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Happy Naadam to all our Mongolian members

Started by WV Sawmiller, July 11, 2020, 06:51:55 PM

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WV Sawmiller

    Here's wishing all our Mongolian FF members a Happy Naadam today. I hope your favorite horses won all the races, you scored a perfect score in the archery contests and your family member won the wrestling contests.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

47sawdust

Can you enlighten this woodchuck about Happy Naadam ?
Are alcoholic beverages involved?
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

WV Sawmiller

   If you have ever worked around native Mongolians you would know that alcohol is very much a part of their daily life. A typical greeting would be to serve you a shot of horse milk wine, a sort of vodka looking clear drink with some high octane ratings. You would dip your fingers and flick some over your shoulder as a sort of offering to Buddha, et. al.  At all the Buddhist shrines which might be a spring or boulder or fork in a trail food and drink offerings will be expected and whiskey bottles abound around them.

  Naadam is held 11 July and is the Mongolian national day. Popular festivities include horse racing, their sort of sumo wrestling where the contestants wear tall boots, sort of bikini bottoms and sleeves but no shirt front or back. (Unfortunately only the men wrestle :() and try to force their opponent out of the ring or pin them to the ground. Matches are typically very violent and short. They throw small diced up chunks of cheese to the crowd as traditionally the wrestlers fed the masses. Our guide and driver were following the national matches and while driving across a very deserted landscape of short grass and rolling hills  the spotted a lone ger (Yurt) with a TV antenna and a solar panel so they stopped and, though total strangers, went in and watched while Becky and I took pictures of the colts, girls milking sheep, goats and yaks, etc. Around the villages archery contests were popular too.

  Its a real different culture.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

barbender

Have you taken in any Mongolian throat singing, WV? 
Too many irons in the fire

WV Sawmiller

   No but I have heard them and wondered if they just come from the vet and got neutered by mistake. running-doggy

    They had the most amazing contortionists I have ever seen with people resting their chin on the floor and their back arched in a complete circle with their feet by their shoulders.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

47sawdust

Thanks for the info.
We have watched several movies set in Mongolia and it is a very remarkable 
place to live.
Unusual post for the forum and greatly appreciated.
Best regards,Mick 
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

WV Sawmiller

    If I were making a western movie I'd film it there. Much of it looks like the grasslands of our western USA. Towns all had hitching posts and lots of old timber frame or log buildings. The people looked like Comanche Indians to me and rode horses like they were glued on. 8 millions horses and 2 + million people when I was there.

   True story - its a small world!

    I was working a project in Iraq building and running USACE camps for the COE and got an offer to go run a mining (Gold and copper) camp (Oyu Tolgoi) in the Gobi desert. I told my wife who told our daughter who said "That's neat. We have a little boy here from Mongolia. His parents are missionaries and he got hurt when wolves scared the horse he was riding. He got his foot hung in the stirrups and got dragged and it broke his jaw and he lost some teeth. They medivacced him to Korea and stabilized him then sent him here to Charlotte NC (Levine Medical Center) because we have specialists who can treat him and his grandmother lives near here. The staff love him as he is the neatest kid. He loves the hot water and will stand in the shower all morning (In Mongolia he'd have to heat a pan of water then bathe quickly before it froze.) He loves the variety of food where he can choose between pizza or hot dogs or fried chicken, etc as in Mongolia he did not have any choices." (Another factor was he was one of their success stories and was getting better while many of their young patients are terminal.)

    I went Mongolia in March and my wife came over in July for our anniversary. We took a private tour and end up in a remote village on Lake Hovskul on the Russian border in the extreme north of Mongolia. It was Jully 11 2006 and it was Naadam. We were enjoying the festivities when late in the afternoon I spotted 2 little Caucasian boys wearing red Ohio State sweat shirts so I went over and asked them "Which part of Ohio are you from? We live in WV the next state down from you." The little boys said they did not know so my wife asked "Where do you go to school" (Reasoning if they went to Cleveland Elementary they must be from Cleveland Ohio). The older boy said "We don't go to school. We are missionaries kids." My wife looked at him and asked "Did you get hurt in a horse riding accident back in January?" Puzzled he reluctantly said "Yes" then I realized and asked "Did you go to Korea then Charlotte NC for treatment?" Very confused he replied "Yes but how did you know all that?" (My wife had spotted a small scar near his lip). I told him "Because our daughter treated you there." and I described and he remembered Sharon so he took us to his mom and introduced us to her. The father was away at Ulaan Baatar, the capital, but turned out he was from the same town in N. Ala Becky, my wife, was from. We got the mom to take a picture of us with Jonas.

