Pool and Pizza

  

Homemade Pizza at our house with the younger five siblings
I blurred faces just because I'm not getting permission to upload these!

Getting a little rooftop time on a pretty day

  My health remains unremarkable as we head into September. I have started getting more exercise -- and one of my favorite kinds, in fact -- by going down to the a local pool a few times per week. I have fond memories of my brother and I riding our bikes down to the Westgate pool for swimming lessons on summer mornings for several years in a row, and this new ritual-forming habit revitalizes that feeling. That was one of the first instances of independence I can remember having -- that we had an appointment at a public building and were responsible to get there on time with all the things we needed without any parental assistance at a pretty young age (I think I was going by bike from about age 7-11?). Well... realistically I wouldn't be surprised if mom had to orchestrate much of the preparations to get us out the door on time, but from my perspective it was a great leap in personal independence to have my own scheduled appointments. 

    My brother-in-law was the one who initiated going to the pool and drove us there (I'm still waiting on my green card before I can transfer my U.S. driver's license to a Mongolian license) because his afternoons have cleared up and he is interested in learning to swim. But the pool is really close to our building so I have since ventured a few times by bus or by foot, which has further sparked that old nostalgia for summers past. 

    So we initially went to help Jakin learn to swim. As far as I can make out, not knowing how to swim is quite common in Mongolia, and being able to swim anything beyond a basic dog-paddle is fairly unusual.  I suppose that being a dry, landlocked country most represented by mountains and grasslands drops swimming down the priority list, although there are some lakes and it is a very common pastime to wade in rivers during summer. So far at least half of the other patrons I've seen at the pool have been assisted by pool noodles, kick boards, floatation belts, or any combination of the three. 

My neighborhood pool, with one lady using a noodle to.... learn(?) swimming.

    When we first got into the pool, the staff guy (kind of like a lifeguard i guess? But just wearing regular clothes, patrolling the room and making sure people are safe and get out when their hour is up) swabbed our backs to evaluate whether we'd showered thoroughly enough! That was not exactly a welcoming start, but he didn't give us any trouble after that; just told us that beginners are supposed to use the nearer lane. So I started explaining to Jakin how to do the moves of the breast stroke, demonstrating the coordination of leg and arm motions, breathing, etc. I also showed him one or two other strokes in case he thought those looked more comfortable for him to learn. Well somewhere along this process Swab Guy pulled out his phone and started filming! First from afar, then gradually closer until he was walking the length of the pool alongside me to film me!  That was a very funny and flattering surprise. He also asked Jakin to ask me "whether I'm breathing in through my nose or mouth more." I thought "if he's part of the staff who are responsible for teaching beginners, it's no wonder most Mongolians don't get past the dog-paddle!"  I think there are some others who are above his level though.. surely.  In subsequent visits I have not been singled out as anything more interesting than a novel foreigner, so maybe that situation came about simply to build my confidence for using that pool as I like, even if I don't understand much of the language.  

    The second staff guy I met was very friendly as well, insisting on asking me questions even though I was alone and could barely understand anything he was saying. The third guy was a bit of a jerk, giving my brother-in-law and me a lot of grief about not arriving 15 minutes before swim time (they have specific windows of time for cycling swimmers in and out, but I figured being a little late just means that we'll get less over all swim time, so it doesn't really hurt anyone else. He was directing more of his unfriendliness toward my brother-in-law than me, since he could actually understand him. Anyway it turned out ok and when I've seen him since he has pretty much ignored me, but it lead to an interesting cultural remark from one of our NGO teammates. She posited that such hostility is a trademark feature of middle-management in Mongolia, because "the low-ranking people don't have any weight to throw around, and the actual top-ranking people (the owners, etc.) are usually pretty amiable and generous. It's those ones in the middle who are trying to assert their authority and prove something."  I hadn't considered it before, but I would not be surprised if there's a fair amount of the same situation going on in American companies and institutions.

     It's been a long time since i've swum "laps," and the range of the human body's capacity to get in better and worse shape is astounding! I remember those last 2-3 years of childhood swimming lessons kicking off with continuous laps of all six of the strokes we learned (some doubled, so I think it would have been 8 laps straight) and feeling fine, but now i'm panting pretty hard after just 2-3 laps. I'm re-learning to pace myself and also building up my endurance. 

