Antsy McClain – I Was Just Flipped Off

Antsy McClain – I Was Just Flipped Off

Elijah reads a book!

Today was a landmark day for Elijah. He read a book by himself for the first time. Granted, the book had a very limited vocabulary, carefully selected from a very limited group of letters, but it’s still a milestone. I hope that someday he has the passion for reading that I had as a child. (I wonder whatever happened to that.)

In history today, we studied foods from the Age of Exploration. We decided that the sailors’ diet of rotten crackers and beer was probably something best left to history. It was a good reminder to us to keep up our intake of fruit and vegetables, though. Fruit, especially, is expensive here, but Tiffany does a wonderful job of making sure we have a well-balanced diet.

In science, we finally left earth science and moved on to biology. I’m not sure I would have known the six characteristics that distinguish living organisms from non-living items, but I do now! Elijah did a little work identifying those characteristics, and then sorting some pictures into living and non-living categories. We also checked out some of the diversity of living things at EcoKids.

In math, we worked on “number between” in the 30 to 40 range, as well as reviewing counting to 70, counting pennies and dimes, simple addition, and writing the 40s.

We also started a new read-aloud book tonight The Light at Tern Rock. It’s recommended for ages 8-12, so I think some of it’s going over Elijah’s head, but it’s short, so we’ll read it this week and then move on.

In my language studies, I finished a book with Ariunbolor today. We’ve been reading the miracles of Jesus. Now, I think we may try a book that has a number of cultural and historical readings in it. Ariunbolor had never seen the book before, but I showed it to her and she seemed willing to give it a try. I feel like I usually have to direct the classes that she teaches, because she doesn’t come loaded with teaching ideas.

In my class with Yendii today, we worked through part of a page in a dictionary. That usually goes pretty slowly, as each word sends us off on some tangential conversation. I’ll think of some example from the Bible and share it with her, or she’ll give some anecdote somehow related to the word. (Yendii asked today how I could remember where so many things were in the Bible. Having a search engine helps, but I told her that I had read the Bible through for the first time when I was 7 years old, and then a number of times after that. She was flabbergasted.) For homework, I used each word that we studied in a sentence, and then started reading the next theme in our book. It had a very long sentence near the beginning, and I got so bogged down on it that I never got the rest of the theme read. It seems that it has something to do with the seasons, and a couple of girls in the countryside. All very beautifully written, just mostly unintelligible.

Homeschool update

Today, in history class, we began studying the Chinese, specifically the Ming dynasty. We looked on the internet for some good pictures of the Forbidden City. There used to be a site that gave 360-degree views from various points in the city, but it didn’t seem to be working today, so we just Googled images of the city. We went to Explore Cool Places to find out the secret code embroidered into the emperors’ robes. And we also did a little reading about the porcelain that we now call china at Ceramics-C is for China. We finished this evening by heading out to Sansar Asian Food for a Chinese dinner and tea.

Tiffany and Elijah eating lemon chicken

Visa Affidavit

Just last night, I was telling Tiffany that we probably ought to check our passports to see whether our student visas expired after one year or two. Then today, the director of our school came to us and started explaining to us the hoops we would have to jump through to get our second year student visa. She explained in Mongolian, of course, which was extremely helpful. Later, she came in and gave me a sample letter that I needed to write out by hand, filling in all the appropriate blanks. It is basically a request saying that it takes a long time to learn Mongolian, and that I need to study for another year. It’s a tad ironic, because I have to write it in perfect Mongolian, which tends to give the lie to the idea that I need to study for another year. I asked the director if I had to handwrite it, and she indicated that I did. If I typed it on the computer, she said, they would just think she wrote it. (Which, of course, she did. I just copied it.)

I have seen these handwritten affidavits on several other occasions. Once, for example, I signed my name to a handwritten full page, having no idea what it said, just that a friend had written it. That was just to get some boxes out of customs. I think that, in America, most bureaucrats would look askance at handwritten document, especially those created by foreigners who are still relatively new to writing with a different symbol set. Here, though, it seems to be the mark of authenticity.

