New Semester New Book

Well, the last week has been pretty busy. I tested and interviewed about 70 new students for our classes to begin next week. Still had too many for the openings we had and that is the most difficult part, telling someone they didn't make the cut. My other big problem is class time - so many students just can't make it to the 4:30 classes because of work or traffic or school. I have a Saturday class for the first time and there is already a huge waiting list. Maybe next semester, I'll have to have more weekend classes.

The other surprise wonderful news is I have a new book credit out. It's called "Preliminary Practices of Tsa-Tsas" and has just been published by FPMT. In 2007, when I was doing volunteer work at Nalanda Monastery outside of Toulouse France, I spent a lot of time in the tsa-tsa studio as part of my work on the shrine in the new gompa. The tsa-tsa studio is responsible for making the rubber molds used all over the world to make tsa-tsas. One day, Director Tendar was asked if we could provide cover pictures for a new edition of the Preliminary Practices and he asked me to do it. I must have taken a couple dozen pictures of various molds, tsa-tsas, arrangements and backgrounds. Much harder than you think. But now, over two years later, it's finally on the shelves and here is the cover:

So, go the Foundation Store and order a copy today

(sorry but I don't make any royalties).

Well, classes start on Monday and again I'll have 100 students in 4 different levels, plus teaching at the community center, teaching the sangha on Sundays, and continuing to tutor the staff. Now if only I could work more on my Mongolian.

For those living in Kansas City, I am flying in for a visit on February 6th to the 27th. Then it's back to Mongolia for our Spring semester in March. Hope to see you all.

Short trip to Darkhan

On Sunday, I rode with Roy, Ani Gyalmo, and Ani P, to Darkhan, Mongolia's second largest city (Ulaanbaatar 1 million, Darkhan 100,000) which is about a three hour drive through the countryside. I think we drove through three small towns in all that time. Saw a lot of goats. It was a nice drive, with the skies clear but it was definitely cold. The National Swine Flu Emergency Measures prohibiting public transportation between towns were relaxed and we saw one bus.

Beautiful as it looks but cold, very cold

Reminds me of Wyoming

What do you say "Get along little goatie"?

Ani Gyalmo was in Darkhan to teach first a Meditation class, then an hour later, Buddhism in a Nutshell, at the Golden Light Sutra Center. But for me it was a working trip too, despite Roy's claim it was just 'a chance to get some fresh air'. During the break in Ani Gyalmo's classes, I met with the president of the local Buddhist Students Association. He wanted to discuss ways I might be able to help the members learn English. They had received funding from Gandan Monastary for a part time teacher and the students themselves were going to rent a classroom, but they still needed books. Hopefully I can help the find what they need.

Dogie translating for Ani Gyalmo

After Ani Gyalmo's classes, we ate at a nearby restaurant which was really just a converted apartment on the first floor. Our table was in what some might call the front bedroom. Nice to be able to close the door and limit the amount of cigarette smoke. Good food, cheap and the waitress was sweet.

The center maintains an apartment for visiting teachers. It was a nice apartment, on the first floor - no climbing up steps. And compared to my room back in Ulaanbaatar, it was quite warm - actually too warm. I didn't sleep well because it was almost stifling hot, not usually a complaint during a Mongolian winter.

Woke early Monday to make the three hour drive back to Ulaanbaatar. A really beautiful landscape. Unfortunately, as we neared Ulaanbaatar, the smog was so thick, you couldn't even see the city. Welcome home. A quick lunch and then had to get ready for 'new student' testing and interviews tonight. Back to work.

An amazing landscape

Made in Mongolia

Well, next week is Thanksgiving and that can only mean one thing, Christmas Shopping! Okay, maybe it's not the only thing, but it's definitely the season for it. I know many people this year will be limiting their shopping due to tight finances but, if for any reason you might have some cash on hand to buy a few things, you might consider things "made in Mongolia".

Davaa, who was our director at the dharma center for the last year, is now working at 'MiM'. Here's what their website says:

Made in Mongolia is a new range of handcrafted felt products. Working in partnership with the ASRAL, MiM is a non-profit initiative that allows Mongolians to use local resources sustainably to improve their livelihoods while maintaining traditional skills. MiM aims to provide greater self sufficiency to women, and their communities.

Made in Mongolia's work focuses on two areas: the ger district of Ulaanbaatar, the capital city and Ondershil, a remote settlement in the Gobi. In both cases there is little or no work either due to lack of skills or lack of employment opportunities. MiM works to help empower mostly women, the poorest sector of society, providing them with an easily accessible and sustainable source of income.

