Who says you have to have a big crazy party?

Bringing in the New Year......

London, UK.....2008 ending and 2009 beginning.

A fabulous fireworks display!

Viewed in the comfort

and warmth of

my bedroom.

With

remote

in

hand :)

It's already January 2009??!?

How the months have flown by...and without me blogging about them. For this, I am truly sorry. I want to work at being more of a consistent blogger (among a whole lot of other things!).

How was everyone's Christmas break? I hope you all had a great time with family and friends and that you RESTED. I sure did. I spent 10 days in Germany, visiting family and friends, and had a lovely time! Here are some highlights: cut down my first Christmas tree (how sad is that....the first time for a CANADIAN!), made German Christmas cookies, went ice skating in Frankfurt, tried lots of different German food, and enjoyed my share of Nutella!

But now its back to reality. No more sleeping in. No more staying up late till all hours of the morning. No more relaxing. It's back to the grind. That's it, no more fun! :)

I've started a full time teaching position, with a year 4 class in North-London. They're a great group of kids, and the first week back went surprisingly well. We'll see how next week goes. :)

But this job is a big learning curve for me. Not only is the curriculum very different compared with Canada's, but so are the teaching strategies, the teaching apparatus (Interactive White Boards (IWB) instead of the old-fashioned overhead projectors we use in Canada), and the teaching framework. So, the kids are getting used to me, my accent and my rules (and oh boy, do I have a lot!), and I'm trying to apply all these things I'm learning while maintaining a somewhat orderly class. Lots of fun :) I'm going to be one amazing teacher if/when I come back to Canada!

So, I have to jump back a bit. The day after I arrived back in London from my Germany trip, I spotted something quite amusing as I stood in a packed bus, heading towards Hackney (the best place in London to live). I was people watching, and just making observations and comparisions with the people I saw in Germany with what I was now seeing. And as I was lost in thought, this man walked in front of the group of people I was observing, pushing a shopping cart. No biggie, right? Well, this was no ordinary sight. You see, the cart was piled high with clear bags of meat (ribs, big cuts of meat)! He was making his way through the crowds, on a mission to deliver this cart full of meat to who knows where....probably to his cousin's shop. lol...I love the random things you'll see in this city! And no one thought anything of this....they didn't stop and stare (like me)...it didn't even phase them. I love it! I don't think I'll be buying meat in that area. I'll stick to Tesco.

UK.....not the life for me, but where I'm called to live my life (for now)

I knew that London would be a big, fashion concious, materialistic city, all things that do not appeal to me. But still I came. I felt this was the next chapter for my life...and I still believe it to be true.

London is very different from Vernon and even Victoria, not just the size, but also the rhythm of life. Transportation chews up a lot of your day, as you plan your day around how long it'll take to get from point A to poin B, via tube, bus, train or by foot. But the city is well organized in terms of transportation. The tube system is great and easy to follow. There's a website that makes figuring out how to get anywhere so much easier: journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/

You just type in your start point and end point and it tells you the fastest way to get there. I use this site A LOT!

Traveling across three countries before coming here made it easier to adjust to London life: big city, small living quarters and many people groups. That's one thing I love about London...is the colourful array of nationalities represented here. Its beautiful.

I've been working a lot...getting a good 4-5 days of work per week, which is great! I'm at a different school each day, traveling up to 1.5 hrs one way! But most schools are within 45 min of travel time. So, not so bad.

I'll have my own class as of January...teaching a year 4 class. It'll be nice to have some consistancy, but I'm not looking forward to the extra work load. The price of being a teacher. My kids are great though...a really nice group of kids. I'm looking forward to pouring into their lives and having some fun with them.

Aah...I'm losing interest in writing this blog. Basically, I've been here for 13 weeks. I miss mountains, lakes, and people back home, but I'm glad I'm here. I'm here for a reason, to learn on many levels. Its challenging, but good.

With love from London,

alison

"Hello...Hello!"

People in China don't just say hello once like most English speakers. They find repeating the word twice more effective. And maybe they are right. It sure got my attention, walking down the hutong alleys of Beijing, looking at all one could buy in such a small space. I learned a lot from Jaime's scouting methods, instead of just buying when I thought I had found a good deal. We got "real good" at walking away when a price was given that was "too much", only to have the vendor follow us down the alley, decreasing the price with every step. They quickly realized we weren't your typical North American shoppers....or Americans. I even made friends with some of them! This one lady was great....we just clicked. And we'd pass her stall practically every day, as it was very near our hostel....and we'd give her a wave and a smile, and carry on. I liked China more than I thought I would. I was excited about going to the Country where my dad was born, yes, but other than family connection, I wasn't really drawn to go there. But that has all changed. I would definately go back to China! I would love to see more of the Country, and explore the villages and more rural areas.

