Countryside

I've been having problems with formating these posts with photos so I think from now on I 'm going to just write in one post and follow it up with a post of just photos and maybe some brief descriptions.  Ok?...hello....?  anyybody there....?

  Riiiight.  Its been a while since I've posted.  Thats because I've been swamped with work.  Last weekend was pretty gnarly.  I had this bitchin' headache and no medicine on Thursday night (this is 6/11, mind you) so I went to class completely unsuited to teach.  I told my childrens class about my problem, bless their little hellion hearts, they actually were agreeable for once.  They were quiet and obedient, telling each other to shut up when one got too loud.  Even quietly doing their homework and insisting I "sleep, teacher, sleep!" whenever I ventured to raise and eyelid.  Unbelievable.

  The plan was to catch the train immediately after class with my friend Erca and head to his girlfriends' parents home in a town called Mandal.  I was still hurtin' from sleep deprivation but there was no way I was going to turn down an opportunity to see the countryside, I'd been cooped up in this damn city for too long!  So I got on this old reminant of the Soviet empire for three hours of uncomfortable riding.  I felt bad for my host as I was non too lively but damn I was tired.  He fed me some horse meat sausage which didn't agree with my stomach and I passed out.  Later we hiked to the house we were staying at.  I collapsed into the bed they offered me but, tired as I was, it took a long time before I could actually fall asleep.  Something about sleeping in a new space always puts me a little on edge.

  The next morning we slept in and woke up to a breakfast of beef stew.  I couldn't  believe it.  This is the kind of meal I like to eat for dinner in winter when I'm ready to be warm, full and sleepy.  Beef stew for breakfast.  Ooof.  Too heavy to start the day.  

  My host and I ventured out to begin our tour of the country side.  I requested a hike in some trees so we made off towards a promising mountain off in the distance.  I swear it looked closer but the more we walked the farther away it got.  We climbed one hill thinking it would yield our goal across the next valley only to find another hill and valley beyond.  This happened five times.  Our relentless march was strained further by a merciless sun.  A buzzard circled over head, surely awaiting our eventual collapse.  God was not with him on this day.  Along the way we saw a fox trotting in the distance, a hare scared from his hidey hole and a wee lizard darting through the tall grasses beneath our feet.  I saw my first dung beetle, rolling a ball of shit, sho nuff.  In a gopher hole I saw the body of a snake slithering around the corner.

  Storm clouds rolled over the steppe as we hiked, catching up to us just as we reached the crest of our destination.  We estimated it a 15km trek out after which I was already cashed.  We layed low a bit as the storm swept around us, just kissing us with a misty breeze.  Thunder echoed across the valley but the lightning never came close.  Still would've been wise to seek low ground.  Oh, well.  The hike back was outlandishly long, and my damnable flat feet were screaming as we returned.  Once again to bed and a long easy sleep afterward.

  More beef stew for breakfast, delicious but so inappropriate.  We jumped on ancient mountain bikes and b-lined for the river.  I've ridden trails before but this was the first time I've ever really ridden totally cross country.  The river was a completely different climate.  With richer, wetter soil the land was actually bright green as opposed to the dry brown of the steppe.  We came across some ranchers who let me ride one of their horses a bit.  It felt really small and cramped, totally unergonomical.  I think I'll stick to the western horses thank you.

  Later we climbed another rocky hill that afforded some sweet views of the valley below.  Apparently Mandal is one of the few towns that is experiencing any luck with agriculture so they're really developing farming practices out here.

  A grueling train ride at three in the morning returned me to my post.  A few short hours of fitful sleep and then its back  to work.  Monday was rough as I was suffering the triple threat of sleep deprivation, dehydration, and probable malnutrition.  I need some spinach and some sleep.  Peace out!     

Third World Squalor

I suppose I outta apologize.  My last few posts have been rather negative.  Still my stay here has been less then pleasant so far.  The other night I came home from a night of drinking with friends (fellow teachers mostly) only to break my key in the lock, effectively leaving myself locked out for the night and my neighbors locked in!  Lame!  Fortunately my friend let me crash on his floor but the next day was stressful as I tried to arrange for a lock smith with communication hurdles plaguing my progress.   I finally got into my apartment with minutes to spare as I had planned to meet my students at the Natural History Museum.  I wasn't going to stand them up for any reason.

  It was nice to spend the day with students outside of class.  We got to know each other a bit more and they learned new vocabulary and such as I explained certain things in English.  They learned that my name and "petrified" share the same base so in one room they turned to me and said "Hey teacher, we found some of your wood."  Ha!  Clever students.

