Some of the more famous buildings in UB. Above is the post office. Many directions begin with - "from the post office you go....." Just below is the stock exchange - pink on the left, and the Golomt Bank - green on the right. To the right is the ballet theater. These buildings are on the periphery of Sukhbaatar Square.

These are pictures of the Square, and the Parliament Building at the back. Chinggis Khan sits in front of the building. There is another statue, very recently unveiled, in the center of the square of Sukhbaatar, the leader of the 1921 Revolution.

Above is the Ulaanbaatar Hotel, complete with a statue of Lenin! Yes, Lenin....this is UB's only five star hotel. It is right across the street from the Mongolian State University of Education, which is next to my school.

This is a manhole...note, no cover. One of the hazards of walking in UB....I had to include it in my walking tour.

UB is surrounded with mountains, and in the past few years, groups have been developing some ski areas. Sunday, I went to Sky Resort with Odgerel, her daughter, her grandson - Emu (4), and her daughter's boss, a very nice man from Japan. We had a lovely day. Odgerel's daughter practiced her snow boarding, and Idia and Emu skiied. Odgerel and I walked to the top of the slope on one side of the chair lift, and down the slope on the other side....and spent some time going up and down the bunny hill with Emu in the afternoon. We ended the day with a wonderful dinner at the Seoul Restaurant - sushi all around. What a nice day - out of the city - clear air, lots of sun, and a good bit of exercise.

Enkhe (Director of Training), Tseveen (Department Chair), Odgerel and I went to the Human Complex School in the Central Aimag (district). This is about one hour south of UB. The school was built in 2006 by the World Bank and houses both preschool and primary classrooms. It is a showcase school. We were warmly greeted and then held a sharing session with the teachers. We agreed to continue our relationship with inservice training and joint research projects. After our session, we went on a tour of the school.

What a week! Besides the usual work, on Thursday, the director of the math department, Macsar, and his family - wife Byemba, son Oogii and his girlfriend Duugi - took me out in the countryside. We had a camel ride - then climbed Turtle Rock - then had a lovely lunch - then rode the horses. It was a wonderful day - new adventures and new friends. Then, on Saturday, I had a felting class....pictures show most of the steps - my fabulous teacher (she has some knitting for sale in the shop at the Louvre!) will be teaching me to spin, and to quilt my felting. So much work - so much fun!

Museums and Monuments
There are so many museums in UB. I've been to 3 so far - The Natural History Museum which has lots of stuffed animals in their native habitats, the National History Museum which traces Mongolian history from the Stone Age to now. Well done and includes a display of ethnic dress that depicts the various groups living in Mongolia. And, the International Intellectual Museum, which houses thousands of toys, games, puzzles, mazes, chess sets (worth the visit alone) and magic tricks. Lots of fun, you get to try some of the puzzles - apparently I'm not so intellectual! No photos are allowed in the museums, but, we went to the Chinggis Khan Monument and photos were allowed. This monument is an engineering marvel - 40 meters of steel and then set on a two story building, up on a hill! Impressive, needless to say. The first floor of the building has a shop and a place you can dress up, a big boot and a huge whip. The basement houses the Bronze Age Museum, and the second floor is mostly a dining room. You can walk up inside the monument and come out on the head of the horse for amazing views. We had a sunny day, and fairly warm :)

Wonderful afternoon visit to Mongolian Public School #2. Below is the principal who is an amazingly energetic woman who is being forced to retire this year. She has won numerous awards and accolades for her work, and is often called upon to consult with other schools, so I hope she will continue to be able to contribute to education. She is, by the way, a graduate (1971) of our school! The school has 2200 children, grades 1 - 12. One very interesting aspect to primary (elementary) school is that a teacher begins with a group of children in first grade and stays with the same group through fifth grade. And, if families move away, they can continue to bring their child(ren) to the school. This school has a good reputation, so families try to keep their children there - so, there are big classes (35 - 40 children) and many classes! I came away with a tremendous respect for the teachers, and a plan to deliver some teacher in-service!

To the right is the first grade, all eager to show off their work.

These are some of the first grade materials. A workbook for their Mongolian, and notebooks for recording their math and writing assignments.

Above is our student teacher in front of the second grade class. Below is the whole class, and left, the class is singing to us.

To the right is the fifth grade class. They all stood when we entered and are just now sitting back down. They begin learning English in fourth grade, so they were happy to try out their "Hello" and "Good bye" They went back to work.

Today I was asked to write a brief statement to be used on the University’s website. Of course, it was translated, by Odgerel, and then typed in Mongolian. I saved it, so I could show you the written Mongolian language. So, here is my version, and following – the Mongolian.

My name is Lynne Noble and I have the great fortune to be a Fulbright Scholar in the Teacher’s School, Mongolian State University of Education. I am from South Carolina, United States and am a Professor of Education at Columbia College. I teach Growth and Development, Education Psychology, Methods and Pedagogy courses.
While in Mongolia, I will be teaching, writing, researching, and, of course, learning. I have wonderful colleagues with whom I am working, and we have many collaborative projects to complete while I am here. Please feel free to contact me about my work here in UB. My email is lnoble@columbiasc.edu

Намайг Линн Нобле гэдэг. Би Фулбрайт Сангийн шугамаар Монгол Улсын Боловсролын Их Сургууль-Багшийн Сургуульд ажиллахаар ирсэн. АНУ-ын Каролина мужийн Колумбийн коллежид профессор багшаар ажилладаг. Хүүхдийн Хөгжил , Боловсролын Сэтгэлзүй , Боловсрол судлал , Боловсролын арга зүй аргачилал зэрэг хичээлүүдийг заадаг. Монголд байх хугацаандаа Олон улс дахь бага боловсролын тогтолцоо, зохион байгуулалт , агуулга арга зүйн чиглэлээр хичээл заана, зөвлөмж бичнэ, судалгаа хийнэ. Монгол багш оюутнуудаас суралцана.
Холбоо барих e-mail хаяг: lnoble@columbiasc.edu.