Spring in Mongolia, back in the saddle, Family History, UB museum

 

Winter Festival in Inner Mongolia - Photo courtesy of China News Service

Signs of spring. Contrary to the long, cold winter in the United States, the weather in Mongolia has been relatively mild by Mongolian standards. It has been consistently in the -15 to -20 F range with a few exceptions.

A child had some fun

There have been a few light snowfalls but no “snow days”. The last couple of days the weather has "soared" to + 20 F and it feels like spring. Off come the big winter muffin coats  - finally.

Actually Tsaagan Sar or the lunar new year marks the official beginning of spring in Mongolia. That is the way Mongolians speak of it.

It seems odd to hear people mention spring in the middle of February with temperatures well below zero. We’ve have spring for almost a month in Mongolia.

The winter ice festival at Lake Khovskul was cancelled this year because of thin ice on the lake. Last year people could drive vehicles on the lake ice until Mid-March. That is the way we remember last winter – very cold.

So you won’t feel "left out in the cold", here is another picture from a winter festival in Inner Mongolia, courtesy of the China News Service.

 

The main problem this winter in Ulaanbaatar has been the smoke from coal burning fires. Winter is still unpleasant and the smoke pollution in the air is irritating if not dangerous.

English teaching. We had our first Thursday night class. We had over thirty students. It was fun and energizing. We will teach on Thursday nights for the rest of our time in Mongolia. We will teach them the idiom, “Back in the saddle”. We teach three idioms at the beginning of each class.

"Chewing the fat" after class

We were so busy that we didn’t take of picture of all our class. By the time I remembered, it was after class was over and only a small group of students were left and involved in a small group discussion.

A new member enters her family history information on Family Tree. Monkhjargal is interpreting for us.

Family History. We are scheduling what we hope to be an eventful meeting with the National Archives during March. We continue to meet and train Family History Consultants on Saturdays and by appointment.

Two of our young Family History Consultants in the UB Family History Center

We are organizing our files for our eventual successors. As far as we know, no couple is currently in the pipeline to replace us. If you are a retired church member and you love Family History, and would like an adventurous mission, talk to your Bishop. Soon!

Puujee, Country Adviser for Mongolia, will "man the fort" (another idiom) until help arrives.

The early days of Ulaanbaatar - Gandan Monastery was the old city center



A little Mongolian history. I took a little side trip to the Ulaanbaatar City Museum about a block and a half from our office. I was able to get some interesting pictures of Ulaanbaatar "back in the day". 

Breshnev - a relic of Russian influence in Mongolia




Depiction of 1943 Naadam celebration and parade

Darlene and I will visit the National Art Museum before we leave.

The beautiful and the ugly - "Ugly as sin"