sebfowler.com

As you’ve probably noticed, I usually like to have something to show when I post, but this time’s just tell.

This week started out in a similar vein to last week. Issy’s birthday on Monday night, which was good fun and a little drinky. Tuesday night was a dinner with AYADs and VSOs at the British Ambassador’s house, which was great (food, people, everything).

Last night I decided to stay at home, sort out the apartment (desperately needed to do some washing) and cook. After getting home and sorting out the washing, I headed out to buy things to cook. By then it was quite late, so some shops were shutting, so it was a pretty decent mission around town. When I got back with the supplies, ravenous and looking forward to cooking, it was after 9pm, the sun was almost gone and my entire block was in a blackout. Only electric stoves here, so no chance of cooking. I’d also forgotten to buy toilet paper.

I had a nice chat with Sunaree on the phone for a while, hoping for the power to come back. After eating some bread and cold baked beans, going overboard with the pepper in the dark and getting some up my nose, I ran out for toilet paper. Because the neighbourhood was out, I went a little further and by the time I got back, lo and behold, the power was back too.

Full after my earlier eating attempt and tired from running around,  (by now it was after 11pm) I gave up on cooking, watched most of a crap movie and went to bed. The end.

Seriously. My position will be re-advertised from tomorrow, because of the low number of applicants. If you’re 18-30 years old, have the relevant skills/experience/qualifications and feel like spending a year in Mongolia, apply asap. The jobs will be advertised on the AYAD (Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development) website, here:

http://ayad.com.au/web/public/home.aspx

My position is basically web-design/maintennance/design/whatever. The project is an English language TV and internet project, on Mongolian National TV. It’s been going since December and basically there’s a Mongolian and a native English speaker who co-host the show. Each week we line up an interesting young Mongolian who speaks decent English and interview them. We try to get some language teaching and fun in there too. We also try to deal with some more important issues for young Mongolians. So far we’ve had people like Quiza (a rapper), Degi (a violinist), Orgil (an actor), Onon (WWF species officer), a debating team, a scholarship student, an achaeologist, etc.

Anyway, there will be another AYAD with a journalism background who will basically run the TV and be the co-host. My job is to look after the website and all other design/tech related things. Each week, we put lessons/teaching materials online, which coincide with what’s happening in the show. The project can be pretty flexible. There could be some DVD production, online and print teaching materials production and we’re even looking to expand into radio. It can be what you want it to be.
Anyone interested can email me for more details, or leave a comment at the bottom of this page. The website, to see what we’re doing at the moment, is at http://voiceboxtv.org/

For the Round 2, assignments will be advertized online from Friday June 15 to Friday June 29.

I finish in October and that intake should arrive in September or October.

*Edit to add: There is no way you can overestimate the time it will take to complete the AYAD application. It’s big. Start early.

Strange and interesting week this week. It’s been good for the most part.

For once I was organised with work and got plenty done early in the week, knowing that the end of the week would be busy getting episodes of the show copied onto my computer to make more dvds. That all worked very well, but Friday turned out problematic because of some bastard problems while encoding that I’m still yet to fix.

Monday was pretty much a write-off because I was recovering from a huge hike (and rest of the weekend; not drink-related, but physically exhausting). Carl, Gana and I met up around noon on Sunday and got a car about half an hour east of town, then headed over one smallish mountain, down, then back up Tseteegum the highest peak around UB. Incredible view and a nice, tough climb, especially coming from the direction we did, which was rock hopping most of the way up. On the way back, we headed down to Zuunmod/Manzushir and met Gana’s mates on the way, where they had been hanging out, then cooked fish for us.

The drive back was fantastic too, because Bayaraa (Gana’s friend) had some great tunes. As soon as we started moving, classic ’50s rock pumped out and we sang along raucously. The rest of the music was great too; a bit of Satchmo, ‘Girl from Ipanema’, a really nice Russian song and more.

The rest of the week was pretty hectic. Not all that much time in the office, mostly out meeting people, working with them and collecting bits and pieces I needed.

Been a while since an update, so I forget when some of this happened, but one day, Dave and myself went to meet Carl, Quiza (one of Mongolia’s greatest rappers) and BX(a great young r&b singer) for a bit of Street Karaoke recording. Carl’s works for amnesty and has been organising a free concert (right outside my house basically) with some of Mongolia’s biggest acts, to promote human rights. We’re helping to promote it through the tv show and website, while Carl’s been setting up meetings for us to record lines of some of the performers singing ‘Power to the People’. Quiza and BX were doing a radio interview, which got delayed, so we hung out with Quiza and waited for BX to show. When he did, it was hilarious. He met us, got the situation explained, then launched straight into his lines, goofing around for the camera.
Got another small illustration done, which I’ll scan and put up soon. Keeping the hands and mind busy while working on the art skills and techniques, in preparation for some artistic work I’d like to do when I get back. No solid plans for the future, but I think I’d go insane without a creative outlet.

Interesting week ahead. A few engagements early in the week and work should keep me busy, fixing the problem from Friday and some more intersting stuff.