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servesandstudyoverseas · 3 months

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𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨?

𝙃𝙞, 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙄𝙯𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨&𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙮 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙎𝘼 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩'𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨? 𝙂𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙙. 𝙄 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙎, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩.

𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙎, 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨, 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡.

𝙎𝙤 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢, 𝙖𝙙𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 "𝙘𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨." 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩? 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙏𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮.

𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨,

𝙄𝙯𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙖 <𝟯

#athlete #beach volleyball #college #travel #new beginnings #volleyball #college scholarship #sports #life #lifestyle #skyisthelimit

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memorylang · 6 months

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Hallowe’en and Mongolian Proficiency | #64 | November 2022

In this entry, I pick up with November 2O22’s beginning, from what was the start of my new Peace Corps assignment to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Chronologically, this takes place from the start of my third and fourth weeks back in Mongolia. As part of my current Peace Corps continuum, I spent those weeks in the remainder of my reeducation. Capping that off would be my Language Proficiency Interview, in which a rater would formally assess my Mongolian language level. I also spent these weeks becoming first acquainted with the city's municipal department of education and a handful of local non-profit organizations.

I’ve still felt especially grateful to St. Joseph’s Day, Mar. 19, 2O23, during which I made serious progress on this piece, while a dear friend was simultaneously taking care of tasks. Now from November 2O23, we at last revisit November 2O22!

At the Education Department

I felt surprised on my first day at work, Mon., Oct. 31, 2O22, with my main counterpart taking me to meet some 45 coworkers across our department’s, at the time, five sectors. We began from our little space in an office at the back of room 505. As we approached one-by-one desks together, my new counterpart would attempt on the fly a translation of the job title of whomever we were greeting. In my brown gridded notebook I tried to jot a list of people’s names, nicknames and titles. We walked from one desk to the next like this, office room after office room.

After the initial hello to everyone working in our department, I remembered too that I’d brought from Reno joke calendar pages gifted by my Bostonian friend Jim. I felt distributing the pages would be a lovely way to ensure that everyone I met got a slice of American English. And so, the next days at work, I began revisiting people’s desks to deliver to them these jokes.

On my solo visits to people’s desks I would also bring my Mongolian-English Oxford Monsudar compact dictionary to assist me as I helped people to interpret. I stayed at one’s desk usually till I got a smile of recognition about what made the joke funny. Sometimes nearby coworkers’ who’d understood their jokes would help newcomers, too.

The method of visiting four dozen people’s desks did wonders for my ability to understand pretty well quite a diverse slate of English abilities. The actual process of ensuring that each of my coworkers received their pages actually took many days, though, in part because some were out of the office when I first arrived. Nonetheless, I noted their names on a whiteboard in the office space of my main counterpart and me.

Allhallowtide With Friends

As I mentioned, my first day at the department office was Oct. 3I. So that evening after work, I met up with Peace Corps Mongolia for a Hallowe’en party gathering. I felt glad that the M3I Peace Corps Trainees had handled arrangements for it. All I had to do was to navigate to Star Apartments!

M3Is there in the community center felt eager to hear how my first day at work had gone. All I had to do after getting off work was arrive then swap into my Captain America get-up. Still, I enjoyed having the chance to get in costume. I’d brought the shirt specifically thinking how it would make an easy albeit on-the-nose costume. The Trainees looked great. We got to meet our Peace Corps staff’s kids, too! I enjoyed getting to be a proud hero.

As folks were leaving, I became graced with many candies to take home. I of course took the leftovers, so I spent time filling my backpack. Our Director of Programming and Training was around too, so we spoke briefly. He said kind words about the magnitude of my returning to service, especially with my interest in starting a foreign service career. When we were by the gate outside on the icy night, he impressed upon me that my choosing to return to Mongolia after three years away was something so meaningful to people.

I returned to the education department office the next morning, Tues., Nov. 1, 2O22, for my second day of work. I needed to meet my ‘big boss’ to sign some paperwork. My main counterpart and I actually ran into him in the elevator! I felt welcomed when he said in Mongolian that my look was handsome. From the elevator we headed to his office to get the Peace Corps Volunteer agency agreement signed. He wished us well with our cooperation. He had a very kind smile.

I was grateful that night to return to simple little St. Thomas Aquinas Church for its All Saints’ Day Mass. Singing “One Bread, One Body” across the Pacific was still a joy. The Gloria reminded me of the same Mongolian one in Erdenet sung years before.

The next day, Wed., Nov. 2, All Souls’ Day, I accompanied the Peace Corps on an excursion to the world’s largest equestrian statue of Chinggis Khaan, giving me a break from my work duties. On the adventure the new cohort got to practice in the bus, “Аяны шувууд” /Aynii Shuvuud/, my go-to Mongolian song.

