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Diary of the Trip to Zavkhan in Mongolia

January 13 (Tue), 2004 〔The day before the departure〕 I finished printing the textbooks to take to the new Zavkhan Standardization and Metrology Center. As there had been no Standardization and Metrology Center in Zavhan-aimag, the work of standardization and metrology had been executed by the Inspection Bureau. Mr. Khurelsukh, the Chairman of the Mongolian Agency of Standardization and Metrology (MASM) was going to go to Zavkhan-aimag to help and witness the establishment of the new center. He was visiting Uliastay, the capital city of Zavkhan-aimag with some officials from Ministry of Trade and Industry. I was also invited to attend the inauguration event for the new Center with Batzorig as my English-Mongolian interpreter. Batzorig is 23 years old, and belongs to the International Cooperation Office in MASM. I decided to present my textbooks which I had made here at MASM so far.

The textbooks consist of:

・Uncertainty in Measurements ・ISO/IEC Quality Systems ・International Standardization

Batzorig told me that the departure time was 8 a.m. next morning, so we should be at the airport before 6:30. I called Batman, a taxi driver, to pick me up at 6 o’clock the next morning in front of my apartment house.

Before I left the office, Undra called me and said “I just came back from Seoul, let’s drink whiskey I bought in Korea.” I said I was busy because I was going to go to Zavkhan-aimag next morning. She said, “Then let’s drink to pray for your safe trip and celebrate my safe return.” Undra is 27 years old and works for a travel company. She studied English in London and speaks English very well. Mongolians have a specific ritual to pray for the safety of their trips. They usually stop at an Ovoo on their way, circle around it three times in a clockwise direction and sprinkle spirits like Arkhi (Mongolian vodka), and then they drink the spirits. If it is an airplane trip, they meet at home the day before departure and pray for the safety of the trip and drink spirits.

Just after finishing the conversation with Undra, Batzorig called me saying “Zorigoo and I are now drinking at a bar praying for my safe trip. Please come here and join us.” As they are not very good drinkers, they always cause trouble when I drink with them. I turned down the offer saying “I cannot join you because I have another appointment.”

I met Undra at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Undra’s friends, Zulaa, Jagaa, Doggii also came to join us. Undra calls these girls “crazy girls.” I quite agree with her, because they are really crazy. They are also bad drinkers. After I had turned down the male bad drinkers, instead, we had female bad drinkers.

Undra had brought two bottles of Scotch whiskey. One was the present for me, and the other was to drink there. After dinner at the restaurant, we moved to my apartment. They started drinking again. I went to bed early because I had to get up early next morning. Undra also went to bed early because, she said, she was tired after the trip from Seoul. The crazy girls were having a field day in the living room.

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January 14 (Wed) 〔Trip to Uliastay〕

I got up at 5 o’clock and was very shocked. The living room and the dining room were a total mess. The girls drank all the whiskey Undra had brought, beer and wine in the refrigerator. There was no food in the refrigerator. They were sleeping like logs in the living room being covered with blankets.

I had no idea how to deal with those drunken girls, so I asked Undra to take care of them, and then went out for the trip.

On my way to the airport, I waited for Batzorig, but he didn’t appear on time. I waited 20 more minutes; then he showed up saying, “I couldn’t get up this morning because I drank too much with Mr. Zorigoo last night.” He said he was shaken out of bed by his mother and awfully scolded by her. I thought he too was a “crazy boy.” At the airport, we met Mr. Khurelsukh, the Chairman of MASM, Mr. Ganbold, the general manager of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ms. Ochimaa, a staff member of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Mr. Ganbold is a friendly person and speaks English well. Ms. Ochimaa was introduced as a daughter of Mr. Bagabandi, the first president of Mongolia. She speaks English too. Mr. Bagabandi was originally from Zavkhan-aimag.

An employee of MASM brought a packed computer set and checked it in for the flight. We got on board at about 8 a.m. It was still dark and we saw half-moon in the sky.

As soon as he took his seat, Batzorig fell asleep. I took a nap too as I could not sleep well last night because of the orgy of the crazy girls.

