The best part about living abroad is meeting people who show me the country of Mongolia, and who have also become great friends. Mongolia has a reputation for being a mysterious place throughout history. For centuries, people were mystified by the freezing cold climate, the horse-centric nomadic culture, and the legacy of the powerful Chinggis Khan and his warriors. The fact that most of the country is so vast and empty just contributed to the mystery.
After living here for three months, I saw how the people here have different customs and traditions, but otherwise, the people are not so different. In the city of Ulaanbaatar, young people like to do the same things I do in the United States: hang out with friends, dance, shop and complain about having too much homework! They use social media, take Selfies and enjoy planning outings to go hiking or to the arcade. Even in the countryside, while the sprawling landscape certainly seems to take you back to the twelfth century, the conversations that people have – about their families, their work and their dreams for the future – remind me of conversations I have with people I know.
Of course, there are plenty of things that are different between me and Mongolians. The most obvious one is our abilities to tolerate the cold!
