As I was saying...

I went to Mongolia. In August of 2008. It is now 2010, and I am still attempting to update my blog. The more time that passed, the more stuff I would have to add to my blog. And thinking about updating all that stuff got me feeling a little overwhelmed. So I was ignoring all the updating I needed to do... until now. Because I don't feel like doing my work... and I want to procrastinate.

So Mongolia. After spending a week traveling around the countryside, I volunteered at a summer camp for orphans. Also in the countryside. There were about 15 volunteers from many different countries working at the camp. Lovely people. The kids were really friendly and seemed starved for attention. Actually, the kids just seemed starved in general. I'm not sure they were given much food. one of the volunteers told me that some kids were looking for potato peels and bones in the trash because they were so hungry.

We organized many activities for the kids. Sports competitions, Mongolian idol, a dance party, art classes, dance classes, origami classes, and my specialty: English classes. As the only person from an English-speaking country (and the only person with experience teaching English), I was unofficially in charge of the daily English classes. With very limited supplies (we quickly ran out of paper), it was a challenge to think of teaching activities. But with the help of my fellow volunteers, we managed to pull it off. One boy enjoyed the classes so much that he would follow me around while asking, "Amy Teacher? English? Now?" I suppose that was better than the little girl who would say to people, "You monkey! You stupid monkey!"

The second week of the summer camp, it started to get cold. Below freezing at times. Uncomfortable, considering there was no heat anywhere at the camp. It alsos made my trips to the outhouse quite chilly. I suppose I shouldn't complain about the outhouse-with-no-door. We had an outhouse! Considering that many Mongolians do their business on the grass, I felt like I was living in luxury. Or as close to luxury as you can get without running water. Or showers. And needing to boil water from a stream so you can have something to drink.

Despite feeling dirty and cold, I still enjoyed volunteering at the summer camp. I made some new friends, and I was pretty tempted to take home a few orphans. Until I realized that I can't be the mother of 10-year-olds right now (or a year and a half ago). So I waved goodbye to the kiddies and headed home.

You probably already know

that I visited Mongolia in August. A number of months ago, I blogged about the frustrations of arranging transportation for my trip. Happily, everything worked out fine. The large chunk of money that I wired to a Mongolian bank account ended up with valid plane tickets! i was relieved about that.

As I was flying to Ulaanbaatar, I looked out the window of the plane. From what I could see, there wasn't a whole lot in Mongolia. A few gers here and there. Some mountains. But mostly empty, flat land.

The day after I arrived, I set out on a 5 day tour of central Mongolia. Because there is close to no public transportation in the country (people get around by hitchhiking), I needed a jeep and driver. A few other people came on the trip, including a translator/guide.

In most of the country, there weren't any roads. I was really impressed with our driver who, for 5 days, never seemed to get lost. He always seemed to know which dirt road led where. Often we didn't even drive on dirt roads- we just drove on the grass. This made for quite a bumpy ride.

Often the driver had to stop the van to wait for herds of animals to pass. We passed herds of horses, sheep, goats, yaks, cows... In those 5 days, I probably saw more animals than the total human population of Mongolia.

After driving many hours each day, we stopped to sleep at a ger. Sometimes we slept in a ger for tourists. Other times, we were house guests and slept in a ger while the owners camped outside.


The first night, someone asked where there was a toilet. The guide laughed a bit before declaring that nature is the toilet. Everywhere is a toilet! The gers we visited didn't have electricity or running water. A few had pit toilets, but most didn't have any kind of toilet at all. People just go on the grass wherever they want. There is so much land and so few people in Mongolia that the chances are small that someone will happen to walk by your "toilet."




On this trip, I sampled the staples of a Mongolian diet. Mutton, dried & curdled milk, fermented horse milk, and noodles made of flour. Because our guide (who doubled as our cook) was being thoughtful while grocery shopping in Ulaanbaatar, we also had some pasta, carrots, and potatoes.

Here you can see some horse milk sitting in a bucket. It is curdling, fermenting, and/or drying. I have no idea. About half of Mongolian food looks like this while it is being prepared. (Prepared = sitting exposed to the flies for a few days)

There were a lot of bugs in Mongolia. Surprising considering how cold the country gets. You would think that everything would die in the winter when it is minus a bazillion degrees outside. Mongolians have an excellent way of keeping away mosquitos. They burn dung, which actually smells like strong incense.

