Sandra Nguyen

We were told that coming back to Canada would be different and for some of us, it would be hard to transition back to normal life. So we had that at the back of our minds while coming back, I just didn’t know it would be that hard. I am back in Canada and I’m happy no doubt, seeing my parents, brother, cousin, and friends. I missed them dearly, but now I miss everyone and everything in Mongolia.  

Coming back has made me appreciate and realize so much here in Canada. My bed, a toilet, and my parents = love. The moment I came home I ran up to my room and jumped on my bed, said hello to my teddy bears… and fell asleep.

I’m just going to start blabbing about what kinds of things were on my mind for the past couple of days since we’ve been back.

I feel I have been calmer and less angry and more positive with certain problems or little pet peeves I use to have, don’t bother me anymore. I come home listening to my cousin and my brother arguing with each other about who should wash the dishes and many other little things around the house.  I just realize that arguing and complain will lead me nowhere, because the problem will still be there no matter how much complaining or arguing I do.  I use to complain about the smallest things, I use to be a brat at home; I use to be a picky eater. My parents since I was a little girl, to appreciate everything in life because they use to live in Vietnam and when my parents were little they don’t have the things we have today. I always said ok and I thought I understood, but I coming back from Mongolia, I realise that I never did understand how to appreciate anything. But now I REALLY DO UNDERSTAND. And it is weird how that works, considering I had to go half way around the world to understand.  I guess it’s because we see things on TV and we feel bad. But that is it. We see things but we THINK we understand when we really don’t understand fully what is going on. We see it through the view of a camera lens. We don’t understand the smell of the environment. We don’t feel the different weather conditions (extremely hot/ extremely cold) that other countries deal with everyday of their lives.  Just one point of view through a single lens doesn’t show you the real meaning behind what really goes on in other parts of the world, it is just a glimpse of it for just a second.

The question all 30 of us have been asked throughout this week was: “How was Mongolia?” It got a little irritating getting asked so many times. But for the first 4 times I was asked I explained in depth, but I found out that when people ask that question they usually expect a one word answer. It is frustrating to explain such an amazing trip in just one word. But I guess that is what Matheny was trying to explain to us. People won’t get it, just like all 30 of us before the trip. We never understood why the group in the past trip to Paraguay were so upset and so attached to this class before. But now we all understand. We have been emotionally and physically attached to this wonderful program. It made us individually realize so much in just 2 weeks. And as a class we have been so connected to one another. In the halls we can’t help but stop suddenly to say “hi” and a run to each other for a quick hug.

I was speaking to Mr. Gill about my experiences in Mongolia and the odd transition back home. And I was telling him about in one of my classes a couple students were “ew-ing” about a story the teacher was telling us about. The teacher didn’t make the story clear in the beginning so the students obviously use their imagination and thought of the worst scenario. And they started to “ew” about washing their hair in a water fountain and they found that disgusting. In my mind I kept it to myself, but I thought… some people don’t shower ever in their life because they don’t have water. They don’t have clean water in other parts of the world. But I later realise that I can see where they can find it disgusting. We live in a society were other’s consider our country “high-class” so going to wash your hair at a water fountain may not be proper. But at the same time, we do need to keep in mind that we are lucky to even have a water fountain with clean water. They might say ok, but there could be a way of explaining it in a way they can understand. Mr. Gill understood and agreed. He also said to me, “You might have this feeling right now because you JUST got back and your having your difficult transition moment, but in a few months from now you will get caught up with life again and possibly be thinking like them again.” It may be easy to forget certain things and get caught up with life, but I hope my perspectives won’t change as I gradually move on with my life.

I may be addicted to the song “Fusion”, it is really catchy and it brings back so much memories. The friendships that we have made in Mongolia and even with our group, the late night meetings, the smiles our Mongolian friends have given us every day at the worksite, the sudden dances in public, the spectacular cultural nights, the food, the crowded & bumpy bus rides, our tears, our jokes, and our laughs. Mongolia was amazing and I KNOW I will never forget the people, great memories, and what I have learned in just one country.

To all the teachers: Matheny, Ms. Kippan, Thomsing, and McCallum, thank you so much for an amazing journey. Thank you for the opportunity, I really appreciate it. You guys have helped us survive through thick and thin.

To all the Mongols: You have been an amazing bunch of 30 students. I’ve gotten to know a lot of you so much better. And I hope our friendships continue for the next 5 years, 10 years, … 100 years!

