New Years in Mongolia is celebrated a bit like Christmas...there are parties, and secret santas, recordings of 'last christmas' played on a loop, and a santa like figure, who is always accompanied by two jesters rather than 9 reindeer...
At my school we had a holiday concert that was put on by the students. The santa called me out in the middle of the concert to give me a gift...which apparently translates into me having good luck for this next year!
I also snuck in on a secret santa exchange with an 11th grade homeroom, and got to celebrate with them at a party in school. There were many games made up on the spot to play, which included a push-up competition, a who can eat 6 buuz faster competition, and a girl and boy clothing swap drag competition.
My school also had a new years party for teachers and workers, that I reluctantly attended. From what I remember, it was great fun and dancing...with some weird competitions that took place. I was supposed to participate in one competition that involved putting a ping pong ball up the cuff of a mans pants, and then racing other competitors to see who could get it out the waist of the man's pants first. But thanks to some quick thinking and quick feet...I told FC I needed the instructions translated before pushing her into the spotlight and running away. Probably my best decision of the evening.
What were not my best decisions of that evening? Let me tell you...
1. vodka
2. performing in a skit as a chicken and singing a Mongolian song.
3. Peeing in an alley while being harrassed by a puppy
The best part, was that the English Supervisor actually scheduled a student's test competition for the next day after our school's New Year's Party...It started two hours after the specified time...and while I was on time... I spent a significant portion of the day napping it out on some chairs...
For actual New Year's, I hung out with Firecracker, and my sitemate Fuji. FC made a terrific spread of buuz, potato salad, sausage, milk tea, and my favorite candy...the food was seemingly endless. In the early evening, we gathered on the town square with other government workers and teachers for a small concert and socializing. There was an ice slide that was built for children, and I spent a good portion of my time at the square convincing other adults to go down it with me. I convinced 4, but one got to the top, and decided she was too afraid to slide down, and went back down the more terrifying ice stairs...
For some reason, sometimes when Mongolians see me, they always want to take their picture with me. I usually oblige, surely making it into countless photo albums across the country. On this night, you could have assumed that I was wearing a giant animal costume or something, because there were many people wanting me to be in their awkward family photos...so much that my teachers around me started yelling out prices. 1 picture for 500 tugriks (or about 20 cents)!
It was, literally, a freezing evening, and mongolian tradition dictates that one must remove your glove or mitten to shake hands to wish someone a happy new year. So after about and hour and a half of just wearing one mitten, we had to leave the square because my hand was in such pain from the cold. Also it is Mongolian tradition that one has to be in their own home at midnight, and not anywhere else...so it was time to go anyway. We went back to FC's ger for the countdown.
We spent our remaining time of the 2014 writing up our goals for the new year, and the bad personal traits that we didn't want to carry over into the New Year. At the stroke of midnight, we quickly lit a match and burned what we wrote, right on top of the table. For some reason, I wasn't expecting there to be so much smoke.
My resolution?
Have more moments like the ice slide...put your hands up and experience the thrill of it all.
At my school we had a holiday concert that was put on by the students. The santa called me out in the middle of the concert to give me a gift...which apparently translates into me having good luck for this next year!
I also snuck in on a secret santa exchange with an 11th grade homeroom, and got to celebrate with them at a party in school. There were many games made up on the spot to play, which included a push-up competition, a who can eat 6 buuz faster competition, and a girl and boy clothing swap drag competition.
What were not my best decisions of that evening? Let me tell you...
1. vodka
2. performing in a skit as a chicken and singing a Mongolian song.
3. Peeing in an alley while being harrassed by a puppy
4. Opening a car door while the car was in transit
5. pretty much anything that happened after 11pm- details are limited.
 |
| glitz galore |
 |
| I didn't want to eat my cake, so I fed it to my table friends. |
 |
| This picture was taken after 11, so I can't explain the tie. |
The best part, was that the English Supervisor actually scheduled a student's test competition for the next day after our school's New Year's Party...It started two hours after the specified time...and while I was on time... I spent a significant portion of the day napping it out on some chairs...
For actual New Year's, I hung out with Firecracker, and my sitemate Fuji. FC made a terrific spread of buuz, potato salad, sausage, milk tea, and my favorite candy...the food was seemingly endless. In the early evening, we gathered on the town square with other government workers and teachers for a small concert and socializing. There was an ice slide that was built for children, and I spent a good portion of my time at the square convincing other adults to go down it with me. I convinced 4, but one got to the top, and decided she was too afraid to slide down, and went back down the more terrifying ice stairs...
For some reason, sometimes when Mongolians see me, they always want to take their picture with me. I usually oblige, surely making it into countless photo albums across the country. On this night, you could have assumed that I was wearing a giant animal costume or something, because there were many people wanting me to be in their awkward family photos...so much that my teachers around me started yelling out prices. 1 picture for 500 tugriks (or about 20 cents)!
It was, literally, a freezing evening, and mongolian tradition dictates that one must remove your glove or mitten to shake hands to wish someone a happy new year. So after about and hour and a half of just wearing one mitten, we had to leave the square because my hand was in such pain from the cold. Also it is Mongolian tradition that one has to be in their own home at midnight, and not anywhere else...so it was time to go anyway. We went back to FC's ger for the countdown.
We spent our remaining time of the 2014 writing up our goals for the new year, and the bad personal traits that we didn't want to carry over into the New Year. At the stroke of midnight, we quickly lit a match and burned what we wrote, right on top of the table. For some reason, I wasn't expecting there to be so much smoke.
My resolution?Have more moments like the ice slide...put your hands up and experience the thrill of it all.
Sounds like a riot! The locals wanting photos with you reminds me of that absurd photo we took in Paris when that wide eyed couple smashed their way in :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
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