At the end of this 5 day tour, I returned back to my hotel in Ulaanbaatar tired and more excited than I've ever been in my entire life to take a shower. Remember: dusty dirt roads and no running water. I enjoyed the luxury of a shower and a little bit of TV. That evening, a Mongolian wrestler won Mongolia's first ever Olympic medal. As you can imagine, there was a bit of celebratory chaos outside.

I woke up early the next morning to meet my ride to a summer camp for Mongolian orphans.

Goodbye, Okinawa!

My job in Okinawa ended in August 2008. I taught at so many schools, and everyone wanted to have a goodbye party for me. Here are some pictures from my last day with 3 different schools.

All of the students and most of the staff from Kayo Elementary School

First and second grade at Kushi Elementary School.

Sesoko Elementary School's 1st-3rd grade.

I also had a goodbye party with just staff from Kushi Elementary School. The teachers at that school were very nice and welcoming. They always included me in staff parties, even though I only went to the school once a week. In this picture, everyone is giving me a "good job" thumbs up.

At this party, a few of the teachers were a little bit drunk. In Japan, being drunk means that you can finally say what you've been wanting to say for a long time. One of these teachers said something to me that I decided to take as a very nice compliment. I could also have taken it as a backhanded compliment, but I'm sure it wasn't intended that way. This teacher told me that I seem like a Japanese lady, not an American one.

I'm sure that telling me I act like a Japanese lady is just about the best compliment a Japanese person could give me. But it makes me wonder why they have a negative impression of American women? Is it because the only American women they see are affiliated with the military and might not be so welcome on the island? Do they have a negative view of American women from the media and Hollywood movies? Or do they simply believe that Japanese women are the cream of the crop? In any case, I figured this meant that the staff like me a lot, so I was happy.

I also had a goodbye party with the staff from my office. They dressed me up in a yukata for the occasion. My supervisor actually had to come to my apartment to dress me because I didn't know how to put everything on. My lovely supervisor, pictured below, was kind enough to let me stay at her house my last night on the island.

I'm not in Japan!

Anyone know how to include the correct time and date when I post? My computer know the correct time and date, but blogger thinks I'm still in Japan. How do I change that setting?

It has been a while.

A few people have commented that I really need to update my blog. Fair enough. I suppose there is no excuse for my extended absence from the blog. But due to today's heavy snow, I will give you my snowball reason.

My lack of blogging first occurred because I was traveling for a few weeks in a place with no running water, let alone Internet access. By the time I got home, I had to deal with finding a new job, jet lag, unpacking from 2 years away... And then I was busy with working. And then I was busy with traveling and fun things. And then I realized that I really needed to update my blog. But the more interesting things I did, the more I would have to add to my blog. And that would be a lot of work! So I've been avoiding updating my blog because I have so much to write. My snowball has been getting bigger and bigger.

It is now time to melt a little bit of that snowball. I'll do this in chronological order, starting with my last few weeks in Okinawa.

My first sand castle.

made without shovels or buckets. perhaps it is Okinawan style castle ruins?

Strange Things I've Seen While Driving to and from Work

Recently, I was driving to work through the middle of nowhere, and I saw a woman brushing her teeth. She was standing in a parking lot. I thought this was very strange. It made me think that I have seen some other interesting things while driving to and from work.

Occasionally I drive past a hardware store when I drive to work. If I time things right, I can drive past the store when the employees are doing their morning exercises in the parking lot. This group of macho-looking men stretches together in the parking lot every morning.

While driving home from work, I sometimes see elementary school children crossing the street. For some reason, Japanese children are taught that they should raise a hand while crossing the street. Perhaps to make themselves more visible? I always find it entertaining (and a bit strange) to see a line of kids crossing the street, all with hands raised.

Children are not the only ones with strange street-crossing habits. In my neighborhood, dogs cross the street at crosswalks. I don't know why they do this. Are Japanese dogs particularly smart? Did someone teach this behavior to all the stray dogs in the area?

Don't touch another person's hat.

and other interesting tidbits from lonely planet Mongolia:

Traveling in Mongolia is difficult for even a healthy adult.

Mongolian food is difficult to stomach no matter what your age.

Out in the countryside, potatoes are often considered exotic, leavened bread a treat, and spices a cause for concern.

The classic Mongolian dinner staple is referred to simply as "makh," or meat, which consists of boiled bones, fat, indiscernible organs, and the skull, all sent swimming in a plastic bucket.

Authentic Mongolian barbeque first involves pulling the innards out of the neck of a goat or marmot. The carcass is then stuffed full of scalding rocks and the neck cinched up with wire. The bloated animal is then thrown upon a fire (or blowtorched) to burn the fur off the outside while the meat is cooked from within.

