Friday, June 3, 2011

MIS Picnic Day

The school I work for is a High School called Mongolia International School.  The students are all Korean whose parents are here in Mongolia as Missionaries.  They either work for MIU (Mongolian International University) which is where Richard works or are working in churches in Ulaanbataar.  These children are facing what we are facing being foreigners in a strange country, a strange language, and a strange culture.  Many of these students have had varying educational training in different countries every year.  It is hard for them especially if they want to go to University in the US or even Korea as the curriculum in each country is so different.  There are many challenges for them to face as in their teen years when they are just beginning to come into their own persons.

Yesterday, we went to the countryside on a picnic as our end of the year celebration.  We hired a bus and rented a few gers in a camp and spent the day riding horses, eating, and playing by the river.  Riding horse is a major attraction here and costs little, however, the horses which we got were mostly stubborn old nags with a mind of their own.  What a good analogy to human spirits not submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ.  My horse and a few others wouldn't move with all the encouragement, kicking, and hitting on the rump!  The Mongolian guides had to ride behind and yell, "Choo, Choo" which can only mean "giddyap" in our language!

Here are some pictures of our day.

This is Jay Lee, the Vice Principal of our school

The gal in the hat is Praise (her English name) one of our graduates this year.  She wants to be a missionary. A lovely girl.  The girl on the left is the President's daughter, a lovely girl!

This is Andrew, Jay's son.  You can see his horse didn't want to do anything!  He had to be pulled by the guide.

We had a large group about 20-25

Most of these young people couldn't ride very well, however, there were a few who knew exactly what to do and went galloping off with joy!

This is Jay's other son

We were trying to decide if we wanted to ride for another hour.  I wanted to but my horse did not and would not take no for an answer so he just moved in the direction of home!  I finally gave up and went along.

The little guy in front is a guide and he was pulling the horse behind him because that horse was also stubborn and wouldn't do anything!

There aren't many cars in the countryside mostly people move around by horses. 

This land reminds me of Montana - the vast land with the big sky!

You've heard of standing around the coffee pot and talking, where here in Mongolia they loiter on a horse anywhere and everywhere just talking! 

More conversation!  This only happens in the countryside, of course.

The river - water is so important here!

It was ice cold

Richard wasn't here to take my pictures, so I had to take my own!

Beautiful, is it not?

The only way across is through the river

Playing by the river

Good friends

This is Gaana's son, Amarah which means peace.  He is almost 3 years old and all boy!

This is Gaana (our Secretary at MIS) she also has been coming to our Bible studies - a very lovely gal!

These kids never get bored.  They have a game for every occasion.  They stood in the river and played some kind of clapping singsong game for about an hour!
River Rock

River Rock

For those who rode for the 2nd hour they got to ride through the river on the way back!

Snowy River all over again!

This is Suk June, the fearless leader

This was definitely the Highlight


Here come the troops!

The water just came below the stirrups


The kids look so bored!  I would have been thrilled!

Jay, the Vice Principal

This is another graduate named Sung Kryoung Yeon a lovely girl

 As you can see it was a fun time and the weather was great.  Next post will be graduation!

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