I think it’s time to come clean on something I’ve been thinking about for a while. It’s been at the back of my mind for about a month, but I haven’t been able to go on out and say it, so here’s what I usually do instead of posting on this blog to avoid the obvious: I obsess about insidethecbc.com. I read my home newspaper. I peruse all the party photos and nights out with the girls I’m missing. I have conversations back home at ungodly hours when my eyes are droopy and I know I should be asleep. It’s been building up. It’s pretty obvious what’s going on and it’s almost clinical. I’m bloody homesick, and I’m okay with that…or so I’ve decided.
I originally planned to stay longer…indefinitely, even. It was never about money or comfort. I have enough opportunities to keep me here and healthy for quite a while. Even a possible permanent position. So there I was: Free to do whatever I decided to do. I figured I’d pop home for Christmas – to tie up loose ends – and then head back to the cold and smog of the UB winter.
Then it got chilly and I remembered when I was a little kid plodding through three feet of snow on a Saturday morning to deliver this shitty little newspaper I used to make with my sister, dad and neighbours. I’d also remember the rush I got in a scrum when I knew I had THE question. Or bursting to the Batcave at CBC Newsworld (or is it News Network?) to chase that damned Peter McKay down at Pearson Airport for a quote. Or when the President of the university was trying to avoid the inevitable questions and I cornered him. Frick, I love that stuff. I loved how the most amazing things would happen at any time and you’d be challenged everyday. If I stay, I’ll be comfortable, but I don’t care about that. I don’t like being too comfortable.
On the other hand, I miss home. So here’s the deal: I’m going home for a while to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada where I can continue shamelessly making fun of our football team, dance like an epileptic at local shows, and enjoy some time with the fam and good friends. Then, it’s off again. Not sure where, but I plan on being gone before the end of next summer.
So…yeah! That’s that! Adjusted a few things and bam! I’m home December 18 after two days in Beijing. Just like that.
In other news, I’m getting a tattoo. My mom has referenced the following picture as a reminder of how “stupid I am”:
I agree…platform sandals are disgusting.
Anyway, I’m going to try and reenact the “Mom! Look! I got a bellybutton ring to match my tattoo!” fiasco of teenhood for giggles. She can’t choke me in Ulaanbaatar and hopefully me coming home mid-winter will render her hands too arthritic to wring my neck.
I’ll talk more about the tattoo later.
In other news, I had a Halloween Party. Went as Alex from A Clockwork Orange, and it went off without a hitch!
Bad blogger! Bad, bad blogger! I’ve been so horrible lately. Ten lashes for my tardiness of event updates! I promised myself on the day I posted the last one, I’d also fill you in on my aaamazing Friday night!
I managed to get my mitts on a ticket to the Louis Vuitton launch party on Friday, Oct. 23, thanks to one of my first and finest Mongolian friends, and UB Post journalist Ganaa. One of the women that works for the newspaper wasn’t able to attend the event, so they had an extra ticket! This was after I spent the last two weeks calling every LV PR person I could get the number of to harass them for a media pass. The last I had heard was the day of the event, when I called some poor man named Jason that I had been bugging all week and he gave me the definitive news: No tickets. None. All out. No-go.
SO I decided I was going to have a party that night in order to properly ignore the fact that an amazing, exclusive event was taking place just blocks away in a giant temporary building shaped like a Louis Vuitton purse in the middle of the main square. I sent out all the invites. Ganaa was the first to text back with the big news. Raincheck on the house party, it was!
I had about 4 hours to take my frumpy reporter look and try to polish it up a bit, so I picked up a dress within an hour and was home getting ready before too long. Ganaa came over and together we headed down to the opening.
We took a stroll around the store among Mongolian celebrities, politicians, models and media to check out the wares. I suddenly remembered I was a poor journalist at that particular moment. Holy Toledo. I would have to have a pretty serious head injury (or, another one, for those who already know the history of my concusions) to buy something that expensive. I’ll take the black market versions, thanks. The real ‘wow’ factor of the collection was on the second floor where they had a traditional Mongolian saddle hand-embossed with LV symbols.
After observing the first-class craziness, we headed down the brown ‘red’ carpet into the giant luggage box building. The place was amazing, as you can see from the pictures. Ran into my friends’ Jocelyn, Matt, and Chinguun at the event, and met a ton more. Here’s a few pictures:
NEWS ITEM: In other (much more important) arenas, the Prime Minister of Mongolia S.Bayar has resigned from his post due to illness. He remains the MPRP chairman and continues to serve his district as MP. Replacing him is Minister of Foreign Affairs S.Batbold. Former PM Bayar requested that there not be a cabinet shuffle due to his resignation, as stated by Constitutional Law in the country. Still waiting on more details, but it looks like it’s just going to be a peaceful transition this time around.
