I have to admit, I am very proud today. I think one of my students will be moved into the 4th grade. Not that I really have anything to do with his abilities, but I am proud of him. He scored extremely high on the aptitude test the school gave him and they feel he could go up. I will miss him in the classroom but would rather he be challenged than bored all year.
Many people have been asking me about the food here. There are many restaurants to choose from, mostly "American", Italian, and Korean type places. The Mongolians also like to serve a lot of mutton. Funny, initially when I got here I was planning on staying vegetarian, but have found myself craving meat. It gets quite cold here nights and my TA, Doogie, said in the winter I will have to eat meat. I have tried some and it is good quality. There is a little roadside, outdoor restaurant called "The Green Pub" where they serve these amazing skewers of lamb. That is where the picture is from. Fish is pretty rare to come by and if it is on the menu it is really bony. Also, mushrooms are very difficult to find, at least fresh ones anyway. The climate here is not good for growing them. There definately is no sushi to be found!
Shopping can be a bit of a pain here as the stock is constantly fluctuating. Plus, you have to go to more than one shop to get all you need. It is not so simple as just going to Sobey's. It is not unusual to go to three different stores to get all you need. I find it a little tiring. In addition, people are very pushy. An elderly woman once just cut in front of me at the supermarket checkout. I was in shock! There are no lines here. People just crowd around the cashier and tell them what they want. I think this is why it has been so difficult to teach the kids to line up. Everyone wants to be at the front! Also, Mongolians get very irritated when they have to wait. Many will change lines if the person in front is taking too long.
Another issue is how aggressive the kids can be. One of my classroom rules is "no pushing or shoving". I had to have another big talk with the class in regards to being respectful to one another. There has been a lot of infighting with the girls and I had to tell them if you can't play nicely with one another than just don't play together. I also told them that they had to be friends with everyone. They said "Even the boys?" and I said yes, yes you do. They have gotten better since the pep talk. I decided to do this so I wouldn't have to act as mediator all the time to all their little spats. I'm glad it seems to be working.
We were supposed to have class pictures taken today but no one came round to get us. Maybe tomorrow? Who knows? I had to actually yell at my class today and they noticed that when I get upset my face gets red. That's when they know I'm serious! I rarely yell, and told them I don't like to. I do tell them all the time they make me crazy or are giving me a headache. It's actually now a running class joke that we all are crazy. I did get a bit irritated as I pose a question to the class and see all these hands up and when I call on them they want to borrow my ruler or go to the bathroom. I had to tell them to focus! They get sidetracked so easily. We were talking about math and the next thing I know they want to tell me stories about animals or a movie they watched last night. They are just way too cute to stay mad at though. They draw me pictures, make me things, and tell me they love me all the time. One called me "Mommy" though and I had to nip that in the bud.
As an aside from Mongolia, my favouritest person in the world, Tasha MacQueen, had her baby! It's a girl! Little Harper joined us early Saturday morning and both mother and child are doing well. She is a healthy 8lbs, 7oz. Congrats to the MacQueens!
Still no hot water, which also means no heat. We are waiting! The humidifier I bought at the Black market already broke and needs replacing. My nose is very dry and has cracked. It is sore. Nosebleeds are a daily occurance. Today at lunch it was so windy we had indoor recess as there was so much dust and debris flying around.
I have begun to notice that I refer to myself in the third person. I'll be looking for something and think "Where did Miss M. leave it?" My co-workers think I'm crazy, but I have to be in my class!

This morning I came into school to a rather rude awakening. My classroom was torn apart, again! Half the desks were out in the hall, half were inside pushed against the wall as was my desk too. They were covered in a plastic tarp and there was dirt and dust everywhere. I was fairly annoyed. I immediately went to the principal's office to ask "Have you seen my classroom this morning?" He was definately irritated and wondered why on earth the maintenance personnel did not wait until the weekend to do such a big job. We frantically tried to reorganize and managed to pull the room back together before classes started. My students were complaining about the smell and upset about the second new seating plan in as many days. I don't blame them. I got a headache too due to the fumes. Hopefully tomorrow things will be as I left them tonight.
I was also concerned because my students did not perform as well on their Language Arts test as I had hoped. Many did well, most passed, but clearly there are some who haven't been paying any attention at all. This is disturbing. There is only so much you can blame on the language barrier. I took all the questions straight out of their homework and even included prompts I did not want to, just to make it a bit easier for them. It is clear we have much review to do over the next week. I'm not sure if because the format was not the same they were used to, but I went through each and every question and even provided examples. Mrs. Doogie also translated the test into Mongolian. I understand a few not listening and thus, not understanding what was asked of them, but it seemed most were unclear about what the question was asking of them. I have my work cut out for me!
On the one plus side, they say maybe the hot water will come back on tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath but it sure would be nice to actually use my bathtub again. I hate having to go down to the first floor to shower. I sure would like to have a bath!