It's worth knowing that the bubonic plague, or Black Death as it was known in medieval Europe, can be passed by handling marmot skins.

It is not easy to convince a Mongolian that you don't want to drink alcohol.

If camping, make sure that no drunks have seen you set up your camp- otherwise they will invariably visit you during the night.

Burn dried dung if you are being eaten alive by mosquitos.

No matter how many times you're offered hem, dinosaur bones and eggs are definitely not souvenirs (legal ones anyway).

Strangely, there are only about three intact toilet seats in the entire country.

Go to all airports at least two hours before departure on the assumption that you will have to struggle to get a seat on the flight, even if you have a ticket.

Injuries sustained from falling off a horse are common in the summer season.

Mongolians have over 300 words to describe the country's two million horses, mostly related to coloring.

In the countryside, some dogs are so damn lazy that you are unlikely to get a whimper if a hundred lame cats hobbled past; others may almost head-butt your vehicle and chase it for 2km or 3 km while drooling heavily.

How to Get a Chinese Visa

Or more accurately, How to Get a Double Entry Chinese Visa for Travel During the Beijing Olympics if you Live in Okinawa (and an Assortment of Other Lengthy Comments on Organizing My Trip to Mongolia).

Back in college, I decided I wanted to volunteer at a summer camp in Mongolia. I applied for a grant from the Office of Volunteer Services to pay for it. And my application was rejected. Why? Was my application essay not convincing enough? Did my fellow students have much more impressive and heart-warming volunteer proposals? Or did the folks at the Office of Volunteer Services know just how hard it would be for me to actually get to Mongolia? As I am headed there this summer, I am finding out just how hard it is to get there.

To the best of my knowledge, there are 4 ways to get there. Though Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan. Coming from Russia and China, you can fly or take a train. From anywhere else, you have to fly. Flights from Japan are infrequent and expensive. Any Japanese person who would even consider going to Mongolia would probably be going on a very expensive guided tour. I am not about to go on a very expensive guided tour. Flying from Okinawa to South Korea to Mongolia is not so cheap either. So I decided to save money and redeem frequent flyer miles.

Easier decided than done. There are only a handful of airlines that fly to Mongolia. Mongolia is a remote location. Similarly, there are only a handful of airlines that fly to Okinawa. Okinawa is also a remote location. So I spent much time on the internet (and calling airlines) to find out if there was a way to get from Japan to Ulaanbaatar while flying one airline group.

Yes! There was a way! I could fly Korean Air from Fukuoka! Korean Air is partners with Delta! I had a lot of miles with Delta! And according to the flight reward chart, I had enough miles for the flight. So I happily called Delta to redeem my miles for a free flight to Mongolia. BUT. There were blackout dates. For some reason, Korean Air wouldn't let me fly on certain dates in August. So I decided I could work around those dates. I asked for the earliest flight possible. And the Delta guy found one! And just as he was about to book my free flight, he realized that Korean Air considered the 2 legs of my flight to be 2 different flights. And I would have to pay double the number of miles... which I didn't have.

So then I decided to find the cheapest way to get to Mongolia. If I couldn't fly for free, then I'd fly partially for free. I was able to redeem miles for a free flight between Okinawa and Beijing! From Beijing, I decided I would take the Trans-Mongolian Railway to Ulaanbaatar. It would be interesting taking a 30 hour long train ride through the middle of nowhere. And so I looked into reserving train tickets.

After much researching, I decided that it was impossible to buy Trans-Mongolian tickets on the internet. And, after consulting with the Lonely Planet Tans-Siberian Railway guidebook, I still had no idea how to buy my tickets without actually going in person to Beijing or Ulaanbaatar first. And so I had to do something that I wasn't too happy about. I had to accept that I couldn't do it myself and that I had to use a travel agent.

So I contacted two travel agents- one in China and one in Mongolia. And I found out some troubling news: the Chinese government decided that during the Olympics, no one could make a reservation for an international train ticket more than 3 days in advance. It made me a little uncomfortable booking my ticket at the last minute, but what choice did I have? I looked into plane tickets, and flying was a lot more expensive than taking the train.

With my transportation to Mongolia and back to China still up in the air, it was time to apply for my Chinese visa. Unfortunately, China wouldn't let me apply for my visa through the mail. And as there isn't a Chinese Consulate on my island, I would have had to fly to mainland Japan during business hours to both drop off and pick up my passport. Not so easy (or cheap) to do! So once again, I had to turn to a travel agent for help.