  I have two classes at this time.  One adult class and a children's class.  I have a problem with patience  which the kids test at every moment.  I never asked to be a baby sitter, yet I feel that is essentially what I am doing with them.  Bogus!  My adult class is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  They're very attentive, they participate and are a lot easier to communicate with.  And what's more they take me out to the museums.   Much nicer then children.   

WalkAbout

We've been getting these real pretty sunsets lately. Suhbaatar square is so picturesque to begin with, I want to take
more, particularly at dusk. I think I need to get
there earlier to take full advantage.
I went for a walkabout today to get a look at my new world. Ulaanbaatar is not very pretty. On the left is a "park." Coming from Madison, WI where we really take pride in our parks I'm quite spoiled. Some things are "ugly" but still photogenic. These are some of the funnest things to shoot. I had to struggle to find such sites as most of ULN is just boring and ugly. I did, however find this old burned out building that homeless people were using for a shelter/toilet. It was pretty rad.

I hadn't planned on hiking today but I was getting tired of being cloistered in by dilapidated buildings so I just took off. I wish I had had the foresight to bring water. It wasn't so much the heat that drained me, it was the damnable wind that threatened to blast my body's moisture away. I think some of these hills in the area would prove ideal sites for wind energy development.

It was nice to find a vantage point with some perspective. ULN appears to be sprawling away with no end in sight. Some of these people are living in such squalor. I can't imagine living in the boon docks of ULN would actually be superior to roaming the Mongolian Steppes as a nomadic high plains drifter. What do I know?

So I finally got to see a bit of the country side. Now I really wanna get a horse. I believe I would really enjoy spending a year exploring the countryside as a nomad.

Maybe I shoulda stole this guys ride.

I mean he just left her there in the midst of the junk yard. Ah, yes. The junk yard. What a weird place. No effort to bury the shit, just drop it where you will, let God sort it out. The high winds sweep the junk everywhere, I found shards of glass and bits of plastic bag all over the surrounding hills.

Putting up a barb wire fence in the vicinity just invites the wind to create a fence made of barb wire and junk. Nearby is a graveyard. There is no physical barrier between the grave yard and the junk yard. With no clear delineation they sort of drift into each other. I think that's sad.

SculpturesOfULN

                                                                                  
As promised, some sculptures from around Ulaanbaatar.  These first three are found at Suhbaatar Square where Parliament is housed.  A huge bronze of an enthroned Ghengis Khan faces south, flanked by two  mounted generals from  an archaic time.  Very epic.   

  Other scultpures appear to be left over from the Soviet era when Russia had a   great deal of influence on the Mongolian state.  The figure on the left is found outside of the Mongolian National 

History Museum.  It reminds me of the Constructivist style we studied in Art History class. As the Communist revolution swept through Russia the power elite ordered a new style of artistic expression to  represent the energy of the times.  Many of us would recognize this development in the propaganda posters that were so prevalent at that 

time.

  The rest of the sculptures shown here appear to be monuments of some sort to Mongolian military strength.  The tower (right) depicts a trio of propeller   war planes climbing vertically, presumably a monument to Mongolian Air Force.

 This dude on the right appears to be some kinda Soviet 

General or sumfin and yonder rider must represent calvary.  

I dunno.  I just like the figures.  I could care less about 

military strength.  More later.

Rally

I stumbled upon the acceptance speech of the newly elected Mongolian President.  It was like a light mosh pit (does that make sense?) with toddlers and grandmothers mixed in the crowd of otherwise drunk people.  I was told to avoid such gatherings for safeties sake, but besides the rude jockying for position everybody was pretty well behaved.  No hooliganism that I was aware of.  I guess the people were pretty stoked that this guy won.  My understanding is that the old guy was a corrupt conservative and the new guy is a corrupt liberal.  Sound familiar?

    I've been me

aning to roam about the city with camera in tow and take some pix of the plethora of sculptures and such that a bound in ULN.  Its almost like Paris over here.  I like it when cities do that.  I wish we had more representational sculpture in Americ

an cities.  Meanwhile check the statue of Lenin and some Mongolian graph.  Peace.

Slow Start

I was particularly stoked about this shot.  This building can be seen outside my apartment window.  As you can see I just barely can't catch the sunsets.  I like this building though because it has this vast array of electrical wires streaming off the top that I find rather appealing.

This first week has been rather trying as I've had to spend a good deal of time acquiring certain things that I had assumed were a given.  I thought that I was entitled to a proper bed but instead I had to track down a mattress, sheets and a pillow.  Things weren't located where they should've been, I had to go to one place to get sheets and another to get a pillow.  Its weird, everything is disorganized.  The buildings and streets are crumbling, there're too many cars and nobody follows any kind of traffic law known to man.  Its all very interpretive.  I draw stares and dirty looks, I don't know if its because I'm white or because of my dreads.  Probably both.

