Successful Projects, and Bowling.

Mongolians love to compete and/or have a bit of fun. No work event is complete without some kind of competition - be it knuckle bones, or basketball, or trivia; there must be something. So it is fitting that the (almost) highlight of a big, important conference to show the results of a big, important project that has run throughout 2011 was bowling. Bowling is not the most popular sport in Mongolia - in fact, most of the 40 colleagues I went with had never ever been in a bowling alley. Many picked it up pretty quickly. About half way through the first round strikes were starting to be struck. By the second round it was a tight race to win. The techniques were pretty amusing, but for the most part got the job done. There was plenty of enthusiasm - lots of high 5's, every time anyone bowled and hit more than a couple of pins....and lots of confusion. It tooks a good half a round to get an understanding that each player bowls twice, and then the next one goes.

One of the best parts was that each players name was on the board, repeatedly and for a few minutes each time. This gave me and the other foreigner present the best opportunity we have come across the learn some names for people we see regularly but can never understand/remember/pronounce their names!