I've got a golden ticket!

My kindergarten class also went on a field trip this past week. Wednesday we went to the Golden Gobi chocolate factory. Golden Gobi is a well-known factory in Mongolia and they make awesome chocolate. The trip was actually planned the day before making it pretty short notice but I don't think anyone had a problem with that! We encouraged the kids to bring some money to buy some chocolate and I definitely brought some of my own! We took about 15, 5-year-olds and packed them all on a little bus. The kids were so excited and I have to admit, I was too. It took us about an hour to get out of the city. The factory was just on the edge of UB. The kids were getting a little restless and the infamous "are we there yet" started.
Once we finally got there, I was surprised to see a little building with a little sign. I guess I was imagining something out of Willy Wonka... sadly, there wasn't a song and dance or a funky man with a top hat and a cane. There was a nice man named Mr. Robert though! We piled in the door and headed to the office where Mr. Robert showed us a video of where chocolate comes from and how it is prepared. We also saw pictures of the things you could do with chocolate like make clothes, wigs,and  life-size race cars. Needless to say, the kids were already pretty impressed. We also tasted some pure coco shaving with no added sugar (that was interesting). The next step was putting on our gear of lab coats/capes, blue hair nets, and plastic shoes. The kids got a kick out of wearing the ensemble.

We finally were ready to head down
 to the factory. As soon as we walked down the steps, the aroma of chocolate was AMAZING!!!! I had never wanted chocolate so badly
before! The factory was a little space with about 7 machines, some refrigerators, and shelves. Mr. Robert showed us each machine and told us about pouring chocolate into molds, making chocolate bars, and making chocolate covered peanuts and raisins. The best part of the trip was when he let us taste some of the chocolates! He put down some trays of different kinds and Ms. Emily said we could have 5 each... yeah that number went down the drain really fast... At the end of the tour we had to stop by the sink as every child's hands and face had turned brown. We ended the tour by heading upstairs where the kids could buy some chocolate lollypops; and I couldn't pass down the opportunity to buy some dark chocolate and chocolate covered peanuts! The whole trip was a success and I think all of the kids, and adults, LOVED it! Now I know what you're thinking... 'you went on a field trip to a chocolate factory and then brought them back to school? They are going to be hyper from the chocolate!' Well when we got back to school we still had about 2 hours left. Luckily, it was P.E. day so we sent them to P.E. and then took them to recess. After that we sent them home :)

Nicole

Are we there yet?

On Monday I went with my second graders on a field trip to the 13th Century Village. I LOVE going on field trips especially in a different country! So on Monday morning we loaded up 14 kids and 3 adults onto the school bus. Then the adventure began. You should know by now that the driving in Mongolia is a little like NASCAR and bumper cars put together! Also, it seems that most don't care about seat belts or the usual car safety rules. So we spent the entire ride there and back telling the kids to sit down. I assume the source of us repeating SIT DOWN and STOP SPEAKING MONGOLIAN was due to the excitement of the field trip and not the lack of listening skills! Another idea to remember is to NOT let boys sit in the back of the bus (not a good idea). We had many arguments over the fact that the boys were not sharing their snacks with each other (did I mention that they weren't supposed to be eating their snacks yet). We were hoping that since they were allowed to bring ipods, cameras, and cell phones ( yes, the 2nd graders have nicer phones then I do) that the trip might be relatively quiet. (Did I mention that some of them had an iPhone?)  Our thought system was WAY off base with that! So we decided to try to distract them with "Hey, who can see the train?" or "Who can see all the lambs and goats?" That didn't work very well either.

We are still on the road in the countryside when we hear those dreaded words "I have to go to the bathroom!" Now there are no rest stops in Mongolia so you have to make your own. So we stop and take the bathroom break with the first boy back on the bus declaring that he "was the winner!" So everyone is loaded back up and we start going again. IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. We learn that in fact we are not going in the wrong direction NOW but we were before. (I'm glad we knew where we were going) So we find our way again and get to the largest statue of Chinngis Khan in the world.