So...what did we do there? Good question. As it was the end of our Trans Siberian Railway journey, we did more relaxing and touristy things than the other two countries. It was great. Did some shopping, climbed The Great Wall of China (a 10km climb was extended to something more like 13 km, due to us missing the turn off to the restaurant below...oops), visited the Temple of Heaven, saw Tiananmen Square (from afar), went to the Pearl Market (rediculously overwhelming!!) which was three-stories worth, ate wonderful and mysterious food, and enjoyed having a room to ourselves with our own western toilet and shower!! Simple pleasures :)

As Jaime and I were sitting in the front entrance of our hostel at the computers, just shortly after checking in, I watching the crowds of people walk by, and spotted someone I knew: it was not one, but TWO boys that we had met on the train from Perm to Irkutsk! The Swedes! lol....So, that was pretty crazy and amazing, that of all the streets in Beijing, they just happened to be walking down ours, looking for a hostel. So, we ended up sharing at least a meal together each day, which was nice. Ordered some dishes where we had NO idea what we were getting! Pretty excellent! (the picture below is one such dish)

I think I could live there. Seriously. Hey, if the food is good, then I could live almost anywhere. Almost.

Cab rides. We basically walked everywhere, as we were so close to the areas we wanted to see. But when we did need to travel farther distances, and our legs did not allow our brains to convince them that they could walk, we took a cab. Most cab drivers don't speak English. So, thankfully we had a little card that the hostel gave us, with the name of the hostel written in Chinese, as well as a map. We carried this little card with us everywhere...cause they couldn't understand me trying to say the name in Chinese ( I don't know why! ). At first we would show them the card before getting in (cause we thought that would be smarter), but after being turned down by a number of cabs, we learned better. Next cab, we jumped in and waited till the driver had started driving to pull our the card with instructions of where to go. Ha ha. Can't stop now! :) We'd also get the locals who spoke English to write down the names of certain locations in Chinese characters, for us to show the drivers. Brilliant.

I tried to learn a little Chinese, and did. A litttle. Had fun using the little that I knew, trying to sound like a local. They thought it was funny. My English would so quickly turn to sounding like their English...lol.....had way too much fun.

I tried loading more pics, but couldn't. So, if you're on facebook, I've uploaded album after album...so do take a look at them. I did that for YOU! You're welcome.

Making Mongolian Memories

On a hike....last day in the countryside

The flight of stairs to the monastery. And that's

our guide...preparing himself for our race ;)

On the horse...trying desperately not to fall off

while I take a picture!

Where we stayed....our yurt is to the right of the

blue-door yurt.

Just got back from a 3-day, 2-night trip out in the countryside of Mongolia (1.5 hrs from Ulanbaatar). I'm really glad we went, but was very grateful to head back into the city, where I can get clean! I like roughing-it, but I sure do appreciate a nice hot shower! But that'll have to wait till tomorrow, as we have plans to meet up with a few people tonight....straight from the internet cafe, which is where I'm at right now.

Back to our little trip. We booked this trip with a reliable tour agency, "Nomadic Expeditions", and packed our things ready for a little fresh air. I wasn't sure how "real" our experience in the countryside would be, especially when I heard we'd only be 1.5 hrs out of Ulanbaatar. But, I was happy to see that yes, indeed we would be staying in the countryside. We stayed with a family: dad, mom, daughter (and husband) and grand-daughter. I tried speaking Russian with the mom, but ...nope. No comprendo. Later on I met the dad, and was able to communicate a bit with him in Russian. Other than that, we basically did hand motions and tried our best with the few Mongolian phrases we learned (from Jaime's trusty "Lonely Planet" guidebook).

