Red Hero

I’m not the biggest fan of Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaan Baatar (which translates to Red Hero in English), but one question I should address is this: Who is the “Red Hero?” Damdin Sukhbaatar. Sukhbaatar, of course, translates into English as “Axe Hero.” The short story is that he’s a hero of the revolution that brought […]

The Ugly Side of Nationalism

Nationalism: Patriotic feelings, principles, or efforts. 1. An extreme form of this, esp. marked by feelings of superiority over other countries. 2. Advocacy of a political independence for a particular country. -From New Oxford American Dictionary. Every country has nationalism, but it’s when that nationalism teeters to the first sub definition that things become worrisome. […]

Something In The Air

It happened on my first trip to the capital city, Ulaan Bataar. I was staying with my co-teacher’s niece, a lovely young woman about my age. She spoke impeccable English, perhaps even better than her aunt. She spent the night telling me about her work with the environment, translation, and how she wanted to learn […]