Snow everywhere!

The cold weather continues, but what has been quite fun is that we’ve finally had some snow falling, so Ulaanbaatar looks quite beautiful at the moment. People are busy brushing the snow off the streets and monuments, but I happen to think that everything looks a lot prettier with a dusting of snow.

Friends from the North - This week we are lucky enough to be hosting some young people from Buryatia, a neighbouring republic in the Russian Federation. Their ethnicity and culture is very similar to the Mongolians, so they slot quite well into life here. The only difficulty is the language barrier, as I don’t really know any Russian. However, I can pick up the odd word or two with my Polish. They’re here to share experiences with Mongolian youth organisations, and so far the visit is going very well. If all goes to plan a delegation of young people from Mongolia will do a return visit to Lake Baikal in the summer – if that happens I’ll try to tag along too!

Visit to the Lenin Museum – a pretty surreal experience. The Communist Party of Mongolia is still operating (albeit under a different name), and still own a building dedicated to Lenin. You are greeted to the building by a huge statue of the “great man” (about 30 feet tall), which is placed in front of a wall upon which the words “workers of the world unite!” are written in many languages. However, the building is undergoing huge renovation, and much of the old artwork is being disposed of. I asked the staff what will become of all the old propaganda posters, books and statues, and they just said they will be thrown away. This is criminal in my opinion – I’m sure some museum would love to get their hands on this stuff. Anyway, the building will soon be turned into a supermarket. This has to be one of the clearest signs of transition from Communism to Capitalism! I’m sure the old communists are rolling in their graves…

An evening at the ballet – a real experience, as I’ve never been to the ballet before. I’ve got to say that I had a great time. Some friends and I went to see Swan Lake, and whilst I didn’t fully understand the story it was very interesting and enjoyable. The live orchestra was fantastic, and the coordination of the many ballet dancers was amazing to see. I’ve never really had the chance to go to see the ballet in the UK before (mainly because of the ticket prices). Next up may be an opera!

Cold hugs from Mongolia,

Robert