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Ulaanbaatar

Feb. 22 Update

Internet has finally started working at home, so I'm having the luxury to tuck myself in my bed after the first Monday of the semester and spend some time to write an update.


I arrived safely in UB on Sat. (2/20) -- when I arrived, my sister was there to greet me. We headed to the her dormitory, brought out her belongings, and moved into our new apartment.

It is fondly called as the "Yellow Apartment" by people at work -- a lot of people live in the apartment since it's in close proximity to the school. Saturday and Sunday were spent to unpack everything we have & buy a lot of things we need for making a life here -- from cutting boards to laundry rack, we were all able to buy and come back home safely. 



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The Siberian mountains seen from the descending airplane.





As I approached the city from the airport, I could see these oh-so-familiar thermal power plants I've seen 5 years ago!


Another interesting observation I made was that almost 50% of cars on the roads are Toyota Prius. I asked JH, a friend who lived in Mongolia for 6 years, and she said it's because (1) it is relatively cheaper than other foreign cars, (2) best fuel efficiency, and most importantly, (3) turns on most easily in -20 degree weather. It was interesting to see so many Priuses at the same time!





First dinner after arrival -- Korean food at Sunjin Grand Hotel!





Our studio apartment from the inside. There's a small kitchen, a desk and two chairs, a closet, and two beds.





Wild dogs in front of our "Yellow Apartment" -- they follow me everywhere I go.. Freaked me a lot at the beginning. There's a lot of wild dogs in the city. The best way to not get bitten is to just let them be!





A view of the "M" Building of the school. This is where I will be spending most of my time, teaching and doing research. I arrive at work at 7:30am everyday, and leave around 4:30pm ~ 5pm.





After Sunday worship service at a small home church, the whole congregation took time to eat lunch together and read the whole Book of Mark aloud -- the goal is to finish reading the New Testament before the Easter Sunday. 





Coworkers, my sister, and I went for a Mongolian hot pot dinner as we mentally prepare ourselves for the upcoming semester. Cheap and delicious. The marbled meat platter is horse meat!




The staff-only lounge at the school. Between breaks or lunch time, staffs can rest here drinking coffee or tea. My office is not ready yet and will not be for at least 1-2 weeks.



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The first day of school was pretty hectic, as I spent most of my time introducing myself to everyone, starting the first lesson of my class, and having a long meeting to kick off the research project.


I can already see myself being very occupied with a lot of work soon. It would be important to keep myself healthy -- I started taking multi-vitamins and wrap myself with all the winter garments I own. It is still very cold (-15 degrees outside) and the weather is very dry.


It started hitting me hard that I'm not just staying here for a few weeks, but that I'm here to "live" for half a year.. It takes time to adjust to the inconvenient life of a third world country, but without much access to civilization life does get a lot simpler. I am thankful to come back home for a hot shower, something to eat, and somewhere to lie down and sleep. 


I've already met so many kind, God-loving people here and I'm thankful to God for bringing me here! As the slogan says on the staff lounge wall, we all have walked a long way to be where we are, all the way from the ends of the earth. Looking forward to this semester! :)

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