Sorry for not updating in a while, it has been a busy month. The main highlights include a Thanksgiving lunch in UB which included turkey's that the embassy somehow procured from China and hosting a couple of Chinese engineers in Erdenet. Last night one of the engineers decided to engage my Mongolian friend in Vodka toasting and ordering; it did not turn out well for anyone involved. Enjoy the pictures, I'll start posting more regularly per the requests of Leon, Mel, and Mike Z...

I should mention that last night was 30 degrees C below zero

2 Chinese friends on the left and a close Mongolian friend next to me

Winter Style

The new Chingis Khan Monument

Great Lenin Mural

At Thanksgiving

The World Bank Conference held in UB at the end of October was slated to be on how Mongolia could manage their resource rich economy. I was impressed with the slate of speakers, which included the World Bank's Chief Economist, the WB's Country Director for China & MGL, the Mongolian President & Prime Minister, members of Mongolia's Parliament, an Australian economist, and a former Russian Prime Minister, Egor Gaidar. I went with a friend who graduated from NYU, where it is easy to attend a multitude of policy conferences, and he tempered my excitement by explaining that conferences with big names are typically more boring than those without stars. Unfortunately, he was right, as nothing controversial or concrete came out of the meeting.

Most of the speeches were dry and simply delivered information that most familiar with Mongolia's economy already knew. I was surprised at the high inflation number they derived for September, 30%, which I certainly don't feel on the ground level. The World Bank harped on Mongolia to allow majority foreign ownership and invest more capital in mining partnerships, particularly Oyun Tolgoi (A HUGE copper mine about 100 k's north of the Chinese border, set to be one of the world's largest once developed). The Mongolian mineral minister shot back with an angry salvo on the World Bank's loan policy toward Mongolia, which hasn't been changed since it became democratic in '90; loans are still capped at $30 million. The Australian economist presented case studies of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, both of which are also resource rich nations, but have little in common with Mongolia. He elaborated on Dutch Disease & the importance of Stabilization funds.

Personally, I don't see Dutch Disease as a significant problem for Mongolia. They have no manufacturing or service exports to speak of, there is a tremendous reliance on commodities, and a currency appreciation would be helpful in paying for their huge amounts of imports. I queried the economist about this, and he responded that a high currency appreciation would inhibit Mongolia's future diversification into different industries. While I understand the logic in this, Mongolia's small population and landlocked location prohibit it from engaging in large scale manufacturing, as in China and Vietnam. If Mongolia is to diversify in the future, it will have to be in a niche area, requiring specialized knowledge and providing a high value add.

Would a much stronger currency prohibit or assist this process? Again, I believe it would be helpful, but please let me know if you disagree on future industrial opportunities for Mongolia or the effects of an appreciated currency...

On another note, the previously vacant small office across from mine has been converted into a Karaoke room. This is terrible. Mongolians love karaoke, so I must love karaoke. Their facilities are crap. The business officially opens tonight, but my office of course had the privilege of firing it up last night. I picked songs without high notes, as the treble on the refurbished, now most likely blown, Chinese speakers, combined with the interference on the $10 wireless mics, could easily take out an ear drum. Luckily, my time in Japan included plenty of karaoke, and I actually do usually enjoy it, especially in Tokyo. However, in Tokyo, the facilities are nice, there are amazing deals on good liquor and tasty snacks, and karaoke typically takes place after a session at an izakaya or pub. Unfortunately, Mongolia lacks good liquor and tasty snacks. Moreover, after work finishes we can walk 3 meters and be right at karaoke, no need for dinner and drinks.

I'll have to find out who decided to start this karaoke business and convince them of a more profitable use for that room, or I might be there every day, ideas are welcome!

Just got back home from a couple of meetings in UB. The first was my NGO's annual conference in Terelj National Park last Thursday. Technically, I am now volunteering/working for a new, local NGO named Development Solutions, which was spun off from CHF. However, the only change in my daily life was the near complete reorganization of my office; I returned from America to five new coworkers, with only my manager and admin assistant left from my 1st year. The new organization has to navigate a maze of bureaucratic obstacles due to the inefficient nature of aid. I can't delve into the details in a public forum, but since we are receiving aid from two different US agencies, my coworkers were instructed to divide their work in exact %'s between the respective agencies' slightly differing initiatives. They must fill out a weekly time sheet to be delivered to said agencies, which will of course show that they did not spend one hour longer on the minority project than they should have.