By the way, in Mongolia, almost everyone writes in cursive, which is not, of course, the first symbol set you study. So, for the first several months, you can read nothing that anyone writes. Then, you start to learn cursive. I can do a reasonable job at it now, although I still make a few errors. I almost never write in cursive in English, so it was a bit of a learning curve for me.

Of Oyu Tolgoi and Sudden Departures

Well, it’s finally happened. After a decade of bickering and 2-steps-forward-3-steps-back negotiations, Mongolia today signed an agreement to allow Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto to exploit Oyu Tolgoi, ostensibly one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world. There has been surprisingly little fanfare over an event that has the potential to significantly change the lives of the average Mongolian. Here are a few of the highlights from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald:

• The nation’s employment rate is tipped to jump more than 10 percent. The mine will employ as many as 3,000 workers, with thousands more finding jobs along the supply chain.
• Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 450,000 tons of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold annually over 35 years.
• Per capita disposable income is expected to rise by 11.5 percent.
• The project could boost Mongolia’s per capita GDP, at about 1,800 US dollars in 2008, to 15,000 US dollars by 2015.

If you haven’t bought stock in one of these mining companies, you may have already missed the boat, but hopefully Mongolians will be able to keep corrupt politicians from pocketing the bulk of this windfall.

On a more mundane topic, I started classes with a new teacher today. My former teacher, Nyamaa, has been working on a deal to go to Japan for a few weeks. On Thursday, she told me dejectedly that they were not going to allow her to come to Japan unless she had a translator (since she speaks no Japanese or English) and overcame some other insuperable obstacle. The next afternoon, she walked into my classroom and showed me her visa to go to Japan and informed me that she was leaving Saturday morning at 6 a.m. So… she’s in Japan. It seemed a little sudden, but that seems to be how Mongolians roll.

September Newsletter

Sumpter Sentinel

September 2009

Dear partners,

Winter is already upon us here in Mongolia. After a few balmy autumn days, we were hit with lots of wind and snow this weekend. It makes us thankful for a warm apartment and stores close to home. Pray for those who were killed or lost in the snowstorm and for the farmers with 10,000 tons of wheat under snow right now.

We have returned to language school this month. Both of us have several new teachers. I (Chris) have four teachers each week and Tiffany three, only one of whom is a believer. This gives us lots of opportunity for sharing about our relationship with Christ and about the Bible. With one of my teachers, I am reading through the parables and miracles of Jesus. I am fairly confident that she has never encountered these stories before. Pray that Ariunbolor and our other teachers will understand that these are more than just stories, and that Jesus wants to be their Friend and Savior.

We have also begun homeschooling Elijah. This is a bit of a challenge, but he seems to be doing fairly well so far. Pray that Elijah’s attention span will lengthen J and that we will be patient as we teach him. Pray also that he will be able to make some Mongolian friends. Cold weather means more inside time, so this will be increasingly difficult.

As we become more acquainted with the people at church, we are asked for greater levels of involvement. Our intention is to focus on learning the language and culture right now, but we do understand the importance of some of the things the church is trying to accomplish. Pray with us that we will have wisdom to know where to get involved and where to step back and keep working on our studies.

Thank you so much for faithfully standing with us to build Christ’s church in Mongolia. We are thrilled to be your partners in this work.

God bless you!

Chris, Tiffany, Elijah & Joel Sumpter

Homeschool Report

Well, our first week of homeschooling is behind us. Tiffany has been mostly doing things to warm Elijah up for starting handwriting, but she’s also taught him all about the letter F. In history, we discussed dinosaurs, the first people and a story of the gospel spreading in Africa. In science, we learned about the earth’s rotation and revolution, seasons, the air around us and in the atmosphere and tadpoles and frogs. In math, we’ve been mostly reviewing things, like counting to 10, colors and shapes, left and right, top and bottom, same and different. So far, so good.

