It looks like there will be no birthday drinking this year. Due to an unfortunate event over the Holidays, somewhere between 11 and 14 Mongolians died due to drinking some tainted vodka. The company responsible was apparently filling bottles of a rival company and selling their vodka at a higher price. The government has decided to take action: No alcohol will be sold in Mongolia until further notice.
In typical Mongolian fashion, this has extended beyond the cessation of vodka sales. They have decided that all forms of alcohol, domestic and imported alike will not be allowed to be sold within the country. Only the Mongolians would believe that preventing the consumption of alcohol produced outside of Mongolia is a logical response to a problem that is entirely domestic.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
My Siamese Adventure
As this blog is dedicated to My adventures in Mongolia, I felt it inappropriate to include the stories from my trip to Korea, Thailand and Cambodia here. Also, it will clearly takes weeks to update you all on those adventures, so you are welcome to see my newest blog at colininternational.blogspot.com for said stories. You can also find that link in the "links" section on the right-hand side of this page.
Again, please bear with me through the lengthy time it will take to update the new blog, but continue to enjoy the stories about Mongolia in the meantime.
I should be back in Mongolia in a little over 24 hrs (as long as the planes run on time).
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Again, please bear with me through the lengthy time it will take to update the new blog, but continue to enjoy the stories about Mongolia in the meantime.
I should be back in Mongolia in a little over 24 hrs (as long as the planes run on time).
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Opportunity is Knocking
A great opportunity presented itself today. A couple of guys came to the school looking for a white male to star in a T.V. commercial. Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity.
I was picked up around 10, and taken to a makeshift studio. I sat around for about a 1/2 hr before they asked me to change. My costume was liederhosen and a white shirt (the socks were my own). The commercial was for Zoos Bank Mastercard.
It took about 15 takes altogether, and I played 2 different roles. I cheers myself. The first character is a sober man who is excited to see the other guy and emphatically clinks his beer stein. The second character is a drunk who has some difficulty with the whole process, and manages to clink his own beer stein back. It's almost like long lost twins finding each other at the bar. I performed in front of a green screen, so I don't know what the background is.
They paid me $10 and gave me vodka. Well worth the experience. They also promised to bring me a copy of the commercial when it's finished, so it will be posted when it arrives.
Who knew that I would become a tv commercial star when I came to Mongolia?
I was picked up around 10, and taken to a makeshift studio. I sat around for about a 1/2 hr before they asked me to change. My costume was liederhosen and a white shirt (the socks were my own). The commercial was for Zoos Bank Mastercard.
It took about 15 takes altogether, and I played 2 different roles. I cheers myself. The first character is a sober man who is excited to see the other guy and emphatically clinks his beer stein. The second character is a drunk who has some difficulty with the whole process, and manages to clink his own beer stein back. It's almost like long lost twins finding each other at the bar. I performed in front of a green screen, so I don't know what the background is.
They paid me $10 and gave me vodka. Well worth the experience. They also promised to bring me a copy of the commercial when it's finished, so it will be posted when it arrives.
Who knew that I would become a tv commercial star when I came to Mongolia?
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Christmas Vacation Plans
So, the plans are (reasonably) set. The tickets have been purchased, and now it's just days away.
Andrew and I fly out of UB on Mongolian Airlines at 5:00pm on Saturday, Dec. 15. We arrive in Seoul just after nine. We hope to meet up with many of our old friends from various phases of our lives and have a nice get-together. We will be spending 2 days in South Korea, and fly to Bangkok by Korean Airlines at 5:25pm on Monday, Dec. 17.
We will arrive in Bangkok 3 1/2 hrs later only to get a hotel room and catch a flight to Phnom Penh at 7:00 the next morning. We'll spend 2 days in the Cambodian capital before sailing up the river for 5-6 hrs to Siem Reap. We plan to spend 4 days or so there to check out Angkor Wat amid various other ancient temples, and do some interaction with the locals, and maybe even ride an elephant.
