Since the New Year we have been studying farm animals in third grade. We have drawn animal pictures, read Barnyard Boogie a ton of times, and sang Old McDonald until we were hoarse. For our final big project we made a barnyard complete with barn, corral, lake, and garden. The kids really got into it (not a lot of chances here to build things with trash) and watching Shaun the Sheep was the cherry on the top.

A view overlooking the lake.

"Man these are easy to make" said God.

The red thing looks like a mutant ant to me, but I think it is supposed to be a goat.

Taking a well deserved movie break.

The construction crew.

Two of the donations my school received in December were paper dollhouse and zoo kits made by www.creativityforkids.com. These were a huge hit and tons of fun for the kids to assemble and make their own.

I gave the zoo to the biology club which they were so excited about that is was done in two class periods. It will live in the biology classroom, and hopefully be used as a fun teaching aid.

Assembling the zoo

Carefully coloring kangaroos and monkey trees

The finished result

Look at all those excited zoo guests!

The dollhouse was so popular that I had to make it a club project with select students from 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th grades. Their creativity really came out, and it was fabulous to see the tiny curtains, magazines, baby toys, and other accessories they made out of left over paper, fabric, and trash.

Coloring the front windows.

The outside after day 1.

Every house needs a yard complete with garden gnome.

Margad and Uuganaa making a paper computer complete with tiny mouse.

Dolgoon's fabulous curtains.

The finished interior.

The construction crew.

Next month is Shrinky Dinks. I may have to put a bouncer in front of my door….

When I lived here 10 years ago, going to the aimag, the nearby town where we buy food, was a torturous undertaking. After breakfast I would start walking about the town looking for the one taxi in town/listening for its horn as it drove around looking for passengers.  This could take an hour or two or be a total bust if it wasn’t going that day. If I did get a seat in the taxi, we would then usually sit next to the bank for another hour or so waiting for other passengers since it never left without a full load. (I still have nightmares of the trip with 29 other passengers). We would eventually leave–praying that it would only take one hour to get there. About 95% of the trips involved getting a flat tire, breaking down, or running out of gas though (I wish I was exaggerating) and so it was a real cause for celebration when we finally got to town. Upon arrival I would frantically run around going to the bathhouse for my semi-monthly hot shower, checking my email, and buying all the food I could carry. The taxi would usually set a departure time around 3 or 4 but because this was before cell phones, it was not uncommon for passengers or even the taxi to be missing/late until 5 or 6. By the time I got home it was often dark and I was exhausted. I really disliked going to the aimag.

Yesterday we went to the aimag, but as Brian likes to say “living here is now officially easy.” While we don’t have our own car yet, most everyone else does, so it is not hard to find a ride. In fact, nowadays we prefer to pay extra and have our own car and driver for the day. Our driver showed up around 10 and we got the aimag around 11. He drove us around town to all our stops and we slowly filled the car with Pedigree dog food, Mongolian made fresh tofu, Asian pears, soy milk, and canned refried beans among many other staples. By 12:30 we were done and back home by 1:30 for leftover homemade pizza. After lunch we went to our local bathhouse and for dinner we had crispy panko tofu and refried beans with all the toppings-everything purchased in the aimag. We rounded out the day by watching episodes of Modern Family I had downloaded using the free wireless internet at work. Don’t tell anyone-but we are getting soft out here.

A delicious dinner with a handsome man in need of a haircut.

Simba lives next door to us. Perhaps the smartest pooch in town, he is also one of the few I have puppy pictures of because he was once Darkhuu’s nephew Uka’s dog.

Here is Brian way back in 2007 trying to steal him.

And Simba a few months later hanging out on top of his house.

Unfortunately for Uka, he could not keep the puppies he collected, because Darkhuu had a habit of giving them away when he wasn’t looking. Luckily Simba only moved next door, and today is the king of the dirt pile (as well as the neighborhood).

A fierce competitor for camel heads, he is also super smart. He has figured out how to push/pull open the doors to his yard when they are closed, and if they are locked, then he will wait until a softie (i.e. one of us) walks by to steer them to the door to unlock it for him. He is also one of the few pooches in town to have rightfully put Santi in her place :).