   A few days later when we were in a town big enough to have an internet cafe we sent the picture to Sharon and said "Here's Jonas." She was amazed and at first worried she had breached patient etiquette by giving out too much privileged patient information then she remembered she had never given out Jonas name and certainly not his location which she did not know. Who'd have thought we'd find him in a tiny remote northern Mongolian village. She shared the picture with the medical staff who enlarged the view to admire the way the scars had healed and such.

   It gets stranger.

   Several years later my wife was teaching photo workshops/camera classes through our local Hobby Lobby and a family signed their 18 y/o daughter up to take the classes to learn to use the camera they had bought her. Turns out the dad was a retired printer and had accepted a missionary assignment in Mongolia to translate and print the Bible into the Mongolian language and they wanted the daughter to be the family photographer. We told the above tale and found Jonas family was their sponsor and the 18 y/o girl said "Oh my God. Jonas in my boyfriend. He is going to college in California right now."

   Who'd of thunk we'd find/meet the one little boy, who we did not know by name or location, in a tiny remote Mongolian village that our daughter had treated in Charlotte NC or even odder that 10 years later we'd meet his girlfriend in rural WV? Its a real small world!
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

mike_belben

Praise The Lord

dirtmotor

Awesome story gave me goose bumps , thanks for sharing

Texas Ranger

Off  the subject, but, they got trees in Mongolia?
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

barbender

That is just crazy, WV! I love your stories from around the world!! Without getting preachy, I'd like to share a little of my perspective. I've shared with folks before that I think in this life what we see is like looking at the back of a fine tapestry. We see the knots and splices, a lot of ugly stuff that just defies reason that we struggle to find any good in. We've had several members on here that have had to bury children, spouses, and other tragedies that escape me at the moment. That's horrible stuff. My hope is that the view from the other side will be the finished product of a Master weaver, in all of its beauty. I think your experiences with the Mongolian boy are a glimpse of that beauty. Maybe I'm wrong and its just crazy coincidence. I've had experiences of my own that are similar, and I don't believe them to be coincidental for a second😊

Now to the Mongolian throat singing, also known as overtone singing and among the Mongolians themselves, "khoomei" I think or something like that. I find it fascinating, I've whiled away hours watching videos of them singing. I've tried to get it down myself- it doesn't come natural, I'll say that much!😂 I thought if nothing else, if I mastered it I could use it to bugle like a bull elk😁
Too many irons in the fire

barbender

This is the "Tuvan" variety, next door neighbors I think. This guy was quite a showman! 

Kongar-ol Ondar on TV - YouTube
Too many irons in the fire

Nebraska

It is truly a  small, but beautiful and amazing world. Thank you for the story Howard.

WV Sawmiller

Quote from: Texas Ranger on July 17, 2020, 11:59:24 AMOff  the subject, but, they got trees in Mongolia?
Yes especially up in the northern region along the Russian border and there some patches in the valleys. We spent on night at a holiday ger camp owned by a famous world champion Sumo wrestler who was Mongolian. The pine trees around there were infested with a type beetle and dying in large numbers who hit our ger (yurt) all night sounding like a heavy rain shower. There were 3' diameter pines up north in dense patches. The ones in the central and southern valleys were more often 12-15 inch dbh. The only hardwoods I saw looked like birch and were 6" diameter or so as I remember. 

   I looked but could not find it but there was an article I think in an old Woodmizer Way where the same missionary I talked about (Jonas' dad) had bought and brought an LT40 over to use as part of his mission. If someone else remembers or is better at searching and find the link please add it here. 

Barbender,

   Note the guy is playing a horsehead fiddle. As I remember it had 2 strings and the head was typically carved into the shape of a horsehead. They had a horn flute (can't remember proper name) that looked like a big curved ox or yak horn and sounded a lot like a saxophone.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

WV Sawmiller

   See the attached link for some info on the Cofer family - Mongolian missionaries.

https://www.panoramicjourneys.com/Connect/Living-in-Mongolia

Second family - with the daughter who came here for photography lessons.

https://kruchkows.wordpress.com/recommendations/
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Stephen1

Thanks for sharing. The world is really not that large. 
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

WV Sawmiller

   Yeah and as a result of this thread I came across the e-mail address to the Cofer's, Jonas' family, and sent an e-mail and have made contact with his mom already. We will see where this leads.

7/21/2020

   More update from Jonas' mom including family pictures from the last child's wedding. She said they are continuing to renovate an old Russian Wool Factory they had bought when we were there and are using their WoodMizer LT40 to make the lumber they need to do that.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

BEEMERS

I spent a month in Mongolia.some time ago....2003.it is quite an adventure to be sure..One hell of a rugged place and rugged people..Alot of it like stepping back in time 500 years.

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