From Siem Reap, we will fly back to Bangkok. Originally, we had planned on taking the overnight train to Chiang Mai to spend a few days in the north, but we have decided to scratch that idea to provide us some leeway in case we want to spend an extra day or two somewhere. Chiang Mai also made the trip seem much more scheduled than we wanted it to be. Now, we will either spend an extra day in Siem Reap, maybe pend a day or two in Bangkok, or head down to Ko Samui for a couple of days to do some sea kayaking or snorkeling. We plan on being in Ko Phangan (an island just north of Ko Samui) by Dec. 28. We will be spending New Year's Eve there, and enjoying one of Ko Phangan's Full Moon Parties. While there we will definitely be renting some mopeds to check out the island jungle, and spend much time on the beach outside of the bungalow we plan to rent.
Jan. 1 or 2 will find us traveling back to Bangkok to spend our last few days before flying back to UB via Seoul on Jan. 5. Conveniently we lift off at 2:50am, and then have a nice 11 hr layover in Seoul. We will be back in UB at 12:35 in the morning on Jan. 6, giving us a day of rest before our professional development on Monday, Jan. 7. I have a feeling I won't be partying much for my birthday in 2008.
So, officially...
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy birthday to anyone that applies to.
Andrew and I fly out of UB on Mongolian Airlines at 5:00pm on Saturday, Dec. 15. We arrive in Seoul just after nine. We hope to meet up with many of our old friends from various phases of our lives and have a nice get-together. We will be spending 2 days in South Korea, and fly to Bangkok by Korean Airlines at 5:25pm on Monday, Dec. 17.
We will arrive in Bangkok 3 1/2 hrs later only to get a hotel room and catch a flight to Phnom Penh at 7:00 the next morning. We'll spend 2 days in the Cambodian capital before sailing up the river for 5-6 hrs to Siem Reap. We plan to spend 4 days or so there to check out Angkor Wat amid various other ancient temples, and do some interaction with the locals, and maybe even ride an elephant.
From Siem Reap, we will fly back to Bangkok. Originally, we had planned on taking the overnight train to Chiang Mai to spend a few days in the north, but we have decided to scratch that idea to provide us some leeway in case we want to spend an extra day or two somewhere. Chiang Mai also made the trip seem much more scheduled than we wanted it to be. Now, we will either spend an extra day in Siem Reap, maybe pend a day or two in Bangkok, or head down to Ko Samui for a couple of days to do some sea kayaking or snorkeling. We plan on being in Ko Phangan (an island just north of Ko Samui) by Dec. 28. We will be spending New Year's Eve there, and enjoying one of Ko Phangan's Full Moon Parties. While there we will definitely be renting some mopeds to check out the island jungle, and spend much time on the beach outside of the bungalow we plan to rent.
Jan. 1 or 2 will find us traveling back to Bangkok to spend our last few days before flying back to UB via Seoul on Jan. 5. Conveniently we lift off at 2:50am, and then have a nice 11 hr layover in Seoul. We will be back in UB at 12:35 in the morning on Jan. 6, giving us a day of rest before our professional development on Monday, Jan. 7. I have a feeling I won't be partying much for my birthday in 2008.
So, officially...
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy birthday to anyone that applies to.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Big Burger
Have you ever wondered if McDonalds would be the same by any other name? The answer is... wait for it... YES!!! They have a fabulous chain of fast food restaurants (about 3 or 4) that is almost identical to McDonals. It is called, simply, Big Burger. It's menu is a scaled down version of Mickey D's, and the decor looks like the Golden Arches about 15 years ago. The Big Mac is called the Big Burger (but uses mayo, rather than "secret sauce"). The burgers and the fries even taste the same. There are benefits to not being McDonalds though. Big Burger offers chicken wings, ramen noodles, and egg and shrimp soups. Food costs a lot less, and things only come in two sizes: small and big. So it turns out that McDonalds is only McDonalds because they can charge an arm and a leg.
P.S. my Big Mac meal cost less than $4.
P.S. my Big Mac meal cost less than $4.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Mongolian Independence Day Weekend
It was a fairly exciting weekend. Saturday found Naomi, Maureen and I taking a hike up one of the smaller nearby mountains. As Maureen has some difficulty with ledges, it was a fairly momentous occasion for her to get to the top. She did occasionally have to ask for a little help. That night, some of the staff attended a get-together at the nearby house of some parents from South Africa. The people are amazing, and we were treated to plenty of hamburgers, soup, salad, popcorn and, of course, alcohol.