So, here's a story for you. We were told that this trip included: sleeping in a yurt, horse ride for a day, basic meals, and hiking. So, day two we were expecting a good horse ride. It was a flippin' COLD morning. We get on our horses, and start riding down the road. Except for, this wasn't a normal horse ride. Our guide was riding in front, with the two of us behind him, side by side. He had the reigns to our horses in his hands....I felt like I was a little kid at the IPE/fair!! So, after riding for 20 min like this, we stopped at "Turtle Rock" (this famous rock that apparently all tourists want to take pictures of), and our guide motioned for us to take pictures with it. Jaime was NOT impressed (neither was I...but I didn't show it as she did). He left us in the blistering wind, while he went to smoke in a car with his buddies. We had a little conference, and decided not to go on with this horse ride, and rather, walk back "home". We figured at least this way we'd warm up a bit by speed-walking. It was seriously really cold...the wind was nasty! I had three layers on, with my goretex jacket and hood on.
ANYWHO... (that was for you Becky!), so we walked towards the car, and Jaime explained to our guide (with excellent hand motions and slow English) that we were not happy with riding "attached". You had to be there....I had to keep myself from laughing out loud....couldn't hold back the smiles though. So, off we went...with a car-full of Mongolian guys laughing at us two stubborn Canadian girls. 10 min later, our guide rides up, and motions for us to get on the horses, because "monastery...5 min". After negotiating that we wanted to ride separate from him and each other, we got on, and proceeded to head down the dirt road. The weather changed and it turned out to be a beautiful day! The sun came out, and my hands warmed up. We figured out how to get the horses galloping....and gallop we did (for a bit). I had to yell out "yee- haw!"...just had to. lol....
The monastery was painted beautifully, and we got some great pics. I raced our tour guide up the 180 steps up to the monastery....he won. But that's only because I tripped 1/4 into the staircase. lol.....
Anways.....it was a great day. Got some great video clips...and later laughed about stomping off earlier on. Good times!

Slept in a yurt. That was fun. We'd go to bed with it stinkin' hot in there (due to building a decent fire in the stove before heading to bed), and wake up freezing. Actually, this morning there was frost on the ground! Did NOT expect it to get that cold there.....

Almost 4 weeks into the trip, I'm really thankful for the following items:
-hand sanitizer (with a lovely blackberry vanilla scent, so at least I smell nice!)
-baby wipes (when you just can't shower!)
-beef jerky (PROTEIN!! Best food item to bring...ever!)
-tea (drank a lot on the train......drop a tea bag into a nalgene bottle and add boiling water from the "samovar")
-floss! (I hate plaque and food stuck in my teeth! Flossing is so satisfying)
-tank tops (great layering item for warmth)

I did a pretty good job at packing for this trip. Yes, I brought too much of some things
(t- shirts.....6 might have been too many), but...generally, I did fairly well.

Time for dinner! I'm starving! The first part of the trip Jaime was always hungry, but the tables have turned in the last couple of weeks. I'm always ready for food! :)

Bayartai! ('goodbye')

Oh, p.s. I think we ate Mare's milk crepes.....except for they weren't really cooked. Pretty thick. Made us a little queasy, but did our best. Everything else we ate was fine. It tasted like babooshka's cooking, so I downed it with ease. But it all basically tasted the same, being as the same ingredients were used in all the dishes: little bit of meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage, beets, and fat chunks...Yes, fat CHUNKS. I thought it was a chuck of onion at first, but quickly realized...nope, that was fat! Great, cause I don't have enough of that! lol.....

k...BYE!

It's pretty much all about the food

In Russia I quickly learned to pick up my feet. Let me explain. Door ways most often have a door sill that is not flush with the floor, so you are prone to tripping over it if you don't watch your step.

In Mongolia, the side walks are not like back home. If you don't watch where you're going, you could do some serious damage to your face! (or your ankle...I almost rolled mine today)

It has been so nice to talk with people who have been quite helpful with directions and such...and who smile! That was a rarity in Russia. I love Russians, don't misunderstand me please, but they do not smile. Dad was right...I smile too much to pose as a Russian. :)

Actually, a number of people in Russia have mistaken me as a Russian. I love it! Natasha, a girl our age that Jaime and I stayed with in Irkutsk, took us to a clothing market, to find a "must have" item for myself. There were Russian, Mongolia, and Chinese vendors selling their products in these crammed booths. This one guy thought Natasha was the foreigner, and I was the Russian. LOL....and then they weren't sure. We had them so confused...it was awesome! Natasha didn't say to much, and let me do the talking. A female vendor nearby said that my Russian was so fluent, I had to be the Russian of the two. Things like this I will miss on the rest of the trip. AND, eavesdropping. I like eavesdropping in English speaking countries (oh c'mon.....like you don't!), but in Russia....it is way more fun! I love having the ability to be "Russian" or "Canadian". I generally speak strictly English when dealing with the Russian public, but once in a while I play the Russian card, and its great! The looks on peoples faces when I bust out in Russian is awesome!

Anyways...this blog was supposed to be about Mongolia, as that's where I am now. Although the city is quite grey and the air quality not so great, I've enjoyed walking the streets of Ulanbaatar, stopping here and there, taking in the sites and people watching. Mongolians are beautiful people. Even though the city is busy, with traffic everywhere, and people bustling around, there is a sense of peace. The kids are so cute! We walked by what I think was a boarding school, and a group of 7 year old boys were playing soccer in their navy blue uniforms. Cute!