The last few weeks have changed everything. I think the best way to look at it all would be my keychain: In a few weeks’ time, they will have all been swapped. So where do I begin? Sometimes I feel like there’s just too much to tell to fit on my little blog!
Key Change #1: I’ve got a new job, which means I’m saying goodbye to Tugs/Screen Entertainment Inc. I’m really sad about this one because I loved the job, the staff and my boss. Being an a&c reporter in Ulaanbaatar was a very interesting experience, and offered me the push I needed to get out into the community and really get to know some of the most talented artists and musicians in the world. The job also polished up my editing and camera skills! How can I say goodbye to that? Well, I wasn’t making enough money to live, for starters. At the rate of Tg200,000 promised a month, I was never quite sure whether the pay cheques would be enough. Plus, an amazing opportunity came up that I couldn’t turn down. Ogy had been harassing me for months about signing on as a communications consultant with Oyu Tolgoi after the man who held the position left the country for a promotion. I kept saying “no”, figuring that it wasn’t the kind of gig I would enjoy. Then I went to the Gobi Desert, and like you already know, I was wowed by the OT facilities there. I came home and decided a few weeks later that it was something I’d want to pursue. I sat down with people from the company after the signing of the investment agreement and heard about the job … I was definitely excited. It’s the type of opportunity I would never get back in Canada at my age and work experience level. Not only that, but I’m only signing onto a three month contract for now, so if it’s not something that is worth staying in UB for, I can just cut after it’s done. I figure this is a great way for me to learn what it’s like from the communications side of things. I’ll be able to tell you more about the job after I start on Nov.1.
Key Change #2: I’ve moved into a new apartment! My new place is across from the Chinese Embassy on the top floor of a well-known hotel building. I checked out a lot of places in the city, but as soon as I walked through the door of this one, I knew it would be a new home. They are even giving me a second key to a massive cocktail balcony that I share with my American neighbour! Too bad summer has come and passed, but I think there’s some definite opportunity in the next few weeks for a bonfire of sorts! I’m so happy to be out on my own, too. I loved staying with Ogy, Tugi and Sonora, but as anyone that really knows me can agree, I need my alone time. So here I am, and it’s perfect! It’s also really close to my new work (about 8 min. walk), Sky Department Store, and Orchlon gym (where I picked up a membership last week…only a 5 min. walk away). There’s also a 24-hour supermarket, and a restaurant in the same building. How could I say no to all of that?
^ kitchen area
^bedroom & livingroom
the balcony^^the view outside my windows
As for other things aside from the big stuff, I’ve started a really great freelance editing/reporting gig with UNICEF that I think is working out very well. I have an amazing relationship with the staff here, and I’m really enjoying the opportunities it has presented me. I recently did an article on child labour in Mongolia and helped edit a piece for their monthly newsletter. Aside from Tugs, OT, and UNICEF, I’m still working hard for Eagle TV and hoping that that gig will be able to continue in the future. Something tells me my new job may have me working on Friday afternoons, but perhaps I can negotiate something…hm..
….aaaaaandddd……I’M HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! This is probably my favourite little tidbit of information that I can throw out there right now. Even better than this is that my sister is going to be home at the same time! No more cropped family photos! We can get the real deal! I’m hitting a travel agent on Monday to get flights sorted out. I plan on also stopping in Beijing to get my work visa for Mongolia sorted out, as it expires after December and I’m signed on to stay until the end of February, at least.
I was going to hold off on this, but I’m really excited. Looks like I may be moving along yet again to a consulting position of sorts in Ulaanbaatar on a three month contract. It will be a major growing opportunity and will be a huge career development move. Being the woman of mystery that I am, let’s leave it at that for now.
Another thing that will be changing is my living accommodations. I love crashing at my home stay with Ogy, Tugi and the little one, but it’s time for me to move along. I’m considering a few options right now and am on the prowl for affordable, centrally located, well-furnished accommodations, but aren’t we all? It’s a challenge to say the least. Take this add for example:
“It is announcing that comfortable rooms in 2 stars of hotel are renting for alien with cheap price and long term”
Thank you clarity.
I’ve got a few appointments this afternoon to check some flats out. I’ll let you all know how it goes.
Quote c/o my trash talking mother after seeing these pictures:
Today was a thick one! For those who think it’s “just fog”, take a step outside. I was at 50 percent lung capacity while I was walking to work this morning. The pollution is getting thick, but I hear it gets a lot worst come the coldest months.
