Mongolia night

Did you know that 2006 marks the 800th year of the existence of the Mongolian state? Yes, they've been around a good long while. I attended an event last night that was meant to celebrate Mongolian culture and recognize this milestone in its history. Unfortunately, I didn't end up learning much about Mongolia because there were far too many people there (free food and drink was advertised) and I got caught up in a couple of conversations with some fellows from New Zealand who work on human rights. One of them really liked to talk about himself.


"I'm really blessed to be working there. I don't own anything in the world. I'm not married and I have no home to go back to. I'm not a scholar. These academics and politicians, they just talk. I actually do things, get things done. I've helped so many people. This is reality. I've been to Mongolia thirty times. 99% of these people have never been there, they don't know what it's like. I was just in Ulaan Baatar, in fact. By the way, here's my card, and you should come to Macau and I'll show you around."


And on and on. But I do admire his zeal and his commitment to his work. He's been there 20 years, never went to college, and learned Mandarin "on the streets."

There was some traditional music played and traditional food served. At one point the servers brought out dumplings and placed them in our hands. They were so hot that I could barely hold them. I would have laughed out loud were it not for the scalding I was undergoing at the moment. Later they brought out Mongolian beef and noodles and the measley four trays they had were empty within five minutes. Apparently there was some cashmere being sold but I guess I never made it to that corner of the room. It was so warm in there that I was sweating, and when I walked outside at the end of the evening into the late November air, I took off my sweater and welcomed the cold.