Sunday, the excitement increased slightly, as Dan and I decided to climb a significantly taller mountain. Deciding that warmth was more important than grip, I wore my new riding boots, which are hand-made with Mongolian leather and have a felt liner on the inside. They, unfortunately have little grip on the soles, and I found my feet sliding a little more than I had hoped. Nonetheless, we made it to the top, and travelled along the ridge to the largest ovoo I have seen so far. While there, we met a Mongolian soldier, named Erdenbileg, who was going to be leaving for Sierra Leone in a month to go to war (I didn't know Mongolia was at war with anyone, let alone a West African country). We found that he had daughters of 16 and 18, and would be gone for 5 months. He asked us to join him in his prayer, lighting incense, and walking around the ovoo. It was a great honour to be asked by this complete stranger to literally pray for his life. After some time with him, we parted ways with some excited good-byes, and started making our way down the mountain. On the way down, Dan fell a couple of times, whereas I... fell down the mountain. Not in a head-over-heels, movie-esque way, but I was definitely on my ass more than on my feet. It didn't take long to realize that the lack of grip on my boots allowed for a form of tobogganing, with one foot under me, and one in front to avoid crashing into any hidden rocks, any visible rocks, and even more importantly, any trees that were in my way. This was mostly successful, with a use of my hands to aid with steering, and I found myself travelling 60 or more feet at a time, with a single push (luge-style) with my hands.
Monday, I went shopping on my own for some groceries, only to find that almost all of the stores that I wanted to have open, were pretty much the only ones that were closed that day. After finding about 10% of the items I set out for, I hailed a fake-cab, and got a ride home. On the way home, I found out the guy grew up a few doors away from where the school is, but even more remarkably, he lived in Canada. He asked where I was from, so I responded "Ontario." He then mentioned that he went to the University of Western Ontario. As the conversation progressed, I found out that he lived in the same apartment building that I lived in, just three apartments down the hall, but a few years before. I think this falls into the "extremely small world" category. That afternoon, some of us went to the Mongolian wrestling tournament.
Mongolian wrestling is an interesting sport. There are no weight classes, and it seems that the lightest fighters get matched up against the largest in the first round. There are about 15 matches at a time (although only about 7 referees, and I use that term loosely). They are not constrained by any sort of ring, and matches often run into one another. There is a surprising level of gentlemanly conduct involved. The costumes are just as odd, as the fighters wear tight briefs and an open jacket. Legend holds that some time, centuries ago, a female sneaked into a tournament, managed to win, then bared her breasts to everyone, so now the jacket is designed to show that the competitors are male... or at least don't have breasts. I have no idea who won, but some of the matches took seconds to end, while others took as long as 1/2 hr.
All-in-all, a wonderful long weekend. Oh, and Glen, this is waaaayy better than your WWE.
Sunday, the excitement increased slightly, as Dan and I decided to climb a significantly taller mountain. Deciding that warmth was more important than grip, I wore my new riding boots, which are hand-made with Mongolian leather and have a felt liner on the inside. They, unfortunately have little grip on the soles, and I found my feet sliding a little more than I had hoped. Nonetheless, we made it to the top, and travelled along the ridge to the largest ovoo I have seen so far. While there, we met a Mongolian soldier, named Erdenbileg, who was going to be leaving for Sierra Leone in a month to go to war (I didn't know Mongolia was at war with anyone, let alone a West African country). We found that he had daughters of 16 and 18, and would be gone for 5 months. He asked us to join him in his prayer, lighting incense, and walking around the ovoo. It was a great honour to be asked by this complete stranger to literally pray for his life. After some time with him, we parted ways with some excited good-byes, and started making our way down the mountain. On the way down, Dan fell a couple of times, whereas I... fell down the mountain. Not in a head-over-heels, movie-esque way, but I was definitely on my ass more than on my feet. It didn't take long to realize that the lack of grip on my boots allowed for a form of tobogganing, with one foot under me, and one in front to avoid crashing into any hidden rocks, any visible rocks, and even more importantly, any trees that were in my way. This was mostly successful, with a use of my hands to aid with steering, and I found myself travelling 60 or more feet at a time, with a single push (luge-style) with my hands.
