Getting Acquainted at ACM

So, the dissertation begins! This was my first week with the Arts Council, and overall it went well and I may even know all 11 of the full-time staff.

I am failing a little bit on my side (non-research official) project to experience Mongolian cultural heritage through “participant observation” though. Due to weekend travel and working the first three days of the week, I missed the UB Art Fair in its five day run. This week also marks the 20th anniversary of the Morin Khuur (Horsehead Fiddle) State Ensemble, and my plan to go to the second (of three) concerts was foiled by the tickets being sold out/no longer being sold (the concert was starting only five hours after I tried to get a ticket). Or at least that's the general message I interpreted from the ticket seller. My transactional Mongolian continues to need people to be patient and speak slowly, which is understandably not the way transactions work.

In terms of the research collecting itself, right now I am overwhelmed by documents, some of which are bilingual but many of the most intriguing are titled in English and then written in Mongolian. I sense there will be much, much translating in my near future. But what better way to keep warm during the winter then snuggled up to the computer with a dictionary and mug of hot milk tea? I mean, there are more enjoyable plans to be sure, but I'm looking forward to growing my Mongolian vocabulary. I am also, however, not wanting to create extra work for myself. The shared server the Arts Council uses is a maze of file folders, occasionally organized by year, sometimes by project, and sometimes by expediency. I'm sure as I continue poking through past projects, building my funding database, and helping out on new projects that things will fall more into place.

In any case, I work at the Arts Council only three days a week, so tomorrow I head back to SUIS to meet with my advisor, hopefully get my passport back (complete with permit), and have my first English conversation hour. But that's all tomorrow afternoon, and in the morning for the first time in several days I can sleep as late as I want!
Simple joys are still worth counting :)