I’ve only got angry twice since I’ve been here. One was about the cold showers, that was the second (Angry#2 I call it), actually both times have come in the last 10 days. My three showers before my angry one were hot, I thought finally the problem is fixed and I got comfortable (Rule #1: Never get comfortable), so when I got into the shower and ice cold water came out, I was caught off guard and I snapped. I literally had a tantrum like a two year old, I was so pissed. The work schedule can be pretty tough, so I’m usually pretty tired by night time, and I was just getting over a cold, so I snapped, and it was glorious!!! I did feel better after J
A few things started to go south in the last week. The Mongolians do things differently, and I know this sounds arrogant and bullheaded but they do certain things the wrong way. When I got here, I had to give up my passport so I could get my multi-entry visa and Alien Card (kind of like landed immigrate status in Canada). I know, I broke the major travel rule, never give away your passport but in my defense I didn’t have a choice. Everyone else here got theirs 2 weeks after they arrived, after 4 weeks I started to get worried that mine could be lost. I cannot explain to you how difficult it was to get an answer on where my passport was. It took over a week to find my passport, it ended up being in a box in the warehouse waiting to be received, but for about 5 days, I didn’t actually know where it was, CRAZY, I flipped out (secretly not actually in front of people), I was so worried, that was angry #1, which was a couple Fridays ago. Next time, I’ll take a few days off work and go get the visa myself, not cause I actually thought people lost my passport but just for peace of mind, I tend to overact with these things.
Things have not been the same here since, you know how Murphy’s Law works. Every trip I’ve ever taken, one thing must go wrong, In Europe it was my camera, the first one I dropped, second was stolen and the third finished the trip. With Mongolia, it’s travel stuff, first my passport, then my travel requests form, which I need signed and returned back to me, if I don’t get them signed and returned, I cannot hand in my expenses. The process is suppose to take 3 days, so of course I did it as soon as I got here, again, after three weeks, I started asking when I should be getting them back, they kept saying they are coming, so I waited another week, and nothing. I gave up and resubmitted them. I went around myself and got them all signed by my bosses and handed them over to the right people, only the client signature was needed and send them back to me, again, a week later, no email, no form. So again I went around and asked for them, two days later I got my email and handed in my expense travel forms yesterday, I got here on Aug 5th, submitted my forms on Aug 7th, and just submitted my expenses 5 days ago!
From my previous blog, you can tell I’m not a huge fan of the food, but since every time I complain about something, it gets a lot worst, making what I just complained about look like I was living the life, so I’m not going to complain, simply due to the fear that the complaining Gods will teach me a lesson.
The work is still interesting and I am learning a lot, I guess that is the reason I am here, it’s just all the other stuff that can bring me down at times. Mike called me the other day and said Air Canada may strike on Sept 21st, and of course I booked him on an Air Canada flight leaving shortly after this date, of course, when it rains, it pours.
-S - Me with my first Camel!!!
