Sunday, September 19, 2010

Already Feeling At Home ... again

I am about to go to sleep in my new home. Once again, I have lucked out on homestay families; they are better than I could have imagined. They might have something to do with my change of opinion about UB. I was dreading coming back to the city from the countryside, but I'm finding myself overwhelmed with excitement to actually learn what the city has to offer. When I lived here for orientation, our group of 8 rarely separated and we hardly explored at all. I think it was because I was more focused on not getting sick, getting enough sleep, not getting hit by traffic, and learning the language (basically surviving) rather than living.

After today - I'm ready to live in this city.
And that's a good thing since I am the farthest away from my school. I also was placed in a very remote rural homestay home, so when briefing us on our new families they joked, "Grace, since we know how much you love being isolated, you're living here." I couldn't get a straight answer on how long of a bus ride to school it will be - people just laughed when I asked if I would have any problems with traffic. Regardless, being this far away has introduced me to a new side of the city. Just driving around near my apartment, I can clearly see a difference between the types of places I have been so far, and the places where people who live here actually go.

My family consists of a mother (42), father (42), sister (18), brother (8) and four, relatively large rooms, plus a bathroom (the city has hot water again!). We live in Apartment #4 (a good omen for me), and as I entered the home, "Sanchin" (my brother) quickly pulled me through the door and showed me to his sister's room. He pointed to a fold out bed to indicate where I would be sleeping. Sanchin sleeps on his parents floor (normal for most children). Their room appears to also be someone's office. They have a flat-screen computer and internet. Apparently someone is coming tomorrow to add an internet connection to my room. The living room houses a large flat-screen and comfortable couches and chairs. The kitchen has a sink, stove, refrigerator, freezer, microwave and ... my favorite thing about my host father so far ... 9 large fish tanks.

It's been explained to me as his hobby, but I wonder if he doesn't actually sell the fish once they get big. When I told my host mother, "Bi Durtay" or 'I like' she said, "My husband...LOVES" (The sweetest broken Mongolian/English exchange so far). He has angel fish, along with others I have not yet identified. Right now there are about 20 baby angel fish in one tank and 6 or so larger ones in others. In addition to being a fish lover, my host father is an electrical engineer. My mother is a University Teacher and my sister is at University studying financial administration.

My sister and I cooked dinner, which was ready by the time her mother came home. After dinner, my host mom and I had a very long and very patient conversation. From it I understand the following: I have free internet, I have free laundry facilities, I am not to cook after dinner but I can eat any of the food already prepared, I will be driven to my brother's school in the morning where I will then catch the No. 27 bus to school, I have complete freedom but I am to call her if I will not be home by seven, and I am not to feel obligated to stay up with them if I am tired. When I pointed to the word for 'chores' in the dictionary, she laughed and looked proud of me. She said 'no'. Then we did the dishes together.

They hosted a student two years ago, which explains why she fought through the language barrier to tell me all of those things. After the conversation, she told me I spoke more Mongolian than the last student. She said, "Sara bad, Grace good." So, basically I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now, not to mention about to study Mongolian even more than I originally planned.

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