We have invited Mrs. My Hanh Nguyen, Programme Advisor of People in Need /PIN/ International Non-Governmental Organization, as a guest of our "Mongolia Through the Eyes of Outsiders" interview series.

Born and raised in Vietnam, worked and lived in the Czech Republic and came to Mongolia more than a year ago. We talked about her impressions of Mongolia, how she noticed things that we don't often notice, things that we have become accustomed to through the eyes of a foreigner.

Name: My Hanh (Hana) Nguyen

Citizenship: Czech

Living duration in Mongolia: 1 year, 4 months

Current position: Programme Advisor

- What was your first impression when you came to Mongolia?

- When I first arrived to Mongolia, my colleague from People In Need drove me from the airport. I remember I was amazed how vast and sparsely populated Mongolia is. As we were driving from the airport to Ulaanbaatar, we saw no one except from a few herders, horses and camels. It was incredible because it's so rare to see anything like this in other countries.

- I think you have been in other Asian countries before?

-Yes, but never to East Asia. I've been to India and Vietnam but both countries are higher in the density of population, so it's quite a different experience from Mongolia. Mongolia was the first time I experienced this part of the world

skip-share

During the weekends, I try to go ice skating or horse riding as much as I can.

- What do you enjoy most about staying in Mongolia?

-I came here mainly for work, and I've been lucky enough that one of the things that I do enjoy here is my workplace. It’s a big privilege that I can explore the country through our work and projects. Friends that I found here, both in the expat and the Mongolian-English speaking community have been extremely welcoming to me. Mongolia is also great for outdoor activities, because you get to do more things in your own time and space. I can go ice skating outdoors on a frozen river, which I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen a frozen lake, but frozen river is something unseen in the part of the world I grew up in. I can go hiking without having to follow any given trails, or horse riding without having to sign tons of papers about safety measures. When I’m on the horse, I can ride in whichever direction I want to.

- Which provinces have you traveled in Mongolia?

- I went to Khuvsgul twice, once in the spring and once in the summer. I tried horse riding in Khuvsgul and in the Terelj National Park, and it was such an amazing experience. With the wide steppes in Mongolia, this country is just made for horse riding. In most other countries, you’re largely limited by space, and you’d often have to go with a horse guide. Here, you have freedom to go wherever you want.

skip-share

I lived in the UK for nearly 2 years and to me, -15 in Mongolia feels similar to +9 in the UK.

- What do you do in your free time in here?

- During the week, I like to spend time with my friends and colleagues in Ulaanbaatar. During the weekends, I try to go ice skating or horse riding as much as I can.

- Horse riding even in wintertime?

- Not on the colder days, I struggle to go for more than 2 hours when it goes below -15 degrees. But the good thing about Mongolia is that the climate is dry, so I can just layer up during the winter and it’s fine. But in other countries like England, where there is a lot of humidity, I’m cold no matter what amount of clothes I wear. I lived in the UK for nearly 2 years and to me, -15 in Mongolia feels similar to +9 in the UK.

- So how do you adapt the Mongolian cold winter?

- Like most other people, I spend most of the week indoors. When I'm outdoors, I just use a lot of layers. Mongolian food is also great to get you through the winter – it gives you plenty of carbohydrates and stuff you need in cold weather. In this climate, a few buuz and milk tea is the nicest thing to have after a long day outside. Taking on a little fat definitely helps you to get through the winter season.

skip-share

Here, on my first ride, I could go wherever, and however fast I wanted to. I didn’t have to pass any exams or levels to be able to be able to try galloping.

- What is your favorite Mongolian traditional meal?

- One of my favorites are buuz and milk tea, and other dairy products like aaruul. It’s probably because of the way cattle is raised here; they’re mostly grass-fed and most meat you get here I assume is what would be called ‘organic’ in Europe. Cattle can be grazed outside compared to large-scale industrial farms in other parts of the world, which makes quite a difference to the taste.

- Lunar New Year is coming. I think that you have already celebrated once this holiday in Mongolia. How did you celebrate Tsagaan sar?

- In my office, we have another colleague, who studied and worked in Czech for more than 10 years. He invited me and my colleagues to visit his place, and I got to see the culture around Tsagaan tsar a bit more. He showed me some of the customs, like the small bottle that I forgot what you call. Where the sniffing comes in.

- We called that "huurug"

- Yes, exactly. I’ve already forgotten, but my colleague also showed me other customs, like the way you're supposed to greet each other during Tsagan tsar. For the rest of the holidays, I went to Terelj for a few days, hiked around and rode horses. Despite the cold, it was worth it – I tried horse riding in other countries, like in the UK, but it wasn’t the same experience. I learnt so much faster here, because I had the freedom to try things on my own, like galloping, which was really exciting.

- What was the difference between the UK British horse and Mongolian horse?

When I came, it was just after covid, so people were warning me horses wouldn’t be as tame as they had been before. They weren’t used to tourists anymore after a long break during covid. European horses are slender and tall, which can be sometimes intimidating because of the height. Here, it’s a bit easier to manage, because the horses are much smaller. The main difference is the environment though. The UK is well established for horse riding, but they’re limited by space. There, we went through a forest, and there wasn’t much room for horse riding. As a beginner, I couldn’t go on my own, had to follow others at all times, and in general, it wasn’t very exciting.

