Khovd University's 30-Year Anniversary

Here are some of my friends, English teachers at the university, dressed up for the anniversary show. They performed a military-style dance at the concert.

This is where I sat for the opening ceremony at the stadium--with the honored guests and international visitors.
This is the opening parade.
This is the synchronized aerobics performance. In Mongolia, aerobics is also called "gymnastics".
This is a picture of the wrestling competition.
This is a picture of me with the winning horse.
Horse race!
This is a picture of the panel of distinguished people at the awards ceremony including the governor of Khovd Aimag.
This is a picture of the Academic Conference.

Last week, Khovd University celebrated it's 30-year anniversary. This event was top priority for the University (over and beyond classes) as well as a very important event for the community. Several local secondary schools canceled their classes in order to allow teachers and students to attend. International visitors came from 7 countries for the Academic Conference held on the second day of the anniversary celebration. First however, everyone assembled at the stadium for the opening ceremony.

The teachers and students marched into the stadium in parade formation and the students gave musical and aerobics performances (279 students particpated in the synchronized aerobics performance). Naadam style celebration came next complete with wrestling, archery and horseback racing. I touched the winning horse, which is very good luck.

Later, everyone assembled for a giant awards presentation in which the governor of Khovd, former director of Khovd University, presided.

The first evening, a giant concert was held in the community theater. The teachers and students gave musical and dance performances for nearly four hours. Unfortunately for me, I was one of the unlucky 200 that was locked out of the theater--it seemed that everyone in Khovd wanted to attend the concert.

On the second day, I gave two ten minute speeches at the Academic Conference. Mine were not presentations based on long reasearch projects, but rather short speeches that I wrote these last couple of weeks. One of my them was entitled Shakespeare's Macbeth: One Example of Why English Language Students Should Study Literature, the other was about teaching methodology: Teaching Adult Students Using the Communicative Approach. I was the only person there representing the United States as well as the only person to give speeches in English. My friend, Amraa bagsh, who is the head of the English-Chinese department at Khovd University, translated for me. I wish that all of the other speakers (who gave their speeches in Mongolian and Russian) would have had translators as well because I couldn't understand very much of the other speeches!