Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The day our local statue was important

Today it is Victory Day. Didn't know that? Neither did we, until we came across a crowd gathered around the statue of Georgy Zhukov (Russian who led the Soviet Mongolian army against the Japanese in Manchukuo) that's near our house (which is why our area is known as Jukov). There were memorial flower wreaths, food stands, and people singing live to recorded backing (outdoor karaoke!). Also there was very loud music and lots of army trucks around the wrestling palace (a location which can be explained another day). We figured it was something to do with Russia, and yes! Victory Day commemorates the official capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union (and Georgy Zhukov was the official on the Soviet side). They just this minute let off a whole bunch of fireworks, which we watched from our kitchen window.

Also today I bought my plane tickets for my trip to Beijing in June, where I shall God-willing pick up my Mongolian student visa at the Mongolian embassy. I've allowed a week, so hopefully that won't need to be extended... though I have been keen to visit Beijing, so I suspect if a delay does occur I'll manage to find a silver lining.

Bought some extra cutlery, some oven trays (hard to find here), some plastic containers and other kitchen items from the Canadians. Plus a food processor! I almost bought their mix master too, but then it seemed from the food processor instruction manual that it would whip egg whites, so I figured one appliance would do, it's already a little bit of a luxury!

Correction on the name of my vegetable seller; Mega, not Megi. After some confusion about my change, I tried to tell her that I found Mongolian money 'interesting', but I must have the consonants in that word around the wrong way, because she had no idea what I was trying to say. Oh well! Perhaps I will start preparing conversational sentences in advance of visiting... Also I keep saying goodbye instead of thank you. They both start with 'b'...

Thank you!

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