Aside from the bureaucratic necessities, the conference was a good opportunity to get to know my new coworkers and HQ management. I pitched my idea of creating a Development Solutions Price Index, which was well received and should eventually be published in the major newspapers. The index will be provided for the SME's we work with, which means I will continue to expand my now intricate knowledge of sheep this winter. My counterparts expressed interest in learning how to create basic analytics from the data we collect, so I'm currently struggling to translate "Correlation does not imply causation!" into Mongolian. They were a bit confused at the amount of warnings I gave about the terrible risks of using stats improperly, as there haven't been too many foreclosures on gers here...yet.

The financial crisis is being felt in Mongolia. There was a credit boom here as well, and currently only one bank is making loans to the SME's we work with. Apartment prices have declined 10-15%, and there are a significant amount of half built developments, mostly in UB, but also in Erdenet, that I expect will not be completed. Mongolia recently announced a $500 million bailout for their largest banks, which had to stop mortgage lending in May, but still sit on an approximate $200 million mortgage portfolio. I know these numbers don't sound like much, but remember that Mongolia has 3 million people, an international airport with 2 gates, and a few paved inter-city roads. Inflation is now around 30% and the commodity price drop is going to take a major toll on the economy, especially in my city, which has the country's largest operating copper mine. I'll write about the economy and the world bank conference I attended in my next post, I've been beckoned to a lunch of fried mutton.

I returned last week from a nineteen day vacation in Japan & the US. I spent my time in Tokyo catching up with old friends from my Shinsei days, eating an absurd amount of food, and hitting the Roppongi ex pat holes & Shibuya discos. I did make one legitimate cultural journey to the Edo museum in Ryogoku, which is a tremendous exhibit following the origins of the Edo village all the way through its transformation to the best metropolis in the world, Tokyo. The most impressive display in the museum is a miniature depicting life around the harbor in the 18th century. It is about 60 square feet and surrounded by binoculars so you can appreciate the incredible detail that was put into each figurine and building. There are around 500 figurines milling about, and once you zoom in on a scene it explodes to life. The museum is also conveniently next door to Sumo Town. If you have a free day passing through Tokyo, I recommend spending it in Ryogoku, which for some reason I never got around to seeing during my summer in Japan.

It is difficult to explain the jolt that occurs when you fly out of the 2 gate Chingis Khan airport and arrive in Tokyo. The first things I noticed were the extreme cleanliness and efficiency. I chatted with a Mongolian from my flight on the train in from Narita who insisted on helping me find my hotel, which was less than half a kilometer from Shibuya station. Even at this proximity, it took 30 minutes, with a map and my new Mongolian friend who spoke Japanese well, to navigate the maze and figure out where the place was. After checking in, I underwent the continuous shock of rediscovering how enjoyable high quality food really is. For my 5 days there, I ate the equivalent of 6 meals a day, stopping and eating at a good number of Sushi and Yakitori establishments I passed. I didn't touch a drop of vodka or anything that came from a sheep.

It is wonderful that direct air service recently opened between Mongolia and Japan; Tokyo is easily my favorite city in the world and I plan to stop through there en route to my next vacation and whenever else possible.

In the US, I spent time in LA, Miami, & SF catching up with friends and family. Went to the new 9-0 (USC's only off campus bar, formerly a complete dive with low lighting and a terrible smell) and was crushed. It is now a sports bar that serves salads, which people aren't afraid of eating, and opens during daylight hours. The former on campus hangout, Traditions, has been demolished and relegated to a booth in a food court. Aside from these minor disappointments, it was great to catch up with all of my friends from college and see what everyone is doing after a year out.

