It can feel a little odd here in Mongolia because December 25 is not a holiday. Because there will be some big celebrations on December 31, many Mongolians confuse Christmas with New Year's Eve. They will ask me when I celebrate Christmas and sometimes express surprise when I tell them that I celebrate Christmas on December 25. If they have any concept at all of Christmas it is the very commercialized "Santa celebration" without any reference to a Savior. It has been our privilege since we arrived to introduce many Mongolians to the fact that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of a long-awaited Savior.
We, the Dean family, wish each of you reading this a Merry Christmas. Remember the message of the angel to the shepherds, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." The wonderful news of the birth of a Savior is not intended to only be for Americans or Canadians or Europeans or Africans or Asians. No, our Savior is the Savior of the world. May Christmas reflect the joy of salvation that we find in Jesus Christ.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Naadam: Mongolia's summer holiday
We are in the middle of Naadam which runs from July 11-14 every year. This is Mongolia's major summer celebration and sort of a summer version of Tsagaan Sar. Instead of buuz Mongolians eat lots of huushuur.
I visited the special opening ceremony on the morning of July 11 when a troup of horsemen come and transport the nine yak tails symbolizing the authority of the Mongolian government from the Parliament Building to the stadium.
There was a military band playing while the horsemen rode out. The loudest complaint was that there were more foreigners there than Mongolians. It seems that more and more, official events and traditional holidays are planned more for foreigners than for the Mongolians to enjoy. I know quite a few Mongolians who worked yesterday.
I visited the special opening ceremony on the morning of July 11 when a troup of horsemen come and transport the nine yak tails symbolizing the authority of the Mongolian government from the Parliament Building to the stadium.
There was a military band playing while the horsemen rode out. The loudest complaint was that there were more foreigners there than Mongolians. It seems that more and more, official events and traditional holidays are planned more for foreigners than for the Mongolians to enjoy. I know quite a few Mongolians who worked yesterday.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
International Women's Day celebration
Mongolians do not celebrate Mother's Day or Father's Day. They do, however, have a Children's Day on June 1 every year and they also mark International Women's Day every March 8.
I once asked some male Mongolian friends who were not Christians how they celebrated Women's Day. "Oh, we go out and drink with friends." Their comment was not an unusual method of celebrating Women's Day. Even though it is called Women's Day most Mongolian men get drunk and have a hangover the next day.
As part of our church's ministry we want to strengthen families. Part of that is training men to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Toward that end, this year we planned a lunch when the men were to make and bring the food and serve the women.
Although the entire meal was planned and prepared by men, the food came out quite well. One young fellow arranged for a friend to come and play a morin huur, the Mongolian national instrument. There was plenty of food and good fellowship. Ulzee shared her testimony. We had several unsaved women who came and heard it.
Mandaa, Bayambaa's unsaved husband came and helped to serve. He seems to be getting more comfortable being around the rest of us.
I was impressed with the way that the men stepped up to serve the ladies. We took some time at the end to give each husband a chance to honor his wife by praising her. A man praising his wife publicly is not something that you see in Mongolia very often. The whole event was a good way to teach the men more about loving their wives and treating them with respect and honor.
[The picture included in this post is not the young man who came to play on Saturday. Rather it is a generic picture I found on Wikipedia with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 license.]
I once asked some male Mongolian friends who were not Christians how they celebrated Women's Day. "Oh, we go out and drink with friends." Their comment was not an unusual method of celebrating Women's Day. Even though it is called Women's Day most Mongolian men get drunk and have a hangover the next day.
As part of our church's ministry we want to strengthen families. Part of that is training men to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Toward that end, this year we planned a lunch when the men were to make and bring the food and serve the women.
Although the entire meal was planned and prepared by men, the food came out quite well. One young fellow arranged for a friend to come and play a morin huur, the Mongolian national instrument. There was plenty of food and good fellowship. Ulzee shared her testimony. We had several unsaved women who came and heard it.Mandaa, Bayambaa's unsaved husband came and helped to serve. He seems to be getting more comfortable being around the rest of us.