We headed back to school and work this week after a two week vacation. The first few days of school were a bit crazy as the kids worked through all the sugar in their systems, but by Friday things were pretty much back to normal. There are only about 15 weeks left until the end of the school year and there is a growing sense of panic in regards to the end of the year for those facing college entrance exams soon. The race to the end of the year is on!

Making this week out of the ordinary were two social happenings.  On Monday we traveled to Dalanzadgad for a dinner with the American Ambassador to Mongolia, Piper Campbell, two local Peace Corps volunteers Joe and Sam, our friend Layton Croft, and several other new acquaintances. It was wonderful to finally meet the ambassador as well as to have dinner with an interesting group of people. It is certainly something we miss out in the countryside.

Ambassador Campbell is in the center, in the scarf.

Then, on Wednesday we were treated to a rare visit from Enkbaatar, a former co-worker of Brian’s and a great friend. He was in Dalanzadgad for business, but he took time to come out and have dinner with us and Darkhuu. It is always great to see old Enkh.

Aside from visiting and regular work (the kids at school and I started building a doll house and zoo–pictures to come), Monster has really gotten into helping Brian with his work. He seems more like a hinderance if you ask me, but what do I know?

Keeping Brian's shoulder warm.

And keeping his neck warm. Think Brian needs a haircut?

Happy New Year–Mongolian Lunar New Year–that is! May the year of the water snake bring you prosperity, happiness, and contentment.

We had another lovely Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia. There was a nice balance between visiting friends and being visited, as well as getting to sleep in late. We ate a few buuz this year that were lovingly made by a friend with potatoes and carrots, and we drank very little vodka much to my delight. The best part was seeing everyone in their finest. Here are a few pictures from the community greeting on the first day.

Lining up from oldest to youngest for the traditional greeting

Greeting line

Darkhuu resting with some friends

Mandaa-Vampire baby.

And here are a few from visiting with some of our younger friends.

Brian greeting Huslee

Huslee and her ever growing brother Todoo

Uuganaa, Todoo, and Muron

Brian "exchanging" snuff with Gegenee the toddler.

It was great to see a bunch of my former fifth graders (2002-2003) all grown up.

And to end this post, a reminder that even animals get into the act during Tsagaan Sar.

Race horses heading home after a long run.

Monster posing with his Tsagaan Sar bow tie.

To ring in the new year we headed to the top of Seoul-Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan. The day was unfortunately overcast and snowy which made for less than optimal views, but it was lovely nonetheless.

The snowy view from our hotel room

We took the subway to the other side of town, and then after a short walk through a middle class neighborhood, caught the cable car to take us to the base of the tower. I joked that the only form of transportation we didn’t use on this trip was boat!

Going up the mountain by cable car.

At the top of the mountain was a park with ancient signal fire stoves used for conveying messages before the days of twitter. The tower itself was originally a television signal tower but now houses several restaurants, a teddy bear museum, and an observation deck.

Signal fire stove.

The view from the tower really drove home how big Seoul was. We were also thrilled to see Mongolia acknowledged.

After getting our fill of the “high life,” we took the cable car down the hill and went to check out the Myeong-dong shopping district. Filled with upscale and cutesy stores it also was home to street stalls selling giant dried octopuses and curly fries made out of entire potatoes. We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant which was so good I had to take a picture of it.

A wonderful statue hidden behind a department store.

Wandering without a plan took us past the Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral built in 1898, the Seoul City Hall, and Deoksugung Palace, which is the smallest palace in Seoul.

Myeongdong Cathedral

City Hall

Deoksugung Palace. A restful interlude in the middle of the city.

We warmed up with some hot coffee and Dunkin donuts (sweet potato is my favorite) and then headed back to the hotel for one more night of pizza and corny movies on television. Korea you are great and we can’t wait to visit again.

On our second day in Seoul we headed to the north side of  the city to explore the Bukchon Hanok Village. A designated historical neighborhood, the homes were built in the 1920s and are beautiful examples of traditional Korean style homes. As it was New Years eve, many of the museums tucked away in the narrow streets were closed, but we were still able to see lots of wonderful architecture. I found the doors especially lovely.