Miami was wonderful, spent a lot of time with my family, got spoiled by my parents. It was nice to spend the holidays in synagogue, mostly for the camaraderie. There are only about 7 Jews in Mongolia, 4 of which are mid aged Russians who could make a sport of liver damage. I got in one day on the boat, felt great to be back on the open ocean again. Aside from that, I generally spent my time at home eating and hanging around South Beach a bit with Will (RPCV who dropped by for a visit) and Dave (childhood friend). After 8 nights in Miami, I spent a night in SF with old college buddies and then embarked on the journey back to Mongolia.

I'm back in Erdenet now, adjusting to a new work situation, most of my co workers were replaced during my time away, and teaching an economics class for professionals at the Technical University. Winter is upon us, I'm looking at the first heavy snow of the year. Once I coax my stomach into accepting fried mutton and horse milk again, my 2nd year will be off to a strong start.

I've got a few random TV channels I watch in Mongolia. Japan and Korea both broadcast channels in English that are meant to introduce foreigners to their respective cultures. I've got a good bit of random phrases in both languages now, but the important point for this post is that they both show a world weather forecast. UB is the coldest city shown by 8 Degrees C, the low was ZERO last night. Erdenet is about the same temperature, and I'm sad to say that summer is officially over here, now just waiting for the first snow. The season was a short lived affair, astute readers will remember a blizzard in late May delayed my flight to China. My stomach has a date with a variety of Sushi, Yakitori, Curry, Thai, Malaysian, & whatever other flavorful cuisine I can find in Tokyo in Mid September; if I get snowed in again, my stomach might stage an open revolt. I owe it for behaving during an extended period in the countryside where it faithfully endured tens of liters of Airag (fermented horse milk), hardened milk curds, and lots of mutton.

There is a major reorganization occurring in my office right now; the branch offices are all splitting off from CHF and will be under the umbrella of a locally formed NGO, Development Solutions, while the CHF head office will fall back into a role of supporting DS. I'm not sure what the consequences of this will be for daily operations, if any, but at the moment it seems that everyone has a good bit of paperwork to do for the transition. I've used the available time to set up a couple of secondary projects for this upcoming year; I'll be teaching Econ at the local university to professionals, the majority of which are economists at the mine, and helping my new sitemate set up a Big Brothers/Sisters organization. I'm also trying to enroll in beginners Russian at the university, will be fun to go back to school again.

I'm coming back to America, with a stop in Tokyo, in mid September. After Japan, I'll be in LA, Miami, and San Francisco before heading back in early October. Let me know if you want to meet in any of those cities, looking forward to catching up with everyone.

On the 14th, Tuvshinbayar won Mongolia's first Olympic gold medal, through the men's 100 kg Judo category. I went out to dinner with a couple of friends that night without realizing that the match was even happening, though I figured it out quickly after entering the restaurant. About 10 middle aged men were already a few bottles deep in preparation for the match, and we got one of the last empty spots. The match was even for a couple of minutes before Tuvshinbayar executed a decisive throw to take a large lead, and the entire city exploded once Mongolia won the match and finally took a gold medal after 44 years of competition. The revelry was compounded by the fact that the Olympics are so close and that it was Beijing (formerly a seat of Mongolian imperial rule) where the Mongolian national anthem was played. A couple of the men were openly weeping for 15 minutes after the match ended, and free beers & shots went flying around the restaurant. It was touching to see people so emotionally invested in an Olympic match; I don't know if Americans have less of a sense of national identity or are simply jaded due to the amount of medals we've won. As for Tuvshinbayar, he is a national hero now, and already has a cool, new phone #, which is (976) 9999-9999 and a new 3 br apartment in UB. It is a special time to be in Mongolia

I came across this article today and found it incredibly informative/slightly disturbing, check it out...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/news/27afghant.php?page=1

Here are a few highlights from July...