Monday, I went shopping on my own for some groceries, only to find that almost all of the stores that I wanted to have open, were pretty much the only ones that were closed that day. After finding about 10% of the items I set out for, I hailed a fake-cab, and got a ride home. On the way home, I found out the guy grew up a few doors away from where the school is, but even more remarkably, he lived in Canada. He asked where I was from, so I responded "Ontario." He then mentioned that he went to the University of Western Ontario. As the conversation progressed, I found out that he lived in the same apartment building that I lived in, just three apartments down the hall, but a few years before. I think this falls into the "extremely small world" category. That afternoon, some of us went to the Mongolian wrestling tournament.
Mongolian wrestling is an interesting sport. There are no weight classes, and it seems that the lightest fighters get matched up against the largest in the first round. There are about 15 matches at a time (although only about 7 referees, and I use that term loosely). They are not constrained by any sort of ring, and matches often run into one another. There is a surprising level of gentlemanly conduct involved. The costumes are just as odd, as the fighters wear tight briefs and an open jacket. Legend holds that some time, centuries ago, a female sneaked into a tournament, managed to win, then bared her breasts to everyone, so now the jacket is designed to show that the competitors are male... or at least don't have breasts. I have no idea who won, but some of the matches took seconds to end, while others took as long as 1/2 hr.
All-in-all, a wonderful long weekend. Oh, and Glen, this is waaaayy better than your WWE.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Long Weekend
So, report cards, and parent-teacher interviews are over. They went surprisingly well, and was regularly thanked for all of my hard work in educating their children. After two consecutive half-days for the interviews, we now have a long weekend, as Monday is Mongolian Independence Day. Today, the school's financial officer asked me if I was going to go see the wrestling on Monday. Immediately, my reaction was, "There's a wrestling tournament on Monday?" and "What better way to celebrate Mongolian independence than by watching what Mongolians love most - beating each other up." Of course, I have never experienced live Mongolian wrestling, so I began to investigate this event. I had to find out when, where, how much it cost, how to get tickets, and how many people wanted to go. After a quick poll, six of us decided to go to the event. I still had no idea how I could buy tickets. I asked several people, none of which knew anything about the event, before I got to the school's receptionist, Nasaa. Nasaa, in turn asked Ganbold (who speaks next to no English), who in turn picked up the phone and called the Wrestling Palace. First, I wondered how he knew the number so quickly, and second, I was fairly excited about the up-coming answer. Ganbold told Nasaa, who translated for me that we had to buy the tickets today at the Wrestling Palace for T 5000 each.
Andrew and I made the trek after our interviews were over. After a bus ride to UB Mart, we hailed a cab. We were picked up by a man in full military dress uniform. He inquired about where we are from. After we responded by saying "Канад," (Canada) he told us that he is Mongolian. I was a mite dumbfounded by this, and made the response (with some gesturing to his uniform), "I can see that." After some jovial broken Mongolian conversation, he dropped us at the Palace. As we went to the ticket booth, we we bombarded by scalpers trying to sell us tickets to tonight's concert. Since I only know how to say 'today' and 'tomorrow', I had to try to explain that I wanted tickets for 3 days from now. This didn't go so well, and I eventually discovered they ONLY had tickets for tonight. We eventually found the ticket booth, and after a similar conversation, I found a ticket on the window, pointed and said "zorga!" (six) The man was a little surprised, since there were only two of us.
Moral of the story: I'm going to live Mongolian wrestling on Monday.
Andrew and I made the trek after our interviews were over. After a bus ride to UB Mart, we hailed a cab. We were picked up by a man in full military dress uniform. He inquired about where we are from. After we responded by saying "Канад," (Canada) he told us that he is Mongolian. I was a mite dumbfounded by this, and made the response (with some gesturing to his uniform), "I can see that." After some jovial broken Mongolian conversation, he dropped us at the Palace. As we went to the ticket booth, we we bombarded by scalpers trying to sell us tickets to tonight's concert. Since I only know how to say 'today' and 'tomorrow', I had to try to explain that I wanted tickets for 3 days from now. This didn't go so well, and I eventually discovered they ONLY had tickets for tonight. We eventually found the ticket booth, and after a similar conversation, I found a ticket on the window, pointed and said "zorga!" (six) The man was a little surprised, since there were only two of us.
Moral of the story: I'm going to live Mongolian wrestling on Monday.
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