This week it's been something of a daze. Or a fog. Or bright dazzling sunshine that blinds the eyes. Or some mixture of the above. School started for all of us two weeks ago. Jonathan and Cori are beginning their second year at ISU (10th and 8th grade respectively). This year will be quite different due to the fact that the International School of Ulaanbaatar (ISU) is in a brand spanking new orange and blue building. We attended opening ceremonies which included the American Ambassador and the President of Mongolia. The building is large and very western. One of Jonathan's teachers quipped "It's just like a real school now!".
The Principle of ISU with the President of Mongolia, Enkhbayar.
Renee' and I have also re-started our classes at the Bridge International College. We're back in the throws of homework, school buses and complex sentences. Coupled with that, we are also meeting with Church leaders once per week and helping with music and teaching on Sundays. The nice thing about it is that we only studying four days per week, now. This will give us more time to work with the church and practice language.
Language learning has so many ups and downs. This past Tuesday I went to a little coffee shop to do my homework. I was studying a new way to essentially give the reason for doing an action (e.g., "therefore" and "because") so that I don't sound like a 5 year old when I talk. While I was paying my bill a chatted for a few minutes with the lady who owns the shop and realized that I had an opportunity to use my new grammar. So after a moment of getting my head straight, I said, "I might be able to come drink coffee on Friday mornings, because I don't have class on Friday anymore" (woo hoo ... nice complicated sentence). She understood me. Success. An hour later we had a living room full of Mongolian students. I understood little and could speak less. We still need a translator for pretty much anything we need to do beyond small talk (and sometimes for that too!). I went from being thrilled at what I could do to being totally bummed by what I couldn't in a matter of an hour. But, that's what I am finding to be the the nature of language study.
So the school daze has begun.