Mongolia I miss you. <3

Ps. I realize my thoughts are all over the place… and I’m sorry. :s Hope you can follow along

The night before yesterday was tons of fun, because it was our turn to show the village our cultural night. We taught them how to play hockey and they all showed us some of there skills. For example, one of the girls who were pulled down from the bleachers to play hockey was VERY good at being a goalie, she caught EVERYTHING! And we also talked about it as a group how girls here are not usually one who play sports. They are mostly the guys, showing there stuff. So to put the girls in the spot light that night was amazing for them and for us to see such a huge smile on there face.
I would like to say to all of the people in global and the workers in this little village, thank you so much for all of your hard work. It was amazing to see how much work was done in such little amount of time. The school is almost done and everything is coming along great. All we need to do is prepare for the closing ceremony and we are done! I am really excited to see everyone in the village and all of our friends we have meet through this journey at the ceremony.
Migi happy birthday buddy!! I know you miss me HAHAHHA Best wishes from me to you. Hope you have a super duper good one.
Mom, dad and Vinson, I hope you all are doing well, and I miss you like crazy. Take care and I will see you soon

3rd day here in Mongolia, and I am feeling great. The work site is going along pretty well because we all have the same goal in mind: ìNeed to get this done! We can do it!î. Not only are we all working hard, we are having a blast doing it. From the diggers to the Poo-crew, laughs and chants are everywhere. Just a couple of seconds ago one of the, very kind, Mongolian students came to help us and told us that today was ìMens dayî. And of course I automatically thought of my father and brother. I really hope my family is doing alright, I miss them dearly.
ANYWAY!! (before I start crying in front of this computer)
Yesturday night was another amazing culture night. Every night these people have made each cultural night spectacular and just something I will never forget. From the beautiful friendly smile and the hard work they put in to organize each one is amazing. The traditional dances are elegant and when they perform. They are all so passionate about there traditions and just being Mongolian and the history behind that. I am learning to appreciate my Vietnamese culture even more and more. Considering my parents are constantly nagging me to speak Vietnamese at home and all of the praying and traditions that we do at home.
Tonight is our culture night, lets show them what we have!
MOM, DAD AND VINSON I MISS YOU !!!!! <3

First day at the work camp. From Korea to Mongolia, it was absolutely nerve-racking. Flight was canceled and we were scared that we wouldn’t make it to Mongolia to finish everything in time. But now that we had finally made it, I’M SO EXCITED and I have loved every minute of this trip so far. Landing in the airport, and train station with such a warm welcome from everyone. Meet new people, tried new food, and survived the cold night in my sleeping bag last night in the yerts. This global group has been so much closer in so many ways its unbelievable. Thank you Mongolia for such a warm welcome and culture night was so educational. More today, and many more to come.
Mom, dad, and Vinson, I love you and I miss you. I’m safe and I hope to talk to you soon.

1. Ask them there price
2. Threaten to walk away or leave
3. NEVER tell them how much you are willing to pay
4. NEVER have your money out in their faces
5. DON’T pick up the item and start to threaten them saying “I’m taking it, I’m leaving!”
6. DON’T swear at the seller
7. Buy things in pack and try to get a better deal
8. Keep in mind their status, and why they are selling items to you
9. Think of an amount you WOULD pay for the item and cut that in ¼… use that number as your starting bid.
10. Have fun bargaining!

                 In last days class, we experienced bargaining and the difficulties of bargaining in a different language. I have never bargained before in my life so this was a cool experience. I was chosen as one of the sellers who is trying to make as much money as I can to bring food home for my family. The hardest thing was surprisingly communications, considering I would use my fingers for numbers, but it was how my classmates (customers) would threaten to leave and find a better deal if I didn’t sell them my item for a certain price. I got a little nervous and sold it to them, thinking that “at least this is better than nothing”.  It got me thinking to how many people does that when they bargain, and how much food the sellers would get by the end of the day. Probably not a lot. Prepared to go to Mongolia, I know what to keep in mind while shopping/bargaining. When shopping at Richmond night market or Hong Kong, I usually let my mom do all the bargaining. I am scared of calling out a price lower than what it is, but I guess we got to do what we got to do. A lesson well taught, and will be a good chance for us to start now. Mongolia is just 2 and a half of weeks away… Get ready, get set.. GO!!!.. in 16 days

                  Daniel Igali!?!  The Ambassador of Mongolia?!? No one would have thought! These two surprises from Mr. Matheny must have been a ton of calling and connections to get them here to talk to us. I am thankful and so glad to have met such inspiring people. They all had something to teach us with their powerful and entertaining stories / speeches. Daniel Igail, you are truly incredible. From having nothing to having everything in the world you can possibly want; just setting your mind to one goal and working SO hard to get to the position you are at today. One particular part of your story that hit me the most was the part where even through his families tough times were happening during the Olympics, he still stayed strong and won a medal. To know someone you love is in the hospital and still compete your heart out, that is determination and passion. I admire that and I will continue to look up to him.