 

Online class time

  In other news, I've completed over a week of teaching my own English class for our school's "Class 2" (a group of 11-14 year-olds working at a 3rd/4th grade level of English). So far I've only been conducting the classes online, but as of Sept. 1 we are resuming regular in-person classes. I certainly didn't see myself teaching English again after I left the Japanese kindergarten, but I think it's going pretty well. We start each class with some Bible reading and that often gives us things to talk about. They have to read it the day before and look up any words they don't know, but the definition they find might not always match the context of the passage. My two youngest sibling-in-laws are in the class, so that's kind of funny to have them as students. It looks like the main English Teacher will be able to stay around for a while, so for the time being I'll just teach the one class and focus my other time on learning languages and software.  I expect to have a better handle on the rhythm of school life by my next update!

Thanks for your interest and prayers, everyone.

Homework help (hopefully a rare necessity)

Brilliant rainbows from a prism hanging in our window!

Another of Yaedam's birthday masterpieces, and the cheesecakes Yaejin made for Master Baker Yaedam's Birthday

Back to School

The usual traffic congestion on a pretty day

The kids' summer break finished, the high schoolers have finally started their next set of courses, and the Mongolian church families who were out in the back country have returned to us. Along with my language studies, I was also joining in on the high school accounting class (which is actually much more interesting than I would have guessed) along with my other usual things, but suddenly the trajectory of my own work has changed.

The woman who has been teaching the kids here English for the past decade has decided to leave Mongolia to be closer to her family and teach in another country. She was not in any particular hurry to leave but unbeknownst to her, our organization was already having trouble renewing her Mongolian visa this time and there was some serious concern that she would not be able to stay on after it expires in September. So when she told the principle about her decision expecting for the change to take effect at the end of the school year or even once her successor could be established, it was deemed possibly an answer to that dilemma if she were to go ahead and leave next month. She initially recommended me as a potential replacement as a native English speaker who already knows all of the kids, and when the timing of her departure began to accelerate I thought there probably wasn't much room to consider alternatives and this way I can give back a little more for the various lessons I'm receiving now. So I started observing the English classes to see how things are being done -- what they're learning, where their ability is, what materials are in use, etc. Thankfully, however, it's started to look as though her visa renewal will be accepted after all, so now the timing isn't quite so pressed and I hope to start taking over classes gradually. I didn't see myself going back to teaching, but most of the kids seem excited to try using English so that will make it much easier! I'm optimistic that the small class sizes and prior relationships with the kids will make it an enjoyable "day-job." 

As for other responsibilities, I've started sharing messages on every third Sunday morning, and Yaejin re-initiated the youth small group she was leading two years ago. It's a smaller group now but we feel pretty good about it. I'm also still overseeing the high school siblings' studies, but I called in Yaejin to crack the whip on them because I felt like I didn't have a good handle on how much work they are actually getting done and what I should be expecting of them.

She was able to interrogate them firmly and measure how much work they can get done per hour, so now we have a much clearer plan moving forward. Thank you, Dear! 

At the end of July I had an odd and frightening physiological experience, similar to a stroke. It started with my vision getting blurry while trying to read, as though I had stared into a light beforehand. I went outside for a little fresh air and sunlight and my right hand grew numb and tingling. This feeling migrated from the right hand to my mouth, and I noticed that I was randomly inserting wrong words when trying to speak -- a little girl had asked me a question and when I wanted to say "many languages" i said "many red... no, I mean many languages" (this was in English).  I went inside and sat down, trying to get a hold of myself. Yaejin was teaching a class, and I was debating whether to interrupt it to go to the hospital.  

I felt a little vertigo, like I was spinning, and I tried listing off family members' names, game titles, the meaning of various familiar acronyms, etc. with mixed success. It felt like I was partially dreaming or falling asleep and had to keep snapping my brain back in focus. I went to the high school room to see if they noticed anything (i had rehearsed their names earlier, and struggled to pair their English and Korean names but eventually got those). I realized I couldn't remember any of the Mongolian church members' names except for the guy who teaches me. The high school kids were able to give me the Mongolian neighbors' names and I could retain them then, but over all they were characteristically non-responsive so I quickly left them before making things too awkward -- if fearing for the future health of my mind can be rightly called "awkward."

