Home Sweet Soum

Me with my new puppy Leo, read on to hear about how this happened!Batnym working hard watching cartoons on my computer, p.s. Mom and Dad he asks if you can send some more :)
Batzorig on a friend's horse. He can ride but doesn't have his own horse right now.

It is good to be back to my soum and all settled in, and it is slightly surprising how quickly I got used to not bathing very often again... Today was the start of the third week of school. So far school is going great. Our school Training Manager assigned me to teach all the fourth grades and then some of the 10th and 11th classes. I am soooo happy with this schedule, as the fourth graders are adorable and they get so excited whenever I come in the room to teach them. And outside of class they are always asking when I will come again, which is odd because they have to know when I teach them, it's always the same! And then with the older kids I don't really have any behavior issues during class so I'm hoping I can get a lot accomplished with them. The problem there is they are just so not used to speaking English ever, which must seem weird as they have been studying it since 4th grade, but that's how it is. My one tenth grade today was funny because the two girls who competed in the English Olympics for their grade last year are in this class. They are really hard working and we spent a lot of time working on all kinds of English and a lot of speaking last year to get them ready, so during class today it was like they were my translators. No joke, they would translate everything when the other students didn't understand... kinda cool, but also slightly problematic for trying to get the rest of the class to work when they just rely on these girls (I mean I would too!) Anyways, teaching is going well so far, and these fourth graders remind me how much I loved teaching in America. Teaching them feels like real teaching again. Not that I don't like teaching here, I do, but teaching English is just not the same as teaching was or will be in America. I look forward to teaching all in English again to students who speak my language too. I feel like I relate pretty well to my students here, but not in the same way I could in America I think because things get lost in translation. So in America I am going to try to remember and never take for granted the fact that I can walk into my classroom on Monday and just small talk with my students about their weekend without them thinking it's a speaking practice exercise so I get only the responses they think I want to hear based on the learned grammar.... Anyways, I miss that about America, but I think this experience here is so great and honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I look forward to taking what I have learned here and applying it back in the states -if I can find a job once I return that is!?! Is it too soon to start worrying about that???

My counterparts and I just submitted a proposal for some grant money to buy teaching resources so hopefully that gets approved. It would be really nice to have some dictionaries to work with during class, instead of having to pause everytime we don't know a word as I look it up in my dictionary, then translate, annoying. Other than that school has just been busy with teachers writing their curriculums for the year to be submitted to the training manager, then methodologist of Tov Aimag I think. It's starting to get cold here but not too terrible yet. Some wood and coal has been delivered for me already, though still need someone to saw my wood into smaller pieces so I can chop it... hopefully I can get somebody out here to do that within the next few days.

Other news... I got a new puppy! The boys tell me Lucy died, but I kinda think she didn't. I think she probably got pregnant and they took her away.... not sure though. So I was pretty bummed about that when I got back and she was gone. Then about a week ago Tamir and Batzorig returned from picking vegetables in the countryside, and they brought with them this tiny boy puppy. Tamir was just like, "here, your new puppy" to which, I was just like ohhhh k? Thinking, that's not really how it works, old dog dissapears, so just find a new one in the countryside... but I guess it is how it works! But it took like all of two days for me to be loving this new little guy. And in the past week or so he has already grown a ton, is actually kinda fat now, gotta cut down his carb intake now I think. I finally decided on the name Leo for him. That was actually my dad's nickname; he didn't seem to mind when I said I wanted to use the name for my new puppy.... I had wanted to name him Theo, but the "th" sound is really hard for Mongolians, so when I noticed the boys couldn't say that name I had to think of something new! So Leo it is!

So between Leo and the boys there is rarely a dull moment. Batnym discovered my crystal light packets the other day, and he likes how I put bread in a frying pan to make toast -he says it's "goy ampte!" which means basically means really good. And Batzorig seems so much bigger and more mature this year; he is almost always working on chores outside when he's not at school. The other day he discovered my hair products... I told him try them all out; I mean he has ladies to impress now that he's 14! He is great though. This past weekend it was sunny and warm outside during the day so I just left my ger door open. And in strolls this drunk guy, not a problem, I just grabbed my dog and went and got Tamir to talk to the guy, tell him to go, etc. I locked my door and just kept doing my laundry as the guy keeps knocking on my door. Then I hear Batzorig come and start talking to him, telling him that I don't understand Mongolian so I'm not going to answer, and I'm probably afraid of him because we haven't met, and probably am calling the police right now so he should go... and he did. These boys are just wonderful is my point.