Here are my students showing off the lentil plants we germinated and grew. They are very proud! I told my class they were now going to be famous in Canada as I was going to publish these photos on my blog. My class is very good, though a bit noisy. We are having our first test tomorrow in Language Arts. I think soon a math test will be in order as well. There has been a bit of cat fighting going on between some of the girls but I make them apologize and tell them it's done and over with. I forget how serious it felt when you were that age if someone was mean to you. I can remember my parents saying "Just ignore it" but that is very tough advice to follow. I just hate to see them cry! I also forget that at that age they move on quickly too. One minute they are crying and the world seems it's going to end, and the next they are running, laughing and playing. Ah, to be 8 again!

We were informed the hot water would be back on as of yesterday and still nothing. It is getting quite cold in the mornings and washing up with cold water just aggravates the situation. I have heard most likely the 1st of October instead. The kids are really disappointed as they don't get swimming until the hot water is back on. The one thing about Mongolia is that if one person has no hot water or no lights, no one does. So, we're all in the same boat.

Things here are running along smoothly. I am actually looking forward to going back to school tomorrow. I will post a new photo soon of my class and the plants we are growing for science class. Who would have thought that lentils I bought at the grocery store would actually grow?

I actually had a bit of an emotional weekend as a dear friend of mine sent me some photos from home to show my class. I was definately not expecting him to go to my house and get photos of my mom and dog, Farley. It was an extremely sweet gesture and I hadn't realized how much I missed them until I saw the pictures. I may have had a "moment" with some of the other teachers simply because there was no bank machine for me. Silly, but it happens. One thing I really miss is being able to read the menu! The language here is so foreign to me I feel completely clueless. Some of the teachers are doing quite well with mastering new words and phrases, but I am unfortunately not one of them. I know how to give directions to someone who picks me up driving but that's about it.

The only real marker for my weekend was a talk I had with the principal, Mr. Mark (whom my students have identified as a homophone. Yes, I was proud). I have discovered that after only one week they are cutting one of my ESL classes and I feel it is premature and unreasonable. That's all. So, I told him that ordinarily I wouldn't say anything and just go along with the flow, but it upset me and decided to speak up. Mr. Mark is a great listener. He's got everyone's best interest in mind and that is tough, considering the size of the staff and student body.

Well, here's to week three! I am giving my first test on Tuesday and hope my students do well!

Well, I'm gearing up for another action packed week at school. Thank heavens for teacher books! Though apparently the stuff I teach that is an aside is more interesting. I'm excited because I tried an experiment with my lentils for science class and they actually started to germinate. Tomorrow the kids and I are going to plant our germinating seeds and watch what happens. I remember doing things like this in school and how excited I was about it. I'm glad I can make it, or try to, as fun as possible. The thing is, it's fun for me too!

Aside from that it's been a fairly quiet weekend after the "welcoming party". We all had fun together that night and I think it was a great idea to get to know one another out of the school setting. The teachers all live and play together, but we rarely get to talk to our teaching partners in a social setting. My partner, Doogie, said she'd like to have me over for dinner sometime. I thought that was pretty nice. Last night a few of us got together and watched a movie over in Dan and Tina's room. Tonight was just quiet. It's so funny here because when you're out in the hall you can hear what's going on in everyone's room but once inside, it's so quiet!

I did laundry for the first time since being here (sorry mom!) and had to get Maureen, another teacher, to show me how to work the machines. They are the small, front-loading ones and I've never seen them before. I thought I could figure them out, being the worldly woman I am, but alas, I had to request help. I miss dryers! The truth of the matter is, I've actually been avoiding it due to the lack of dryers. My clothes are all over the building! Hanging in the laundry room, hanging in my bathtub, hanging off doors and the like. Luckily, I have lots of work clothes but was nearly out of socks.

Just as an aside from Mongolia, I have become an aunt again for the second time! I am very excited for my brother and his wife, Marty and Jenn, but am sad to not be around to see her. Her name is Sarah and she looks beautiful from the photos I've seen. Everyone is fine and they happily welcome the new addition. I trust my other neice, Lauren, is going to be the best sister around!

Last night Dan, Tina, Andrew, Maureen, Colin and I all treked to this little outside bar called "Green Pub". We drank a beer and the boys ordered some food. I think it was lamb. It came on this huge skewer and smelled wonderful. You could tell the quality of the meat was excellent. I did try a bit and thought it to be quite good.

There is a running joke amongst us teachers about the punching here. Dan had posted on his blog a running dialogue in regards to the incident I mentioned earlier about the man touching the eagle and a fight breaking out. It goes as follows:
"Hey, don't touch my eagle!" punch punch
"Hey, don't punch me!" punch punch

We now have a new one. There are many drivers and pedestrians in Ulaanbaatar. The drivers use their horns quite heavily.
"Hey, get out of my way!" honk honk
"Hey, don't honk at me!" honk honk
"I haven't used my horn lately!" honk honk
"My hand is free!" honk honk

This is just one of the ways we amuse ourselves here.

I just finished my last day of my first week of school. I am very pleased with how things are going so far. Though I am concerned with the math and science aspect of my job I think I have been doing a good job so far of keeping the kids interested. They always yell "Yaaahhh!" when I say we are starting spelling or math. It is encouraging.