Throughout the week were also a blend of misadventures, involving joyful times throughout our city, Ulaanbaatar (UB). The tasks were mostly either to get supplies or to complete Peace Corps paperwork. Still, a key Thursday night highlight was reuniting with my Peace Corps Pre-Service Training Cross-Cultural Facilitator Bulgaa. She welcomed me to dinner atop the Shangri-La mall and had even shown me the school where she works. A Friday night highlight was joining my coworkers at the gymnasium for volleyball, reminiscent of my months in the countryside with my host family in Nomgon, Selenge.

Cathedral Reunion: Second Sunday

A couple days later, that Sunday, Nov. 6, I traveled across town to the cathedral I remembered years earlier. Well, I got off at one bus stop too soon. Still, I'd left my apartment so early that I still arrived on time.

As I approached the hazel-colored stone ger-shaped building, it felt quite familiar. Though, it sported an unfamiliar 30th anniversary poster on the door through which I entered.

I came early for an English Mass that’s usually scheduled at 9 a.m. Sundays. Instead, a priest explained, there would be adoration.

I enjoyed the time I could spend in prayer.

A woman greeted me in passing with a hand on my shoulder. I took her to be an ICM religious sister, for she was Black and wore traditional Mongolian clothes.

Before the benediction, I received a sheet in Mongolian listing the words to say and sing. I remembered that “ерөөх” is a verb that relates to blessing and praise.

I learned during Mass in the cathedral that we were celebrating the 125th anniversary of the ICM Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It also celebrated their 27th year in Mongolia and the 25th anniversary of a certain sister's consecration. The cardinal celebrated the Mass. (He was among the cardinals whose elevation we'd celebrated this spring in Vienna.)

Before Mass, I also received a pamphlet with an English translation summarizing the cardinal's homily. By the time Mass began, I realized that it turned out the Sister who greeted me was the same Cameroonian Sister Lucilla whom we honored that day.

I also reunited with one of the pastors I knew from Erdenet, the one who had helped me evacuate. I also met again a UB Catholic I’d first met when I had come back to the cathedral during Advent 2OI9. Parishioners and staff even recognized me despite my having gotten to visit with them only once, those three years prior!

Sunday Night Language After School

I took the southern bus from the cathedral back toward the Narantuul/Dunjingarav area where my practicum group had gone before, when we’d lived at Holiday Inn. I found my way well enough. Then began the walk.

I looked for the National Park area and then for Park Od Mall. I had read that this mall was near another mall named similarly but different. Along the way, I passed a Singaporean school, which surprised me. The trek reminded me of a dark walk in Malaysia’s Petaling Jaya on my way to St. Ignatius Church.

I found the Park Od Mall lovely to know it had a glass bridge. The person with whom I’d meet found that detail quite mundane. “It’s a bridge,” she wrote, haha.

Happening to work in this mall was a Mongol who had contacted me years ago, during the pandemic’s start when I had just returned to Vegas. This evening she had invited me to visit her to practice my Mongolian. So indeed I came. She was so cute! When I arrived, she simply invited me behind the desk, and there we sat working.

Turns out she owned the very store where we sat with my language notebooks open. I felt so surprised. She imported Korean products to sell. She was also heading back to Korea soon, so we just happened to be in Mongolia at the same time.

She identified my lisping and quickly suggested remedy sounds I could make instead. I felt stunned by how kindly she diagnosed and remedied some of my most troubling pronunciation challenges. I wondered why she was so generous to me. She reminded me of the many warm young people I had met in China as an exchange student years ago. Still, I returned her favor with English advice.

The hour felt quite, quite late by the time we finished in her office. So she walked me back to the bus stop. She looked fully wrapped in her warm coat, such that one could barely see her eyes from beneath everything.

She helped me to ask young folks also at the bus stop which bus route was right for me. In the cold, I got a deeper crash course in how to use the clunky UB Smart Bus app to parse the right route. It hardly made much sense with my limited data, though.

My newfound friend was off to Korea, but asked if I could help her with English. We accepted that a video call could work too. I appreciated her generosity and wished her the best. She wished me likewise. I took the cold bus from the shopping area back to my apartment.

Monday Reunion With Former Students

The next night, Mon., Nov. 7, I walked for a bit with M3O Eric and M3I Kat then traveled to reunite with two of my former students. M3I Kat joined me. I found the Tse Pub where Google Maps routed me, and its downstairs interior indeed resembled the one to which I'd gone with friends Adonis and Buynaa nearly three years earlier.

Kat and I found a table to await my students. They came from my senior English teachers class and my junior Chinese translation students I’d taught at the National University of Mongolia, Erdenet School in 2OI9. Since that was years ago by fall 2O22, however, they had both since graduated. Curiously, the Chinese translation student’s brother, another of my friends, was in Dubai!

I chatted with my former students over simple food and drinks. I felt like Tse’s prices had risen since their original $1–2 USD pricing. Nonetheless, I found their $3 rates competitive. Inflation does that.

