to teach 8^th grade that day, but I was a little confused because no teacher observed any of the student-taught classes. Not only that, but the two CPs most likely to explain the happenings to me were gone that day and the third avoids talking to me in English at all costs because she isn’t confident in her English skills. So even though I managed to figure out that I wouldn’t be teaching that day, I had no idea what I should be doing instead, what everyone else was doing, or why. I walked into school that day fully expecting to at least sit in the back of the classroom, shiver to death, and watch a very tiny 11^th grade girl take on my very rowdy 8^th grade boys. The image I have in mind isn’t pretty because, let’s be honest, 13 year old boys are universally horribly behaved, but who knows how it actually turned out. All I did that day was eat lunch in the school canteen. Let’s call it a win.

Before leaving school on Thursday, I made sure to check that school would indeed happen the next day and that I would have classes. Nevertheless, I arrived at school for my 10am class only to learn that I had missed it because classes were only 30 minutes instead of the usual 40. Unfortunately not the first time it’s happened. But it was okay because at 10:00 some education ministers were coming to town to give out some awards at the cultural center. I made my way there at 10:30 with a few other teachers (the ones who tell me things had returned), and we were the only ones in the building. Eventually other people arrived – school teachers, kindergarten teachers, retired teachers, and students – and we watched the beginning of Tangled while waiting for the ministers to arrive. I sat there waiting for nearly two hours with a bladder about to explode and my stomach making horrible noises as it ate itself from the inside out. I was as whiny as a child on a road trip. Eventually the men came, we watched a video made for our soum by the national education minister, medals and tablet computers were given out, and I made a run for the nearest place that would give me food.

After the most essential part of my day (the nap), I made my way to the cultural center again for a concert. Multiple people told me it started at 5 but when I arrived at 5:20, I was the only one in the building. One day I will learn. As other teachers came and sat with me, I told them how long I had been sitting there and they all thought it was terribly cute and hilarious. It eventually began a little after 7 because even the Mongolians were starting to get restless. To begin, all of the older teachers (current and retired) took seats on the stage and all of the student performers marched down the aisles. Medals were given out to students and teachers for an hour then finally, at 8:00, the concert began.  Some performances were fantastic – boys afraid to actually touch the girls they were waltzing with, a third grade boy really getting into his song, and boys with popped collars rapping.

After sitting in the same chair for four hours, it was time to move over to the school for a party. The most important part of that party for me was the promise of food – I hadn’t eaten since noon. Once we sat down in the cafeteria, I commandeered an entire plate of the normally communal potato salad for myself. Luckily, since everyone by then knew what time I had shown up for the concert, I was allowed to get away with it. The dinner provided by the school was soup with which I played the ever-popular game of “connect the little oil bubbles into one giant bubble” rather than eat. I got away with only drinking a little for most of the night until two people sat down next to me to do the usual Mongolian social drinking – one person pours the drink into a cup, serves, and everyone takes a drink. I had vodka on my left, beer on my right, and a rather unpleasant morning the next day.

this little guy was adorable

the new 9^th grade boy band

ready, set, teachers party!