Temples of Cold
We did a bit of shopping at the monastery store. I bought beads, some small bells and a couple of gifts.
We then headed to the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, a
monastery built in the early 1900s. There were
about 6 or 7 temple buildings. We went into
two of them and saw many intense statues of
gods and demons and some interesting artworks
- including two representations of hell - one
with fire and the other with ice. I chose not
to pay for taking pictures which was twice the
price of the admission but I really regret
that decision. There really was some amazing
things. The temperature outside was less that
10 degrees and it was even colder in the
temples so we did not visit all the buildings.
I hope this temple complex remains intact.
High rising housing construction was circling
it like wagons in the old west.
The Natural History
museum was interesting for its amazing fossilized
dinosaur bones and eggs. My favorite items were a
fully intact pelvis the size of a flattened VM
bug and a claw as big as me. Unfortunately photos
were not allowed.
A final shot at Happiness Land next to the Korean
restaurant and a history lesson at the
Ulaanbaatar airport
The highlight of the trip home was 12 hours in
Beijing but otherwise it was long and
uncomfortable. We arrived in Beijing (the airport
is beautiful), checked into a crappy hotel very
near the airport and then arranged for two taxis
to pick us up at 12:30am and drive us around for
a couple of hours. We then slept for 3 hours and
headed back to the airport at 7:00am. Needless to
say there were no tourists at Tiananmen Square so
it was us, the many surveillance cameras and the
military guards. We walked around the square and
outside the wall of the Forbidden City, which was
closed. We encountered two guards in an
underpass, one seemed thrilled to talk to anyone
and practice his English, the other did not say a
word but did not seem to mind Connie posing with
him for a picture.
Beijing airport
Tianeman Square and the underpass where we talked
to the guard. Note the cameras.
Near the Forbidden City
We flew through Tokyo but felt no real sense of
trauma from the earthquake disaster in the short
layover. It was just another busy airport. Miyako
had been worried the whole time we were in
Mongolia and was able to talk to her family a
couple times there and at the airport before we
headed to the US
Day to Day
A embassy van would pick us up and we would be dropped at the various locations for teaching, choreographing, lecturing, observing. We went to universities, grade schools, the School for the hearing impaired, three different dance groups' studios and a place called The American Corner where young adults gather to learn and practice English. These organizations were all chosen by the embassy and we were welcomed everywhere.
I mostly took photos and videos but Sarah and I talked at the American Corner one afternoon. This was not a dance audience and I got the feeling they were not necessarily interested in Dana's group but they did seem interested in how we felt about Mongolian folk dancing, contortionists," Dancing with the Stars" type programs and Lady GaGa. Mostly I think we provided real English speaking people to talk and listen to.
In the evenings we went to the hotel bar and worked on the Chronicle for Higher Education blog. Dana wrote, I made editorial suggestions and then we went through photos that fit with the text and/or were interesting. We then emailed everything and in the morning at breakfast we were able to see the final blog entries at the Chronicle site.
We usually drank Chinggis beer at the bar and one
night we sampled the local wheat beer.
On Thursday early
evening we were finally able to do a bit of
shopping. We went to the huge State Department
store which sounds like it kept its name from
Soviet times. The souvenirs were on the 8th floor
so we spent time there. I also ventured down to
the cashmere floor to find a sweater for my aunt
Zita and was successful. (Cashmere is an
important Mongolian export) We were some of the
last people in the store.
Friday (last full day in Ulaanbaatar) was spent
at the theater preparing for the evening
performance. The uneven wood plank floor delayed
warmup and rehearsal. The 4 dancers and I walked
around a bit and ate at the Grand Khan Irish Pub
which was pretty good. The floor was eventually
covered with felt and the a marley (vinyl) dance
floor. The dancers said that dancing on it was
other-worldly but they did fine.
The performance was by embassy invitation only
(not sure why) and was about 3/4 filled. US
Ambassador Addleton (who grew up in Macon, GA)
and his wife attended and stuck around for the
little reception afterwards. We took a group
picture of embassy staff and translators, Tumen
Ek dancers and other guests before heading back
to the hotel to eat and blog at the bar.
