Monday in Mongolia

At 10 o’clock this morning, the lobby was filled with chattering and laughter as we met our hosts – teachers and students from the Mongolian Art School - and their families. Although our days varied, our host families usually treated us to lunch and dinner and also toured us around famous attractions in Hohhot. Some of us even made dumplings (although they told us to stop after a few attempts). After delicious lunches, some of us went to the museum on Main Street, which was filled with several exhibitions. Others went to various Tibetan Buddhist temples, known as “Zhao” in Chinese. Beside the temple, we walked along streets bustling with vendors selling colorful souvenirs. Although we didn’t buy everything we wanted, we definitely improved our bargaining skills. After an exciting day, the host families took us out to dinner. The restaurants ranged from traditional Mongolian cuisine to Hot Pot. Not only did we have a lot of fun with our host families, we also experienced authentic Inner Mongolian culture, learned about new lifestyles and perspectives, and Broke the Chinese Barrier. 

One wonderful thing was how funny and witty our hosts were, along with incredibly hospitable, making it a kind of all around bonding experience. My favorite moment was when our host’s father told us about his childhood and described the change Inner Mongolia underwent. Although we took some time bonding and there were some funny translating misunderstandings (American Peter is the breed of my dog… you should know it, its from America!), the day was amazing. A tiny little perk of being with them was also that everything was very cheap. J
Jamie Jiang, Shirley  Li and Marianne Lu