My formers asked me whether I had a crush, which was surprisingly hard to answer. So I respond truthfully, "Мэдэхгүй," pronounced as I tend to prefer, /Мэдкү/. This answer seemed somewhat disappointing to my formers. Still, I felt conflicted as to whether chance encounters warranted the emotionally taxing label.

Nonetheless, more exciting to me was the reality of having gathered together so many friends, new and old, in a seemingly familiar place. UB after all was a city I had visited only sparingly in the nine months I spent in Mongolia before. To reunite here with such warm people was a magical joy.

Tuesday Assembly Follow-Up

The following night, Tues. Nov. 8, I visited an associate pastor and his family, whom I met briefly at their church the prior Oct. 3O Sunday I came for Brian Hogan's talk. His family lived in an area near mine, hence my ease of accepting their invitation. He, his wife and children were pleasant. We enjoyed a living room meal, for which I remembered to bring the customary gift of something white such as milk.

During our conversation, the husband taught me that we use a different verb in Mongolian, “гаргах,” to refer to the specific kind of killing of an animal I would witness soon. My main coworker was from Хархорин /Harhorin/ and had invited me to come visit her hometown with her to collect the winter’s meat. Harhorin has been especially famous for its location beside Mongolia’s historic capital, Хархорум /Karakorum/.

I felt so surprised too that one of the pastor’s sons was superb at English from having learned it on YouTube. The son would have to work on his Mongolian language, though. Still, it was my first time to encounter such a situation in which a Mongol child in UB would know English better than Mongolian.

Wednesday Reunion and Finale

In order to secure my travel with my coworker to her province, she had called my language tester (her childhood friend) to move my test a day early. So the next night, Wed., Nov. 8, my meet-up with my friend Adonis moved a day earlier thanks to some flexibility on his part. He also brought along one of his students to meet me.

We met in a place entirely unexpected to me. Yet the moment we entered, I knew exactly where we were. It was the Modern Nomads in which I had shared my Last Supper in Mongolia among fellow evacuating Peace Corps Volunteers who wanted a final Mongolian meal in March 2O2O. Thankfully, my friend had me and his student sit in a different section of the restaurant.

His student's name reminded me of one of my former Mongolian language teachers, as her name was Bulgan too. In the English language portion of our conversation, we spoke at length about speaking with confidence. Thankfully my friend and I gave her relatively the same advice.

After dinner, Adonis started practice drills through frequent Mongolian language errors of mine and how to address them. I felt amazed by the precision with which he identifies and addresses my linguistic challenges. He really did make use of his degrees in psychology and linguistics.

In the restaurant, I overheard through the speakers a bittersweetly unmistakable song. I listened to this exact violin track morning after cold morn’ in Erdenet, rising for work many days. It was Degi’s sweet rendition of "Аяны шувууд" /Ayanii shuvuud/, the Mongolian song I sang for Teachers’ Day 2OI9. Hearing the familiar song with a familiar friend in the familiar place gave me a spiritual sense that God and Mongolia smiled, “Welcome back.”

The next morning I would take the language exam for which I had been preparing so long. Then that day I would leave the capital for my return to Mongolia’s countryside.

Tested and Set Free

The morning of Thursday, Nov. 9, my LPI began after some time. I was back at what we called “Cluster B,” behind the Peace Mall. The name felt fitting despite no connection to the Peace Corps.

In the familiar room where I practiced many afternoon lessons alongside fellow evacuated Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, M3O Eric, I was alone this day with our tester. Our trainer Sumiya had prepared us well. This was much less stressful than my original LPI years ago. This time the tester and I spoke about my experiences in Mongolia before evacuating and upon returning, rather than something about where to put luggage. My tester too had been one of my teachers during our weeklong In-Service Training 2OI9!

After I finished, I felt glad to see Instructors Sumiya and Bolormaa in the corridor, as well as staff member Erka. I very gratefully spoke some Mongolian thanks to the three before grabbing my backpack and charging phone then hustling down to and out of Cluster B toward my apartment. I’d need to grab my sleeping bag and be ready to go.

As I walked back to my apartment, I reflected on how to some degree, the test was not about accuracy. It was a test about understanding. And yes, I definitely fell short of my grammatical accuracy and proper pronunciation many times. Yet, for the most part, I think I was understood, even if at times I didn't understand. I crossed the street onto Sukhbaatar Square’s sidewalk.

I continued to cross the sidewalk and noticed conversations from my fellow board officers of the Overseas Dispatch, an online experiment in forming community during the pandemic. At the traffic light as I waited to exit Sukhbaatar Square, I responded to the team’s messages and our consensus to gracefully dissolve.

Up next, I was off to a province to which I hadn’t been before.

You can read more from me here at memoryLang.tumblr.com :)

#Peace Corps #Mongolia #memoir #story #Catholic #God #memoryLang #USA #scholarship #hotel #Asia #countryside #Coronavirus #COVID-19 #UB #culture shock #travel #winter #Ulaanbaatar #Erdenet

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