The travel agent required the following documents in order to process my visa application: proof of residence from city hall, confirmation of a hotel reservation for each night I would be in China, a copy of my e-ticket for the flights between Japan and China, a copy of my e-ticket for my flights between China and Mongolia, the application form, a photo, and my passport. But wait! I didn't have a reservation for flights between China and Mongolia. I wanted to take the train!

Too bad. I would have to book plane tickets. Again, I went through a travel agent. And unfortunately, the travel agent with the lowest price was in Mongolia and wouldn't accept credit cards. Apparently the credit card system was broken. And so I had to send an international bank transfer. I went to the closest bank after work to ask about the transfer and was told I'd have to go to a bank in Nago. So I went to my bank in Nago. And someone there told me I'd have to go to a different branch of the bank in Nago. So finally I showed up at the correct branch, and I filled out the paperwork. And although I didn't have the branch name for the bank in Mongolia (I suspect there is only one branch of the bank, so there was no need to specify the branch name.), the money went through! After a week of waiting and the unfortunate added expense of sending the transfer.

The day after the Mongolian travel agency emailed me the itinerary for my e-ticket, I printed a copy and dropped it off with the travel agent. And then I worried about whether or not I would actually be able to get my visa. I had heard rumors that China stopped giving out multiple entry visas for this summer. Worry worry worry worry... And then 2 weeks (and a lot of yen later), I was able to pick up my visa! Finally! Soon I'll be on my way to Mongolia! Take that, Office of Volunteer Services!

Weekend Escape

I took advantage of the long weekend to meet up with a friend in Hiroshima. It was nice to get off my island. Nice to see someplace new. Nice to be someplace urban. Nice to visit with my friend.

We went to Miya Jima for the day. The deer on the island apparently eat paper. These are fighting over a piece of paper someone gave them. Yum!

Of course we visited the famous shrine.

Then we took a cable car up to the top of the mountain for the supposedly scenic view. But it was raining reasonably hard, and we could only see mist. There were some really cute monkeys at the top of the mountain. It seems that monkeys don't like rain, because these guys were all huddled together with unhappy looks on their faces. The hike down the mountain was quite wet and rainy.

The next day, we learned all about the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. And while we were taking a break on a bench, some random guy came over to talk to us. And a minute later, this other random guy came over, asking for help with his English homework. I was actually quite relieved when the second guy came over because the first one was a little bit creepy. While I was distracted with helping guy #2 with his English homework, creepy guy #1 started trying to take a picture of me with the camera on his cell phone.

Eventually we managed to get rid of both guys. And then I said to my friend, "See?? I told you random people try to take pictures of me!" Because the day before, I got the feeling that 2 ladies on the street car were trying to take a picture of me. This actually happens to me quite a lot. And whenever I tell people, they always think that I'm paranoid. But yes, people do take pictures of me. And yes, people do stare at me, ignoring other foreigners who might be around. This has happened to me in just about every Asian country I've visited. So while I was weirded out that a strange guy was taking a picture of me, I was also happy that I had a witness. I'm not paranoid! People really do watch me!

Temples of Penang, Malaysia

Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Burmese

The Iban of Sarawak: Day 2

After waking up quite early due to the sound of about a million roosters crowing, it was time to climb down from the longhouse. Easier said than done. The only way to exit the longhouse is by climbing down a really steep and narrow ladder-stairs. It takes a bit of time to climb up or down, and it is designed this way to prevent enemies from rushing into the longhouse.

The first activity of the day was to learn how to use a blowpipe. The Iban hunt (animals and enemies) by blowing a poison dart through a long tube. Fortunately, I wasn't aiming at any animals or people. Instead, I tried to aim at a mango nailed to a tree. Aiming was harder than I expected since my arms were not quite strong enough to hold the heavy pipe steady. After shooting three darts, none of which hit the mango, I decided I'd leave the killing-by-poison-dart to more capable hands.

Next a guide took us on a walk through the jungle. Mosquitos swarmed around me the whole time. Even though I had applied bug spray 4 times prior to entering the jungle, I was still amazed that not a single mosquito bit me! On the jungle walk, we learned about how the Iban make booby traps and use various plants in the area. We also saw some traditional Iban graves.

And finally, before the one hour boat ride and 4 hour van ride back to town, we watched a cock fight. Cock fighting is illegal in Malaysia. But the Iban have a special permit for cock fighting. They used to settle territory disputes with cock fights. The owner of the winning rooster got to keep the land in question. Now, they mostly do cock fighting to teach visitors about their way of life. Watch a video of the fight! Hear why I woke up so frustratingly early! I swear there are a million of them!