Out and About in Ulaanbaatar
Sukhbaatar Square - the
centerpiece of Ulaanbaatar. The statue on the
left is of Sukhbaatar, who helped free
Mongolia from the Chinese but in the center of
the building is a huge impressive statue of
Chinggis Kahn, the hero of
Mongolia and the namesake of some excellent
beer.
Some traditional outfits worn by mostly older
Mongolians, I suspect the fellow in red is a monk
but I like the Burberry scarf (I think dancer
Connie - whose photos are mixed with mine -took
that shot)
Ger district in town and spreading up the distant
hillside and new high rises. You can see the
river bed with water flow that never fills the
bed even in springtime.
The folk dance
company we worked with were called Tumen Ekh and
we spent a lot of time at their studio/theater
space.
The top pic is the entrance with dancers Sarah,
Kelly and Dana and one of the many translators we
worked with. The red door inside (with Dana) is
just inside the building and through the door and
upstairs is an art gallery with this giant
traditional musical instrument called the horse
head fiddle. Later in the week we bought some of
the calligraphy works you see on the walls from
the fellow next to the fiddle.
To the right of the red door is the studio where
Dana, Sarah and Kelly taught and choreographed.
Dana choreographed a duet and a group piece in an
amazing short period of time. The duet was with
two very talented (and nice) male dancers (with
Dana in one of the pics). One was the only dancer
who spoke a small amount of english. Dana did not
have a translator for most of his choreography
sections so he was was a real help, but
demonstration was the language mostly used. There
are other pics of the dancers on the DTSB&Co blog
Near the studio is a Korean restaurant that
actually served great coffee and lots of
different Asian cuisine - the best Chinese food I
had in a long time. On the way to the restaurant
was this building with the English name
"Happiness Land". This building was photographed
by the group more than any other.
The first night we were there we were able to see
a performance of the Tumen Ekh dancers, singers
and musicians - very impressive. The female
singing was a similar to Chinese singing (like in
the movie Raise the Red Lantern). The males did
some throat singing. The dances were very
energetic. The costumes were gorgeous. The
contortionists were a bit odd. The bottom pic is
of the Tumen Ekh dancers, directors, the embassy
cultural attache (Marissa) and DTSB&Co group.
The two males in the fur hats are the males in
the duet.
Mongolia - the trek to UlaanBaatar
This was the start of a 30 hour plus trip to mongolia. We flew 6 hours to San Francisco and then flew 12 hours to Seoul, South Korea, The Seoul airport was the first highlight of the trip. We had a 4 hour layover so we snooped around and found a "Rest and Relax" lounge that served Korean Air customers. For a fee we could sit, eat and drink with free wifi for as long as we wanted. We could also pay a reasonable fee to take a shower, and get a manicure and or a massage. Sarah, Connie, Miyako, and Dana took a shower and got a foot massage. Kelly got a full body massage. It was such a nice break.
These are not linked to larger images.
Seoul Airport - cultural center with performances
and crafts. Treats at the Rest and Relax center
Fun bathroom sign. We could not resist the shower
Dana and Sara getting a foot massage
When we arrived in
Ulaanbaatar we were met by the embassy Cultural
Specialist Otgon (I thought she might be Klingon
but I was wrong). Otgon organized all the
activities and performance venues and she really
packed our schedule. She gave us a packet of
information and included a box of official
embassy chocolates.
These ARE linked to larger images:
This is where we eat breakfast. Omelettes
made-to-order, so-so coffee and great yogurt.
The outside of the hotel looks like a typical
soviet era building but the inside is quite
lovely. Dancer Sarah Halzack and I are on the 3rd
floor probably the second window from the left
looking into the sign. The pic on the left is the
bar where Dana and I have been blogging every
night. (He's getting paid to blog for the
Chronicles of Higher Learning) We have enjoyed
local beer and wheat vodka
We are driven around in official State Dept vans
Some food pictures - cappucino with a lovely
spoon, mutton dumplings and tongue, a local dark
beer (Otgon is in the background)