2023.04.01. – 21. April flying by

This has been a very busy 3 weeks.

I’ve finished that blasted article for the conference (ended up writing 15 bloody pages).

On the 5^th, we’ve organised the Easter Event at BlueMon – there were about 300 people altogether, and it was great but maybe it would be better to write about it in a separate entry in more detail. There were daily meetings leading up to it, a lot to do on the day, and even afterwards (with having to prepare a summary with pictures and all for the Ministry at home).

(corner of) the LED wall at the Easter Event

On the 10^th, I took a day off (it was Easter Monday anyway, so I am not required to work by law, even though I always work national holidays here bc they are not Mongolian holidays and so the university expects me to teach my classes). It was mostly chilling (finally) and getting some work done, of course. We’ve even had mug cakes for my birthday. Also, we were supposed to go to Naran Tuul and ShangriLa and LovingHut but there was a massive snowstorm so we ended up not going anywhere. But more about the weather later in this entry.

My 'birthday cake' :)

On the 11^th, the new Ward novel (Lassiter) came out so I’ve spent most of the next 2 days reading, when not working or working out.

Also, my students surpised me with a small cake and some chocolate as a belated birthday present and they even had candles and they had Judit Halász playing on a phone when they presented me with the cake, so thoughtful and kind.

The cake and chocolate from my students - what a nice surprise!

On the 12^th, I’ve also started teaching a new language course at the embassy, once a week. In the first week I had two groups (bc there were 31 people who registered) but since only about 15 people showed up, I decided to just put them into one group from the second week. So I also teach 90 mins a week at the embassy now. (For free, of course. I mean it’s free for the students and I also don’t get any money for it.)

On the 14^th, we had the conference. It started late (of course) and was all in Mongolian (of course) so I understood nothing. I only knew to stand up and give my presentation bc everyone started staring at me at one point, so I knew it was my turn. I stood up, did my bit, sat down, sat through two more presentations (in Mongolian) until lunchbreak, then they asked each other questions, and even had two questions for me: if I was bilingual and what level my students get to at the end of the second semester. Neither of these questions relevant for my presentation but at least they made an effort. Then, as lunch was unpacked, I sneaked out and left.

Just before leaving, I got a text from Amka (a friend from the swim club) that his massage therapist/doctor was free that afternoon to see me, so he booked me a slot at 3pm, and I had just about enough time to go home and have lunch, and then I took a taxi to this doctor’s office. He practices traditional Chinese medicine, and this was my first encounter with such. He held my arm in a way that suggested he was maybe taking my pulse, but he did it with both arms. Then he asked me to stick my tongue out. (Well, it was his wife asking as she was there to translate since the doctor didn’t actually speak English.) He concluded that I had some problems with my Gall bladder and that I would need 5 consecutive days of treatment. I couldn’t really decide if I believed him or not but I was like, heck, why not give it a go, I needed a back massage anyway (that’s why I’d gone there in the first place). So he massaged my back, then did cupping therapy on my back (my first time ever trying this too), and this went on for the next 4 days. By the end, I had so many marks on my back from the cupping, and some real soreness in my back (although that could also have been due to my workouts). However, my knots seem to have disappeared, and they are always-present between my shoulder blades, so that’s definitely improvement. But having my afternoons busy for 5 days in a row took its toll on my general schedule.

This is in a park near the traditional Chinese doctor's office - had a walk there before an appointment

And this football stadium is also next to the doctor's office

During the next weekend (15^th and 16^th), my swim team at home had a competition, and it was luckily live streamed, so I could watch them compete on YT, which I did. Writing lesson plans and chatting to a uni friend (in Swedish, practicing for my interview), while watching my friends swim live on YT, how cool is that?

And today, on the 21^st, I had my interview on Skype, with Sweden. It’s been a bit stressful, trying to prepare for it, as I haven’t used Swedish in the past 3 years, but I think it went fairly well, and I’ve enjoyed it, actually. Which is nice. Now comes the waiting period, and then the dilemma period. As usual. Welp.

In the meantime, I’ve been working out quite regularly. I swim 3 times a week, go to the gym once or twice, and do some light workout here in the living room on the remaining days. Some weeks it’s 7 days of working out, some weeks it’s 6, but I am staying consistent, which is great. Also starting to see some results, so I am very happy about that – even though most people would probably have lost a few kgs by now, and I haven’t lost any weight whatsoever – but I am not training super hard and I am also not trying to actively cut calories, so…

My very professional 'workout space'. I have so much more stuff at home, but not here.

Trying to enjoy fruits that would be hard to come by in Europe but easy here;
dragon fruit, passion fruit (and sometimes even avocado)

And now, the weather. *music comes on* Okay, no music, bc this is not WTNV, but the actual weather. It’s been crazy, quite frankly. Spring in Mongolia is just… crazy. One day it’s sunny and warm (about 10 degrees or more), the next day, we have a snowstorm and -5. Then it’s super sunny and 10 degrees again. Just this week, it looked like this: Monday was snowy and windy and kinda cold; Tuesday was sunny and nice, especially warm for the season; Wednesday it was snowing again, although there was some sunshine as well; Thursday and Friday it was mostly sunny, but not very warm. Also, sometimes it’s sunny and you’d think it’s warm outside, but then you go out and the wind is so strong and cold that you are freezing. On other days it looks cold (maybe there’s even some snow on the ground) but you go out in your winter jacket and you are sweating in the sun. Crazy. Unpredictable.

You've seen two sunny pics above - now look at all this snow in April.

It's like the snow can't even decide to melt or not.

A random note: I’ve started wearing sweatpants to the street when I am not teaching. If I just go to the pool/gym, or to get my massage, I put on sweatpants instead of my jeans. It’s mostly due to the fact that out of my 3 jeans here, one is completely ripped, this one I am currently using is almost ripped (where my thighs rub together), it only has days I fear, and then I’ll only have one left. And I do not want to buy a new one. So whenever I don’t have to look presentable, I go for sweatpants. And since many (but really, many) Mongolians have sweatpants as street-wear, it’s actually not that bad. At home, I could never do this, but here, most people I come across (even some of my students at the uni) are wearing them, so why not join them, if that’s acceptable street-wear, right? It’s comfy and it lets me spare my jeans.

I am not sure what this is, but it is NOT kale. Veggies here are weird.

Found this small shelf for your phone in a toilet cubicle. Asia is sometimes really funny.

Found this 42.000 (!) piece puzzle in Emart. Honestly, if I had the time and space, I would love to do it. Seems so extra.