We take a break to take photos and then we have the kids run up the stairs and back to get ride of some of their energy. So we get going only to pull off the side of the road to discuss the directions to the village with a lady in front of a Ger. (Obviously Map Quest doesn't work here)So we continue on for what seems like an hour on an unpaved road in our bus in the middle of nowhere. Then we finally see the gates! We finally made it to the guard station. Here the kids (and adults) were able to dress up in costumes. The kids were extremely cute in the outfits.

Then we got back on the bus to go to the kings palace. It was a very large Ger! We had lunch there and discovered a CAMEL and a horse. After lunch, we got our pictures taken on the camel (it was sitting on the ground) and the kids got to ride the horse. The boys were very excited by the fact that the camel peed on the ground! We then went to the Shaman camp where the kids tried to scare each other by saying the ghosts were going to get them (the joys of boys!). Next we went to the educational Ger. Then we went to another Ger where they made clothing. I found a cute little guy there!

Since we visited all the Gers and tried to tire the kids out, we decide to get on our way. So we are getting on the bus and the 2nd grade teacher and I are the last ones to get there. We then have a kid yell to us "There are strange people on the bus!" Now that's always a comforting thing to hear! Obviously it is okay to pick up strangers and give them a ride to the city in Mongolia on a school bus. So after making the boys move up to the front if the bus we are on the way. We decided to stop at the huge Chinngis Khan statue so the kids could call their parents, use the restrooms, and maybe climb Chinngis Khan. So after calling the parents, I take the first wave of kids up the stairs (there were a lot!) to go to the restroom. However I speak no Mongolian (except I do know hello!) and I don't understand why the man is not letting us through. I then see the ticket booth. We find out that they won't let us take the kids to use the restrooms unless we pay. Now remember there is a bus full of 2nd graders that need to use the restroom before we finish the 2 hour bus ride. So what do you do? You let them use the bathroom outside! Needless to say the kids didn't get to climb Chinggis.

We make it back to the school with the usual SIT DOWN and STOP SPEAKING MONGOLIAN and only have to wait for one kids parent to come. So we wait and then decide to call the mom. There was some kind of confusion and needless to say neither the mom or dad where on the way. So then the mom tells us to leave her child at a Ger next to the school (they are related somehow) and she will pick him up later. So we get the situation figured out and I finally get home at 6:45! Oh it was lovely and very long day!

Laura

Oh look! It's a whatchamajig!

This weekend we took a trip to the Hustai national park. It was about a 2 hour ride to the country side. We went there to stay in a ger (pronounced g-air) over night and to see the wild horses that Mongolia is known for. This adventure began with the ride to the park. We went with Dr. Noble and her translator Doko (who was a super sweet woman!). Doko arranged for someone she knew to drive us to the park in his VW-like van. Mind you, we have told you about the roads here and now we are traveling them in this van. We're trucking along the (actually nice for once) road when we come across a group of horses in the middle of the road. Our driver didn't slow down but went off the side of the road to, what we thought was to avoid the horses. We realized after he did not get back on the road, that this was actually the way to the park. We off-roaded for about 45 minutes (in this van don't forget) which was a fun and bouncy ride. We saw many herds on the side of the road and in the road. It was amazing to us that our driver knew which dirt path to take given there were about 5 of them branching out from the one we were on. We finally get to the national park/ ger "hotel". The hotel is actually a bunch of gers set up in a fenced in area and a main building that housed the people who worked the hotel and a small dining hall.

 

We had dinner in the dining hall and they fed us good food. They also started a fire for us in our ger. When we finally got in our ger to sleep for the night is was unbearably HOT! Doko told us they would come stoke the fire for us during the nighttime so Laura and I geared ourselves for the temperature. About midnight, right before they came to stoke it, it apparently went out dropping the temperature about 40 degrees! Luckily it didn't take long for the ger to heat up again!

we woke up in the morning, had breakfast, and started our treck into the mountains to see the animals. we were told that if we did see animals, it would probably be with binoculars as they would be far away. Doko told us the spirits were with us so maybe luck was on our side.... an boy it sure was! We saw a TON of animals on the trip. Immediately, standing right on the road was a HUGE black yak. He even posed for a picture :) We went a bit further and cam across the famous Mongolian wild horses or Takhi. It was breath-taking to see them. We saw many other animals as well. Yaks, horses, hawks, pheasants-like birds, deer, marmots (which we called the whatchamajig the whole time until Doko told us what they actually were), and cows. there were also baby animals, lots of them! The trip was amazing between the wild animals and the breath-taking views in the mountains.

