You'll all be happy to hear that "comments" are functioning again. Sorry for the delay!

Old Favorites

It’s snowing again and the grey weather is interfering with my ability to write, so I thought we could do a look back at some of my earlier posts.

You might be in Mongolia if…1-10: and 11-20: Self-explanatory.

Scotch: Not the drink. The tape. It even includes a song!

I’m Not Russian: Living here I often get mistaken for a Russian—which wouldn’t be so bad if I actually spoke Russian!

Concerning an Outhouse and a Pig: A traumatic event—but I survived so at least you know there is a happy ending.

Mr. Dogs & Me: Brushing shoulders with the Mongolian stars—or, rather, dancing foolishly in front of them.

Sorry for the lack of posts... I was in Thailand thawing out.

A little help please...

I need a bit of help thinking of what sorts of questions to answer in my FAQ series. If there is anything you would like to know, please post a comment and tell me. It would make my life easier.

How to ask questions

When people learn that I work in Mongolia, they generally are curious. Unfortunately, the questions that come out of their mouths are so broad that I stutter and stumble and end up at a loss for words. Questions such as, "What is it like there?", "So, is it really different?" and "So, tell me about Mongolia." terrify me. I do much better with more specific questions. What's the food like? What's the weather like? What does it look like? What are the people like? What is the exchange rate? By asking the more detailed questions, you ultimately will get your broad questions answered, and with a lot less confusion on my part. When I do try to tackle the broad questions, I never know if the person asking wants the one sentence answer, the five-minute answer, or the two-hour speech; more specific questions alleviate this issue.

I'll be answering a series of frequently asked questions in upcoming posts. If I don't happen to touch on a subject that you are curious about, please ask!

Progress

Well, in the past few days I have figured out how to post photos (although there is room for improvement in this area) and how to occasionally change the color of fonts--exciting stuff, I know. Next week you might be lucky enough to find even more improvements since I'll be spending the week with my nephew, sister and brother-in-law; one of whom is the star of a blog, one of whom picks the photos for the blog, and one of whom has figured out most of the backroads to blogging and whose knowledge I plan to draw from. Stay tuned.