Don't we all want a turtle door lock?

After warming cups of traditional Korean tea, we wandered down to Insadong a busy tourist street. We had been there before, but it was still interesting to look at all the different stalls. I bought us a 2013 calendar and we filled out a tourist survey which netted us 6 pairs of free chopsticks!

I wish I had a reason to shop here.

After lunch at a tiny restaurant on a side street, we wandered a bit downtown next to the Cheonggyecheon stream. Wandering around Seoul reminds us how far Ulaanbaatar has to go before it is a nice place to live. Walking down by the stream, even surrounded by skyscrapers, was incredibly peaceful.

Our last adventure of the day was Namdaemun Market, the oldest and largest market in Korea. We wandered up and down streets where you could literally buy anything you wanted. Stores go up several stories on either side but most of the selling was through outdoor stalls. We mainly just looked, but I did buy some stickers and paper craft supplies for school. We found lots of PSY Gangnum Style socks for sale but just couldn’t think of anyone we knew that would want a pair.

What is the best thing to do when you arrive in Korea after a 13 hour flight at 5:30 in the morning? You take a tour of the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea. We spent 3 days in Seoul and decided to start our stay out with a trip to the most militarized border in the world.

After being picked up at our hotel by the tour bus, we drove about an hour north to Imjingak Park. The park is an odd mix of war memorial, amusement park complete with Ferris wheel, and flea market. At the park itself is a small temple where people can ring the bell in memory of those lost in the Korean war, as well as the Freedom bridge which in the past has been used to send donations from the South to the North.

We next boarded an official government bus for the trip into the 3 km buffer area that runs along the length of the the DMZ. The area is prime farm land and we passed a small community of farmers that receive special incentives from the government to live and work the land.

The main stop on our trip was the 3rd infiltration tunnel. Over the years 4 tunnels from the north to the south have been discovered with this being the closest to Seoul. An amazing testament to what a crazy dictator and his underfed solders can accomplish, this tunnel has only been acknowledged by the north as a coal tunnel that went the wrong way. Considering there is no coal in that area the story raises a lot of questions.

The cutest military police in the world.

Land mine signs remind you that it is not all cute statues.

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the tunnel you can see one here. We walked down a long steep incline and then several hundred feet into the tunnel. The tunnel was moist and warm and not as narrow as I had feared it would be. Also at the tunnel was a very well done museum that looked at the sad history of the DMZ as well as the rich flora and fauna that has been able to thrive unmolested. In fact, when we were leaving the parking lot we saw two tiny water deer grazing.

Our next stop was the very odd Dorasan Station. Built with donations from South Koreans, the station is a state-of-the-art train station, that when reunification comes will be the last station before entering the north. Until then though it sits as a sad reminder of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. I especially liked this sign.

We made a few stops at tourist traps and were finally deposited back into the center of Seoul. After a few false starts we made it back to our hotel in Gangnam (arn’t we cool) by subway with a hot pizza in hand and very tired bodies.

Our last few days in America were spent in heavenly San Diego with Brian’s mom, aunt, sister, and cousins. We took the train down from LA from beautiful Union Station.

Met at the train station by Brian’s mom, we stayed with his Aunt Debbie in her really neat condo. That night we went to a nearby Japanese restaurant with family and ate all sorts of sushi, okinomiyaki, and noodles. The food was good but the company was even better.

Saori, Me, Kim, Brian, and Erin

The next day Debbie took us, Erin, and Dominic (her grandson) to a few of her favorite nature spots. First we drove to the top of a hill where we were treated to a 360 degree view of the northern San Diego county area.

Next we went to Torrey Pines State Preserve for a hike. We hiked up the back of a hill with views of a lush valley and then hiked back down and across the beach. The temperature was perfect, the sky clear, and the ocean breathtaking. I definitely need to live near the ocean sometime in my life.

For our last night, we went to a Mexican restaurant with Brian’s three cousins and their families, his mom and sister, and his Aunt and her boyfriend. They are such a cool group of people it is a shame that we so rarely get to see them. Perhaps our next move will be to Southern California?