[Motivated]

Hey all

I'm Sam, 31 year old Australian living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I teach at a Russian-Mongolian Joint School - loving it

Having looked through several ESL sites I've found that there isn't a lot of info available for those toying with the idea of teaching somehwere completely different.

Okay, first myth to dispel: Mongolia is nothing like China. The people, the language, the food (mutton - YUM!), the culture, the architecture - Mongolia and China are as different as chalk n cheese. In fact, Mongolians actually despise the Chinese for many varied reasons.

I first ventured here in 2002 as a traveller and have been lured back several times since. Last year I decided to come back and stay a whiles - maybe even a couple of years.

It's not everyone's cup of tea - the winters are long and brutal (average temp in UB in january is around -25C), and geographically Mongolia really is a long way from everywhere. But that's just one of the things I love about it.

so if you are curious about anything Mongol or are looking for work as an English teacher, feel free to drop me a line

[Eric]

I've always wanted to head up there so i have a few questions:

1. How easy/hard is it just to travel in Mongolia?
2. How do you like your students? Eager to learn English?
3. What is the average pay like?

Welcome to the site, BTW!

More questions to come...

Later
eric

[susan53]

I was offered a job in Ulaanbatar 30 years ago, but chickened out at the last minute. I've always regretted it.
Would love to hear more details.

[Motivated]

Gday Eric

1. Travelling around inside Mongolia is fairly limited to the small railway network which connects China and Russia, and the rest of the country is either reached by plane to some places but generally it's by road, whether by 4WD or shared public microbus - these can be hellish trips with up to 18 people and their belongings crammed on the roof. And as there are very few sealed roads outside UB a 350km trip can take up to 10 hours.

2. Students vary in eagerness, depending on where you teach. In my high school laziness is a huge problem and homework - what the hell is that??

3. Pay has improved a lot over the past few years. Pays range from zero (peace corp and other volunteers etc who live and work in the countryside) to $1800US/month at a private institute in UB. I get a grand at the moment for 24 hours/week and am pretty happy with that.

For anyone who is interested in working in Mongolia and searches the net - DO NOT work for Santis - you have been warned!!!

[Eric]

Thanks for the info! If you don't mind more questions, what is your housing like?

[Motivated]

Quote Eric

Thanks for the info! If you don't mind more questions, what is your housing like?

I actually pay for my own apartment, 2 br, huge kitchen, big lounge/dining, fully furnished etc - $400/month. I'd already decided before heading back to Mongolia that I'd get my own place, that way I'm the boss, and not a school, which as a LOT of us know, can be very slack when it comes to urgent repairs etc. I've heard waaay too many horror stories about included apartments, although the one I had in '05 was very nice.

Rent in UB is getting crazily expensive. When I started looking around for an apartment I told a local real estate woman that the rental prices were outlandish, and that I'd pay the same kind of prices in Australia. Her reply: 'Well this isn't Australia - this is Mongolia, it's expensive! I just gave a smirk and left her to her delusions of grandeur.

Otherwise, most schools provide a furnished apartment, always of varying quality. My school actually has a huge apartment block right next to it exclusively for the teachers (most of them are Russian) but the apartments arent much bigger than Barbie's dream home.

In the countryside ie: anywhere outside of UB, Darkhan and Erdenet, most teachers are provided with their own Ger - cool for a while but once the novelty wears off you're still left with no toilet, shower, running water etc. But that's how the locals live!!

[livinginkorea]

It's great to hear about other countries and welcome abroad!

What is there to do in your free time there? A guy I used to work with before used to work for some newspaper for about 6 months and he used to always comment on the beer and the ladies

[Motivated]

Quote livinginkorea

It's great to hear about other countries and welcome abroad!

What is there to do in your free time there? A guy I used to work with before used to work for some newspaper for about 6 months and he used to always comment on the beer and the ladies

Thanks dude, i've been frequenting this site for a whiles, thought it was time to become a member

Vodka, beer n chicks... that just about sums up my spare too!

[mesmark]

welcome to eslHQ!