So where does it all come from? Well, once the heaters start running in the buildings in UB, the plants start working overtime. Cue smokestacks. Then there’s the cars that can barely run and spurt out dirty exhaust. On top of that and definitely the worst of it all, the gers surrounding the city burn dirty coal all day long for heat. We’re also surrounded by mountains that prevent the toxic soup from leaving. Mercury, lead, and sulphur dioxide were on the breakfast menu today for the people of UB. If you can get through it, check out this article in the UB Post.
Apparently the pollution is much worst from November through to March, with many people telling me, “wait until January”. There are three thermal power stations in the city burning five million tons of coal, and over 250 boiler shops using 400 tons per year in the city. The shops and stations emit some 200 kinds of toxins. Gers and households in the city burn 625,000 tons of coal. There is also 95,000 cars in the city, which emit carbonic acid and heavy metal pollution (source: www.mongolian-attractions.com …funny enough). Yummy.
My coffee shop office friend and attorney James Wingard has been working overtime for the FAO (led astray by the business card – I’ll figure out who he’s actually representing soon) to help develop clean air policy for the city. The man is definitely going to be on my list of heroes if he gets it passed. He also worked on a survey entitled “Silent steppe: the illegal wildlife trade crisis”, which can be found here, or you can read about it in the NY Times here. He’s definitely one of the great men around these parts.
This week has been a lot of things for me: A steep learning curve, a nightmare, a near-death-heart-rate-booster, an opportunity for growth, a dream, and a party. Pop a cherry on top of figuring out what the hell I want out of life, and we’ve got one epic sunday before, well, Sunday.
I’d have to say that the highlight would have to be the UBS Music Video Awards. Not only did everyone show up late, but the blatant copyright infringement of the MTV awards was absolutely shocking. From the music to the actual graphics used for the event, we were deep in it. The organizers even managed to get a few moments in that rivaled some of the most embarrassing or awkward displays on the more popular annual segment in the USA. For example, there was a lot of music freak-outs. People would be talking and music would just start blaring over them. Then there was the envelope mix-up. Turns out the Mongolian word for “operator” is very similar to that of “artist” and there was an incredibly distressing moment where everything was backwards and no one knew what to do. Cue blaring music and a quick shuffle off stage. Recovery took another six minutes (remember, we’re still about 30 min behind in the program). Anyway, long story short, it was a mess. A wildly entertaining mess!
Like I said, I’m still determining how badly I want to stay here, and I decided…
…nothing.
Soon enough though.
On other wildly entertaining Mongolian topics, check out this article on the Mongolian media. Some people wonder how I’m anchoring a news program right out of my undergrad years, stringing for Reuters and working at a pretty nice position at a private media firm. Let’s just say the article explains a bit of that. It ain’t raw skill, baby.
There is also this little gem, which I watched at home and nearly spewed milk tea out of my nose. Pretty epic music video. The last 30 seconds are where it gets really good. Think he actually speaks English?
Okay, so I promise I’ll stop talking about this soon and get to some enthralling stories that will serve as equivalents to those of Carrie Bradshaw at the turn of the millenium, but seriously…
What’s up with the Ivanhoe stock? She’s dropping faster than these people, and hitting the floor harder than this chick. Maybe I’m exaggerating a tad, but I think there’s more than a handful eyebrows being raised a few days after the deal was signed. Everyone in town is expecting the numbers to climb and it is doing just the opposite. Perhaps it’s the horrible prices of gold or copper, or a quick sell-off from weary investors, but whatever it is, it wasn’t expected. I’m still waiting for someone far smarter than me to drop down from news heaven and come up with some explanation.
Other items: I’ll be attending the UBS Video Music Awards this evening, which should prove entertaining. My friend and translator Deegii somehow managed to get front row tickets when the thing was sold out only 24 hours before. She’s a miracle worker, that’s for sure. I’ll be covering the event for the website.
All done my freelancing work with UNICEF and Reuters (for now). Should now be able to settle into a 9-5er for a spell, which seems too good to be true after an exhausting week.
Oh my! Am I ever glad Tuesday is over! It was one long day, my friends, and it is followed by yet another interesting assignment involved a report on child labour and youth employment in Mongolia.
