Being a Foreigner in Rural Mongolia

I was asked by one of my readers (Hello Rose!) to tell what it is like to be a foreigner, how Mongolians react to foreigners, and if their reaction changes when they realize the foreigner can speak Mongolian.  This is a really interesting and important issue for me as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia, and I am happy to talk about my experiences as a foreigner in Mongolia over the past three months.


Overall, Mongolians are very interested and respectful to foreigners.  Since the Mongolian population is pretty homogenous (about 90-95% of the population is ethnically Khalkha, and the remainder is Khazakh, Buriat, and other tribes of Siberia and Eastern Asia), anyone who looks different really sticks out.  For example, I know of 3 other individuals and a family of foreigners in my town, and so does everyone else I meet--my coworkers know about the Canadian hockey teacher, and they know that there is a Peace Corps volunteer (Halee) that has worked at First School for a year.  They are catching on to my other site mate, Hannah, who works at our town's technical school.  My Mongolian friends can tell me about the volunteers in town from several years ago, and they still remember quite a few details about their life here.  Needless to say, it is not common for foreigners to live in Ondorkhaan, and I would assume it is similar for other towns in Mongolia of the same size and smaller.

This means that I when I am walking around, I think people often assume that I am a tourist.  They assume I don't know any Mongolian, and that I am probably Russian.  When I am walking around town, here are some of the common reactions I get from people I don't know:

• Open-mouthed stares and/or shock
• People (sometimes drunk people) yelling "hooeeyy Amerikaaa!" (Hey American!)
• Children yelling "Hi!" or "Hello!"
• People continuing to say Hi until I say Hello back
• I walk past a group of people, and they start laughing
• I am mistaken for a Russian person and someone tries to talk to me in Russian
• Someone will say something very quickly in Mongolian, and wait for a response, assuming I could understand them
• Sometimes a reaction like in the US: brief eye contact, then go about your business as usual

On most days, these reactions are something I can brush off.  Sometimes it makes me angry that people don't realize I am not just visiting--that this is my home now too.  But then I realize that there is no way that someone on the street would know this.  I look different, I probably act different, and I stick out. So its something that I have come to accept as part of life here. 


 People's reactions are very different at my workplace in many ways.  For one, they know who I am, and why I am here.  The majority of people are happy to meet me, and are pleasantly surprised when they learn I can speak some Mongolian.  This is a normal conversation between one of my coworkers and a doctor or someone that is not usually in the health department (in Mongolian of course):

• Who is this person? Is she American?
• She is a Peace Corps volunteer who works here now.  Her specialty is infectious disease. 
• Really? She is very pretty (then in English): You...pretty!
• She speaks Mongolian.  She can understand.
• Oh! You understand what we said?
• Me: Yes I understood!
• Oh, you speak Mongolian very well. 
• Me: Thank you. (and then I stand there smiling because they just want to stare at me for a while)

This basically repeats most times there is a new person in the health department, unless they know some English and want to practice that instead. Also, if you say about 4 or 5 words correctly in Mongolian, most people will say you speak very well.  They are very appreciative of people who take the time to learn some of the language.

**Side note about my looks: almost every Mongolian I have met has told me that I am pretty or beautiful (it's the same word in Mongolian, so they translate it both ways).  I think this is mainly because I have big, non-Asian eyes, and light skin, which are both standards of beauty here.  They also often think I look Russian (again because I am white).  However many times they tell me how beautiful they think I am, I still get the feeling that some people are a little grossed out by the way I look.  Like everything on my face is just slightly wrong, although they never say this to me.  My host family from this summer, after weeks of spending time together, finally told me how they all think my nose is really big and weird, since it sticks out so much farther than Mongolian noses do.  This back and forth is usually pretty amusing, and since it doesn't really matter to me much what people think about how I look, it hasn't been a big deal.  I think it does show a little of how Mongolians perceive me and other foreigners.


Sometimes it is very strange to always draw attention, since I am used to just being one of the crowd wherever I have lived before.  But it isn't usually a bad thing.  I cant tell that people are just interested in me and what I am doing, and I know I stare at Mongolians sometimes too.  I am constantly surprised and delighted by things that happen here that I don't expect.  A perfect example of me being surprised by what is going on happened on Wednesday this week. The afternoon before, one of my coworkers, Zoloo, told me that there was an event happening at 8am the next day at the town square, so I should go there instead of to the health department.  She also asked me if I could bring my camera.  So the next morning, I made sure I was on time and showed up to the town square, camera and all.

As it turns out, the event was for several hundred children and adults--some sort of campaign for more physical activity.  It was tons of fun!  First, the emcee introduced the directors from several of the health and fitness-related agencies in town, who each spoke.  I have no idea what they said, so this was the most boring part for me.  Meanwhile, in the background on this mini-jumbotron, there was an informational video about fitness, with exercise demonstrations.  After their speeches, the directors and a fitness teacher lead a series of exercises for the crowd, including running in place, lunges, and squats. Then the whole group walked in a big loop around town, which took about 25 minutes.  We came back to the square for a closing speech and a mini-health fair, where doctors were checking weight, height, and blood pressure.  Overall, the event was well planned and implemented, with great turnout from what I could tell.  I hadn't heard anything about it, so it was quite a surprise.  Also, some things are just enough different from the US to be entertaining--for example, all of the people there, from the young children to the older adults, had done similar large group exercises before.  This is not something that is popular in the US, but I often see gym classes at the schools I walk by doing synchronized exercises, like walking in place or doing push-ups.  Here are some pictures from the event:

 

The emcee on the left, introducing different directors.  The health department director is the man in the black leather coat.

 

Doing some synchronized lunges with about 600 other people!I am somewhere in the middle of the crowd!

 

Then, some walking in place with hand raises. 

 

After the exercises, we all reorganized for our walk around town.

 

Some of the health department workers as we walked by, I am all the way at the end of the row.

 

Sometimes you have got to help each other out!  It is very common in Mongolia for men of any age to touch each other.  It isn't viewed the same way as it might be in the US. Adult men will frequently walk with their arms around each others' shoulders, or hold on to each other like in this photo.

 

Many Mongolian schools have matching fitness outfits that way surpass the American gym clothes I had....I am pretty jealous!

 

Here is one of the doctors from my hospital English class taking a woman's blood pressure after the event.

 

The adults were especially interested in the mini health fair!

 

After we all got back to the health department, a bunch of the ladies spent some time looking at eyebrow surgery results.  They decided my eyebrows are fine, but some of the other people could use some better defined brows!

I hope I have provided a glimpse into what it is like to be a foreigner in Mongolia.  The capital is definitely a different story, and in many ways it is like any other big city.  If you have more questions, comment below and I will try my best to answer.

Until next time!