When I woke up, I saw rugged mountains covered with snow. As the height of the sun in this season is absolutely low, and the air was clear, one side of the mountains was shining white, the other side was inky black, creating a fantastical world. The mountain tops were sharp and rugged. The airplane lowered its altitude crossing the rugged mountains. There was a large flatland surrounded by mountains. The plane landed on the solitary airstrip. There was only a small airport building; no stores, no residences around.

It was 10 a.m. but still looked like early morning. It was very cold. The outside temperature was reported to be about -20 ℃。

Mr. Batsaikhan, the Head of the Inspection Bureau and Mr. Amgaabazar, the Head of

Undra Tuvshinbat

The Crazy girls

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the newly established Standardization and Metrology Center, had been waiting for us.

There were two cars. One was a Russian-made jeep, the other was a Japanese-made Pajero owned by Mr. Batsaikhan. I was invited to take the Pajero. The plain was entirely surrounded by mountains. I wondered how we could get out of this basin. There was a river flowing from the plain to the outside world. The road to Uliastay was formed along the river. I say “formed” because most of the Mongolian roads were not constructed but formed naturally by vehicle traffic. There was no snow on the road. The two cars sped along leaving a cloud of dust behind. As Pajero is a four-wheel drive car, it was able to cross a frozen river freely without needing to cross a bridge. 〔Uliastay city〕 In about 40 minutes, we arrived in Uliastay city, the capital of Zavkhan-aimag. The city was located on a flatland surrounded by high mountains. There was the main street in the heart of downtown, the length of which seemed to be about 1 km. At the end of this main street, there was Uliastay Hotel, which was said to be the highest grade hotel in Uliasutai. We checked into this hotel.

There were two suite rooms; the Chairman took one, Batzorig and I took the other. There was a big river called the Chigertei flowing through the middle of the flatland from east to west. This city was located in the northern part of the river. There was a large grass field in the south of the river. I wondered why they did not make an airport on that grass field (*). The river was frozen, and children were enjoying ice skating.

(*) Ten years later, I found, from a website, the Uliastay Airport in this area.

After we finished lunch, Mr. Khurelsukh told us that he and the officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry were going to visit the Governor’s office for the meeting, but Batzorig and I did not need to attend the meeting, therefore, we could go sightseeing in the city.

Downtown Uliastay (from a website)

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Uliastay main street

Uliasta Hotel

New Standardization and Metrology Center

Chigestei Restaurant

Javkhlan Tolgoi

Governor’s Office

Downtown Uliastay

Main street of Uliastay

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Batzorig and I went out for sightseeing. It was very cold. I thought it was as low as

-25 ℃. There were very few cars running on the main street. No one was walking. I wore a heavy overcoat and a woolen headpiece, but my ears were aching. Cold air penetrated from under my overcoat. We could no longer walk around, and jumped into a variety store. After we warmed ourselves up, we returned to the hotel giving up on sightseeing.

As we had nothing to do, we talked about various things. I asked Batzorig what he studied in university. He replied that he learned smoking and gambling. I asked him “What about sex?” He said, “Sex is a subject of high school, not the subject of university.” But he was joking. He graduated from National University of Mongolia, the most difficult and prestigious university in Mongolia. He also studied English in America. When he applied for MASM, I tested his English ability. He was the best applicant in English I had ever tested.

At around 7 p.m., Mr. Khurelsukh and other members came back to the hotel. Mr. Khurelsukh said they had finished dinner with government officials. Then two female workers of the Inspection Bureau took us to a restaurant. The restaurant was called Chigertei, which was claimed to be the highest class restaurant in Uliastay. However, we were the only guests at the restaurant. The room was very cold and lonesome. We came back to the hotel and, visited Mr. Khurelsukh’s suite room. They were drinking Arkhi. I offered a bottle whiskey I had brought from UB. At about 9 p.m., they told us they would go to a billiard hall. Billiards are very popular in Mongolia. Men and women, the rich and the poor enjoy playing billiards.

There are many billiard halls in UB. In summertime, people enjoy outdoor billiards that only open during the summertime. Usually, they bet money on the game. If you are not good at playing billiards, you will lose a lot of money. In Mongolia, two kinds of

Stupas of Javkhlan Tolgoi can be seen on the mountain ahead.