Backing up, the signing was one difficult story to cover! I found out (thankfully) earlier in the morning from the Reuters TV person on the ground that we required an invitation to enter the Government House and attend the press conference, so that was my first run across downtown. Foreign affairs didn’t let me know about the invitation, but luckily, there was one waiting for me at the offices. Save #1. I arrived at the gate to the shouts of protesters and was whisked along with the rest of the local and foreign media into the Great Hall. After some pleasantries, the deal was signed. There weren’t really fireworks or anything, and I could definitely still hear the voice of the Five River Movement shouting at my back, but there it was. It was done. Big problem followed: There was sketchy cellphone reception in the hall where the signing of the agreement took place, so I found myself climbing over several other spectators trying to get near a window to call Hong Kong and let them know the deal was done. I was slightly late, but the call was made. Save #2. Once the deal was done, we attended a press conference and discussed some logistics of the agreement with the big dogs from Ivanhoe, Rio Tinto, and the government. Post-conference, we received a media bag that contained a drive with electronic copies of all the speeches and some facts on the OT project and agreement. I asked if it was in English. Yes, it was in English. Good. So then I’m running across town again to get to the nearest coffee shop to pound out an article and send it off. Power is out at Cafe Amsterdam….oh no. So I run over to Nayra’s, another local cafe. The wireless internet is on the fritz. By then, I’m thinking to myself, “It’s time to call ‘Editor Joe’ in Hong Kong”. I plunk down, plug in the drive for some additional info I might of missed, and what do I see? Cyrillic. Mongolian cyrillic. Now, I can read the stuff, but that doesn’t mean I understand 95% of it. No English copies of any press material except for two speeches…oh…oh no! So I take a taxi down to Lavazza, where I found out the internet there was also a no-go. Off to the Chinggis Khaan Hotel and into their Business Center and I finally get to a computer that works (for about CA$6.00/hour). I send some pictures, everything I know, and then I call Hong Kong Joe. “Joe! I sent you the stuff. I’m so, so sorry! It’s been such a nightmare. I -”
“Dani?”
“Yeah! Dani! I sent you some pictures and some other facts.”
“Oh. We’re done with that story now. Don’t sweat it.”
“What??? Oh…okay.”
And that’s that. That was basically my day. Long one, but definitely worth the struggles for one more hit at the Reuters stringer gig. The chances of macroeconomic stories coming out in the near future seems slim to me, so I’m assuming that job is in hibernation for now. Fin.
Today I’m off to the black market to speak to some young kids that are working there for a story I’m working on for UNICEF. It should be an interesting experience to hear what life is really like.
In other news, I happened to see a woman walking down the street that looked quite familiar. Not quite the person I thought it was, of course, but definitely had similar eyes. So I got to the cafe and Googled “Amanda Lindhout”. For those Canadians who don’t remember, she’s the Albertan who was kidnapped in Somalia more than a year ago today. The story struck home for me because I felt that I could have just as easily been her only a few years in the future. It was so heartbreaking to follow her story and to hear that she hasn’t yet been recovered from her captors (if she’s still alive). This horrible story is very important to me, and I hope you’ll take a moment to read the latest about her. It absolutely breaks my heart.
The headline has been running in the papers for the last four-or-so years, and after so many false starts, the day is here…
The Oyu Tolgoi deal is going to be signed.
I’m geared up in my suit with a camera, cellphone and computer at the ready for my trip to Government House at 3pm, when government officials will meet with representatives from Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto for a ceremony to mark the end of half a decade of negotiating. There will be three agreements signed related to the Oyu Tolgoi deposit: One related to investment in the project, another on stock ownership, and a third on the terms of payment of the deposit amount. The Prez, Prime Minister, Finance Minister, and top reps from the companies will be attending. I’m under a Reuters snap deadline to call Hong Kong when the deal finally goes down, and a later deadline for a story with quotes.
Ever since arriving here, this has been the story. Go ahead and search it here on Rove Report! People obsess about OT. No one seems to be talking about anything else, and it will be interesting to see how it actually goes down at the big event. I expect many protesters from the Five Rivers Movement at the government building, as well as a lot of happy Ivanhoe and RT people. Expect details later if I find a spare moment!
“Today I am a superhero and nothing is going to stop me from saving myself.
Finished the magazine piece. Finished the arts and culture articles for the web launch. Setting up a translator and media pass for the Oyu Tolgoi mining agreement signing tomorrow at 3pm. Stocked up on calling cards for the snap to Reuters. Bought tickets to events for the next week, and planned my gallery visits. Organizing UNICEF child labour article and trying to get a hold of contacts for interviews.
Here’s hoping nothing goes wrong in the next few days, and my mantra just might save me from drowning in the responsibilities!
(Oh! Our website at work launches next Monday, which is also pretty exciting)
^ kitchen area
the balcony^
^the view outside my windows
….aaaaaandddd……I’M HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! This is probably my favourite little tidbit of information that I can throw out there right now. Even better than this is that my sister is going to be home at the same time! No more cropped family photos! We can get the real deal! I’m hitting a travel agent on Monday to get flights sorted out. I plan on also stopping in Beijing to get my work visa for Mongolia sorted out, as it expires after December and I’m signed on to stay until the end of February, at least.
