Student from Mongolia finds lots to like in South Dakota

Mongolia is a landlocked country located between Russia to the north and China to the south. Ulaanbaatar, the city where Mungan lives, is on the Tuul River, flanked by the Khentii Mountains.

The nomadic livestock herders live in gers, or yurts, that can be moved relatively quickly from one place to another as they move their animals to new pastures. Some gers are located in villages within cities and are built on more permanent sites.

Mungun Munkhbat is a foreign exchange student at Gregory High School this year, living with host family Virginia Dargatz and Clay Peck.

Ulaanbaatar is a large, modern city.

The Genghis Khan Statue Complex, 54 kilometers east of Ulaanbaatar, houses the world’s largest equestrian statue.

The inside of a ger is quite beautiful.

The Blue Sky Tower is an ultra-modern 25 story, 105 meters (344 ft) tall steel and glass skyscraper in Ulaanbaatar that houses a 200-room hotel, luxury apartments, restaurants, as well as office and conference spaces. Mongolians often refer to it derisively as “the meat cleaver” or “the sail boat.”

The blue stripe on the Mongolian flag represents the eternal blue sky, and the red stripes thriving for eternity. The Soyombo symbol represents fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and a symbol representing two fish as in Mongol mythology fish never sleep thus symbolizing that the spirit of the Mongol people never sleeps.