Flat Stanley Visits Choibalsan from Virginia!

This is Merrie's kitchen.

     I have a guest blogger today--Flat Stanley! He's visiting me from the Jolly Rogers class at Nottingham Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia. His friend, Isaac Fenster, sent him to me. Thanks Isaac! So...here's Flat Stanley!
     Hi everyone! It took me a long time to get to Mongolia. It took 24 days to get from Arlington to Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, and another 6 days to get to Choibalsan, the city where Merrie lives. The mail is slow! I've been staying with Merrie in her apartment.

I slept in the guest bed which is in the living room

While many Mongolians still live in traditional homes, called gers, many Mongolians also live in wooden houses or apartments.
 

     Merrie is an English teacher at a vocational college called the Dornod Poly-Technical College. The college just changed its name, so they had a big celebration to mark the change. Merrie and I went to the ceremony. It was very interesting. There were speakers, dancers, and singers. These Buddhist priests read a special blessing for the continued success of the school and its teachers, workers, and students.


These costumed performers did a dance. What great costumes! After the ceremony, I tried on a pair of their boots.

The view from the Khalkhin Gol monument.

What a tall monument!

     We went sight-seeing around Choibalsan one day. We went to a monument marking the defeat of the Japanese at the battle of Khalkin River in 1939 during World War II. Choibalsan is in Dornod Province (or state), and Dornod shares a border with Russia and China. The battle was on Mongolia's border with China. The Mongolians won and kept the Japanese from invading Mongolia. The monument is on a little hill and you can see far around Choibalsan and the countryside. This part of Mongolia is very flat. It's in the steppe lands.

Me and my new friend, Tuuvshin at the mine.

Me and Merrie at the mine.

     Next we went to a coal mine that is right outside Choibalsan. Mining is very important in Mongolia. Mongolia has coal, gold, copper, oil, and uranium. I met a new friend named Tuuvshin. He's four. We were wearing matching clothes!

Me, Merrie, Saraa (Tuuvshin's mom

) 

and Tuuvshin at the ovoo.

Me putting a stone on the ovoo.

 

The view of Choibalsan from the ovoo.

      We also went to the Khan Uul Ovoo. An ovoo (pronounced "ahwaa") is a pile of stones where people come to worship. You put a stone on the pile and walk around the pile clock-wise three times. Sometimes you put food on the pile. Merrie put a cookie on the pile. I laid a stone on it. This very big ovoo is also on a little hill and you can see all of Choibalsan from there. Choibalsan is Mongolia's 4th largest city and it has about 40,000 people.

    

 

     Near the ovoo we saw these 3 calves. Herding is very important in Mongolia. But in Mongolia, the herders just let their cows roam free. Sometimes you see a few cows walking through the middle of town!

Me and Tuuvshin on a tank!

Mongolian Heroes Memorial

Mongolian Heroes Memorial

     We went to another monument that is a memorial to Mongolian Heroes. This old tank was interesting. The art work at the monument was pretty.

    
     Finally, we went to Choibalsan's lake. It's man-made but people seemed to be having fun rowing rubber boats around. And it was a nice place for a walk...until it started raining! We had to end our trip quickly.

Rowing boats on the lake.

On our walk around the lake.

 I'll be coming home soon. And Merrie says she's going to send a souvenir! Can't wait to see it. See you soon!