With Ethan at Erdenet's NadaamMongolian wrestlers circling around before the matches

A serious hazard, almost got run down by the six year old girl on the horseDrinking Soote Tsai (Milk Tea) with coworkers

Bidding farewell to Colin, the last group's witty old man

This year was the fourth consecutive July 4th I've had outside of America; its definitely a celebration that can only be done properly stateside, no matter how many Americans you have involved. I still had a great time though, just without the patriotic feel, as the closest thing we could find to Budweiser was Tiger, the closest thing to bourbon was Jameson's, and our hamburger paddies were most likely from a yak. No fireworks either, though those might have been a poor choice due to the proximity in time of July 4th to the recent unrest in the capital. I spent the holiday in Darkhan, where PC usually holds the 4th get together, with the intention of meeting the 64 new volunteers (1 or 2 already dropped) who came in about a month ago. However, I ended up spending the majority of my time with the volunteers a class ahead of me who are all going home in a couple of weeks, after which I'll be an "old" volunteer.

Summer is coming along well, though incredibly rainy. I worked on creating a new set of financial trainings for a good bit, which I delivered for the first time yesterday to an assortment of businesswomen. The training went well, though I may have overly abused my translator when I went off on a tangent about real interest rates. Naadam, the annual Summer festival with wrestling, archery, and horse riding competitions, is starting at the end of the week. Mongolians take their festivals seriously, so it should be a quiet couple of weeks in the office after the holiday finishes. Hope you all are summering well, I'm planning a trip back to America sometime in mid-late September

I went down to UB last weekend to say goodbye to a couple who I am close with; if the wife of a PC married couple gets pregnant during service, it results an immediate plane ticket home. I got back to my site a couple of days ago, as people were hitting the voting booths for Parliamentary elections. I'm glad I left the capital when I did, because this round of elections has created the largest civil disturbance in Mongolia's short democratic history. The MPRP (Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party), who were the state ruling party during Mongolia's Communist period and currently hold the executive branch, routed the opposing Democratic party, taking 46 of the 76 seats in Parliament.

International election observers have unanimously declared that the election was fair and no foul play was involved in the voting process, but thousands of protesters have still taken to the streets in UB. Many people, especially of the younger generation, expected the Democratic party to fare better in this election, and were both angered and surprised by the outcome. The protesters have thus far set fire to the MPRP HQ and a cultural palace, which has led the Mongolian President to declare a 4 day state of emergency in UB. I'm not overly worried though, Mongolia is a peaceful country, and I expect the trouble will soon subside. There have been no disturbances whatsoever in my city, which is one of the largest, nor have I heard of any other trouble outside of the capital. Mongolia has long been praised as a sterling example of democracy & human rights in Central Asia, this episode should turn out to be a small hiccup along the path forward, I have a lot of confidence in the future potential of this country.

*I would like to make it clear that I have absolutely no political affiliation, offer no support, nor possess any opinion toward any of the political parties and policies in Mongolia. This post was simply meant as an informative window into a current event of note.

Sorry for the long delay in posting, been bouncing around a good bit lately. A couple of weeks ago I went to China for my first vacation since arrival. I planned to leave on an Air China flight early on the morning of May 28th, but it was foolish to think that Mongolia would let me out of its grasp without hindrance. Of all things, a blizzard swept the capital that morning, which stopped my plane from even leaving Beijing. My flight was delayed about 15 hours, but the airline was helpful in getting me on a quick connection to Shanghai, where I eventually arrived on the morning of the 29th.

I primarily went to Shanghai to see my little brother, who recently began an internship there. However, there was the added bonus that my sitemate, Ethan, and his little brother were also in the city, attending a wedding of an old family friend. Ethan managed to get me an invite to the wedding, which ended up being a highly multicultural affair. The groom was Jewish, and the bride was half Chinese and half American, but grew up all over the world. Shanghai also happens to have one of the highest ex pat populations in the world, somewhere around 1 million, so the party included people from Nigeria to Japan and everywhere in between. Brian and I stayed with the groomsmen in the days preceding the wedding, half of which happened to be from the South Florida Jewish community. Strange to go to Shanghai and end up rooming with a couple of guys from Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles. The wedding itself was great and was kicked off by what must be some of the greatest lines a best man has ever delivered; "As all good girls say, I don't usually do this, but I'll try it once...", "Me being the guy that I am, I asked my friend if she had a friend", etc...