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billiards are played, “snooker” and “pool”. I can only play snooker. As they told me that they were going to play snooker, I decided to join them. We went out to a billiard hall. All the staff members came to the billiard hall, but not all of them were there to play billiards. Viewer’s seats and tables were set next to the billiard table. On the tables, foods, snacks, Arkhi, brandy were prepared. Attendants could either play billiards or just watch the game while eating and drinking. Our Chairman, Mr. Khurelsukh is known as a very good player of billiards, but Mr. Batsaikhan and Mr. Amgaabazar turned out to be good players too. Mongolian celebrities ought to play billiards as a social obligation, and ought to be a good player to some extent. Otherwise, they may lose a lot of money. Everyone has to bet 500 TG for each game, and the winner gets all the money for the game. I am not a good player, so there was no chance for me to win a game.

I asked Batzorig where the toilet was. He said there was no toilet inside the house, but everywhere outside can be a toilet. I was surprised to hear that, but then I understood why some women went out with their overcoat on, and after a while they came back to the room. I also followed suit. The moon had not risen yet, and it was pitch dark. I went out to the abandoned yard with the help of snow light. Stars were very beautiful. I saw many beautiful stars in Mongolia, but the stars tonight were the best of all. The constellations Leo and Orion were shining in the south whereas the Great Bear, the Cassiopeia and other northern constellations were closely covering over the Uliastay plain. I like looking at constellations, so I wished I could look at more, but I could not stand the – 30 ℃ atmosphere any more. I came back to the hall and drank some brandy to warm up my body. A woman staff of the center came next to me and said that she would like to speak in English. She had a lonely look, but when she smiled she was very attractive. I thought she was 26 or 27 years old. She said to me, “My name is Ochibayal, but please call me Ochoo.” She told me Mr. Khurelsukh stated today that if we local engineers have enough expertise and ability in English, we could go abroad to participate in international conferences. She said; therefore, she wants to learn English so that she could go abroad. She stuttered a lot speaking in English and often asked Batzoritg to interpret her statements. I told her that I brought some text books about standardization and metrology written in English, of which I think, you can use for your study. She said she would definitely read the text books. On our way back to the hotel, we saw some flakes of snow floating down. January 14 (Thu) 〔Visiting the new center〕 I got up at 9 in the morning. It must have been snowed a lot since last night because the entire city was covered with white snow. Today is the inauguration day of Standardization and Metrology Center of this aimag. I went out wearing a suit and tie, with text books and a camera. As there was no building for the new center, they were going to use a part of Inspection Bureau. They had neither conference room, nor car, nor copy machine. The meeting took place at a conference room of the Inspection Bureau.

The new members of the center were seven; two male staff and 5 female staff. Mr. Khurelsukh gave a lecture to the staff. He is still a member of the Communist Party of Mongolia and has an atmosphere of a bureaucrat of the old socialist government. He likes to give lectures. I gave my text books to Mr. Amgaabazar. He thanked me for them and said that these documents became the first important documents of the new center. I thought they were not such substantial or dramatic documents.

After the meeting, Batzorig started to set up the computer system he brought from MASM. I was asked to visit an office room by the girl I met last night. The room was small and stuffed with desks and lockers etc. It looked rather a storage room than an office room. There were three female engineers. I felt sorry for them to have to work in this miserable room.

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The girl I met last night asked me if I remembered her name. I said I forgot it. She reproachfully repeated her name three times, with a tone of slight resentment, “Ochoo, Ochoo, Ochoo”. She had the documents I gave to Mr. Amgaabazar, and asked me to explain them for the three female members. I thought it was difficult to explain the 150 page documents in a limited time, but anyway, I briefly introduced the documents to them. Then she put the documents into her drawer and locked it. She brought a bottle of Arkhi and offered it to me saying, ”I am going to go shopping, so please wait for me drinking this Arkhi.” In Mongolian institutes, they usually welcome visitors by offering Arkhi or horse milk wine. When we visited the Arhangai Standardization and Metrology Center, we were welcomed in the chief ’s office room with abundant horse milk wine. When we visited Bayan-Ulgii Standardization and Metrology Center we were entertained many times in the chief ’s office room with Arkhi and whiskey. I was wondering why Inspection Bureau and the new center skipped this routine ritual. But I knew later that it was because Mr. Batsaikhan prohibited drinking in the office. When I was offered the prohibited Arkhi by Ochoo, I felt a kinship with Ochoo as if we were old friends. 〔Museum〕 After Ochoo came back from shopping, we decided to visit this aimag’s museum located nearby. Batzorig also joined us after finishing setting up the computer. There were three divisions in the museum, nature, history, and people. I thought it was unusual to have a category of “people” in a museum. In this room, many portraits of the important figures from this aimag, including Mr. Bagabandi, the first president of Mongolia, were exhibited. I was surprised that Mr. Batsaikhan’s portrait was also exhibited there. I didn’t know he was such an important figure.

