Tag Archives: culture

Mongolian Names

Posted on by
Reply

Дуудах нэрийг эцэг эх, Дуурсах алдрыг өөрөө олдог

“Parents will give a name to you, You will decide to make it famous”

On my way back home from the aimag last night, my driver started talking about a friend of his named Odbaatar which got me thinking once again about Mongolian names. Today many American parents want to give their children names that will set them apart, make them unique, and ensure that they won’t be one of 7 Sarah’s in their class (thanks Mom). Mongolians are way ahead of Americans in this. I had 92 students last year and only 3 kids shared a name-everyone else had a distinct name.

Brian and I have joked in the past that Mongolians are the original hippies, or perhaps extreme sci-fi fans. There is Solongo (rainbow), Narantsetseg (sunflower), Shinsar (new moon), Bolorstesteg (crystal flower), Zolzaya (lucky destiny), and Enkh-Amgalan (peaceful tranquility). Names can be super short Od (star), Ish (origin) and Yum (thing) as well as extremely long like Naimanzuunnandintsetseg (800 rare flowers) and Enebishtomortogoo (Not this, it’s a metal pot). Some names, at least to the American ear, are nice- Tuya (ray), Adiya (sun), and Bold (steel) and others are a bit out there- Muunokhoi (bad dog), Terbish (not that), and Nergui (no name).

Just like in America, names go in and out of fashion. People of my grandparents age often have shorter, Tibetan Buddhist based names. People born in the 40s and 50s sometimes have Russian inspired names (I know a Nadya and an Alexander), people my age tend to have two word names like Gerelzaya (Light beam), and children born today tend to have one word names or are often named after the family and friends of Chinggis Khan including Temujin (Chinggis’s childhood name), Borte (his wife), and Khubilai (his granson). Also, similar to Americans, some parents name all their kids with a theme such as including the same word in all the names- Monktsetseg (everlasting flower), Monkhchuluun (everlasting rock), Monkhbaatar (everlasting hero) etc, or with a topical theme like Tsas (snow), Boroo (rain), Salhi (wind), Shurag (storm), and Mondor (hail).

So back to old Odbaatar. If you read my post closely you would have figured out that his name means “star hero”. And Darkhuu? The tiny, sweet lady who is my second mother is no other than “gunpower son”.

Resource: http://mobile.inet.mn/shortArticle/?0xnbi27/48105

“Би Монгол Хүн”

Posted on by
Reply

Today was “Би Монгол Хүн,” or “I am a Mongolian,” day at school. Students and teachers were instructed to wear traditional Mongolian clothes, and because all my dels are in America, I borrowed a very pretty one from Darkhuu. In some grades only a few kids wore outfits, but in the 11th grade most kids did, and they looked wonderful. Here I am with my very tall students.

Most of the teachers also wore dels, and there was lots of joking in the teachers room about how their dels seemed to get smaller each year. When one teacher was demonstrating how hers was pined in the front to keep her top shut, I reminded them that one year, for a reason I can’t remember, I had to wear a Mongolian outfit that was so small on the top that my friend Ulambayar had to sew the front shut with me in it. They all laughed but kindly said that I wasn’t that big on top- one friend even checked for herself by giving my boobs a nice big squeeze! The tata squeezer didn’t get away without some ribbing of her own, though, because she was one of the people whose dels had mysteriously gotten smaller over the years. Not only was her belt on the very last hole but someone said that next year we will have to scotch tape her dell shut. I love my co-workers and their totally inappropriate senses’ of humor. :)

New Ger Party “Shin gerin nair”

Posted on by
Reply

Even though today was a busy day for my fellow teachers, we decided that today was the most auspicious day for our new ger party since the astrology calendar said so.  Mongolians traditionally hold a party when they have a new ger and these parties can last all day long.  Since we don’t have that many friends and don’t really like all day parties ours was a lovely 2.5 hours long instead.

Never pass anything between the ger poles!

Friends from school and town came to our ger and we served them milk tea, airag (fermented horse’s milk which we brought from Brian’s village), vodka, candy, chocolate chip cookies (which I made), potato salad, cucumbers, sausage, and noodle mutton soup.  Between drinks people gave welcome speeches, presented gifts including a Chinggis Khan statue and a super wonderful afghan crocheted by Emma our PCV, and sang songs.  As the man of the house Brian sang a song and hung a “hadag,” or prayer scarf, from the center of our ger roof.  My job was to serve the tea and food, but since we don’t have a stove yet I could not make the first ceremonial fire.

Brian singing for the guests

It has been a wonderful welcome back to Hanhongor from friends new and old.  Many people contributed to the construction of our ger from the flooring, the building, and the interior wall curtains for which we are so thankful.  In the speech by the village governor he told a story about how when I was a Peace Corps volunteer and he was the mailman that I bought so many stamps and envelopes that our village post office got an award for being the best in the province!  He  welcomed us back with open arms.  It is nice to be somewhere, to feel so wanted, and to know that you can make a real impact.

We are very happy new home owners

Friends from school enjoying the food.

The spread