Teaching - MONGOLIA Daily Life

A day in the life of a volunteer on a Mongolia Teaching project

My day as an English teacher in Mongolia begins with my alarm clock at about 7.30am. I wake up, get showered and prepare myself for the day ahead. Once I'm ready I join my family for breakfast, usually tea and bread, just what is required for an early start. Not too much is said over breakfast but hey look at the time!

I then walk the short distance to the bus stop and take the bus to school. Once at school I join my teacher colleagues and have coffee and a chat about, well nothing really just general pleasant small talk. They are all very helpful and friendly, even those that don't speak any English. The high school I teach in is of average size and all of the students seem quite keen.

I have a number of classes in the morning; they are usually the older students so their English is quite advanced and doesn't pose too many problems. Most of the students are excited about learning which makes the classes interactive and great fun. However this was not the case originally, I think the students were shy to speak in front of a native speaker but after a few classes they started to come round and now sometimes my problem is to try and stop them talking English when I want to speak!

I have a break for lunch and usually eat in the school canteen; the food? Well nothing to write home about but decent and edible all the same. I have some free time too, which I usually spend planning tomorrows' classes so I have my evenings to myself.

My classes in the afternoon are with the slightly younger students so I act as a teaching assistant because unfortunately my Mongolian is not up to scratch to teach the basics of English. These classes are normally fun, more games and drawing than grammar and spelling.

When school finishes I take the bus back to the city centre where I usually meet up with some of the other volunteers, have a coffee and talk about our days.
At around six I head home and help my family prepare dinner, well I say help I think I'm a hindrance but they don't seem to mind. We eat dinner together and I feel like a real family member. The topics of discussion range from families to holidays; at least that's what I think we are talking about. It's all good fun anyway.

Later in the evening I meet up with the volunteers and we go for a drink in one of the bars or cafes in the city, or if we are in the mood for a change maybe see a film at the cinema. Generally the social life here is pretty good, whether it be with the other volunteers or staff nights out from school. I have to admit I'm beginning to feel really at home in Ulaanbaatar.