Mongolian women – and occasionally men – learn traditional felt-making as well as sewing and embroidery, and spinning and knitting techniques. This provides them with both invaluable skills and an immediate income from the products they produce. Many of the women are heads of households, the income they generate through handicrafts is essential in helping to sustain their families.

Over 220 women have now been trained on the handicraft projects in Ulaanbaatar and Ondershil. Several of the women involved have mental illnesses; handicrafts are an occupation they both enjoy and their families have said they have found therapeutic.

Working closely with Asral NGO, MiM© aims to provide comprehensive support to women and their families. Some of the mim© workers’ children attend the hot meal project providing children from the poorest families with a nutritious hot meal every day. Through this scheme they also receive educational support and sponsoring. Housing and medical aid have also been provided.

So, enough of this talking, lets see what you can order:

Tree Topper Santa

Warm Hats

Scarves and Tree Ornaments

Shoulder Bag & Hand Bag

And Warm Slippers

You can buy these at 'Made in Mongolia's Etsy.com shop right now. Hopefully they will be adding more items at the Etsy store, but if you really want to see some amazing work, go to their main website MadeInMongolia.net.  Happy Shopping.

Anglihel.com CD #1

Well, I'm sorry I haven't been better about updating the blog with the trails and tribulations of a volunteer ESL teacher in Mongolia but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Case in point: Anglihel.com CD #1

Our English dept website Anglihel.ning.com was started in May and every month sees more and more students taking advantage of what we've put together on the internet. But many of my students, while they have a computer or access to one, very few have internet access. So, how to get the materials from the web into their hands so they can actually take advantage of this technology.

So, in literally one day, I put together a CD that 'has everything.' And the cool thing was that many ESL websites online gave enthusiastic permission to put their material on the CD for the students.

Thank you so much for contacting us and asking our permission. Yes, most definitely. It's our pleasure and honor that you use our podcast and learning guides as part of your English teaching materials for your students in Mongolia.

Yoshi Kaneshima at CuLips.com

Not only have I put a ton of English lessons and ESL podcasts, but almost too much other stuff too: side-by-side English-Mongolian books, PDF books, audiobooks, Buddhist books and magazines, and even a video.

My plan is to offer these to the students at cost (hopefully less than $1) and create new CDs every couple of months. So, wish me luck.

Swine flu in Mongolia

From the American Embassy in Mongolia:

The Mongolian Ministry of Health has reported, as of November 5, 2009, 884 laboratory-confirmed cases. They reported 706 confirmed cases in Ulaanbaatar and 178 cases in 17 Aimags. On November 3, the State Emergency Commission has declared a state of 'increased preparedness' for the next two weeks which includes several emergency measures aimed at curbing the spread of H1N1 in Mongolia. The most important measures include: Temporarily suspending all cultural and sports events. Closing disco clubs and merchandise markets. Please note that food markets, public catering places, and restaurants will continue to operate. Extending the school and kindergarten break until Nov 17. Passenger transportation services between cities and towns will be limited and domestic travelers will be subject to temperature screening. All scheduled conferences, seminars, and military call-ups will be postponed for two weeks. Health care services will be provided in the university and college campuses and dormitories. No meetings or seminars involving delegates from provinces shall be organized in Ulaanbaatar.

For those back home, Missouri which has a population 3 times larger than Mongolia and has only reported about 180 cases of H1N1, compared to Mongolia's 900 cases. Even though Mongolia just had it's first case of swine flu a month ago, the news is reporting that Mongolia has the 2nd fastest rate of new cases of swine flu in the world this week. And, as you can imagine, the media doesn't always have its facts straight about H1N1, causing many people to panic.

Mongolia has it's share of respiratory illnesses because of the frigid dry winter air, but you can add severe pollution in Ulaanbaatar to that. Throw in a respiratory flu like H1N1 and you have a formula for disaster. And Mongolia's health care system is like many developing countries, not able to cope. The World Health Organization pledged enough vaccine for 2% of the population, about 3000 people in the whole country. And hospitals are reporting that they just don't have the oxygen capacity needed for so many patients. There are so many things we take for granted in the west.

Most of my students, for the last several weeks, have worn facemasks to and during class. They've gone far beyond 'white' to being of fashionable designs and colors. During that time, many questioned if we should continue classes or not. The mid-semester one-week break for school children was extended another week, and now extended to November 17th. Kindergartens are permanently closed until further notice. Bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues must close by 9PM, all in an effort to control the spread of the flu.

My class numbers for Tuesday were eight and five students for both of my classes (out of 40 registered). Wednesday the government told organizations to cancel all activities for the next two weeks. That means churches and temples like ours have to close our doors. We only had two more weeks of English classes, so we just decided to end the semester early instead of postponing classes. Once the ban for gathering lifts, we'll have registration for the next semester.

