Hmmm, tough question! Well, I’ll be completely honest and say that the choice was not entirely my own. I wanted to work in a poor country and to help the people there, so I applied to work with the charity Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). VSO takes people to go and work in some of the poorest countries in the world (you can see the list of countries here: http://www.vso.org.uk/about/cprofiles/index.asp). I could have gone anywhere, but the job VSO offered me was in Mongolia. However, I was very happy when I heard that I had the chance to work in Mongolia. This is because of some things that I had already knew about Mongolia:
Mongolia’s countryside/animals – Mongolia is a huge country, with loads of countryside. I’m very fond of the countryside, and so looked forward to exploring it. I was excited about seeing the mountain and desert areas, and going to places where there are no other people for miles and miles. I also thought it would be great to see the many animals in Mongolia. I knew that if I went I’d get the chance to see wild horses, yaks and camels. I even thought that if I was very lucky I might have the chance to see snow leopards! During my many visits to Marwell Zoo (near Winchester) I always went to see the snow leopards, one of my favourite animals. The chance to see snow leopards in the wild was something I found hard to miss! Now that I’ve arrived in Mongolia I doubt I’ll actually see them (they are very shy creatures, and have good camouflage) but I can always dream…!
Mongolia’s history – Mongolia has a very interesting history. Under Chengis Khaan, one of the world's greatest ever leaders (who can be seen in the picture to the right), Mongolia had the second biggest empire the world has ever seen (1206-1294). Mongolia once controlled over 10% of the world, which is pretty impressive! More recently (1924-1992), Mongolia was part of the ‘communist bloc’ (a group of countries which tried to make sure that all people were equal – no one should have more than another person). As a result, Mongolia developed in a very different way to most other countries in the world.
The Mongolian people – The Mongolian people are famous for being friendly and welcoming. I looked forward to getting to know them, and discovering more about their special culture. Perhaps the most interesting people are those who live in the countryside in big tent-like houses called ‘gers’. They are ‘nomads’ – people who constantly move around the countryside. I wanted to see this type of life as it is very different to our life back in the United Kingdom (a country where most people live in houses and stay in one location for many years).
Mongolia’s climate – I have never lived in a country with a crazy climate like Mongolia’s climate! Whilst I may live to regret my decision during the winter months (the photo shows you what the view is like from my bedroom window), I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing what it is like to live in a country in which temperatures often drop to –30C. You can see what the weather is already like in the photo to the right - it's the view from my bedroom window a week ago.
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