〔Mr. Amgaabazar, Mr. Batsaikhan (center), Mr. Khurelsukh, Ueda〕

At the room of Mr. Batsaikhan, the head of Inspection Bureau

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〔Mt. Otgon Tenger〕

We took lunch at Chigertei Restaurant. Then all the associated members drove to a hilltop where the Mt. Otgon Tenger, the third highest mountain in Mongolia could be seen from. The height of the mountain is 4,021 m, and recognized as one of the three sacred mountains by the Mongolian government. Unfortunately the sky was not clear enough to view the holy mountain, but we could barely recognize the high mountain in

The first meeting of the new center

Ochoo, Ueda, a female staff

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the distance. People gathered around the outdoor table. They carried food (roasted mutton, candies,

fruits etc. which Ochoo bought in the morning) and drinks from the car, and placed them on the table. Then they put a khadag〔a blue scarf (*)〕on the pole nearby.

Mr. Batsaikhan and Mr. Amgaabazar sprinkled some Arkhi toward the holy mountain. We prayed for success and progress of the new center to the holy mountain. Then they started eating and drinking. It was very cold, and I was just thinking about coming back to the car to warm myself up. 〔Javkhlan Tolgoi Stupas and Lama Temple〕

There is a hill called Javkhlan Tolgoi, where stupas of Tibetan Buddhism were built. This hill is regarded as a holy place and became a symbol of Uliastay. A Lama temple is located at the foot of this hill. First, we visited the temple. The temple was new, said to be constructed several months ago. About ten ascetic monks were doing their apprenticeship there. They paid homage to Mr. Batsaikhan, and offered us a special service of prayer. He must have had great influence on constructing this temple.

Then Mr. Batsaikhan told us that they would go up to Javkhlan Tolgoi. I wanted to stay in the car because outside air was painfully cold. However, it was a relief that Mr. Batsaikhan’s four-wheel drive car drove up to the hilltop easily. There were nine Stupas on top of the hill. We prayed there for success and progress of the new center.

There were also television broadcasting antennas and a base station of a cellphone company.

The place to pray to Mt. Otgon Tenger

(*) Khadag

Khadag is a traditional ceremonial scarf used in Mongolia. It symbolizes purity, goodwill, auspiciousness and compassion. It is usually made of silk.. Mongolian khadags are usually blue, symbolizing the sky. The khadag is a highly versatile gift. It can be presented at any festive occasions to a host or at weddings, funerals, births, graduations, arrivals and departure of guests. The Dalai Lama is known to offer Khadag as a gift to diplomats, visitors, or other monks, which symbolizes purity of intention and the beginning of the relationship. (From Wikipedia)

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Ochoo Mr. Khurelsukh

Mr. Batsaikhan

Ochoo Ueda

At Javkhlan Tolgoi.