Is that your natural hair color or do you use dye products?

So Laura and I have been at the American school for 3 days now and have been having some good times. The kids seem to really enjoy having us there and are fascinated by us being American. Laura is in 2nd grade with Ms. Anna and I am in K-5 with Ms. Emily. The kids have been expecting us as we have emailed our teachers before coming here and have generated quite the amount of questions. Here's just some of the questions/ comments that we have been asked/told.
In Laura's class:
1. Is that your natural hair color or do you use dye products?
2. Do you know who Justin Beiber is?
3. Did you know Ke$ha brushes her teeth with a bottle of Jack?
4. (When reading P is for Palmetto to the students) Who is Palmetto?
5. (To Ms. Anna) Is Miss Laura your baby?
6. Can I bring my iPad on the field trip?


In my class:
1. Why is your skin white? (how am I supposed to answer that?)
2. (As she's touching my stomach) You're gonna have a baby. (Gee thanks...)
3. What is that on your face? (It's a zit, thank you for pointing it out)
4. (This seems to be a reoccurring comment) I love your hair! (yessss 1 point for me so far! I may look like I'm going to have a baby but at least I have good hair!)

So as you can tell we have been having quite some time with our kids. the majority of them are Mongolia with  a few other nationalities thrown in there. Our days have been busy since we have to be there all day from 8:15 to 4:15. One of the children in my class celebrated a birthday with a party, as will another one on Monday. Laura's class is going on a field trip tomorrow (Monday) to the 13th century national park. We come home to our apartments every day telling each other stories of the things our kids said that day. We both agree that our kids are CUTE! Hopefully more blogs to come on "kids say the darndest things!" 

Seatbelts only slow you down...

This week went by SO fast! (literally and figuratively). We have learned a lot about the transportation here. The only speeds are fast, faster, slam on breaks, and OH MY GOSH WE'RE GONNA HIT THEM! Laura and I have actually learned to like the driving here. It's like your own personal roller coaster. Life sure isn't boring here! Between avoiding pot holes the size of Rhode Island and playing real life Frogger in traffic ( by the way Laura just asked what's Frogger...) you certainly get a work out. So far we like riding the bus and taking taxi rides (but only in the back seat...). The 1st and only bus ride we have taken so far had us laughing so hard we decided we would need to wear Depends for the next ride! And yes it's true, there are no seat belts.  One requirement of living in UB is having a working horn on your car though. It's like a domino effect here. Once one car blows its horn, about a million others do too and you can never really know what it is they are honking at until you realize it is because you are the slow American looking petrified in the middle of the road! We have learned NOT to hesitate or you will not cross the road until a group of natives kind of pushes you along. You're doing your silent scream as you run in your sensible tennis shoes while next to you is a Mongolian woman in her 4 inch stilettos calmly walking across the street. We also learned that you CANNOT walk on the manhole covers as they are the home to many homeless people. We actually saw a man go down into one today and were in such shock that we forgot to take a picture.

