My 9th Graders

 The posts about our students have been few and far between but the last week was too filled to not share any of this.  Here I am with my co-teacher Tuul and our 9a Class.  Mr. Kennedy (a.k.a. Matthew) had 9b.  We had quite the year and the kids went from an unruly bunch of paired up kids from different schools to a very sweet, tight little group by the end of the year.  Wow, what a blessing to only have a class of 40, divided into two 20's.  My high school class had around 800 so this was a total treat for me.  By the way, to see this many Mongolians smiling in a picture is nothing short of amazing but I was so happy to have captured it!

The week or so before I left, both the 9th and 10th graders kept asking me what my plans were and wanted to take advantage of the time.  They decided to take me to the Children's Park in UB which I had only barely experienced in the past so this was a total hoot!

 I was so happy to see our kids so readily stop and help this dad whose bag had busted open out the bottom. 

 Here's Mr. Kennedy with a bunch of the guys.  We had about 12 people from the two classes join us which made for a really nice group size.

 This was a human powered monorail thingy with eyes.

 Waiting for a ride.

 This is Ariundalai.  I think she and Orgilmaa organized the event and they made sure we were taken care of the whole time.  It was so sweet...they even bought us ice cream!

 Here are some boys from Mr. Kennedy's class.  We each had most of the other's class for Business (me) and Computers (him), and of course English, so we each got to know all 40 fairly well.

 Here they are on the big wheel!

 Field trip organizers on the ends and Enkhsaruul in the middle.  Total sweeties!  Great view of the city, too!

 It feels a little like Epcot with the castle and water.  The orange and tan building just to the right of the clock tower in the distance is where we lived for the first 6 months of our recent stint.  7th floor, far right side.  We could see the Children's Park from the window!

 Matthew taking it in!

 Of course the swings are always enjoyable!

 Sain uu, Ariuka!!!

This is Tsevigmid, class jokester.  Apparently he learned English watching cartoons as a young man, but today his credentials earned him the role of bag-boy while we rode the electric bobsled car thingies.

 You can see Buddha shouting and Tsevka telling us to stomp our feet on the electric gas pedal.  

 We had a blast!

 Aaaahhhh!

Thanks girls for organizing a great day, and to our 9th grade classes...we love you and are so happy to have watched you grow this year!  It was truly a joy to have been your teachers!!!  And remember:  If your currency appreciates against another country's, is it and advantage or disadvantage for exporters?

SEND ME PICTURES OF THIS YEAR!!!
Much love, Mr. Gens