Mongolian! Since few people speak English here, I’ve been taking Mongolian language classes to communicate more easily and make friends. The second-most-spoken language is Russian. Learning Mongolian has been challenging because it uses the Cyrillic alphabet and includes many sounds that don’t exist in English. Try saying баярлалаа (bayarlalaa), which means "thank you"!
In the U.S., we use dollars, while in Mongolia, they use tugriks. Currently, one U.S. dollar equals 3,540 Mongolian tugriks. Most people pay by scanning a QR code. You can also use Apple Pay, a credit card or cash. Unlike in the U.S., coins are not used in Mongolia.
In the capital city where I live, a bottle of water costs 3,400 tugriks, which is a little less than one dollar.
No matter where you are in the world, it’s easy to make friends and make a place feel like home. This week, it was Thanksgiving, so my American friends and I cooked our favorite Thanksgiving dishes. It was so lovely to eat delicious food and celebrate as a big family.
