Author: jfreeman

There will always be cultural differences between countries and it’s interesting to observe them from an outside perspective. Mongolia and America are very different just by their appearance, actions and the culture of the country.

One of the first differences I saw was Mongolian men always driving shirtless. If you looked in every car you would witness a half naked man. There were shirtless men in the city and the countryside, they were everywhere. You couldn’t miss it. It got hot in Mongolia but not to the extent of going shirtless but that’s just Mongolia I guess. Americans are more reserved and it’s not socially appropriate to be so exposed all the time. I thought it was funny and weird to see shirtless men walking/driving around but all you can do is just embrace it.

Another difference from Mongolians to Americans is that Mongolian women don’t wear the traditional wedding ring. Some don’t even wear their rings at all! I guess in their culture it’s not as important as other things. Some women have rings but it either a certain stone or a different design to represent their marriage. American women live for their wedding rings and since they were little girls they’ve dreamed about their wedding day. The traditional wedding ring is worn 24/7 and fantasized about.

 Mongolia has a lot of the generic cars that are also driven in America but with the wheel on the left or the right. It’s like they have a choice to pick where they want to put their steering wheel. I’ve been in so many cars/taxis that it’s always different every time I get into a car. Because cars are so versatile it makes me think about how unorganized Mongolia is. Just from wheels being on both sides.  I view it as unsafe and messy. Counties have car wheels on a designated side and that shows order. It might just be me but I feel thats what it symbolizes as and it bothers me so much. (Just OCD things)

This last difference connects to me and changed me when I learned about it. On my Gobi Desert trip a nomadic family told me that Mongolian babies are born with blue butts. For the first few years the baby’s butt is blue and fades as they get older. It’s so cool to think that I had a blue butt when i was little. That connection to the Mongolian people fascinated me, I’ve always known I was Mongolian but I never felt like it. I’ve just felt like an American because thats all I knew. This discovery was the first feeling that made me connect to the Mongolian people because it’s a special concept in the Mongolian DNA. I loved learning about this and it opened my eyes to what I was.

I loved observing and learning about the differences between Mongolia and America. It made me grateful for somethings in America but I also found myself and new found feelings to my homeland.

Driving in Mongolia is probably one of the most dangerous things ever. You are in constant fear of getting hit or you’re in a car with a terrible driver. Instead of using their blinkers they beep at one another to communicate. Companies made blinkers for a reason so use them! It’s never a peaceful ride with Mongolian drivers. They never stay in between the lines of the road so everyone is driving on top of each other. There are crazy drivers that simply don’t care about the safety of other cars. I’ve been in so many potential car crashes that driving like this is so normal for me now. Pray for me! :))))

I honestly didn’t know what I got myself into when I landed in Mongolia. I was so relieved to get off my flights and was ready to go to bed. My family friend and her husband both picked me up from the airport and gave me a tour of Mongolia. I didn’t know what to expect. Ulaan Baatar is a developing city, constantly building and people are always on the go. From men painting guard rails green to repaving roads, the city is becoming itself. It reminds me of New York City. Chaotic and crowded. As we were driving around I was surprised to see so many karaoke bars. Some blocks had more than one and sometimes next to each other. I didn’t know that Mongolians liked to sing so much.

The city isn’t that big. I’ve traveled around a lot and somehow I always know where I am and what’s around me. You basically just need to remember a couple of big buildings and that gives you a relative idea of where you are. The city is quite unique. My favorite thing about this city is that there are mountains surrounding it. I think that is the most beautiful view to see from a city. You can detect what happens in  the mountains from the weather in the city. If it’s foggy and cloudy then you know that there was a forest fire in the mountains. It’s so interesting and I love always looking up at the mountains.