A nice start to Autumn Break

Friday was the last day of school for the first term. Now we have a week of vacation before the start of the second term. Friday during lunch we had a Halloween party for the little kids, and had fun. We played "Pin the pumpkin head on the headless horseman", listened to halloween music, ate lots of candy and played a game that involved popping lots of balloons. Here is clayt in his costume.


Then on saturday we had a teachers' picnic. We went to a really nice location in a valley with an old monastery up the hill. It was really cold however, and even snowed a little. Here are some of the photos from the day.




In the picture below you can see the ruins of where the old monastery once stood. The guide told us it was one of the many monasteries destroyed when the communist regime began.

A Big Thank You!

We just wanted to write a quick post to tell you about what a great week we had. Within 2 days we received 3 packages from home! They were full of medicine, treats and supplies for the children at Christina Nobel's Children Foundation. I took the gifts into their office on Wednesday afternoon, and the director was really appreciative. He said gifts like the ones our friends were sending were always welcome and always put to good use. So thank you so much!

Thank you Kristi Miller for almost 40 children's story books and kids winter attire, among other things!
Thank you John and Vicki Kotlar for a wide variety of kids medicines, fever reducers, and school supplies!
Thank you Kim Hayes and Dave Pollard for the Stickers, food, fun halloween stuff and other various items!

The things you sent will help some homeless children have a healthier winter (physically and mentally)!

A good thing to know also is that things now arrive here more quickly. At least one of the packages sent took less than 2 weeks!

Getting back to Winter Time

So now its cold here. Not extremely cold, but cold enough for the coat, hat, gloves and scarf. Only 2 weeks left until Fall Break, a week of no classes.

So things haven't been so exciting here lately, but we've snapped a few photos here and there, and thought we show you some of the more ordinary (?) things we see.


This is a building that is being built right behind our apartment. We were so excited that it didn't come any higher, but were rather disappointed when we saw the color they chose to paint it...


And speaking of paint... the whole building is being painted by these two guys with their little roller brushes! Notice one false step and there is nothing to stop them from falling all the way down...


This is one of the more famous buildings in the city here. This is The Wrestling Palace. Its where big concerts take place as well as of course wrestling tournaments. We don't really think its looks live up to its grand title.


Read the fine print inside the bubble. They don't want to held accountable for false claims.


We like their choice of words for this ad. "Inevitable." You can't avoid it. Just hand over your money, its going to happen sooner or later apparently.


This is the oh so pretty view we see as we walk to the grocery store. Notice you can see 4 construction cranes in the shot. This city is growing and springing up new buildings all around us at an amazing pace.


This is my third grade class this year. Aren't they cute? Please admire the nice way I decorated their board with the colorful paper Josh and Char Maring sent us...


And this is the second grade class this year - just as much little devils as they were last year...

Count Your Blessings

You know, sometimes we forget to mention all the nice things about living here in Mongolia. Some perks of living here?
-- hardly ever being stuck in traffic - we walk everywhere!
-- no junk mail, ever
-- no tele-marketer phone calls, ever
-- a city apartment with a clear view of the mountains
-- interacting with real live nomadic herders - some of the last in the world!
-- never getting asked for ID at the store or bar
-- getting almost anywhere in the city by taxi for under 2 dollars
-- very cheap meat (ground beef at the fancy store costs 3 dollars for 2 pounds)
-- DVDs for $2.50 (new releases!)
-- several grocery stores nearby - no need to get in the car and drive at all.
-- not seeing or hearing anything about the political campaigns back home.
-- a new appreciation for the small comforts in life.
-- learning how to live simply and within our means (the meaning of "need" has changed a lot for us I think).

Only 3 weeks left in the term before fall break. We are counting down the days. Sometimes its really difficult to teach at our school - imagine teaching a bunch of really rich spoiled teenagers at a school where there are no discipline procedures and none of them can fail. It's not easy. :)