I had five days after the wedding to hang out with my brother and check out Shanghai. It is an absurd city, especially as a first vacation after a year on the steppe. The rate of razing and construction is proceeding at an absurd rate there, I don't know if I've ever seen so many newly built high rises, malls, and planned districts. The food was fantastic, I tried to get in at least four meals a day (three legitimate meals and one guilty trip to the terrible American fast food joints that don't exist in Mongolia). Unfortunately, this plan backfired toward the end of my trip in Shanghai in a dingy pizza shack. I went down to China with supreme confidence in the fortitude my stomach had gained from a year in Mongolia, but it wasn't strong enough to take down undercooked cubes of pink meat under the cheese of the pizza. Though I refused to let stomach ills affect the rest of my China trip at all, I had a couple of close calls that would have been disastrous if it weren't for some strategically placed venues.

I had a half day in Beijing en route back to Mongolia after 9 great days in Shanghai. Unfortunately, I arrived ten minutes too late to see the Forbidden City, but did get to hang around Tianmen Square. I've become accustomed to speaking Mongolian and being able to get around this country with relative ease. The most frustrating part of China was not being able to communicate at all with locals and cab drivers; there is nothing more valuable in that country than the scraps of paper in your pocket that have the address of your home and intended destinations written in Chinese. The service there was wonderful though, I've also become accustomed to the socialist model of customer care. It is good to be back in Erdenet, I've recently reached my one year mark in country. The largest group of volunteers to come to Mongolia arrived a few days ago, numbering 66, so it should be interesting to meet them at some point during the summer. I'm no longer a rookie and am now part of the 'old' group of volunteers, can't wait to hear the guppies' reactions to their first month here.

I will most more regularly in the future. The internet is a bit slow now, so I will try and upload pics from the trip when it speeds up again.

Market Area of Murun, Wild West?

In Murun's Central Square

At the River with Mike

There isn't a lot of couch space in a Ger

Keeping warm by the Ger Stove

Back at site after being gone for a bit over a week. Had to stay in UB for my annual medical/dental check up for a few days, turns out I didn't even have a cavity. After medical was done, I flew up to Hovsgul Aimag with my friend Fahd to teach a seminar, put together by Mike, on personal finance, interview skills, and scholarship resources for graduating high school students. We tried to conduct it in an informal way, as pure lectures tend to put students off. The students responded well and it seems that they took away some information that should be able to help them in the future. It can be tough for students who spent their whole lives in the countryside to suddenly adjust to the UB urban environment and take advantage of the opportunities while avoiding the many risks. I enjoyed my time in Murun, the capital of Hovsgol; it was a lot of fun to spend a couple of nights in Mike and Alli's ger. It is a much different experience, and I came back with a healthy appreciation for my apartment's indoor toilet and running water. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to see Lake Hovsgol, which holds 2% of the world's fresh water, but hope to make it back later in the summer.

The only damper on the trip was the journey I undertook to get back to Erdenet from Murun. After getting a frantic call from the bus driver to hurry to the bus, I spent an hour sitting on it before we departed to make the town rounds. After 3 hours of picking up all manners of packages and people, we attempted to depart Murun crammed with luggage, people sitting on small wooden stools, and people standing in the aisle. The driver made the mistake of going through the center of town, where a policeman decided to enforce the law and have the driver offload the seriously overloaded bus. The driver appeared to comply, waited for the cop to leave, and then put everything back on the bus. About 5 kms out of the city, the police car caught up to us, and we waited for about half an hour while the bus driver paid his fine and subdued the drunk passenger that wanted to fight the gigantic cop. We finally got moving again, only to stop an hour later and search for an important bolt that had fallen off the bus. The route has no paved road, and the bus (along with the passengers) took a hell of a beating the whole way. We broke down 3 times and had 4 flat tires. It started snowing in the early morning, though it was about 70 degrees the previous day, and I lost most sensation in my feet for a couple of hours. In Mongolia, the winter can come back at any moment up until July, thats a lesson I learned the hard way. All in all, the trip, which should have been about 14 hours, ended up taking 22. The shocks on the bus were non existent, and I'm real happy my neck isn't in greater pain from all the vibration and bouncing around. The silver lining here is that this trip is now my reference point for how bad things can be, and I should be much more patient during future travels. Now I'm back at work in Erdenet, where it has snowed every day of May, for a few weeks before the big Shanghai trip at the end of the month.

