The homestead

Thank you to everyone sending e-mails and (finally) commenting on the web site. It definitely helps to boost the morale. Not that I’m unhappy at all, but the language lessons, TEFL lessons, culture lessons and every thing else start wearing on you once in awhile. It’s great to hear what’s going on at home and be reminded of all you guys.

Things are rolling along here. I can’t believe it’s been a month. On July 4th I’ll have my mid-training language assessment. I’m not too concerned about the test itself, I’m doing fairly well at the language. What I’m concerned about is that at the half-way point I really only have about 15 minutes worth of conversation material -- and that’s including the multiple times I repeat the words, slightly altering the vowel sounds until native Mongols can figure out what I’m trying to say. They have four different sounds that all sounds like the “o” sound to me, but they keep telling me there’s a difference. It’s true that we’ve been focusing on the essentials -- transportation, directions, food, postal vocabulary. But as for small talk or the bulk of what I will hope to talk about, I think I’ll just have to figure it out once I get to my permanent site.

Peace Corps Mongolia is really a fairly easy adjustment. I think this will prove very true for TEFL teachers. Everywhere I go someone stops me to practice their English or ask if I have free time to tutor them. Today was a perfect example. I went to the bank and was stopped at the door by a Russian teacher at the school telling me she wants to learn English. At the bathhouse I had a conversation with the clerk about learning English. She told me about her son and what she wants to do. The interesting thing was that we had the same conversation last week. Then, after walking out of a store, I found a student waiting outside the door for me. She had brought her homework -- a composition about the United Nations -- and she wanted me to correct the grammar. I definitely feel wanted here.

Living with the host family is probably the hardest part, only because I constantly feel like a bothersome guest. But I help them with English whenever they help me with Mongolian. And if nothing else, my language skills give them a good laugh on a regular basis. And they get a kick out of some of the simplest things.
I make the father happy by shuffling a deck of cards;
-- the mother happy by licking my yogurt bowl clean;
-- the older sister happy by reciting the English and then Mongolian names of every object in the house;
-- and the younger sister happy by eating the chocolate she sneaks into the house.
The grandma has also been living with us. She especially likes to hear me say that every meal is tasty. Every time I get a bowl, usually before I start eating, she says “Ampteh” and gives me a thumbs up. I repeat. She cracks up.