When I came here and went horse riding for the first time, the owner suggested I’d go on my own and come back in 2 hours. I was caught by surprise, because in Europe, nobody would let me go without a guide and a proper paperwork first. But here, on my first ride, I could go wherever, and however fast I wanted to. I didn’t have to pass any exams or levels to be able to be able to try galloping.

- What were the good and bad things that happened to you while you were in Mongolia?

Similar to most people around me, I’m sometimes struggling with air pollution.

- Also, People in Need is working on it, right?

- Yes. The good thing is that through People in Need’s projects, I can contribute to efforts addressing some of the main sources of pollution. For example, one of the projects is targeting indoor pollution in gers.

Another difficulty is the traffic. I’m lucky that I live nearby our office, so I don’t have to commute to work. When I can, I mostly walk, as I soon realized it’s faster than driving a car.

Another issue that is maybe less talked about are gender inequalities and gender-based violence. That’s also something we were addressing in one of our projects through education. Most of the problems I mentioned require time to solve, and I’m glad that I can contribute to addressing at least some of them through People in Need’s work.

skip-share

The type of land, the fact it’s so sparsely populated, the vastness of the land, all of this creates an environment I’d struggle to find in other places.

- What services and cultures in your country do you want to implement in here?

- I wouldn’t like to necessarily bring in culture from anywhere else, it always depends on the local context. But I do wish we could bring some cultural habits from Mongolia to other countries. Like I mentioned, Mongolians are quite laid back, which, sometimes, can make life significantly easier. For instance, if a bus is stuck in a traffic jam and you need a ride, you can catch a bus in the middle of the road. In western countries, I don’t think they’d be allowed to do that because of safety regulations. I admit that having such regulations can be useful but sometimes I miss the flexibility I can find here.

- You mention gender inequality. How did you notice through any case and phenomenon about this issue in here?

- With some of my friends, especially where there is a Mongolian girl going out with a foreigner, it tends to be the woman who’s at a disadvantage. If it was the other way round, it’d be a whole different situation. But in this case, I’ve heard sometimes people would swear at them on the streets and I’m sure it’s not a pleasant feeling when you have to be careful about holding hands in the public.

What was interesting though was to hear about the reverse gender gap. I was explained that it’s girls who are mostly sent to universities for higher education, which creates a significant disbalance between the number of educated men and women. I noticed that masculinity, sometimes toxic, is still valued, which can manifest itself in negative ways specially in intimate relationships, and sometimes result in violence. One of the projects, called Ending Gender Based Violence, was aimed at breaking these norms around gender stereotypes.

- What are the good and bad things that happen to while you were in Mongolia?

- Throughout the last year, there were definitely better than bad things that happened to me. Like most foreigners, I came here without knowing anyone, and I was quite lucky to find such welcoming working environment like I found with People in Need. Work became quite a big part of my life here.

Another of the positives is definitely having a chance to experience wilderness. The type of land, the fact it’s so sparsely populated, the vastness of the land, all of this creates an environment I’d struggle to find in other places. It’s incredible you can drive just 50km outside of Ulaanbaatar and there’s barely anybody.

- Sometimes you can build your tent for a while wherever you want.

- Yeah, exactly. The countries I’ve visited before had a lot higher population density, land is expensive, and it’s hard to find places where you could be on your own. If you go on a well-known hike on a nice day, you could quite likely bump into large groups of people on your way. Here, you climb a rock for 5 hours and you don’t see a single person during the whole time. That’s quite a unique experience for me, and I’m glad I could come to live here at least for a year.

- Tell me about your opinion about the Mongolians’ attitudes and behaviors?

- I’m quite fond of the family values here. It’s more similar to Vietnam, and it’s something I sometimes miss in the Western culture. Many of my colleagues grew up in gers, but in Czech, I don’t think anyone would be able to live with that many family members in one room. I think that’s something to highlight, because many of the traditional family values have been disappearing in other parts of the world.

skip-share

If it gets warmer, I would love to do more horse riding in my remaining time. Also, my dream was to visit the Altai mountains, as I’ve heard it’s one of the few places where nature is still untouched.

Another thing is that I find Mongolian people quite direct. I find it refreshing because when I was in England, it’d take significantly longer to get to the point. It’s a huge stereotype, but most stereotypes have a grain of truth in them – I did spend a lot of time talking about weather over there.

So, personally, I find it quite refreshing that I can be honest with people without having to be too worried about people taking offence. People here also like dark humor, which is something shared with the Czech culture. These are things that made it easier for me to adapt to Mongolia, because some cultural traits were shared with Czechs or Vietnamese people.

For me, as a foreigner, it's quite hard to figure out how to use public transport, as I can read only a little bit of Mongolian. Even my Mongolian colleagues told me they wouldn’t always know where the bus is going. It did happen to me sometimes I caught a wrong bus and had to walk all the way back in -30 degrees, but I guess that’s what a lot of people have to do.

- When will you go back and until that time what are you planning to do?

- I'll leave in about two months to do another placement with People in Need. If it gets warmer, I would love to do more horse riding in my remaining time. Also, my dream was to visit the Altai mountains, as I’ve heard it’s one of the few places where nature is still untouched. Mongolia is so large though, so it takes time to see all the places it offers.

-Thank you for your time. Good luck for your upcoming adventures.