Today is the first day I walked to work without a jacket. It might be 75 degrees outside, but winter killed any accurate ability I previously had to estimate hot weather. The wind is ridiculous, and supposedly it has been known to snow into June, so I plan to spend as much time as possible outside today outside in case Mongolia gets pissy again. I've booked a trip to Shanghai in late May/early June, and plan to get back to my slightly withered roots. On this trip will be little T, Napoleon, my sitemate Ethan, & his little brother. In the middle of the trip, I'm hitting up a wedding with Ethan. You all probably have a good idea of how excited I am about my first foray out of country; I expect plenty of events that I won't be comfortable recounting on here, don't want Grandma upset with me.

Salo

P.S. I've mentioned before that I spend some time with middle aged Russians in my town. This link is an anecdote that illustrates nicely why Russians make even the most hardcore guys from my frat past look soft...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7353025.stm

I was all set to go up to a conference in Ulan Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia, today. Ulan Ude is about a 6 hour drive north and close to the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Baikal. I was suspicious last week when I got word from the Erdenet consulate that my visa would only cost $4 and would be processed quickly; my suspicions unfortunately turned out to be true. I was informed only yesterday that I would have to go down to UB to get my Russian visa, which didn't leave me enough time to do so. This marks my 2nd consecutive failure to obtain a visa to what I consider as the most interesting country in the world, but also seems to be a country which does not hold the same affection for me. In retribution, I canceled my Russian lessons for the week. на хуя.

In other news, I've begun to wear contact lenses for snooker. My glasses did not allow me to get low enough on the cue, since I would have to look over the top of my frames and would lose vision. This had a detrimental effect on the accuracy of my long shots. With contacts, I can now take a proper stance and precisely line up shots that cover a lot of green for better potting.

Starting up my 11th month here in Mongolia, though I can't say I'm surprised I've been here for this amount of time; I only moderately worry about eating large amounts of mutton fat in countryside canteens, get around fine in Mongolian & have even begun to learn a bit of Russian (Меня зовут Соломон, Я хочу съесть рыбу "My name is Salomon, I want to eat fish"), and find 40 degrees to be pleasant. Granted, in comparison to most of the volunteers, I'm big city folk. It gets a lot tougher when you live in a ger in a town of a few thousand people hours away from the nearest English speaker, as a significant amount of English teachers do. Unlike them, I have access to a regular, varied food supply (one of my buddies had to walk around his whole town just to find potatoes & onions), regular showers, & a paved road. On the other hand, it is much easier for them to integrate into their smaller communities, I am still typically taken to be Russian.

Work is coming along... I've been going to a small town, Bulgan, about an hour outside of Erdenet, to help out a new employee in a branch office. She is the only employee there and doesn't have a lot of experience, so it seems to be a situation where I can make a good contribution. I've also started to work on a major environment problem posed by the mine; as the weather gets warmer, a 600 hectare tailing pond is beginning to thaw, and will eventually release its particulate waste into the air. The problem has been largely neglected, though a local businessman and friend of mine has finally convinced the mine to let him work on it, so I'm now doing a lot of research and work in the world of dust control, which is surprisingly large.

Back to the weather, I can't imagine a place with more erratic swings than Mongolia. See the below pictures to try and get an idea.

Taken last week from a large hill, I live in the bottom right square

From a larger hill, shows the extent of downtown, my building is obscured by the mound in the middle

The end of downtown and the beginning of the ger districts, they stretch on for a while

Soccer Field on my way to work, March 27th, 2008, 8:50 AM

Soccer Field on my way to work, March 28th, 2008, 8:50 AM

The Road

Yesterday, I was uncomfortably warm in my jacket, granted it was only in the 40's, but decided that it was finally time to put it away until next Winter. I rolled out of bed this morning, put on light weight clothes, and strolled outside to see everything was once again blanketed in white and the snow was still coming down. Went back upstairs, broke out the jacket, and reminded myself to be thankful that at least it was warm enough to snow.

