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deconstruction

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Every year or five (depending who you talk to) a ger needs to be dismantled, cleaned and reassembled. Pulling it apart takes less than an hour. Putting it back together would no doubt take a bit longer, but even still, that’s not too much of  a time investment in household maintenance, even for those who do the job every year – some even do it twice a year at the change of season, to have a different covering for summer and winter. These gers, we noted, were in better condition than the less frequently changed ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in craft, housing, postcard: Mongolia, tradition | 1 Comment »

transitions

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

by Rob
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Cultural differences are sometimes easy to pick and identify, and at other times you are struck at just how similar we all are across the world despite these differences. To me, Cambodia and Vietnam were strikingly different, but somehow Mongolia has an even more different feel to it. I am sure that most of this comes down to previous experiences and moulding influences – having grown up in Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand, I had an affinity with modern South East Asia, but I am finding the East-West crossroads of Mongolia to be significantly different to anything I have previously experienced.

One of the most striking things here is the strong mixture of both east and west. Mongolian coats are an intriguing and distinctive blend of eastern and western styling. With Mandarin collar, side fastenings and made of either silky Asian-patterned cloth or thick European wool, all tied with a wide sash, they are uniquely Mongolian, but simultaneously an east-west blend.

The markets have similar goods to those in China in many ways, but suddenly the dozen varieties of leafy greens have been replaced by a huge range of dairy products that are almost completely absent further east. Instead of trays of tofu in the markets there are now tables of fermented yoghurt. Instead of rice and noodles, there’s bread – white bread, brown bread, black bread, whole loaves, sliced loaves, bread in plastic, bread unwrapped. And butter too. Twelve varieties in one market stall, ranging in colour from white to pale yellow to bright yellow and even orange, one celebration butter mixed with raisins.  

Instead of hawkers walking around with a bamboo basket of fruit or vegetables or rice cakes or pau or postcards or pickled plums or crockery or souvenirs or a tray of cockles or a mini-BBQ of satay sticks, in Mongolia the only things sold on the side of the road are cigarettes, lollipops and boiled sweets; typically sold out of a cardboard box by someone who will probably have, next to them, a household phone hooked up to a cell phone for people to make local calls with. Instead of passing people on the sidewalk eating chicken’s feet or a whole pineapple on a bamboo skewer, every fourth person here has a chuppa-chup stick poking out of their mouth, undoubtedly bought from the cardboard box man.

The national psyche is hard to define, especially for someone who has only been in the country a week! Mongolians apparently have a reputation for being extremely friendly and hospitable. Although the families we have stayed with have been very generous and friendly, we have found Joe Mongol on the street to be unresponsive (and what even seems shifty to us, with eyes darting furtively about as if they are suspicious of anyone and everyone). Gone are the welcoming greetings of Asia.
In the place of shopkeepers urging you to buy their wares, many a time even physically pulling you in to their shop or stall, here are shopkeepers who take some convincing that you would appreciate their service. Even when we went out with a local lady (so we know it’s not just us not knowing the magic words to use), the shopkeepers might take three or four minutes to finish a task at hand before giving you, the customer, any attention. And in a shop that is not self-service, you can’t do anything without their assistance!
Pedestrian etiquette is quite another matter again and takes some getting used to. Gone are the elbow pushing techniques for scrambling through crowds we encountered in China; instead, waking along the sidewalk, we have a continuous string of jarring semi body-slams, despite the fact that there is no crowd and plenty of room. The Chinese hustle from behind, trying to get in front of you. The Mongols walk a straight line up the street and do not take any evasive action at all when on a collision course with a fellow pedestrian, and to a Kiwi, it comes across as particularly aggressive and pushy. However, the body slam is not intentionally menacing or violent in nature….it is just the way they walk, especially the men!

different – similar – transitions – east to west

Posted in craft, dress, food, money, postcard: Mongolia, tradition | No Comments »

GER: Global Education Received

Friday, April 3rd, 2009
by a very grateful Rachael Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 60% of the city’s population is without running water…is this Africa? Nope, too cold for that. Are we in a refugee camp? No, although we are living in a tent. Is this a medieval ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in children, craft, food, health, housing, learning, parenting, postcard: Mongolia, toilet, tradition, transport, weather | 3 Comments »

dedicated to dad

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
by a daughter Beijing, China We turned into the alley our first day here and wondered if we were in a construction site, and not a youth hostel. It turned out we were, and each day as we have walked by, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in craft, housing, postcard: China, tradition | No Comments »

in praise of writing

Monday, March 23rd, 2009
by the Mama, who paints her pictures with words Xi’an, China It’s a rare day that goes by without any journalling. In fact, it might even be accurate to say we have journalled Every Single Day so far. And it’s been interesting ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in book, children, craft, learning, postcard: China | 4 Comments »

The ego of a tyrant.

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
by Rach, who was truly fascinated Xi’an, China As if conquering six kingdoms before he turned 40 was not enough, the first ruler to unify China (way way back a couple of hundred years BC) also overcame dialect issues by standardising ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in children, craft, God, history, housing, postcard: China, tradition | 1 Comment »

this is *really* China

Friday, March 20th, 2009
by the Mama Xi’an, China I peeked out the window, wondering if yet again a train journey would bring an entirely different morning view. Sure enough! We seemed to be in a desert with towering sanddunes, many of which with dark ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in children, craft, God, housing, learning, postcard: China, transport | 1 Comment »

Museum Mecca

Sunday, March 15th, 2009
by Rachael, who enjoys history much more than science Hong Kong

You name it, there’s a museum about it here. From Dr Sun Yat Sen to Coastguard Services, from police to science to history. And ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in children, craft, history, learning, parenting, postcard: Hong Kong, recreation, tradition | No Comments »

spotted in China

Sunday, March 1st, 2009
by Rach Guangzhou, China

(or security guard, anyway!)

today.....just like centuries ago.....mud brick tiled house, cart, garden, pump....

Much nicer than any of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in children, craft, dress, housing, postcard: China, recreation, transport | 2 Comments »

of mice and men and mercury

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
by Rach Yangshuo, China Down West Street, which until recently was called Foreigner Street, and for good reason, you can buy a t-shirt with a relevant picture and Mickey Maos written on it. You can eat at the Mickey Maos cafe ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in craft, food, learning, postcard: China, weather | 3 Comments »

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