ENGLISH CLASSES CANCELLED
FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS

No one has been sick at the center, so life goes on pretty much like it always does. I have a little break to rest and to catch up, which I needed badly. But don't worry, it won't be a holiday as I still have too much work to do. Life goes on, doesn't it.

A typical day, or not so typical

Okay, I'm sorry I haven't posted a new update to the blog in a while but there just didn't seem anything blog-worthy lately. That's not to say that every day isn't over-filled with activity, it's just more of the same day-to-day stuff. But, in the interest of investigation, I thought it might be an interesting experiment to document 'my day'.

Last night: Well, since it usually affects my day, I thought I'd mention last night as well. Was up late, very late: grading tests, making a new test to be given tomorrow (now today), downloading the latest version of Xubuntu - a low-memory Linux version of Ubuntu that I want to load on Daria's old personal laptop computer to give it new life but I wanted to test it first, wrote several suggested policy's concerning storage (things people leave behind) and the supervision of guests-volunteers-former employees, edited a flyer Munguu, our office manager, needs to advertise rentals of our apartment building (part of the centers income). And did a load of laundry. I think I went to bed around 2AM.

This morning: Got up, dressed and went to the basement boiler room to get my laundry from the clothes line we have in there. Everything was dry except the pants I wanted to wear today because they were too close to the window where you could feel the arctic-like wind coming through.

After a breakfast of four pieces of toast, buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon, I unlocked the PTE office to work a bit more on the nun's computer. I had picked it up from the nunnery because they don't have an internet connection. Because of viruses (I think Mongolia has more computer viruses per capita than anywhere in the world), I decided to load Ubuntu, a Linux operating system, on it, especially since they can't do an online update of Windows virus software. The nuns have been using it here at the center without any problem so I think it will be okay at the nunnery, except for a few of the other nuns who are used to Windows. Transferred some videos and other Buddhist teachings on MP3s before packing it up to take back.

Came down to the office and printed off the test for today out at Dolma Ling, and made 20 copies. When I asked Munguu how many copies of the edited flyer I should print, she told me of another change to make - giving our apartment building a name like all the high-rent buildings in Ulaanbaatar - she decided on Mahayana Apartments - but no time to do it now, maybe when I get back from the community center. Also said hello to our new Director, Khatanbaatar, as this is his second day - guess his first day didn't scare him too much. [smile]

Then I checked Boloroo's computer again (she's our Director's assistant) - the screen locked up on her twice yesterday for no reason - I thought it might be the upgrade of the virus program so thought I'd do another scan - nothing - not sure what it could be. Sitting in the lobby waiting for Roy, who runs the FPMT NGO called 'Lamp of the Path', to come since he drives me out to the Dolma Ling Community Center every Tuesday, trying to stay out of Deger's way as she mops the floor. So, I'm loaded down with books, the test and the nun's computer to take back.

Taw-nee, the nun's kitten waiting for our ride

Drive to Dolma Ling: To me, it always seems like rush-hour no matter what time of the day I'm on the road. But today seemed real quick since Roy took a different route. At least I only have to do this one day a week. Roy is a good driver but I miss Ichkaa who is now teaching part-time at Mongolia National University.

Dolma Ling Nunnery: Hooked up the nun's computer and got it running. Showed both Ani Tsultrim and Ani Samten, the nunneries teachers from Kopan Nunnery in Katamandu, how to get to everything like teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, some of their Nepali music and a few videos about their home nunnery of Kopan in Katmandu Nepal. Then checked to make sure the MP3 CDs I burned for Ani Samten worked on her CD player - that way she could listen to the teachings of His Holiness without needing the computer in Ani Tsultrim's room. Next week I'll give a quick computer lesson to a few of the Mongolian nuns on how this new Linux computer is different from Windows.

Also talked with Ani Tsultrim about Ani Dolma - she is a young Mongolian nun with a smile that lights up the world but she can't read or write - she was trying to learn but couldn't afford the tutor so I was asking if there is something I can do to help - what she really needs is a speech therapist and a special education teacher.

Dolma Ling Community Center: Just finished talking to the nuns when I had to head next door to the community center where I teach English to the staff, some of the nuns and a few doctors from Mercy Hospital. Today about 10 students had a test - first I review everything that is on the test, then the students take the test, then we correct it as a class. Most did pretty well, especially for a beginner-beginner class.

