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The chaos theory of Mongolia

I returned to Mongolia 15 years ago after an absence of 13 years, save for the occasional 2-week leave from work, and that time I spent a semester and a half at a local university drinking endless cups of brown, watery 150 Tugrik instant MaCcoffee at the café strangely, or perhaps egotistically, named "In my memory", writing the first and so far the only book that got us into trouble with the local intelligence who apparently had little else to do than to pore through the ramblings of teenagers to catch the tell-tale signs of drug dealery. But I digress. When you visit a country for a short period, be it home or not, you hardly have time to immerse yourself in the spirit of the country and the city and feel the nitty gritty and dirty shiny of it all. So after 13 years, it took me a while to readjust and finally understand what the hometown of my childhood had become.  The most striking, ubiquitous, and inescapable feature was and still, unfortunately, is the traffic. In 2008,...

Mongolia Town in S.Korea

JoongAng Daily ran an article on the Mongolian town in the Central Asia street in Seoul, South Korea.  A number of Mongolians run small businesses and stores catering to the needs of their compatriots, there to seek their fortunes. Excerpts:
One big business impediment is the Korean government’s crackdown on illegal aliens, the anonymous shop-owner said. “Every time there’s a government inspection, sales take a dive,” she complained.

“The government came around without any warning, and I saw several customers running away in the middle of their dinner,” Cho said.

People on the street and in Mongolian Town appear cautious and aware of newcomers. And they seem to take particular note of people hauling around large digital cameras.
Read the full article here.

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