I arrived in Mongolia a little over two months ago, and wow! the time has flown by! In that time, I have had many opportunities to meet Mongolian people, begin learning the Mongolian language and try to integrate (get used to) INTO Mongolian society. Think about if you or your family has ever moved to a new place, or if you ever had to start at a new school. Was it a little hard at first? Did it take time to make new friends and learn where things were? Maybe you felt sad, or angry, or embarrassed when you did not know something. Well, you are not alone, and all of those feelings have a name, and that is: culture shock. Culture shock can happen when you MOVE to a new place or start a new and different activity like school. It is the same if you move to another country as well!
I was lucky that before I left the US, I met a Mongolian woman who introduced me to several of her friends here in U.B.. I have since met up with a few of these people, and they have been able to help me in various ways. My friend Munkhzul (pronounced Munk-zool) helped me go to the big market to buy things for my apartment like pots and pans and a trash can. While this may sound like an easy enough task, it was not!
