June 1998 No More School, No More Books, No More Teacher's Nasty Looks  --Nancy             Last day with IDER                                    Last day with Buurmaa               Last day with ZURGIT                                Last day of teaching english   I taught my last class at IDER today—a combined class of third level students. I had told them that it was going to be a short class and we’d take pictures to celebrate the end of the school year. I was astounded when I entered the classroom to find them all waiting for me instead of me waiting for them. (Remember, Sosor says “on time” in Mongolia is twenty minutes late.) They were all smiles. I walked in with three boxes of candy under my arm and a bag with still and video cameras. Mongolians love pictures. It’s almost a religion with them, and if you don’t have many pictures displayed in your home they wonder out loud why you don’t. We didn’t know this before we came. When they inquired I pointed out I carried them in my wallet, but that was not satisfactory. A fast letter home resulted in pictures we were able to prominently display and provided many opportunities for discussion of our family with everyone who visited our apartment. (page 275)     There are presently 12 couples in country counting the Coxes. Six of these are humanitarian service couples. Besides teaching English and administering the English project there is a scouting project, a banking project, a medical lab project, and country directors who bring in humanitarian goods from the sort center in Salt Lake City. (page 280)    <<< back    next >>>