Ueda

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〔Celebration Party〕

We came back to the hotel from the trip, warmed up and had some rest. The celebration party was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Chigertei restaurant. About 40 people attended the party. Most of the women were formerly dressed. Ochoo appeared wearing an orange dress that fit well with her slim body. I regretted that I had not worn a tie. About three fourths of the attendants were women. In Mongolia, most of the engineering or technical work are done by women, whereas in Japan most of them are done by men. Mr. Batsaikhan made the opening speech. Then Mr. Khurelsukh, Mr. Amgaabazar and some distinguished guests made their speeches. I was also asked to say a word. Mongolians like to make official speeches in various occasions. When I visited Bayan Ulgii last year, they asked me to make an official speech many times. I am not good at making different speeches in many occasions. Therefore, I saved my speech until this moment. It went like this: “I came to Mongolia two years ago, and have been working as a JICA specialist in fields of standardization and metrology. I enjoyed the work in Mongolia because Mr. Khurelsukh, Mrs. Aliuna, the Vice Chairman of MASM and other staff members have been very kind to me. Now, I am very happy to be invited to attend this memorable occasion being held in Uliastay. I knew this place is very cold. But instead, I understand that the hearts of the people here are very warm. I am going back to Japan in two months, but I will never forget the people I met here, and precious experiences I had such as visiting the museum, praying to Mt. Otgon Tenger, visiting the Lama Temple and Javkhlan Tolgoi. Thank you very much for the kind hospitality offered by Mr. Batsaikhan, Mr. Amgaabazar and other associated members.” Batzorig translated my speech to the Mongolian language.

Then suddenly, a performance of music by a professional band socially struck up. After the music performance, they started social dance. Imbalance in numbers between men and women seemed to be a problem. Women have to be aggressive to find a partner, or they would end up dancing with a partner of the same gender. I felt a little jealous when I saw Mr. Khurelsukh and Ochoo dancing. He is about ten years younger than I, and he dances like a professional dancer. My dancing experiences are only those of cheek-to-cheek dance without any skill. Mongolians like fast tempo dancing like the tango. I asked a lady to dance the tango with me. I was so clumsy that she roughly took the lead over me, ending up in a miserable dance. I gave up dancing, and visited a table where five female staff members were sitting. Three of them were said to be experts with a doctor’s degree, and spoke some English. I

Uliastay cityscape from Javkhlan Tolgoi

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asked them why most of the staff in Inspection Bureau and the new center are women. One of them replied that Mongolian men cannot do scientific work because they do not study hard enough. It is more likely because female students occupy 60 % of the university in UB. The other staff said that the salaries of civil servants in Mongolia are too low to support a family, that’s why men prefer to take more lucrative jobs like private businesses. She was right because Batzorig is paid only 60 US Dollars a month that cannot support his own life without his mother’s help. Encouraged by alcohol, I asked Ms. Ochimaa to dance with me. I asked her if her father was the president of Mongolia. She said, “Yes, he was inaugurated eight years ago when Mongolia abolished the Socialist System and became a democratic country.” While I was dancing with Ms. Ochimaa, I saw Ochoo dancing with a woman. She said something to me, but I could not understand what she said. I asked Ms. Ochimma what Ochoo had said. The answer was “Why don’t you dance with me?” I wanted to say “Why do you want to dance with an old goat like me?” Anyway, I danced with Ochoo. She was fairly drunk. She said something like “I want to go abroad. I want to go to Japan, and meet you there.” I told her if you really want to go abroad on business, you should express your desire to go abroad to Mr. Khurelsukh and Mr. Amgaabazar. She said she would do so. I wish I could realize her dream, but I cannot do anything in this respect. She said nothing for a while, and then suddenly, as if waking up from a dream, she said “It may be difficult for me to go abroad because I am now 30 years old and have a husband and children.” I also felt like as if I awoke up from a dream.

We came back to the hotel very late. They began to drink in Mr. Khurelsukh’s suite room. But I did not join them because I was so tired. 〔Jan. 16 (Fri)〕Return to UB

We were supposed to leave the hotel at 8:30, but Mr. Khurelsukh and Mr. Ganbold, who had drunk very late last night, did not appear on time. Then the governor came to the hotel and they started a meeting. Mr. Batsaikhan called the airport and asked them to wait until we arrive at the airport. All the staff members came to the airport to see us off. When I shook hands with Ochoo, she said, “See you again in UB.” The plane took off 40 minutes late and arrived at UB Airport at around 1 p. m. I paid 50 US Dollars to Batzorig for the work as my interpreter. On our way from the airport, Mr. Khurelsukh said, “Let’s have a get-together with these members in UB someday before Ueda goes back to Japan.” When I came back to my apartment, Undra called me and said, “Let’s celebrate your safe return from Uliastay tonight.” She told me the crazy girls would also join us. I worried about what would happen if those girls come to my apartment especially on Friday night. THE END