Our big adventure

I know I owe all of you the story of the big adventure Christina and I had planned for Sunday night, but we ran into a glitch and it didn't take place. I now have a lead on other arrangements for this same plan, but want to hold off on the story telling until it takes place. Sorry!

In the meantime I will tell you about the classes I've held lately. Since the English classes are strictly voluntary on the part of the students, many of them have stopped attending, leaving only the better (and obviously more interested) students in class. This makes it more fun for me because we can have actual conversations and I don't have to be at the blackboard all the time.

I've been leading discussions about "culture" and trying to get a handle on what makes a Mongolian a Mongolian - what internal thinking goes on to make up the Mongolian personality or mindset. People might often think in terms of externals: food, clothing, music, housing, etc., but I am trying to get the students to think about character. Are the people optimistic, pessimistic, complacent, etc.? Some of you may shudder, thinking about the generalizations I'm trying to draw, but since we can accept (I think) the fact that there are attitude and character differences between different nationalities, how else can we examine or define things except by generalities? Feedback is welcome, especially on this point. Our discussions have been fascinating.