The party I was waiting for...

...Number zurgaa!  The big hoop-de-doo, my school's Shine Jil (New Year) party on Sunday night:

 Foreign Language Department

 Me with my school's director and Jagga.

 Jagga snagged my camera and snapped this gem.

 Jagga won "Most Creative" teacher!  Congrats!

 Bimba and Ulzii in their matching shirts.  Hello bromance!

 Let's dance!

 Hey, look!  I found twins!

 Lottery...Which I didn't win.  :(

 Eat the cucumber game.  Naughty!

 No idea what we were laughing about.

 Waiting to start a game...

 Bahahahahahaha!

Having a dance-off to determine the winner of the apple-eating contest.

All in all, it was a super fun evening, more fun than last year's for sure.  We had the room all to ourselves (last year we had to share with another company) so we got to play games and do the awards/lottery just for ourselves.  And as this was my last Shine Jil with them, they let me pick the last dance song of the evening (a toughie between remixed JLo and remixed Gangnam Style, but I chose a remixed Moves Like Jagger). I got a little misty-eyed as I flitted from table to table, knowing this was our last Shine Jil together, but I have a feeling I'll be bringing a little of them with me to wherever I'm celebrating next year.

I rang in the actual new year with my sitemates at Merrie's apartment.  We held the third Chopped Challenge (I came in third, dang it!), played a few games, then popped champagne at midnight and chatted into the wee hours.  It was very low-key, exactly the kind of NYE we all needed after two solid weeks of parties with our schools and various organizations we work with.  Next up, a few weeks of "rest" before the next party season kicks in: Tsagaan Sar!  Stay tuned.  ;)

Oh hey, more parties!

I should have known I'd be attending more than four holiday parties...At the last minute (meaning two or three days in advance) I was invited to the Dornod Institute Christmas party and my school's 11th grade New Year's concert.  So, here are some photos from parties number quattro and fimm:

The MC

Singing

Introducing a game

 A dance

 Sukhee and his daughter

 My 11th grader's theme was Maskarad (Masquerade).

 The MCs

 Lip-synching to an English song

 Mongol duet

 Hip-hop dance

 Hi-ya!

 Breaking boards

 That's an apple on a knife and he kicked it without slicing off his foot.  I was very impressed!

 Another Mongol duet

 Grandfather Winter

 The snow girls...

 ...They did a dance

 2012 & 2013

 Stilts!?  Again, I was super impressed.

 My CP Jagga wanted a picture before I left (had to leave early to get to my community ed class).

And these last few photos, while not a party, are from the 7th and 8th grade singing competitions I "judged" on Monday.  7th sang Jingle Bells, 8th sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  I forgot my camera (wah wah) for the 9th graders, but they sang Holly Jolly Christmas.   

Holiday Party Drei

Last night was the third installment of holiday parties.  All the C-town PCVs & VSO (and one honorary, might-as-well-be-a-native-speaker, Mongolian) came over to my place for a feast and gift exchange.  We ate until it hurt, laughed until we cried, and got nostalgic sharing holiday stories from home.  The menu included:

Veggies & Ranch
Cheese & Crackers
Deviled Eggs
Baked Ham
Baked Fish
Chicken with White Wine-Cream Sauce
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Curried Lentils
Italian Veggie-Pasta Salad
Fruit Salad
Pumpkin Pie
Cranberry & Carrot Cake
Chocolate Biscotti
Mongol Cake
Wassail, Coffee, Peppermint Green Tea, Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Yum.

And now, a few photos:

 My jujur decorated the stairwell for New Year's.

 Oh yes I did!  Yule Log!

 Happy holidays from C-Town!

After everyone else left, Koty and I watched "Little Women."  It was a nice way to wind down after a busy day of cooking, hosting and socializing.