View of the capital, Ulan Baatar (trans. Red Hero) from Zaisan Memorial. Note the S smog which obscures the far hills and the ger districts on them

Zaisan, Monument to Russian Soldiers, on a large hill outside of UB

Soviets crushing the Nazis

This depicts Soviet Officers being greeting in the traditional Mongolian fashion with a bowl of Airag (Fermented Horse Milk)

Site of Peace Corps Training PDM

My students after class

All Mongolian 8 year old boys love to wrestle. This is how they develop vise grips later in life

There were 150 8 year olds also present at the camp, they had dance practice throughout the day and constantly referred to me as Russian Big Brother

Nairamdal International Children's Camp (Where I Taught Mongolia's Brightest)

Near the Bear Encounter

Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been bouncing around between UB and winter camps in the countryside over the past few weeks. I spent one week in a children's camp about 50k outside of UB educating 15 high achieving high school freshmen and trying to explain the nuts & bolts of the American university wonderland. These kids all had great commands of English and were highly motivated; it is likely that a significant percentage of them will be able to find scholarships in a few years to fund their studies abroad. The camp was a great experience and reaffirmed many of my original motives for coming here. I bonded with a lot of the students and am proud to say that I finished the week undefeated in Chess, although the 15 year old girls absolutely ruined me on the Ping Pong table.

On a side note, I encountered my first wild bear during a lone afternoon hike at the camp. I had walked up the bare snow side of a large hill and decided to come back down through the heavily wooded forest side. At the base, I got caught up in a huge field of meter high underbrush which I figured would take around an hour to break through. About halfway, I heard a rustling in the underbrush, looked to my left, and realized that intimidating company was about 10 meters away. I've heard bears typically don't attack humans unless surprised/threatened, and that the smart thing to do is to be still or slowly walk away, but I also watched Legends of the Fall a few nights before. I tried the slow thing for about 10 seconds, saw the bear take a couple of more steps in my direction, and then covered my face with my arms and broke into a dead sprint through the brush. Luckily the bear didn't follow and I got back to camp a lot sooner than expected.

After the camp, I toured a cashmere factory and met a few politicians with the kids in UB. Mongolia is one of the first countries that will implement the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project, and we met the government ministers responsible for it. The laptops are small, functional, and have a security feature that allows a network administrator to remotely shut down their operating system in case of theft. Peace Corps Volunteers will be involved with computer training for teachers & students and writing Linux applications for the machines. Tens of thousands of laptops are being distributed at the moment, I'm looking forward to seeing firsthand what the effect of the project will be. I spent the rest of the weekend in UB before heading out for a PC training seminar in another winter camp.

The seminar, Project Design & Management, was the best PC training I've attended thus far, though it did have a few dull bits. We spent a few days breaking down the process of creating, implementing, and monitoring a successful secondary project along with our Mongolian counterparts. We were also informed of the various funding sources we can tap into to fund our projects, which are usually grants ranging from five hundred to a few thousand dollars. The most interesting part was the Partnership Development Fair, where about 20 NGO's and local foundations sent representatives to inform us of their activities in country in the hopes of eventual collaboration. There is a diverse range of organizations trying to assist Mongolian development, with missions ranging from national governance reform to grassroots health awareness. I picked up a ton of information on all the organizations present, now its up to me as to whether I want to try and collaborate on a project with them or start my own.

Once PDM finished, I had a weekend in UB before returning home. I got to spend a lot of time with the old summer poker crew and also said goodbye to a good Finnish buddy who is returning home. I'm now in my tenth month in country, and it has gone by quickly. The snow has already melted off all the mountains, and I've stowed all my long underwear. Never thought I'd consider 40 degrees a great temperature for a walk, I might melt this summer. I am still undecided as to when I am going to head back to America. I'll be visiting my little brother in China this June, and hope to trek Bhutan in the Fall. Pictures to come soon.

It has finally warmed up a bit out here. The daytime temperature has gone up to around 15 degrees F ABOVE zero, while at night it is still dipping to about 5 below. I now find myself walking around during the day in just a t shirt and jacket, without a scarf and only sometimes with a hat. Its amazing how seasoned your body can get after just one winter where the night temperature regularly dipped to 40 below. I live in a pretty warm part of the country though, I imagine the capital is still bitterly cold.