After  a few days of being a complete minority I finally met some white faces, my co-workers at school.  I never thought I'd be so relieved to see white people.  Everybody's really cool and supportive so I'm finally able to get things that I need.  It took a while but I finally was able to get intronet at home.  This makes blogging much easier, thanx for waiting.

I keep hearing horror stories about foreigners getting rolled in the mean streets of Ulaanbaatar.  As one co-worker put it, "travel in packs, they sure do."  I've been staying in at nights.  Doesn't sound like the club scene is really that dope and I don't really have anywhere to be.  Maybe later when I know more people and the surrounding area.  I really want to get out and see the country side more then anything.  Soon maybe soon.

One Week

Yo.  Check out the sweetest shower unit ever.  When I first saw it I thought it was a personal euthanasia chamber.  Turns out its a three function shower.  You can toggle between getting rained on from overhead, the sprayer on a flexible hose (needs some silicone caulk, know  where to find any in ULN?), and massager jets.  Far out man.  Plus only the unit steams up, the rest of the room stays clear.  Fascinating.

Hey all my glass peeps.  Twisty cane handles on my kitchen cabinets?  In effin' Ulaanbaatar?  Get out!

The front door to my apartment.  Pretty dodgy.  I like that word.  Dodgy.

Yup.  Its third world up in here.

I'm not sure if this is work by locals or some punk whities.  Still though, C-Town/U-Town, sister cities?  Not a far cry.

Paranoid Agent

5/16/09 10hrs to Tokyo wasn't so bad. Airbus 330 really delivers with personal touch screen monitors on every seatback and a vast selection of movies available for your entertainment/distraction. They fed us twice. Normally I'm not too enthusiastic about airline food, but I gobbled that shit down. Must've been hungry. Also had about 900 new songs on my iPod from Christine to sort through, decide what to keep, what to toss. This helped kill some time. Thanx Christine.

Goddam swine flu. I missed my connecting flight to Seoul form Tokyo due to paranoia. A team of quarentine specialists boarded once we landed. Decked out in medical HazMat suits they routinely checked every passenger onboard, delaying us by an hour. Must have been an expensive process. They photographed everybody with a special camera that alledgedly took an infrared image of every person onboard. Those that displayed a risky heat signature were isolated for further tests. I was released, too late to catch my flight to Korea, missing my further connection to Ulaanbaatar (ULN). They gave me a later flight to Seoul with a connect to ULN by noon the next day. I ended up spending a fitful night and following morning at Incheon Intl' Airport S.Korea. Lame. Goddam swine flu. Goddam paranoid agents. Just another example of how I can trace all of my problems to intensive agriculture through six degrees of separation or less.

So I finally made it to ULN by 3pm local time May 15th. My sore throat had gotten worse and I was racked by jet lag/sleep deprivation. On top of that I was still wearing the clothes I put on three days ago. Gross. I was escorted to my apartment by two Mongolian gentlemen, after which I promptly passed out, on the couch no less. The bed is only equipped with a box spring. No pillows. No sheets. No mattress. I guess "fully furnished" is open to interpretation.

Snow this morning. WTF? I guess I can kiss summer goodbye. Time to explore my new world.

ULN 5/16/09

Chasing the Sun

5/13/09

It's been almost three years since I last posted. Though I'm sure many of you were there for part of the time, none of you were around for all of the time. Allow me to fill in the blanks...

On September 2nd, 2006 I rolled into Seattle, just sick as a rat. Broke, with no life line I was surely doomed. The Gods took pity on my wretched state by handing me into the able hands of Rebecca Chizeck, my art school comrad. Recovery took a long time. I spent the next month couch surfing while trying to settle in and get back on my feet. After three weeks in my friends tiny cabin of an apartment I had over stayed my welcome (nice one, dude!) With no where left to turn I was forced to join the ranks of the homeless. Ironically I had simultaneously landed three jobs. So while I was working overtime I was spending my nights spooning my bicycle under a bridge. In retrospect it was kinda funny but at the time I was scared. Fortunately the homeless population of Seattle are very much like the rest of the populace, namely polite and distant. Shitty Dave , with his raspy voice, and his homey entertained me with stories of their wanderings, yet insisted on bedding down promptly at 10pm. Fine by me. I had to leave for work the next morning at 6:30.

