Back to School

We got to be ambassadors for New Zealand-accented English language in a Mongolian High School. Our horse-riding guide Nyamkah, who is training to be an English teacher, asked us to come and talk to his students who he said had never spoken to native English speakers before.

Our other guide, Pujyee came and got us. He took us for a beer to steel our nerves.

Then we ventured down some dark seedy alleyways. Where is Pujyee taking us? we wondered. Is he planning to subject us to a cruel scam? Is this talk of our fine English language just playing on our vanity to lure us into the darkest corners of Ulan Bator? But no. We turned a corner and saw a line of teenage girls. And then the high school - looking pretty much like any high school anywhere you can imagine.

As we walked the corridors we got some friendly greetings from the kids who all seemed to think we were pretty novel. Mainly Brett's beard. Then we hit the classroom. It was teeny and we were introduced with great ceremony. We talked about New Zealand and showed our tiny isles on the map. The kids were suitably impressed. We then tried to get a conversation going. We felt a bit like guests of Oprah Winfrey being quizzed by the in-studio audience.

Kids: What kind of music do you like?
Us: Um. Some kinds. What kind of music do you like?
Kids (unanimously): LADY GAGA (they also like Twilight)
Kids: What kinds of sports do you like?
Us: Um. Football?
Precocious Kid: I'm interested in the sea. Particularly the creatures in the sea. Tell me about the ocean.
(Brett then embarks on a lengthy and bewildering explanation involving the map, the shelf off the East Coast, and descriptions of giant squid and killer whales fighting for dominance. Precocious kid and the rest of the class look bamboozled)

















Nyamkah then presented us with some sweet Mongolian souvenirs to thank us and the kids requested our email addresses so we can all be penpals. They then crowded round us to have their photos taken.

As we left the High School the kids in the corridors seemed to gain more nerve and we were treated to extensive greetings and expressions of goodwill. It felt a bit like mild Beatlemania. It was a pretty grand experience all round.