Last Christmas I gave you my heart, the very next day you gave it away

I have been a bad bad blogger. Blame Shin Jil (New Years) or blame George Michael for keeping me locked in his "Last Christmas" trance which I heard all throughout Shin Jil...or just blame me. Shin Jil was quite fun. Tinsel, glitter, and 80's Christmas' songs galore. There were 6 concerts at our school which I performed a dance in. I was one of about 10 "Snow Girls" which is Santa Claus' granddaughter. I felt like I was 5 years old as I was dressed up in my princess-like outfit! We performed for students grade by grade since the gym isn't big enough to hold all at once. My favorite concert was the one we performed for the wee bitty kids because they were in awe. So about 2 weeks prior to the concert I had two teachers ask me at different times, "What is the word for the little people?" Of course I answered with midgets. I thought this question was odd. I thought, "Maybe there is a midget in town...a new person in town" ha. Well, as soon as the Shin Jil concert rolled around I realized that they weren't asking about midgets; there was no midget in town, but they were talking about elves! ha. Anyway, they had two eleventh graders dressed up as elves for the concert and these little elves stirred up trouble throughout the concert by trying to take kids' presents from Santa or dancing foolishly behind the real concert performers. They were definitely entertaining and the little kids loved them especially! Christmas was rough but these Shin Jil events which combined Christmas and New Years brought my spirits up.

Aside from the concerts there was also a party for teachers at a local hotel. We had a nice meal (it cost me 10,000 tugriks which is more than 2 days of my living allowance so it better be nice! ha) with fruit, candy, and cake on the side. We played many Mongolian party games which I have to say often have a sexual undertone! One of the games was each department had a male and female pair to represent them. When the announcer said an article of clothing the female had to get it from their group and rush back to put it on the male....these articles ranged from skirt to hair clip to bra. All teachers were rushing to take off their articles! ha. I got a gift from Santa at this event which was nice of my school to do. I got juice, chocolate and other candies.

For New Year's Eve one of my teachers, Mugi, invited me over to her home. Only one other teacher went and both of their daughters were present. It was a nice quiet evening full of potato salad (a must at every gathering!), carrot salad with raisins, botata horuk (rice with meat and some vegetables), and cake. We also had this homemade Mongolian beer though I'm not sure if is technically beer. It was quite good unlike the Mongolian homemade vodka which I detest. The beer was made of fermented raisins. I hope to learn how to make it. I taught the teachers' daughters how to play MASH and we chatted. I was home by 10 though and I slept through the New Year. That was probably how I would have preferred it because I was exhausted from the social gatherings and concerts prior to this!

So I'm including a link to pictures of my ger. I took pictures so you can have a 360 degree view of my home. It's feeling more and more like home. Things have their place and it's more "me" now. I'm also including pictures of Thanksgiving, IST, teachers' concert and Shin Jil. Most are pictures of people because I am often pulled through events with my camera in hand so I can take mug shots of people. It can be annoying at times because I'd rather take pictures when people aren't looking! Despite this, I hope you all can see a little glimpse into my life. I have to say that at times I haven't written in here because I don't know what to say! Mongolian life has just become life in a way. I still feel like an American for sure though I think I have become more integrated at the same time. I'll do my best to describe everyday life and the "little things" in my next posts though. Miss you all!

GER PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2414406&l=b0235&id=10001323

SHIN JIL, etc. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2414420&l=5ddd6&id=10001323