First Impressions

As the plane closed in on Ulaanbaatar (UB), I leaned across the elderly Mongolian man beside me to try and get a glimpse through the window of my new home. My first thought was that I had never seen anything quite like it. We flew over endless sparse landscape, crevices on the ground defined small grassless mountains - some covered with the odd dumping of snow - until we saw our first sign of life.

The ger district surrounds the north of the city with hundreds of tiny huts and colourful roofs, interspersed with gers and squared off into sections by miles of wooden fencing. The ger is the traditional home of the Mongolians, a round, windowless tent made of felt, structured by a lattice wooden frame and centred with a coal fuelled stove. Together, the ger and the stove provide not only somewhere to cook but also warmth for families against temperatures as low as -50 in the long winter. Beyond the ger district I saw the city, a mix of old and new with architecture influenced by centuries of change.

Upon landing we received an amazing welcome at Chinggis (not Genghis) Khan International Airport by our volunteer managers Boggie and Tsomo and met our “trusted driver” Odkar.

My first impressions of this unique city have been nothing short of wonderful and I have to say my expectations have been exceeded.

In my brief experience, I can say the people are very friendly, I’ve already received countless friend requests on Facebook from names I can’t even begin to pronounce. People on the street see I am a Westerner and take the chance to practice their English whilst shopkeepers are graceful with myself and my fellow volunteers practicing our poor Mongolian.

The variety of international cuisine is endless and traditional Mongolian food seems rare to come by. Last week I tried khuusuur – similar to a meat filled pastie – and buuz – steamed dumpling – washed down with seabuckthorn juice which has a bucket load of medicinal purposes.

As we come into Spring, the weather has ranged from -20 to 19 degrees Celsius across three weeks. We’ve trodden through snow, slipped on ice, bathed in sunshine, choked on dust storms and lost our breath when the cold wind has hit us in the face. I’ve learnt that as long as the extremities are covered, you’re dressed for battle but I’m sure that will change when Winter comes around again.

My first two weeks in UB consisted of house hunting, orientation and networking with current Australian volunteers. We’ve been armed with details on health, politics, economy, culture, history and the best places to shop and eat. This has been followed by two weeks of language lessons to which point, family and friends back home are beginning to wonder what it is that I’m actually supposed to be doing in Mongolia.

On Monday I will start my volunteer assignment as Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator with the Economic Club of Ulaanbaatar.

I can’t wait to see what the next nine months will bring.

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