              “Is it Arnold Schwarzenegger?.. No no, it’s Obama. No wait, Tyra Banks. What? No, Arnold 100%.” Guesses where going all around our little classroom. Finally, when the Ambassador and his workers walk in our classroom, we were all quite wondering who these people were. When introduce, gasps were flying around the room and the excitement began. They were so awfully kind to us, from advices to teaching us a little bit of their language; so much was learn from them. Thank you again for coming, and we will take everything you taught us to Mongolia. Speaking of which is in 16 DAYS?!!! (faint)

           Emotions running high! From excited to scared! LETS HOP ON A PLANE AND FLYYY AWAYYYY

GO MONGOS GO!

                Judging things are what humans do every day when something or someone new is brought to their eyes and mind. It is natural to just see things and have a word to just pop into our minds. But is it a bad thing? It is bad of course, especially if it accidently comes out, but at the same time it’s natural to have a judgement on things. Last class we were shown 8 pictures, and each picture was looked at for 5 seconds. Mr. Matheny told us to write down the first word(s) that you think of when you see a picture. And obviously, the first words were judgements. Matheny then added some options to the pictures that kind of made us feel bad. Info that people don’t think about until they find out about it and it makes people think about their first judgements. I guess from all this we should learn if you judge, take a moment and take another look at it or someone. And if you can take a leap and find out more info on it/the person you might find a treasure.

                  In the past two weeks our group has been through a rough patch and everyone has been expressing there inner thoughts, whether it be in class or on email people shared their thoughts. Every point that was expressed in class/on email; I could say I agree with. Both sides of the story had come out in class. Mr. Matheny had shared good points and so have the class. The two problems we faced in our group were the “helping out” situation, and the “one big happy family” situation.  At one point or another we all felt our group has dropped the ball since we started out in this program. We have slowly moved apart, and we all felt it. So in class we talked about picking up the ball and start over and being the overly-excited group we were in June.  I have to agree I felt disconnected but we really never were a “big happy family” when we started. We were a bunch of teens working very well together but not necessarily friends with one another. Some of the people in the class I have never said a word to in all the 4 years we’ve been together at this school. But now as we spoke about that we all feel the same way, I feel we connected on one little agreement and we have gotten closer just because of it.  

                 As for the “helping out” situation, I do feel we should have opened up our minds up and should have thought about what Mr. Matheny was doing/ going through and asked if he wanted help. Yeah, everyone was busy with school and projects and such, but it isn’t a good excuse for such a little request. It is easier for us to be told what to do and when to do it, but it shouldn’t always be the case when we’ve been in a cycle where we’ve done many events that need a ton of work before hand. So why didn’t we see the signs for this particular event? I guess many of us haven’t been to an event like this before but we still should have had that question in our mind. We WERE on a bumpy road but now have ironed out the crinkly parts. And now I have confidence in our class to really be the best when we are in Mongolia because we know what to do when we reach a point even before we want to rip off each other’s heads, because “ we’ve been there done that.”

                 A couple of weeks ago we were told that Mr. Hammer was unable to come with us to Mongolia. The class was disappointed and upset that a member of the team was not coming with us, but has been with us since the beginning. I regret not being able to get to know him as much as I can, considering I have never had him as a teacher before. So far he has been supportive, kind, and very funny. Wishing that he can be on this trip with us and teach us what he knows, we can only pray that he gets better and is able to come on the trip next year and have next years’ students learn what he has to teach them.

                Aside to sad news there was an upside to things. Our class was told that Mr. Hammer had to be replaced because there was uneven number of teachers chaperoning our large group. I know that some of the classmates felt that replacing Mr. Hammer didn’t feel right, but we all knew it had to happen. Rumours were going around in our class. We were all guessing who the teacher would be from Mr. Fugrugori to Mr. Eastwood. But we recently found out it was a teacher not from this school, Dave McCallum. He was not only a teacher; he was Mr. Matheny’s cousin. And we met him on the night of the UBC game. Mr. McCallum was really nice and we all got a chance to say a couple words to him and got to know him; he is excited as we are on going on this trip. We are excited to work with Mr. McCallum and at the same time we wish Mr. Hammer the best of luck with his health and we will be praying for him every day.

Long time no post! This post was meant for the week of January 15, 2010.

                       While at UBC I felt it was another fundraiser, where we all work together and had fun. But when it was all over that’s when it hit me… it was our last fundraiser event before we leave to Mongolia! And I regret one thing. Because it was out last event, I wish we could have done better. We did good, but could have brought out so much more people and done a better job advertising the event more. But for the amount of people, who came out, many of them were willing to listen to what we were offering and graciously donated to our cause, which was good and we made a fair amount of money.

                I found it difficult to sell the raffle tickets considering these people are watching the game not here to listen to teenage kids asking them for money. And as these teenage kids we felt it would be rude to distract them from watching the game to ask, so we basically watched the game while waiting for the half-times/ time-outs. Some of us never had been to a UBC game before so we didn’t know what to expect, so we couldn’t have thought of a good game-plan to sell while the game was in session.  Oh well, what is done, is done. We raised a reasonable amount of money and we had a blast! Good job Mongos!!