By and by I was able to squander up enough cash to rent an apartment. I jumped on the cheapest pad I could find, a studio in Capitol Hill. I thought I would search for something bigger later but the little place grew on me and I outlasted three building managers in the course of my stay. Lured by the promise of full health insurance I scrqapped my part time job for a single full time gig with Manifesto Corp., Seattle's premiere hand-blown designer glass lighting factory. I love labor jobs. Nothing beats physically toiling with a team of like minded individuals to produce a tangible object. I really appreciate the comraderie that forms from such endeavors and its good to be tired from a days honest labor. Unfortunately my body was not up for it. A hernia, which had been brewing up in me for years finally gave way leaving me with debilitating abdominal pains. I had to seek medical assistance, and through the grace of Sweedish Medical Centers I was granted a free surgery. Seriously folks, how does this kid get so lucky?

Surgery put me out of commission for a bit, but my boss was kind enough to offer me some lower impact work at the company to allow for a proper recovery. Being out of work for a bit set me back a little so I spent the next summer (2007) working long hours to make up for lost time.

I never did make it back on the production team full time (filled in here and there, but mostly they had found replacements) so the rest of my time with Manifesto was spent languishing in the cold shop; grinding, polishing, tracking and shipping orders. It was disappointing, not what I got into glass for, and I contemplated quitting often. One day my boss pulled a fast one on me, I was "let go" on the spot. No warning. I wanted to quit anyhow so I wasn't going to complain, this way I was allowed to collect unemployment. This all happened in October of 2008 around the time of the economic collapse. Work was sparse so needless to say I got some R&R.

Eventually I decided to change my direction. I enrolled in a course and got certified to teach English as a foreign language, which affords me the opportunity to travel wherever English teachers are needed. Paid to travel. Perfect for a man in my shoes.

After a brief stint back at home with family and friends I'm on a plane, chasing the sun to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Do you know anybody whose been to Mongolia? Neither do I. I will tell all, just watch...this...space.

Seattle was a mixed blessing. I saw a lot of good music; DJ Krush, Q-Bert, and in particular Seattle's local Drum'n'Bass scene delivered on a weekly basis as well as bringing in such international talents as DJ Dara, AK1200, and my favorite DnB show, DJ Marky, straight outta Sao Paulo. I met a few cool people but most of my friends were old homies from high school and college. I do however wanna give a shout out to Ubik. and the Lava Lounge crew. It sucks that I had to leave so shortly but I feel that I have a posse to return to...someday.

10hrs to Tokyo. Pray for me!

VanCouver Intl' Airport. 5/13/09

Saved!

I don't know how I do it, but somehow my luck works out for me everytime. So, I roll into Seattle just sick as a rat. The sore throat is gone, thank god, but the cold has just moved its way up into the sinus area. My nose is sniffling and my head is clogged. I feel like I'm walking through jello world.

Seattle Central Library is huge and intimidating. The impressive structure spans ten floors, with elevators, escalators and even a small coffee stand. The all red fourth floor creeped me out. I browsed about, checking my e-mail and trying to get a hold of Alicia. I finally got through but she was in Montana so reception was bad. She just had time to recommend getting a hold of Rebecca Chizeck, another art school comrad. Too late, she cuts out before giving me the number. I'm doomed. Whats more I'm out of minutes on my phone card. No chance left.

Outside the library I wait, desperately, for theoff chance that Alicia has called Rebecca and told her to find me at the library. Keep hope alive. Eventually I decide to take a hike, find some food. Following my lonely planet guide I take a stroll to Bimbo's Bitchin' Burrito Kitchen. The walk is quite pleasant. Seattle is a beautiful city, very clean, well laid out and lush. I found the restaurant and ate good. Feeling better I prepared my self for the inevitable homeless night. Somehow, despite my desperate condition I'm relaxed, comfortable, opptomistic.

Thank my lucky stars I chose to walk back a different way then I came. I guess you always should when you've found a new place, it helps to see more stuff. A particular bookstore/coffee shop caught my eye. I crossed the street to take a closer look. I rounded the corner. There she is, I'm saved.

So, I'm in good hands, crashing at Rebeccas while I recover from my illness and prepare to start a new. I really am starting from scratch. With only $100 left to my name I have to acquire a phone, a job and an apartment in that order. Its not going to be easy or pleasant but with some help from my friends I might just make it. Rebecca has some connections to the glass scene here in town, asa well as some other odd jobs so I'm just gonna play it by ear and hope for the best. It will take a while but I think this town is my launch pad.

Well that effectively marks the end of my journeying. I made my way across many unknown miles, exploring wild landscapes and splendid cities, mostly on bicycle. I'm in a place I've always wanted to be preparing to establish my career. I may or may not continue to relate my adventures but after seven weeks of excitement and peril this saga of my life is effectively over. Thanx for coming along and don't forget to write.