23.02.2006. Whether there is such a word or not, Ulaanbaatar is the centre of continentality.
The city is hardly a beautiful place and because of the ger districts on the outskirts in winters it is always covered with smog.
Though I must admit that all I have seen so far is (surprise, surprise) the landscape from my 11th floor window and a 3 minute walk to and from the office. Have you ever felt like living in a different reality? The country, the city.. everyone seems to follow logic and rules beyond the reach of our thought. But people – people here are kind and beautiful, and the best audience ever. And the sky.. the sky is amazing... outworldly blue.
Traffic in UB is wild. This morning we decided that having a driver for a 3 minute drive is weird and tried to cross the street over the crosswalk…Well…I have to admit that if that was not my only (non-weird) possibility to get to work, I’d probably think more than twice before repeating this venture!!!
Short after landing at 6am yesterday morning we went on with and 8 hour lection-session. Flying Eastbound and loosing one night does not help to lecture. No. So while back at home its 1 pm I am slightly (and literally) shaking because of the lack of sleep. Tomorrow will be more sensible. I hope.
PS Believe no one who says that flying Topolevo TU 154 and Aeroflot is scary. I strongly disagree. These were some of the best landings I have ever had!
24.02.2006
Our 3rd day in Ulaanbaatar. Starting to get used that all my sentences are being translated. Therefore don`t be too surprised if after coming home I observe a moment of silence after each sentence I utter. Yesterday night I switched on the TV and listened to Mongolian news for 5 minutes without even realizing that I do not understand it. Later we laughed that I was probably waiting for Buyan to translate them for me!!
This morning also started with wild laughter since it turned out that what I had thought to be milk for my morning coffee is actually a mongolian traditional tea (basically, some transparant tea+milk+salt). And I was wondering why the coffee tastes so strange!!
The UB city? The UB city is a very special place. A blend of the felling of the wast steppes around and Gobi just a few 100 km further South, and mountains around it. The center of the city (though it seems that for the locals the entire city is the centre of the city) has loads and loads of breathtakingly beautiful examples of soviet-style architecture, it has virtually no planning and with all due respect - no law abiding citizen when it comes to traffic regulations. In sum, it feels like a big village with 600.000 inhabitants!
We are doing just fine. Brain feels like a boiling pot and sometimes (usually by the evening) we get positively overworked and positively crazy: )
It’s always hot here. Every single corner in every facility has a radiator, and they are all heating “at the full steam”. No wonder that wherever you look in Ulaanbaatar you spot a chimney of a thermo-electro plant. To my knowledge this it the only city where all the facilities are so overheated that switching on an airconditioner is the only escape even now when it is -20C outside. It fully applies to my hotel room, too...just that it has no airconditioner. Sad..
The city is hardly a beautiful place and because of the ger districts on the outskirts in winters it is always covered with smog.
Though I must admit that all I have seen so far is (surprise, surprise) the landscape from my 11th floor window and a 3 minute walk to and from the office. Have you ever felt like living in a different reality? The country, the city.. everyone seems to follow logic and rules beyond the reach of our thought. But people – people here are kind and beautiful, and the best audience ever. And the sky.. the sky is amazing... outworldly blue.
Traffic in UB is wild. This morning we decided that having a driver for a 3 minute drive is weird and tried to cross the street over the crosswalk…Well…I have to admit that if that was not my only (non-weird) possibility to get to work, I’d probably think more than twice before repeating this venture!!!
Short after landing at 6am yesterday morning we went on with and 8 hour lection-session. Flying Eastbound and loosing one night does not help to lecture. No. So while back at home its 1 pm I am slightly (and literally) shaking because of the lack of sleep. Tomorrow will be more sensible. I hope.
PS Believe no one who says that flying Topolevo TU 154 and Aeroflot is scary. I strongly disagree. These were some of the best landings I have ever had!
24.02.2006
Our 3rd day in Ulaanbaatar. Starting to get used that all my sentences are being translated. Therefore don`t be too surprised if after coming home I observe a moment of silence after each sentence I utter. Yesterday night I switched on the TV and listened to Mongolian news for 5 minutes without even realizing that I do not understand it. Later we laughed that I was probably waiting for Buyan to translate them for me!!
This morning also started with wild laughter since it turned out that what I had thought to be milk for my morning coffee is actually a mongolian traditional tea (basically, some transparant tea+milk+salt). And I was wondering why the coffee tastes so strange!!
The UB city? The UB city is a very special place. A blend of the felling of the wast steppes around and Gobi just a few 100 km further South, and mountains around it. The center of the city (though it seems that for the locals the entire city is the centre of the city) has loads and loads of breathtakingly beautiful examples of soviet-style architecture, it has virtually no planning and with all due respect - no law abiding citizen when it comes to traffic regulations. In sum, it feels like a big village with 600.000 inhabitants!
We are doing just fine. Brain feels like a boiling pot and sometimes (usually by the evening) we get positively overworked and positively crazy: )
It’s always hot here. Every single corner in every facility has a radiator, and they are all heating “at the full steam”. No wonder that wherever you look in Ulaanbaatar you spot a chimney of a thermo-electro plant. To my knowledge this it the only city where all the facilities are so overheated that switching on an airconditioner is the only escape even now when it is -20C outside. It fully applies to my hotel room, too...just that it has no airconditioner. Sad..
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Ar savu nepacietiigo raksturu gaidu Lindochku ieraudziit mongoloiidu seju pulkaa:))))