Mongolian New Year

The 8th of February was Mongolian New Year, or as the locals call it, Tsagaan Sar (White Moon). During this time people will visit the houses of their older relatives and friends, and will generally have a great time – eating, drinking and singing. The Tsagaan Sar holiday lasts for three days. The first day is spent with direct family, and the following days are opportunities to visit more distant relatives or friends. People would do a lot of house-hopping, visiting perhaps 3 or 4 houses a day. The older generation hosts, and the young generation does the travelling.

I was lucky enough to be invited a few houses during the Tsagaan Sar period. Otgo, one of the staff at Amnesty Mongolia, invited me to spend Tsagaan Sar Eve and the morning of Tsagaan Sar itself with her family in their ger tent. It was lovely to see the many traditions. The man of the house has to be the first to walk out of the door in the morning, and will walk in the “wrong direction” (sorry, some things were lost in translation!) and then double back. Then the family will offer some milk to their Buddhist shrine, and will sprinkle some milk in the direction of the sky and the nearby mountains. This is to pay thanks to the spirits of nature.

After my trip to ger district I then rushed to catch a bus and headed into the city to visit my next family. Gana, one of my volunteer friends, had very kindly invited me to visit her grandparents’ house. It was a lovely experience, and a real honour to be part of the family’s celebrations (usually the first day of Tsagaan Sar is reserved for family only). Everyone was a bit perplexed by the white guy sitting in the corner, but was welcoming after the initial surprise factor had worn off! We sat and chatted the day away. Many people were coming in and out of the house, I felt like I had met 10% of the Mongolian population!

It was fascinating to see the tradition culture being lived out in a modern city. There’s a lot of Tsagaan Sar etiquette, which was a bit difficult to get my head round. However, I don’t think I really offended anyone. One of the traditions is that everyone greats each other according to their age, and is given a good sniff before they can sit down! Women will then sit on one side of the room and men on the other. The women do all the serving, whilst the men sit down and chat – whilst it was nice to be pampered for a few days I did feel a bit uncomfortable! Everyone seemed quite happy with it though. Throughout the celebrations men pass round snuff bottles and shots of vodka. The vodka is actually a good idea, as it’s needed to help the digestive system deal with all the fatty food that’s being served.

Food is a big part of the celebrations, and as usual meat plays a big part in the cuisine. There is a constant supply of buuz (meat dumplings) being provided, and the men cut slabs of meat from a huge chunk of mutton in the centre of the main table. The women of the household will ensure that you do not leave without a full stomach – “Ead, ead, ead!” (which helpfully enough sounds exactly the same as “eat, eat, eat!”).

Each family has a cake which is the centrepiece of the Tsagaan Sar table. The cake is built up of many layers. The odd layers symbolise good times, and the even layers symbolise sadness. Needless to say, every family’s cake finishes off on an odd number! The number of layers also signifies the age of the head of the household. Grandparents would have 7 layers, middle aged people would have 5 layers and new parents would have 3. The cake is not eaten until Tsagaan Sar is over.

The event was a real reminder of what much of Western culture has lost. It was really touching to see the strong connections between the family members. The grandparents were treated with a lot of respect, and the house was packed with visitors for the them. I’ll remember Tsagaan Sar for a long time. Back to the “real world” now though, as I’m in the office on Monday. Better do some exercise to burn off all the fatty food!

I wish you all a very good Year of the Rat, take care of yourselves,

Robert