Introduction to my Mongolian friends

I will introduce you to my Mongolian friends. Most of my friends are related to my work or to the other PCVs’ work. In Mongolia, most peoples’ closest friends are their co-workers. There is no separation between private life and work life. Therefore, I am good friends with my co-workers. I am also good friends with other PCVs’ coworkers.

First, I will introduce you to my co-worker friends. In Peace Corps terminology, co-worker = counterpart. Counterpart = a person who a Peace Corps volunteer develops the capacity of.

Ganaa, my counterpart, and I

Ganaa is a manager at the Chamber of Commerce. She has a business degree from the Agricultural University in UB. Before working at the CCI, she was a secretary at the local airport. Ganaa’s English is limited, but she always does her English homework and tries hard in class. Ganaa is very bright and funny. Ganaa has three children and is married.

Aagii, my counterpart, and I

Aagii became my counterpart in November 2008. She used to work as a financial officer at Haas Bank. Aagii has a business degree from a UB business school. Now, Aagii is in charge of the business information room in our new building. I’m teaching Aagii how to find information on the Internet for clients. She and I, together, are writing a survey and proposal to get equipment for the information room. She is about 26 years old and not married. She lives in a ger, like me.

Oyunaa, my main counterpart, and I

Oyunaa was the first co-worker that I met. She picked me up in Darkhan at Final Center Days. Oyunaa has an accouting degree from the School of Technology and Science in Arvaikheer, Uvurkhangai. Last year, she studied   English in India for 5 months. Oyunaa is the counterpart that I go to if I have any problems with my ger or in my life. Oyunaa attended IST training with me. We learned how to effectively work together on projects.

Oyunaa always writes me texts like “How are you. How is your body. How is your weekend.” She is always looking after me. She always says, “If you have problem, just tell to me and I will help to you.” She’s great!

Nasilmaa and her husband

Nasilmaa is one of my counterparts. She had a baby girl in October. “Nasaa” worked as the director of the CCI until she had her baby. I have visited Nasaa’s ger three different times. She loves having people over. Now she is on maternity leave, and I haven’t seen her in a while.

Zolzaya, my director

Zolzaya, or Zoloo, is the director of the CCI. Her English is almost flawless, besides the fact that she leaves out articles. Zoloo worked in Germany for 2 years, and knows German fluently. Zoloo is married and has 3 children. She has a Masters degree in Accounting. She also does auditing work alongside her CCI position. She is a very smart woman, and I am very lucky to have her as my director. She always sees the business side of things. She is a very hard worker and a go-getter!

Choka and Tonga

Last year, Choka and Tonga were students at the University of Technology and Science. They’ve graduated now and both are working as English teachers. I hang out with them on the weekends.

Erika, my Mongolian language tutor, and I

Erika is my Mongolian lauguage tutor. She likes cats, just like me.

Mongoo and I

Mongoo is my best Mongolian friend, outside of my workplace. She is 21 years old and is a student in UB. She is interning at a tourism company in Arvaikheer until May 2009. She and I hang out a couple of times a week. She has traveled to Russia, China, and Korea. She loves learning languages! Her ultimate goal is to be a flight attendant… believe it or not, they get paid a lot of money! In order to be a flight attendant in Mongolia, you must know 5 languages. Her next language in Mandarin. It is nice to have someone to talk about clothes, makeup and boys with. I still don’t feel exactly right about telling my co-workers all about my personal life.

Patrick (not Mongolian), Uugana, and I

Uugana is awesome! She is an English teacher as the University of Technology and Science. She has been a PCV counterpart for about 10 years. She understands Americans more than anybody else in Arvaikheer. Her ultimate goal is to open her own children’s center in Arvaikheer. Last summer, she was the CYD Peace Corps coordinator.

These are my main Mongolian friends. I have others, though, that I hang out with through other PCVs. Many other Mongolians want to be my friend, just simply because I am American. Many people know nothing about me, but want to hang out because I am foreign and those people want to learn English.

Mongolians approach friendship in a different way than I would normally would. For example, the other day I got a text that said, “Sain u? Amber I want to know to you. I took your mobile’s number my friend. I heared your voice. I enjoyed your intonation.”

Or… My counterpart getting a text message at 2 a.m. saying, “I need your volunteer’s phone number. I want to be her friend. PLEASE SEND ME PHONE NUMBER.“

Or… a text message last fall that said, “Where do you live? I want meet to you. I want being your friend.“

Back in America, I would think…. “Wow, creepy. I am not responding to that text message.” But here, the ideas that I would normally think of as stalker-ish don’t exist. Luckily, the people I am friends with protect my privacy and don’t give out my information, unless they ask me first.

I also have several American friends at my site. Some TEFL volunteers are the only American within a 2 or 3 hour radius. Mongolia is difficult for many volunteers because of the isolation. Some Peace Corps countries can place all volunteers within a 2 or 3 hour drive of the capitol city. But because Mongolia is such a big country, volunteers are spread out all over, and normally don’t get to see one another on a regular basis.

I’m very lucky for all of my Mongolian and American friends in Arvaikheer, Uvurkhangai!