Tonight after work my teaching assistant and the computer tech personell decided to have a little get together for all us first year teachers. It was a lot of fun. I got to talk to Doogie outside of the classroom and I feel we will be a good team. She feels the same from what she's told me.

Apparently my night is not over yet as it is still only 9:30 here and of course a Friday. More later!

Well, the first week of school is almost over and things are going better than I could have expected. My class is very well behaved and for some reason they love me. I am having to get used to teaching such young children still, but Doogie is helpful with her translating. I do have to keep reminding the children that class is English only. I found out on the second day that one of my students was crying at home because she has little English and was frustrated. We explained that though it may be tough at first, the more you practice the better you get. ESL classes hopefully will start on Monday.

I also am having trouble getting used to the idea that these kids want to hug me and hold my hand. Mongolians are a very family oriented society and often live with all the family in a small space. I'm used to North Americans who keep their distance. Not these kids! I have told them much about my life back in Canada and have been teaching them some of our idioms like "TGIF" and "knock on wood". I have even shown them photos of my love, Farley, and they say he is a good dog.

One of the main things I have noticed about myself is my English is becoming more broken in order to get my main point across. For some reason as well, I have started speaking with a French accent. I guess it goes back to my tree planting days in Northern Quebec when I picked up their accent and spoke in much the same manner.

My students are at such different levels in regard to ESL, sometimes it is frustrating for me as well. When you tell a joke and only 4 people laugh (well, that probably would happen to me anyway!) or I just see a lot of blank eyes looking at me when I say "Okay? Everyone understand?" At the store I can just point and use my fingers to say how many I want but in my classroom I need to know that they understand.

It is tiring dealing with so many young children. I am beat! They are always clamoring for my attention. "Miss M! Miss M! Look at me!" Not that I mind, it's nice to have people want your approving eye, but it is fatiguing. I also have had to explain that it will take me some time to learn their names and how to pronounce them properly. The language here is just so foreign sounding to me. They have names like "Yumchigmaa" and "Unkhbaya" (both girls names). I have one Edward and his was admitedly the first name I learned in the class.

Another unexpected turn is that the children love to learn! They are always shouting "Yah!" when I tell them we are now moving to Science or Math. They want more homework! Who would have thought! I think it is going to be a great year. Like I taught the kids, knock on wood for me and keep your fingers crossed!

I successfully completed my first day teaching grade 3! It went even better than I had imagined. The students are extremely well behaved. Though my class number has risen to 26 I don't think it will be an issue. Especially since I have Doogie and she knows many of the children in my class already. It has surprised me that my class is primarily girls as I was expecting it to be heavier with boys.

This morning we had our opening ceremony. The parents all came. Many of my students gave me flowers. So much so that I could hardly carry them all! The girls were decked out in their finest dresses and the boys in suits even. It is becoming clear to me that school is taken very seriously here.

My students are very eager to learn. They are excited do all the subjects and want more homework! I told them it was only the first day and the letter I had them write to me tonight introducing themselves was enough. I also started to read to them from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and it is very much a crowd pleaser. Thank you to Kenna Roberts for lending me her books!

After lunch a boy in my class was sitting so quietly with his hand up. When I acknowledged him he said "I am trying to throw up". I told him to get to the bathroom, which luckily is right next door to me, but he proceeded to lose his lunch all over his desk. The poor guy! I had to jump back to avoid being splashed. His father came to pick him up and his sister came after school to get his work. The funny thing about it is that they were so very apologetic to me! Aside from that and one nose bleed, everything else went very smoothly.

I am looking forward to this year and hope it will remain the same. I have great expectations!

My class! I have told them it will take me some time to learn their names properly and they were very happy to hear that I come from the same place as their old teacher.

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you have a great one!

This is my classroom, hopefully fully prepared for my students tomorrow!

Well, classes begin on Monday (tomorrow) and everyone is gearing up. I am feeling the usual mix of excitement and nervousness. We are having an opening ceremony with red carpets and everything!

On Friday night we all went out for Thai food and it was excellent. It is common practice to save your leftovers and give them to a street kid. I gave mine to a young boy we had encountered before who sells Dove facial wipes. He eagerly accepted the food while the waitress was trying to shoo him from the patio.

There are many talented artists here. Outside of the Thai restaurant there was a man selling original paintings in oil. Dan, Andrew and I all bought one. I got the "Shaman".

Mongolia is a very poor country and I apparently am considered a millionaire. It is so strange to me that back at home I had little to no status and here I am automatically upper echelon. It does make me a target for pick-pocketers and the like but I am safe and aware. How lucky am I to simply have been born in Canada?

The women here wear high heels every where. They even hike in them! I bought some DVD's from the local video store and even got a bonus one! Colin had purchased some from the black market and was told they were in English. That apparently means dubbed over in Mongolian and then retranslated back into English subtitles. If some one says "yes" it was written as "of agreement".

Colin and I had to go into town yesterday as he was informed his hair was not corporate enough for the school. It was a decidedly sad march there and I'm still not sure he's recovered.