Khuushuur-muushuur

One question that I get asked a lot by both Americans in the States, and by Mongolians, is about what I eat in Mongolia. Inevitably this is followed by, “Can you cook Mongolian food?” If you say yes, and then your Mongolian friends may ask you to help them cook some buuz or huushuur, or other such meat and dough dish, at which point, they’ll realize that you cook at about the level of a Mongolian seven year-old (because you lack the dough rolling and pinching skills that people here seem to be born with). Case in point: Phil’s Mongolia-shaped huushuur— which, although it looks nothing like a Mongolian’s huushuur, is great for teaching geography.(Key cities have been labled for your benefit.)


If you say no, that you can’t make Mongolian food, you cause your Mongolian friends to worry because they are likely to think that if you can’t make Mongolian food, you obviously can’t cook, which means that you must be starving! I’ve had to reassure many people that I can indeed cook noodles and soup and meat.

Making Spaghetti

I discovered that I could make spaghetti when I was in college, so it was ironic that today, while I was making spaghetti, Danielle told me I looked like a college girl. Perhaps it was the super high ponytail (necessitated by an unfortunate overly layered haircut) Or perhaps it was the Wheaton sweatshirt (necessitated by my notoriously messy spaghetti making. I actually got the sweatshirt right here in Mongolia from another Wheaton grad.) Who knows…

Anyway, as I was cooking the aforementioned spaghetti, while apparently looking like a college student (yes, I think I’ve finally hit the age where I take that as a compliment) I was thinking about how many places my ingredients came from. Tomato paste from Italy, oil and bay leaves from Russia, Garlic from China, Onions from Mongolia, the ground meat (horse, because it is the cheapest, that we ground ourselves) from right here in our province. Other seasonings had to be brought from UB, Thailand, China, and the States. The pasta we’ll eat with the sauce came from Italy but was originally meant to be sold in Japan (all the ingredients and instructions on the back are in Japanese and not the usual four or five other languages). What’s in your spaghetti?

On Not Being Russian and Other Such Stuff

Well, since I think my blog readership is now up to a whopping five people (besides myself) I thought it was time for another post.

Mongolia and Russia used to be very good friends and still like each other fairly well; in fact, Mongolia was the second communist country in the world. Many changes occurred in Mongolia due to Russian influence and input; the alphabet was changed, architecture and cities became drastically different, the educational system, governmental structure, and military were all greatly altered. Because of this close relationship, all Mongolia school children studied Russian; I’m not certain, but I believe that until recently, Russian was the official second language of Mongolia.

Up until the late 1980’s there were many Russians living and working here in Mongolia. Since most Mongolians knew Russian, there was little need for the Russians to learn Mongolian. And, since for several decades Russians accounted for 99.9% of the foreigners in Mongolia, it is often assumed that I am Russian because I don’t have a small Mongolian nose or dark hair. “Is she Russian or English?” I hear people asking each other as I walk through the market (that I’ve been walking through once a week for the past four years). Groups of school children will greet me by saying, “Hello” and then they'll say, “Ooh, I said hello to that Russian woman…” and occasionally one of their friends will reply, “She isn’t Russian.” Taxi drivers will start talking to me in Russian and will continue trying to talk to me in Russian even after I tell them, in Mongolian, that I don’t speak Russian. Shopkeepers will occasionally answer my queries in Russian, which can lead to utter confusion for all parties. This is all fine except that I don’t actually speak Russian. My spoken vocabulary is limited to: Yes, no, what’s your name? My name is ______. I am American, tea with milk please, thank you, let’s go, 404, Happy New Year, I don’t know, and (ironically enough) I understand.

I thought that I’d help people out a bit by telling them, in Mongolian, that I’m not Russian so as to eliminate some communication problems. Enter the “I’m not Russian” shirts… should you, too, have this problem, you can purchase the shirts at Mongol Mama at Cafepress.

Inner and Outer...the perpetually confusing aspect of Mongolia

To properly address this item, we must delve into a little history.

A long time ago, the Mongolian tribes were united by a great and fearless leader named Chingis Khaan (KH is actually a hard H sound--not a K sound). If you've never heard of him, it's because we were taught to call him Genghis Khan, much to the dismay of the Mongolians. Chingis Khaan and his descendants managed to conquer the land from China to Europe. At that time there was focus on the exchange of goods, culture, and religion in the Empire's capital. Eventually, this empire began to loose its power and most of the conquered peoples were able to live independently once again. After a couple hundred years China gained control of what was left of Mongolia. Fast forward 200-300 years. Some Mongolians, tired of being under the Chinese, approach Russians for assistance. In 1911 Mongolia fought against the Chinese and gained some independence. However, not all of Mongolia was given autonomy and thus it was divided into Inner and Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is still a part of China, Outer Mongolia, usually referred to simply as Mongolia, is its own country. I work in the country of Mongolia.

Because I don't have a map with me, the "hand illustration" will have to suffice.

FAQs 1

1. Where is Mongolia?
Mongolia is a Central Asian country located north of China and south of Russia. It is a land-locked country and so has no true oceans. However, in Mongolian, the word used for "large lake" is often the same as the word for "ocean". Another free fact: several of the lakes in Mongolia are salt-water lakes.

2. What language do they speak?
Mongolians generally speak Mongolian. It is nothing like Chinese or Russian; in fact it is actually related to Turkish, Kazakh, and possibly Korean. Until the last century, Mongolians used a script borrowed from the Uighurs. Currently the Cyrillic alphabet is used.

3. Are you fluent?
This question still, after four years, sends me into a fit of giggles. Mongolian is not an easy language to learn, in part because it is unlike any other language I've ever tried to learn. Can I communicate? Yes, of course, but there is still so much vocabulary and grammar to be learned! Even people who have studied Mongolian for ten years feel like their language skills need a lot of improvement.