Hold on ladies, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

When we landed in Ulaanbaatar at 11pm, we found our driver who was taking us to our apartments. He loaded us and our suitcases in the van and off we went. Now this is where the panic attack comes... Even though there are some-what paved roads with lines down the middle, it does not mean you have to be aware of the lines. Mongolian drivers are CRAZY! Apparently it is okay to pass a slow person in front of you while almost running the car in the other lane who is coming towards you, off the road. I guess they will move out of the way right? And the whole rule about trying to stay at least one car's length away from the car in front of you must have jumped out of the airplane on the way over here. Our driver was so close to the car in front of us that you probably wouldn't be able to get a pencil through the gap. For those of you who know me, I have my own set of breaks in any car... these must have also jumped off the plane on the way over. The whole ride to our housing was deathly as we nearly escaped fender-benders, being t-boned, and Lord knows what other kinds of accidents. A scary vision is seeing an oncoming car's headlights about 10 feet away from you, but don't worry, we can squeeze by right? Thank goodness Laura and I were sitting in the backseat... oh and did I mention, there were no seat belts! Very reassuring. The thing is though that everyone over here drives like that so you kind of know what drivers are going to do. I think that is why I haven't seen any accidents here yet. Dr Noble has been here for a couple months now and she said she rarely sees them... SO DON'T FREAK OUT DAD!
Another thing about the roads. Even though they are paved, that means nothing. They should have just left the dirt roads. There were so many bumps and potholes that my bottom didn't touch the seat for more than .25 seconds. You just have to hold on for dear life and pretend you're on a roller coaster.
Walking across the street in Mongolia is a death sentence. There is no "pedestrians have the right-a-way" here. If you walk out in a busy intersection thinking the cars have to wait for you, you'll be sadly mistaken and will probably end up in the hospital. The first time I walked across an intersection I was scared for my life! I guess you just get used to it when you live here. Weaving in and out of cars is their lifestyle. You also have to be aware of manholes, loose bricks, and holes in the side walks. I think Mongolia wants heighten their people's senses and peripheral vision. Dr. Noble says, maybe they are trying to thin out their population haha. But just so all of you know, I am safe and haven't been hit by any cars. So far, so good.

This picture doesn't really do justice to what you usually see. I guess I caught the traffic at a good time.

Nicole

We're just sitting out here watching airplanes

It might not be very wise to only get 2 hours of sleep the night before you leave. Also, 4 o'clock in the morning comes really, really early. We made it to the airport without any problems. We left Columbia to go to Chicago.There we had a layover for a couple of hours. (that airport is BIG!) 

And then the adventure began with an 13 1/2 hour plane ride to Seoul, Korea. They trick you with offering you a personal T.V. screen in the headrest of the seat in front of you and movies (pretty good ones). However, it does not make up for the fact that you are packed up like sardines with an aching bottom. Then about three hours in you feel bad for waking the nice, sleeping Korean man with the aisle seat to go to the "lavatory". The excitement of the awesome movies wears off after you have watched about four of them and you realize you probably should save some for the ride back home.

The food. We were given lunch, dinner, and snacks. However, being on a Korean airplane you don't really know what your asking for to eat. You just say "I'll take the chicken, please." You try not to drink so much because you don't want to keep waking up the nice, sleeping Korean man with the aisle seat. It was very hard trying to go to sleep because for one there is not a comfortable position anywhere except for those first class people with their lounging cubicles (how much does it cost to upgrade?). Then when you do fall asleep for a 10 minute nap you wake up sweating because your so hot and still extremely uncomfortable.

While watching these lovely movies, you are interrupted about every hour with *ding* "fg;guih;gjndgfhsuigf;ajgfuj" (that's our version of Korean) and then " Ladies and Gentleman, we are experiencing turbulence. Please fasten your seat belt. " (We know we are because we can feel it).

There was an option on the screen to check to see how much longer the flight was until we reached our destination. Which only made it worse because we checked it every five minutes for last two hours of the plane ride. We were like five year olds asking "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" We should have taken the wine they offered us, it might of made the flight go by faster.

After we got to Korea the last thing we wanted to do was get on another airplane. Lucky for us (enter sarcasm here) we had another layover. Still not having slept more than five hours for the past 30 hours, you can say we looked like death warmed over. Which is why you will never see any picture of us at this time. Finally we boarded the last flight to Ulaanbaatar. It was another 3 hour flight in which we didn't sleep. Luckily, we didn't have a nice, sleeping Korean man blocking the aisle. We landed at about 11p.m. our time 11 a.m. your time. First we had to find our suitcases. We watched a dog sniff the bags on the conveyor belt. (perhaps the most exciting part of our trip so far) We finally got them after pushing our way through the crowd and headed to customs.We got through customs pretty easily after waiting in a long line (where we were shoved). Then we pushed our way (literally) through the taxi men to search for our ride. (Before leaving for a trip you should probably check to see who is picking you up) Good thing our guy had a sign. We got to the van and were on our way!

Laura and Nicole

Lesson #1

Check the airline's luggage policy before packing for 2 1/2 weeks...
Apparently you can't take one big suitcase on Korean Air. Good thing we checked before we actually got to the airport!


Laura and Nicole