I called my parents, and while talking with them things seemed almost normal except for the onset of a headache and general feeling of fatigue. I laid down in bed until Yaejin came to check on me a few minutes later. I told her what was going on and she was like "you know my name, right?"  "Of course!" I said. But then i couldn't come up with it! I started smirking at the absurdity of it, how ridiculous it was that I couldn't even come up with her name... Finally i pushed out "Jae... Yae... jung? ... Yae...jin! Yaejin. I know it, i do! It's just something really weird."

Just like with the Mongolian church members' names, once I got it, it stuck with me and I didn't have to keep struggling to remember. Yaejin called her parents over and they called a few doctors, all of whom said that in the late evening (it was nearly 11pm) none of the local hospitals would be able to help anyone who wasn't dying, so we arranged to go to the hospital the next day.

The next morning, and ever since, I've been back to normal. Eventually I was able to get an MRI with MRA, and when we met the the neurologist she assured us that there's nothing wrong or damaged in her field. She suggested it could be a form of migraine "with auras" or a mild form of epilepsy, or possibly a heart-related issue. For the time being I've started taking vitamins and an occasional aspirin and just trying to stay healthy -- nutrition, exercise, hydrated. I'm very thankful that my brain is ok, but it is a little frustrating to have no clear answer to what happened.  

Other than the above, the most exciting things going on for me is going to a local pool for exercise and the birth of my second nephew.

We really appreciate everyone's interest and prayers. Things are steady at present. Not a whole lot of ministry happening (mostly internal) but Yaejin and I are still relishing our stable living situation for now.

At the War Memorial (commemorating cooperation between Mongolia and Russia/USSR
against China and Japan) in the Zaisan area of U.B.

Summer Break

 

Our delicious "Sea & Shore Fruit Cake" 
by sister-in-law Yaedam

I last posted very soon after my birthday, which turned out to be premature on that topic.  Yaejin's family is in the habit of observing birthdays on the following weekend, and with 14 family members that means it isn't unheard of for two people to share a birthday. So this Saturday I shared with Ju-il ("Andrew"). Their family tradition is to bring out the cake before dinner, sing the song and blow out the candles (in this case we each blew out our half -- mine being the sand and his the water) and then set it aside before dinner. Then Yaejin's dad says "Ok, presents!" and everyone scatters off to go retrieve the presents they had stashed away for the occasion. These get brought back and piled up in front of the recipient in a somewhat chaotic but festive manner. We were given a fair amount of chocolate and other snacks I'm known to appreciate, and at the end her dad was like "and for our Andrew... money!" So i wondered whether they'd also give me money, which isn't quite the same for me as for a 15-year old! But instead he went, "and for our Daniel..." and pulled out a new phone! That was a huge shock and I really didn't know what to say. They told me since it is my first birthday here they wanted to do something extra, and extra it was. It was very nice of them and I think they all enjoyed keeping the secret from me, haha.

The following week (7/11 - 7/18) was a national holiday in Mongolia, known as Naadam. Normally this period would mark a time of nationwide feats of local horse racing, archery, and wrestling tournaments but this year the government decided to prohibit such festivities for Covid safety -- which was protested by the horse farmers (who apparently need the races to offset their costs) at the capital and counter-protested by health-conscious university students; neither with any discernable effect. Even without the events, however, most businesses took the week off and even more of the city-dwellers set out for their country-side homes, in addition to those who already went for summer break. Our own building was feeling kind of empty as most of the larger families also went out to remote areas so that the only kids left were those of our family. The kids at our church school had the month of July for summer break, which filled many more of our days with their activities and entertainment than under normal circumstances. Usually the church would all go on a camping trip together at some time during the summer, but again, all the usual plans are on hold. Personally I would have been happy to see some more remote areas, but I was quite glad not to be stuck away from our home, bed, and shower!  We did manage to get the kids on a few day trips, which they seem to have loved. 

I went on two of these outings with Yaejin's family + the Russian and Chinese Teachers. Both were beautiful days with fun activities in the crisp fresh air. Here are pictures from the first trip:

We eventually had about six of us up here. 
No one was hurt, although the Russian teacher gave us a scare when she
tried to join us and the branch she was grabbing broke. She said she was ok.

Youngest brother-in-law and I sitting in some tower we found with my oldest brother-in-law.

I thought I had posted this weeks ago. I don't want to make these entries too cumbersome and I want it out there, so I'll wrap this up for now.
There has been a lot going on this month, including an odd health scare for me and an impending job change, so please stay tuned for another update soon!