The soup kitchen cook with a few of the nuns taking my test

After class, Dr Javza wanted me to look at her computer, the one she uses for the medical clinic. The community center offers free medical care for those who come to the soup kitchen. After Doljo translated, the story was that somehow the doctor deleted the clinics archive folder, all her documents since the clinic opened up to last year - not good! My only solution was to ask they not do anything more on the computer and let me take it back to the Shedrup Ling where I might be able to recover the files off the hard drive, and that's a big maybe. Just another good reason to have a backup policy and procedure.

Then we had lunch, the same lunch they serve in the soup kitchen - today it was rice, onions and potatoes. After that I typed up some of this blog while waiting on Doljo, the manager of the community center, to finish talking to Roy. Every week I tutor one-on-one many of the more advanced English speaking staff like Doljo. Every Tuesday I spend about an hour with Doljo going over the FPMT Handbook, our organization policy and procedures manual - she reads, I correct her pronunciation and then ask her about what she read.

Roy had asked for repairmen to come and look at the new nunnery water heater they had just installed that wasn't working, but they still hadn't showed up an hour after the appointment. So, Doljo wrote me a note in Mongolian to give to a taxi driver so I could get back to the center before class started. Roy walked with me part of the way through the ger district until we could see the bus stop where I could catch a taxi.

There are a few of the yellow cab type taxis in Ulaanbaatar but most taxis are just private individuals giving rides for pay, current rate of 58 cents/mile (500₮/km). For me it's sometimes hard to decide who is a taxi waiting for a fare and who is just waiting. One woman saw me wandering around the taxi area and waved me into her car. The ride back into downtown was more like I was used to, bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go for about a half an hour. The driver turned off her engine several times since we weren't moving. Got to the center about thirty minutes before my class.

As I entered the center, Boloroo met me at the door to tell me her computer had locked-up twice again today. I had thought it might be an upgraded anti-virus program but she told me she deleted the program and the computer still locked-up (wouldn't work, frozen). Not sure what else to do but copy all the documents and erase the whole hard drive and start over.

Talked to Ani Gyalmo about Ani Dolma. She's such a sweet girl and I want to help her, either with a tutor or even some books so she can learn to read and write. I stopped by the kitchen to get a cup of hot tea on my way to class and ran into Daria, one of our translators, and Regzedma, the children's program teacher, and they were joking about how they wanted to be my girlfriend. Munguu stopped me outside the office to tell me that she also needed the apartment building flyer file on a flash disk.

My 4:30 classes are always problematic because traffic is always bad and many students don't make it to class on time. And we have a strict policy stating that if you're 10 minutes late, the guards won't let you come to class. Had 8 (7 women and 1 guy) show up for class tonight. My 6:00 class was small to start with back in September and now I'm down to 5 consistent students, all women. My 10-week semester usually starts with about 18 per class and with just one week left, the low attendance doesn't surprise me.

After class let out at 7:30, I went upstairs to see if Roy had remembered to drop off Dr Javza's computer. Nyamgarel, the guard, said Roy had brought the car back, but he didn't see any computer. So, I went upstairs to begin work on changing the apartment flier and see if I could find out anything about monitoring employee internet usage for Roy. Got a great email from Travis, a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Mongolia about his plan to apply for a Fulbright grant and study Buddhism in Mongolia after he's finished with the Peace Corps. He said it could be about post-communism spirituality, enlightenment in our modern world and/or traditional spirituality and modern living. He asked if I would be one of his advisors - of course I agreed, Travis is a great guy and I know he well do great research, but I also told him that there were others here at FPMT Mongolia who could be valuable resources.

Had a bit of a chat with Ani Gyalmo who told me that Roy had brought the computer but it was still locked up in the car in the locked garage. Down three flights of stairs, getting a lot of exercise tonight, and out into the freezing cold to get the computer out of the car.

Jumped online to see what kind of software tools I could use to recover the missing files of Dr Javza and it turned out I had already downloaded a couple a few weeks ago when I had to help a poor girl figure out her forgotten Windows Vista password.

Set up the computer in the PTE office where I could use the Dharma computer keyboard and monitor. Tried a few Windows programs but ended up with several Linux systems like 'Parted Magic'. At about 2AM, finally was able to recover the folder the Doctor had accidentally deleted, some 900 files total, the whole archive of the community center medical clinic. Did a full backup of all of her files, updated her anti-virus software and started a full scan of the computer. I shut the door to the office at 2:43AM.

Never did get that shower today but I guess that's not the worst thing that can happen. Already thinking about tomorrow. Despite the late night, I won't be able to sleep in because I have a 9:00AM English lesson with Tsetsgee tomorrow and I want to make sure they take the Doctor's computer out to the community center. Checked my email one last time and fell into bed.