Snowy Ulaanbaatar

Last Monday we had a big downpour of snow, which the locals say marks the start of winter. The city looks a lot pretty with it's new white blanket - all the dirt is hidden away underneath the snow. It's pretty chilly, so whilst it hasn't snowed since the city still remains covered. I love it! The only problem is that everything becomes a lot more slippery. For some unknown reason the Mongolian authorities have decided to build all new pavements with very flash paving stones (sometimes using polished marble). The only problem is that these stones give pedestrians no grip what so ever! For a country which is covered with snow/ice for almost a third of the year this seems absolute craziness. Oh well, "at least the pavements look nice"...

My colleagues and I are all gearing up for the most important date of the Mongolian volunteering calendar - International Volunteers Day (5th of December). All the different member organisations of the volunteer network that I work for are planning different events. Service for Peace will be getting its volunteers out on the streets to tell drivers to wear their seat belts. The Donors Association will be visiting university campuses to try to get more young people to sign up to be blood donors. The streets of Ulaanbaatar will be awash with volunteers - hopefully! The big climax of International Volunteers Day will be a cocktail party. I hasten to add that this was not my idea, but hey - maybe it will draw in the politicians and funders... Anyway, during the cocktail party we'll have an awards ceremony which will highlight the work that some Mongolian volunteers are doing. That at least will be a really good thing.

The Hair Cut - As I was beginning to feel self-conscious of the fact that during important meetings I constantly had to brush my hair out of my eyes I felt the time was right to get a hair cut. Thus, this Thursday I popped round to the girls' flat (four of the female VSO volunteers live together) and was 'treated' to a free hair cut. It was very kind of Ruth to volunteer her services. However I think she took too much off - I miss my long hair! Oh well, it will grow back in a month, and I suppose it made me look more smart for...

Trip to Parliament - On Friday I was lucky enough to be invited to a ceremony inside the main parliament building (an honour which not many Mongolians, let alone foreigners have had). The reason - one of the organisations I work with, the Mongolian Youth Federation, was helping to run the annual civic vow event. When Mongolians turn 16 years old, they are expected to pledge their allegiance to the nation and then receive their passport. The event I went to was a ceremonial version of this every day occurrence - one 16 year old from each region of Mongolia was invited to take part in a more formal version of this coming of age ceremony. The event itself was quite interesting. It was a real show of patriotism, with the crowd clutching their breast on several occasions. A brass band played the national anthem, some people recited poetry and a local film star came to sing some traditional songs. It's interesting to see how patriotic the youth of Mongolia are - quite a contrast to young people in the UK.
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Anyway, at the end of the ceremony I managed to have a quick peek around the Parliament building, and what a luxurious building it was! The place was filled with leather seats and full of beautiful artwork. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed anywhere near the main chamber where parliament gathers, but the outer quarters were still a sight for sore eyes...

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Right, back to the 'real world'. I hope all of you are well and are having fun. Best wishes from a slippy Ulaanbaatar,

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Robert