January 5, 2007

I'm still in Mongolia, and I'm still having a great time. Everything is an adventure. I'm getting more used to the meeker rides. They don't make me sick to my stomach anymore, and actually it feels pretty good to squish in with all those other people when you're freezing. You learn to let go of your need for personal space, although I definitely could have used a little bit more personal space when I was sitting right across and knee to knee with this Mongolian teenager who was hungover and about to puke. Sister Hunt and I sat there watching him like he was a time bomb about to go off. Luckily we made it out nice and dry.

Speaking of Sister Hunt and her arm, which we weren't really speaking about, but anyway she broke it yesterday! We were playing human Frogger trying to cross the street and it had been snowing all day so the road was really slippery and she slipped and fell right on her arm. We weren't very far from home so we went there and called the mission doctor. He saw her last night and we went to a Mongolian hospital this morning to get some x-rays taken. Its "fractured," and she'll have to wear a plaster cast (Mongolian medicine is a few years behind), but she'll be alright.

Sister Hunt and I teach English and two different schools and we'll be adding a third but they don't start until the beginning of February. I really like teaching English. One of our classes only has about six people in it who are all at different levels but we just practice talking and help them with pronounciation. We don't teach a lot of grammar, we just focus on everyday skills like introducing yourself and talking about your family. The other school we teach at, the Jonan Institute, has about twenty students in the class who are all around twenty years old. This class could be a lot of fun if it weren't for the man we affectionately refer to as "The Weasel."

The Weasel apparently runs the school and therefore thinks it's his job to sit in on all of our classes and translate everything we say (incorrectly) into Mongolian, thereby insuring that the students don't actually learn anything. He's pretty well-to-do, and rich Mongolians can't help but want to show off all that they have and know. His wife insisted on picking us up for the first day of class (we live like four blocks away) just so we could ride in their big fancy car. No one really showed up to class on New Year's Day and instead of letting us go the Weasel made us sit there for an hour and teach him. It's like he thinks its the Jonan Institute for The Weasel or something. Last class, however, we did this really fun activity where the students had to describe a picture to another classmate as they tried to draw it on the board (thanks Sister Infanger!) and since the Weasel couldn't find a way to get involved and show off his english skills he just left. He popped in his head a few minutes later just to let everyone know he had an appointment "at the Palace" and would be leaving. Later Weasel!

There's a school just outside our apartment building, and they have this huge skating rink that is always full of kids. We can see it from the windows in our apartment, and we spend more time than I would like to admit just standing there watching the kids skate around and, if we're lucky, fall down flat on their faces/backs/sides/eachother. Its better than having a TV. My favorite is when really little kids get out there because they fall a lot, but they don't have very far to fall so it's okay. There's this one little guy we named Little Levis (cuz he's little and always wears levis, clever huh?) who just has the biggest heart and drive but not the skills to back it up. He falls every five seconds, but he always gets back up. We should all be a little more like Little Levis.

Speaking of falling (get ready, this one actually makes sense), I've taken a few dives myself since coming to Mongolia. I made it my whole first week without falling down and was feeling pretty sure of myself, but then I just started slipping all over the place and I fell three times in two days. I felt pretty dumb, but then as Sister Hunt was assuring me that I would get better at walking around on all this ice she slipped herself. It was a beautiful moment, and now she has a broken arm. Oh, actually that's kinda sad.

We had FHE at that same family's house this last Monday night. It was on New Year's Day, so we planned to talk about making goals for the new year and decided to challenge the family to make a goal of going to the temple this year. We started teaching the lesson and then the father told us that they had already prayed and set a goal to attend the temple as a family that morning. It was pretty cool. And then, the little boy ran over to the sink and threw up because he had eaten too many buuz (mongolian meat dumplings) that day. Altogether it was a lovely evening.

Well, Sister Hunt and I are off to do some souvenier shopping. I hope the new year is treating you well. Congratulations also to Greg for being accepted at the One True Blue university. You make me proud. You better live in Heritage your freshman year.

Love,
Sister Johnson

P.S. In case you were wondering, I haven't felt too sick so far. I've had diarrhea since my first week, but I watch what water I drink and haven't been served anything bad by well-meaning members...yet.