I was impressed with the way that the men stepped up to serve the ladies. We took some time at the end to give each husband a chance to honor his wife by praising her. A man praising his wife publicly is not something that you see in Mongolia very often. The whole event was a good way to teach the men more about loving their wives and treating them with respect and honor.
[The picture included in this post is not the young man who came to play on Saturday. Rather it is a generic picture I found on Wikipedia with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 license.]
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Naadam
Tuesday - we are right on the edge of Naadam. You can always tell when a big holiday is about to begin because the banks are packed with people making transactions and the stores are packed with people buying liquor. The sad truth is that Mongolians will use almost any excuse to buy and consume alcohol.
Naadam is a mid-summer holiday. After the Mongolian Lunar New Year (a.k.a. "White Month" or Tsagaan Sar), Naadam is the biggest holiday of the year. I am having trouble deciding if Naadam is a two, three, or four day holiday. I thought that Naadam started on July 11; however, while I was out today running some last minute errands (more on that in a moment), I noticed a rather elaborate ceremony taking place in Sukhbaatar Square which is the large plaza in front of the Parliament building. Also, I understand that two of the six national horse races to celebrate Naadam are taking place today. There will be two more horse races on Wednesday (which I thought was the first day of Naadam), and the final races will be on Thursday. But I understand that many businesses will be closed from Wednesday to Friday and not re-open until Saturday (in the cases of stores, restaurants, etc.) or Monday (in the case of government offices, many businesses, etc.) So is Naadam Tuesday through Thursday or Wednesday through Friday or just Wednesday and Thursday?
Unlike the United States where holidays last one day and in which case many grocery stores, pharmacies, and such remain open, during Mongolian holidays almost everything is closed. During the Mongolian Lunar New Year and again during Naadam, this means that food markets, banks, stores, restaurants, post offices, and many other places are closed for several days. What that means for me is that almost everything important must be done today (Tuesday) even though we will not leave for the United States until Friday night. So my errands included some last minute banking, checking on a ticket irregularity, and buying some food staples.
The good thing about Mongolian holidays is that everything slows down. People take time to visit and talk with friends. There is time to be with family. You can't go to the store or the workplace. Maybe America needs more holidays where less is done.
Naadam is a mid-summer holiday. After the Mongolian Lunar New Year (a.k.a. "White Month" or Tsagaan Sar), Naadam is the biggest holiday of the year. I am having trouble deciding if Naadam is a two, three, or four day holiday. I thought that Naadam started on July 11; however, while I was out today running some last minute errands (more on that in a moment), I noticed a rather elaborate ceremony taking place in Sukhbaatar Square which is the large plaza in front of the Parliament building. Also, I understand that two of the six national horse races to celebrate Naadam are taking place today. There will be two more horse races on Wednesday (which I thought was the first day of Naadam), and the final races will be on Thursday. But I understand that many businesses will be closed from Wednesday to Friday and not re-open until Saturday (in the cases of stores, restaurants, etc.) or Monday (in the case of government offices, many businesses, etc.) So is Naadam Tuesday through Thursday or Wednesday through Friday or just Wednesday and Thursday?
Unlike the United States where holidays last one day and in which case many grocery stores, pharmacies, and such remain open, during Mongolian holidays almost everything is closed. During the Mongolian Lunar New Year and again during Naadam, this means that food markets, banks, stores, restaurants, post offices, and many other places are closed for several days. What that means for me is that almost everything important must be done today (Tuesday) even though we will not leave for the United States until Friday night. So my errands included some last minute banking, checking on a ticket irregularity, and buying some food staples.
The good thing about Mongolian holidays is that everything slows down. People take time to visit and talk with friends. There is time to be with family. You can't go to the store or the workplace. Maybe America needs more holidays where less is done.
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