Mongolian Vacation (ELLLO 1010)

Heidi talks about things tourists should see and do when visiting her country of Mongolia.

Heidi (Mongolia)
Todd (USA)

Todd: So Heidi, I was talking with my friend and he actually lives in Mongolia now and he says it’s a great place. He recommended that I go there. So if I go to Mongolia, what season is the best season to go?

Heidi: Fall.

Todd: In the fall?

Heidi: Yes, because in the fall we have a celebration called Naadam and that’s the best time to go. And you get to see horse racing and archery and wrestling and so many tourist come to Mongolia at that time.

Todd: Okay, now in your city, what is one food I should definitely try?

Heidi: Well I would say khuushuur.

Todd: Wow. khuushuur?

Heidi: Yes. Everyone loves it. And for me, I love it too. It looks like dumpling but fried and it’s more bigger and inside is meat.

Todd: So it’s like a dumpling and inside it’s meat.

Heidi: Yes.

Todd: So outside, the dumpling part, it is like bread or is it like...

Heidi: It’s a flour, yeah.

Todd: Like a flour-based...

Heidi: Yes

Todd: Okay, now Mongolia is quite famous for meat, correct? So, what is probably the most popular meat?

Heidi: Beef.

Todd: Beef?

Heidi: Yes.

Todd: So not chicken, not fish...?

Heidi: We don’t really eat chicken and we don’t eat fish. Well, we have a river fish. It’s like really delicious but then we don’t have sea so seafood is not popular at all.

Todd: So people mainly eat beef.

Heidi: Yes.

Todd: So when I’m there in your country, what place should I go to. Like, what should I see?

Heidi: Probably, [it’s] better to go to the countryside because if you go to Ulan Bator it’s just the same as other cities -- other cities around the world. But the countryside is a whole different world. And the countryside is where you can see the Mongolian tent and horses, like, Nomadic places like where people live in the outside. That’s the best place for foreigners to go.

Todd: Is there anything I should buy? Like, what would be a good souvenir or gift from your country?

Heidi: Well, in the department stores they have sections for Mongolian traditional gifts and stuff so probably you can get the tent -- a small tent.

Todd: A little tent?

Heidi: Yeah, and then if you open the door you can actually see all the furniture is inside it. So it’s kind of interesting.

Todd: Wow, like a little doll house?

Heidi: Yes.

Todd: Okay, wow, it sounds good. I hope to go.

Vocabulary

archery

Archery is a sport where the players shoot at targets with a bow and arrow. In Mongolia, the sport of archery was traditionally practiced to develop military skills. They continue the tradition in the Mongolian Olympics. Notice the following:

The archers were incredibly accurate. They could shoot an apple from 100 meters.
Archery made early human beings much better at hunting animals for food.

wrestling

A sport between two people where the fighters try to control their opponent and hold them on the ground. It is one of the most popular events in the Mongolian Olympics. In Mongolian wrestling there are no weight classes so a very large wrestler may compete against a much smaller opponent. Notice the following:

Wrestling is a very difficult sport.
I wouldn’t want to make a wrestler angry.

horse racing

Horse racing is a sport where the rider of each horse tries to be the fastest. In many parts of the world, people place bets on the winner and try to win money. In the Mongolian Olympics, mostly children participate in the long 20-30 kilometer races. Notice the following:

I went to the horse races when I was in Las Vegas and I won 400 dollars.
In my opinion, watching horse racing is more interesting than watching a marathon.

dumpling

So it’s like a dumpling and inside it’s meat.

A ball of dough made of flour and then deep fried or steamed. In Mongolia, dumplings filled with meat are called Khuushuur. Notice the following:

During the holidays, my grandmother used to make dumplings.
The steamed dumplings were absolutely delicious.

tent

The countryside is where you can see the Mongolian tent.

A tent is a shelter supported by poles that can easily be taken down and moved to a new place. Modern tents for camping are made of light nylon materials. Mongolian tents are called yurts. Traditional yurts have a wooden frame and are covered with lambs’ wool. Notice the following:

We went camping in the mountains. At night, we slept in a tent.
Nomads are people who move from place to place and sleep in tents.