A year of service reflection

June 2nd was my one year anniversary living in Mongolia. I’ll try to give a reflection of my first year working in the Peace Corps.

Lately, I’ve been traveling into Ulaanbaatar for various business activities. The summertime is the high tourist season in Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar has been packed with foreign tourists. Just walking around the city and watching how the tourists act versus how ex-pats act calls for a bit of reflection. I’ve realized that I know quite a lot about Mongolian culture and how to act within it.

After10 months at my site, I feel like I’m very integrated into the community. I know the shop owners, bank tellers, children walking on the street. I’ve started doing more things socially with Mongolians, like cooking dinners together and playing cards. I’ve been teaching yoga lessons at the local gym. The yoga class attracts many new friends that I wouldn’t have otherwise met.

At my workplace, the Chamber of Commerce, I’ve become a lot more involved within the daily workings of things. I’m an integral part of all of the programs the Chamber of Commerce is working on. I’ve honed my project management skills, and successfully been able to adapt to a different communication style.

Recently, at the Chamber of Commerce, we’ve received a grant approval for 5 million tugrugs to update our business information room. We’re buying two new computers, a printer, a fax machine, a camera, scanner, etc… We’re also buying business-related magazine and newspaper subscriptions and business books in Mongolian language. We’re upgrading our meeting room, too. The CCI is trying to make it a one-stop place for small- and medium-sized businesses. Every business service those businesses will need is available within the CCI’s business information room. We’ll also have a full time staff member to monitor the room and answer questions. We’ll have “how-to” classes for using the Internet and Microsoft programs.

This summer, I’ve started a Mongolian-American culture club through the Chamber of Commerce. The other PCVs in town attend the classes when they’re in town. We talk about subjects like education, families, healthcare, etc…

Also, I’m in the information-gathering segment for an Ovorkhangai website. The website will be targeted towards foreign tourists who speak English. It will feature Arvaikheer, the aimag capital, and all of the other soums, especially Harhorin, Hujirt, and Bat-Ulzii. My counterparts and I are visiting all of the hotels, restaurants, and businesses in Arvaikheer, Harhorin, Hujirt, and Bat-Ulzii to gather information and take pictures. The smaller soums will tell us the business’ information over the telephone.  This summer will be used for information gathering, and writing the website will begin in the fall.

I’m working on a few other secondary projects at the moment, too. I’m teaching private English lessons to my counterparts and director. I’m working on a few health-related projects with World Vision. I’m finishing up a bank service English class. I’ve been assigned a classroom in America to correspond with, through the Worldwise schools program.

My mother will visit me this next week. We’ll travel around the Gobi, hang out at my site, and see the ancient capital, Harhorin.  Naadam will be held on July 10th and 11th in Arvaikheer. The national Naadam holiday is July 11, 12, 13.

After Naadam, it’s rumored that most Mongolians go on vacation, and work dwindles down. Hopefully, this isn’t so because lately I’ve been on a roll with fulfilling and interesting work.

Overall, I’m happy living here in Mongolia. I have good coworkers and contacts for secondary projects, which allows me to be productive at my work. I have Mongolian and American friends. I have access to the Internet and a wide variety of books to read.

I’ll give an update after my Gobi trip. Check out my newly updated pictures to my Flickr account.