Lawn Care

GOD:
Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened
to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand
drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and
flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

St. FRANCIS:
It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD:
Grass? But, it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It’s sensitive to temperatures. Do these
Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS:
Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and
poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD:
The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS:
Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it — sometimes twice a week.

GOD:
They cut it? Do they then bale it like
hay?

ST. FRANCIS:
Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD:
They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS:
No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD:
Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS:
Yes, sir.

GOD:
These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS:
You aren’t going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD:
What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It’s a natural cycle of
life.

ST. FRANCIS:
You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new
circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD:
No! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS:
After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD:
And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS:
They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD:
Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE:
Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It’s a story about …
GOD:
Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Bubble Creek Canyon

Vacation Day

Well, today seemed a little more like a vacation day.

Our church has 12 hours of prayer once a month. Normally, it’s on the first Friday of the month, but because of our leaders’ retreat it was postponed until today. I have signed up to participate once before, but somehow my time slot came and went and it totally slipped my mind. I was sick on Sunday, so I had not signed up for this month’s event; but I figured it would be fine to just drop in. I had the best time of extended prayer that I have had for quite a while, so I think it was definitely a worthwhile pursuit.

After an hour of prayer, I jumped on a microbus and headed on down to the market. I purchased a set of shelves for our bathroom. We’ve been holding off for a long time looking for some kind of enclosed cabinet that would fit the space beside our washing machine. I was pretty well consigned to the fact that we were going to have to have something custom made, but Tiffany agreed today that some open shelves would work as a temporary measure. I bought another set last week as a bookshelf for the home school stuff, so we had a little experience putting the shelves together. This set was missing a screw, but I think we got it put together satisfactorily. It’s nice to get rid of the boxes that have been cluttering up the bathroom and maybe get some of the towels out of our bedroom.

We want to try to get out of the city at least once this month, even if it’s only to Terelj. Tsegii is going to church camp next Friday, so we figured that would be a good time for our outing. I emailed Tiara resort about spending the night in a ger there next weekend, and it looks like that’s going to work. Now, I just need to make sure we’ve got our transportation ducks in a row. I’m also a little worried about the weather. It looks like it will barely breach 70 over the next 10 days, and we’ve got the possibility of rain on 8 of those days.

This evening, for our date, we decided to check out Big Bowling. I think this bowling alley opened a couple months ago, but we hadn’t been yet. After trying to find some cheaper way to get there, we finally broke down and took a cab. The bowling there is actually pretty pricey for UB, but they were having a two-for-one special and we were there before 6:00, so we got off pretty cheap. At first, we were a little curious about the fact that Tiffany was the only woman bowling, but eventually a couple other women joined in. The bowling alley was pretty nice, 10 lanes with AMF pinsetters, ball returns, and computerized score keeping. It was obvious that we hadn’t bowled in a while, but I at least managed to break 100 both games.

From there, we hopped on a bus, not really sure where it was going, but assuming it would at least head back to the center of the city. As we approached the Peace Bridge, I suggested that we check out American Ger’ll restaurant. We’d heard decent reviews of the place but hadn’t yet visited. We walked by World Market and stopped in to see what the latest overpriced American imports were but didn’t buy anything. Then on to the restaurant. I’d say they have the American sports bar ambiance down pretty well, except for the TV programming. They had 2 TVs: one was showing Fashion TV and the other was showing a recording of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. I figured that wouldn’t go over too well in most American establishments, but I guess nobody was complaining but me. The food was decent. I had a cheeseburger which was mediocre, but Tiff’s Philly cheese steak was the best she’s had…here.

We wandered around town a bit more and closed out our evening at Coffee Empire, which is kinda our default chilling out spot. We grab a cup of java and leaf through ancient magazines and chat. A nice evening of just relaxing and enjoying each other.