2022.10.11. Exploring the city (code for running errands)

We’ve been here for exactly a week now. With everything that’s happened, it kinda feels a bit more already.

Today, I started the day by getting some cash from a nearby ATM, then having a small breakfast with my husband before going to the hospital I’d been to yesterday to get my results. This time I went alone and I think I am getting better at not getting lost and crossing roads and seeming less like a full-blown tourist. I also noticed that there were a few stalls near the hospital where they sell socks and clothes so that could potentially be a good place to check out later if we can’t fight the cold anymore with our European clothing. On my way back from the hospital – medical certificate successfully acquired – I saw a veggie stall and stopped to check if they had better or worse veggies than supermarkets here offer. Quite surprisingly, the veggies there seemed to have a bit more colour to them and they also had a few things that supermarkets don’t seem to carry. I ended up buying 4 nice bananas for 5.000 MNT – with the help of some broken English and a bit of playing Activity. They also had dates (pre-packaged) so that might be good to remember if I want dates later, since I haven’t yet seen any in any other place.

Found this socialist-era playground on my way home from the hospital

Once I got home from the hospital, I cooked some lunch (a potato and pea curry, using our new Indian spices, and yes, the food finally had a taste, not just bland texture with notes of salt – before this, only the instant ramen tasted good, and the vegan restaurant lunch and the Namaste takeout, of course). At this point, our air purifier also arrived, and the delivery-woman brought it right to our doorstep – how convenient!

Filling out forms while sipping a nice ginger tea

Our new air purifier (with one of the humidifiers in the background)

After lunch, we filled out some forms and I took those together with the medical papers back to the university administration office, where I also asked them for a certificate that I live in the university’s teachers’ building (since the local office that is supposed to give me the proof of address documents had asked for it). They told me that this paper would be ready later today, so I went over to Building 2 where my department is and took some Hungarian course books to the shelves they emptied for me next to my desk. There, I also met the administrator I am sharing the office with but I already forgot her name (it was something like Ohrora or Hohrara or maybe something completely different, which is very likely the case considering my horrible memory when it comes to names and faces – and let me tell you, having to remember all Asian faces and strange Mongolian names does not help with that!). Since Otgontuya was not in her office (later, she texted me that she had been at a meeting and that’s why she hadn’t been able to meet me), I came back home, not really having any work to do at the university right now. I already have my syllabus ready, only waiting for Otgontuya to let me know about class times and the room number, and my first two classes are already fully outlined. I am planning on finishing my class plans for the next 3-5 classes this week, but that is neither urgent nor something I'd need to do at my desk instead of the comfort of my home (where my husband is also nearby).

It was so warm today that I went out without a coat again!

The door to the office where I have my desk

Back in the apartment, I did a knee workout (finally) and then got my things together to go swim after going to the two banks I need to transfer money to (well, I would need to transfer money but it’d be super expensive from a Hungarian bank account and we can’t have a Mongolian one until I pay these fees and get a residence permit and such, so we’d decided it would be best if I paid the fees in cash at the corresponding banks). It was a whole ordeal, the ATMs not working, one bank being closed even though it should have been open (according to Google), even more ATMs not working (and since I couldn’t withdraw money in the first place, there was no way I could pay the fees). After almost an hour of walking around the bank district in vain, I gave up and went back to the university to get the document that confirms we live where we live.

At this point, I was already exhausted, my knees kinda tired (I was over 10k steps and had already had a knee workout), and I was just generally in a horrible mood thanks to the unsuccessful bank-related hassle. Still, I decided I would go to the pool because swimming usually gets me in a much better mood and also helps me relieve stress and feel more productive and more myself.

The walk to Shangri-La was a good 20 minutes from the university, but the weather was nice, and it seems I’ve also managed to find one of the fancy parts of the city. The general area of Shangri-La looked so obviously well-off (buildings, restaurants, even the people) and I could even see a few non-Asian faces! Just during my one-and-a-half-hour long evening walk I have seen more white (and black) people than during the previous 7 days, even though we’ve been to tourist-y parts as well.

The sports complex is actually within the Shangri-La Mall so it took me some time (and asking a Mongolian guy who spoke no English but could understand ‘sport’ at least) but eventually, I’ve found the place (which is quite well-hidden, imo). A single entrance ticket costs 50.000 MNT (or the price of 40 bananas, apparently) which is the most expensive I’ve ever paid to enter a swimming pool but I was really hankering for a swim at this point (and I’d known it would be this much, since my husband had done his research).

Together with the watch for the locker, they also gave me a fluffy towel at the reception which was already kinda fancy; directing me to the elevator at the back (since the entrance is on the 2^nd floor but the pool is on the 4^th – in Mongolian terms, that is 3^rd and 5^th floors). The dressing room was super small but also really fancy – they have slippers you can use in the pool and then leave in a laundry basket, similar to the towels they provide – and the pool is 25 meters, 5 lanes (at least I think it was 5), and the water temperature a bit warmer than it would be at home. The pool depth is only 1.2 meters but that’s fine, I often swim in shallow water at home too. I’ve also seen a jacuzzi and some kickboards next to the pool, so I might take advantage of those at another time. After my swim, I took a quick shower and got taken aback when the shower stall had not only shower gel but also shampoo and conditioner on the wall. Such a luxurious pool (definitely the most luxurious I’ve been to) even though it’s nowhere near as professional as the ones we have in Hungary (like there were no flags to mark the end of the pool, only a red line painted on the ceiling, and it’s also shallow and too warm and lit from the sides which is pretty disorientating when coming off the wall and doing underwater). Altogether, a great swim and a good experience, but I’ll be missing Duna Arena (especially its prices).

Swimming pool on the 5th floor - that is kinda cool, right?

Shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower stall at the pool

After my swim, I came back home and had dinner with my husband, then proceeded to write this entry. And since it’s past 10 pm and I had a loooong day, I guess we might even get to bed around midnight or so. Let’s just hope we’ll have warm water tonight, as there was only cold water last night and ever since it’s been cold water from every tap of the apartment.