I'm at a loss as to what else to post about, it is hard to describe the change that the warmer temperatures have brought about. I no longer lose feeling in my face after being outside for 5 minutes, my key won't freeze and break when used to open something outdoors, and the lighter fluid in lighters no longer freezes up.

I should update you all on my plans for the near future though. On Friday, I am going to head down to the capital and start what should be a great couple of weeks. Next week I'll be teaching English and doing SAT training in a beautiful part of the countryside for 20 of the most advanced high school freshmen from a few different cities. The kids I've met have a strong command of English and are highly motivated; the lessons should be productive and a lot of fun. After that, I've got a weekend in UB before heading off to PDM, Project Design & Management, which is a week long PC training in another part of the countryside meant to help us get our community projects running.

I'll try to give you all another update get some pics up between countryside trips. I'm hoping one of these camps has a snooker table. My training regimen has picked up (8-10 hours a week) and I am starting to see progress in my game.

I went up to Sukhbaatar to spend a couple of days with my host family for the Mongolian New Year. I ate a lot of booz (about 40-50 a day), drank some fermented horse milk, and did my best with the rounds of vodka shots. During the holiday, you go around to different houses, starting with your close relatives, and sit at each place for a couple of hours while partaking in the aforementioned activities. The pictures below might give you an idea:

Ethan and I outside the Deel Shop in Erdenet

My Mongolian Host Family in Sukhbaatar

Other Relatives . Note the table setup: LOTS of Mutton, a couple of booz (majority unpictured), and the large stack of dough that varies in height according to your ageExtended Host Family

Went down to UB for a couple of days last week to get a Chinese visa. I wasn't particularly looking forward to the embassy visit, last year I spent a couple hundred dollars and endless hours in an unsuccessful attempt to procure a Russian visa in Ireland. This time around things went better... I did feel bad for the two Americans in front of me whose visa application was rejected because they stated they wanted to visit Tibet. If you're trying to go to China in the near future, thats one word not to mention. As for myself, I am now the proud owner of a Chinese six month double entry visa. Matt Basco, a close and notorious friend from SC, will come to Mongolia for a few days before we set off to Beijing together sometime in March or April, should be interesting.

On February 8th, the Mongolian Lunar New Year, Tsaagan Sar, will begin. This is the most important holiday of the year here, and while it officially lasts only 3 days, can continue much longer. During the days, you visit the homes of your family and friends. At each home you are supposed to consume a minimum of 3 booz (dumplings), 3 shots of vodka, and airag (fermented horse milk). Families have many visitors, and literally prepare thousands of booz beforehand. In the countryside, volunteers were warned to stock up on food supplies weeks before the holiday, as everything will be bought up. I'll be wearing a new winter Deel (traditional Mongolian clothing) for the event, and plan on taking a two month respite from booz after the holiday is over. 6-8 booz can usually fill you up, it is not inconceivable to be coerced into eating 20 or more a day during this time of year.

I am still working on my snooker game, cooking ability, and avoidance of frostbite. A waitress called me a very strange man for playing snooker by myself yesterday, I made a great garlic chicken pasta, and it is currently -22 degrees Fahrenheit.

Thanks to all of you who wished me a Happy Birthday, I survived my 23rd. Went to dinner with 12 friends at one of the best restaurants in town. The night started strong due to my Russian friend, he brought a lot of provisions with him and insisted that we do our best to finish them. After dinner we went to a disco, where the rest of my coworkers joined the party. Engaged in the typical celebratory activities of toasting, dancing, and giving far to large of a tip to the waitresses. The celebration continued into the next day, as I had agreed to go to lunch with the Russians. I have a real good time with those guys, so I've begun to study Russian too. Its coming along well, since my friends are as excited as I am about my picking up the language. Thats about all there is to report for now, I cannot describe how much of a craving I am currently having for brunch (roast beef hash and a goat cheese/salmon scramble) at the Dining Car. Пока, мои друзья