People to people

On June 6, we traveled from Kyoto to Ulaanbataar Mongolia.  We have been having lectures both on the plane and at each stop.  Our lecturers are very interesting and the information quite expansive.

We thought that this would be just a “travel” day, but it turned out to be much more.

Our tour leader arranged for Bob to meet with 2 officials from the Mongolian basketball association.  We met with them for about an hour in the lobby of the hotel.  Fortunately they had arranged for an interpreter or it would have been a bust.  The men we met were Etugen Irves, the coach of the National League team, and Mr. Orgil, secretary of the Mongolian Basketball Association.  The country has 6 professional men’s teams and the same number of women’s teams.  A very unique experience.

We then went to a group dinner and met our speaker, Oyungerel Tsedevdamba and her American husband, Jeff (did not get his last name).  She is a former member of parliament, former Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism and is an advisor to the current president of Mongolia.  She is a founder and director of the Liberty Center, a non-profit organization fighting for human rights.  Her talk, which continued through the entire 2 hour dinner was fascinating.  She gave us historical information on Mongolia, current happenings in the county and where she thinks the country is going.  At the end of the evening we all decided that she could be the president of the country in a few years. Amazing evening.