There are sounds here that stand out. For one, the whistle. At the middle of many intersections, stands a man in a white uniform, who directs traffic with his whistle and arm movements. Amazing to watch. So, as we walk down the streets, you hear a lot of that, plus horns honking (kind of like New York....but an Asian version). The buses are jammed full with the locals (like in Mexico), inching their way down the road. During rush hour, its faster to walk than to take a taxi. Hence why we walked the 45 min to the Chinese embassy this morning, rather than take a taxi. By the way, for those of you praying for my china visa, the visa application was accepted today, and I should have my passport back Friday, with the China Visa inside. So...keep praying! We're so close!

It is such a blessing to be somewhere where I'm not forced to pay ridiculous amounts of money, just so that I can eat something somewhat decent! Moscow was so expensive...I really did not anticipate that. Here in Ulanbaatar however, it is MUCH cheaper. Jaime and I paid 3500 Togrogs for our lunch yesterday...our first Mongolian meal. That's about $3 USD....for BOTH of us! Seriously cheap. This is more like it.

After traveling for three weeks, eating the way the locals eat, we were both wanting to treat ourselves to a Western meal. I just wanted veggies and protein......I so miss eating spinach!! So, we found a nice restaurant to go to last night, "California", where they served amazing food. The selection was overwhelming! But in a very good way :) So, after humming and hawing about what to get, we decided to each order a salad with MEAT, and an appy to share (tender beef tenderloin strips, served on top of a grilled veggie wrap, with BBQ sauce on the side). Wow...was the food ever amazing! Seriously....hands down better than many restaurants back home. We barely talked during that meal.....too busy savouring the food/shoveling it into our mouths. lol....I make it sound like we've been deprived of food. We haven't. We've been so blessed to stay with really lovely people, who have fed us well. It was just nice to have something familiar, and to give our bodies nutrients that we've been lacking a bit. I am definitely getting my carbs...no doubt about that.

Sorry that a lot of this blog has been about food. Its a big part of traveling for me (well, actually daily life as well!)....its one of the aspects of this trip I was looking forward to. And I haven't been disappointed at all......I have really enjoyed trying new things and tasting things that my grandma and mom make back home, comparing tastes. Its been really fun :)

I think the plan for tonight is to go to an authentic Mongolian BBQ restaurant......can't wait!

Ok, I'm done. There's much more to say, but I'm fading here. Need to get out of this stuffy, overly-warm internet cafe, and back into the cool rain.

If you feel like emailing me, I'm not opposed whatsoever ;)

And do read Jaime's blog, she's an amazing writer and absolutely hilarious! When I don't know how to put something into words (which is often), I turn to Jaime... jaimelauren.blogspot.com

Russia behind us...

Natasha...our lovely host, who was SUCH big help
in getting our registration form stamped!

The little dachi at "Bolshiy Kotiy" ...

So quaint, eh?

Okay. This is for Papa, AND Jaime. Don't we love Russia?

Standing in front of Lake Baikal, with my wonderful travel friend Jaime :)

Our last stop in Russia was Irkutsk, where we stayed for 5 days. Had a GREAT time there....it was a nice end to our Russia travels (for now). Although I used the word "great", don't be fooled into thinking we had no problems. No siree. There hasn't been a day where everything has gone smoothly. But, I wouldn't have it any other way :)

We've been trying to register in every city we've stayed in, but had no such luck. Being that our stay here was more than three days, we knew we really needed to register. So, after a bit of a scavenger hunt to try to find a hotel that would register us, we finally got it done. Hallelujah! The first place we started at, happened to be the hotel that registered us in the end. It would have been much easier if she had just done that in the first place, but no....nothing is that easy in Russia. After trapesing around for two days in Irkutsk, going from one building to another (getting registration documents, then finding out our host couldn't fill them out for us, then calling every hotel/hostel in Irkutsk, trying to find someone who could register us), we went back to "Angara Hotel", and the registration woman gave in, and did it for us. When she told me to hand her our passports, I looked at Jaime and said "Give her your passport", with a look that said "don't ask questions, I'll fill you in later". It was excellent! Whatever....we had a good laugh about it after.

Had the opportunity to go see Lake Baikal, and visit a little village called "Bolshiy Kotiy"...just a day trip (three hours to roam the village)....full of daches (cottages) where the locals go on the weekends. So beautiful! And the lake....my goodness, it is so huge, it looks like an ocean! We stood in the water and took pics, and spent an hour laying on the rocky beach and just relaxing! It was awesome!

k...outta time.
Real quick....we're in Mongolia now: arrived in Ulanbaatar this morning via train. We are safe, our stomachs have had some authentic Mongolian food, and we're blessed to be able to connect with all of you.

With love....
alison