It’s nearing the end of winter in the States. For those who
don’t know, winter is a period in the calendar that spans the months of
December, January, and February in the US, and the months of October, November,
December, January, February, March, April, and May in Mongolia. In the US,
winter is marked by cold temperatures. In Mongolia, winter is marked by
extremely freezing, animal-killing temperatures.
When it is cold, dark, and gloomy, what better way to
shuffle off those ‘Winter-Is-Trying-To-Kill-Me’ blues than holidays! Mongolia
has two rather exciting holidays: New Years and Tsagaan Sar.
Mongolian New Years
Mongolia doesn’t really have Christmas. I’m not sure it ever
did. New Years, as it is celebrated in Mongolia, combines elements of both
traditional New Years and Christmas. While modern-day Christmas has deviated a
bit from its original religious overtones, the rumor is that merging Christmas
into New Years was an attempt to hasten this process, not by the Mongolians, but
by the USSR, which occupied the country until the 1980s.
Being a decidedly communist nation, the USSR supposedly felt
integrating Christmas into New Years would be a compromise: a way of letting
people have their celebration while helping people move away from the evil
influences of religion.
At least, that’s the rumor.
Mongolian New Years is now a combination of the two
holidays. People decorate trees (which look a lot like Christmas trees) and put
up motifs of reindeer and Father Winter, a tubby man with a white beard who
gives out presents (sound familiar?).
However, New Years parties here have a distinctly prom-like
feel. In fact, I would posit that New Years is the annual Mongolian prom: young
women get their hair done, put on lots of make-up, find very bright prom-like
dresses, and then cover themselves with glitter. Lots of glitter. It’s an
excuse to get really dressed up; some women go farther than others. And of
course, every man is nicely dressed.
Every New Years party is a little different. Every
organization, business, school, etc. has a party for the staff, and there is
always a lot of drinking (which you can often avoid if you are foreign, female,
and sitting next to the pregnant lady [Thanks, Bilgee!]).
At my school’s New Year’s party, there were lots of songs,
games, and contests—there was even a vote for Prince and Princess (of what, I’m
not sure), the latter of which was won by yours truly. My prize was a Tigger
Snow Globe. I would have preferred a tiara, scepter, and small kingdom. But the
Snow Globe does light up.
Tsagaan Sar
Tsagaan Sar, or ‘white month,’ is arguably one of the most
important holidays in Mongolia and is somewhat a combination of traditional
New Years, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. Despite the name, the holiday lasts one to two
weeks, and involves visiting family and friends, wearing traditional clothes,
and eating lots of traditional foods (more on this below!).
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| Some of the male teachers at my school. From left to right: Choijo, Byamba, Nymorchir, Altantsooj, boy-whose-name -I-can't-remember, and Amaraa. |
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| Teachers from my school doing the traditional Tsagaan Sar greeting. |
Tsagaan Sar usually falls in early February. I had to ask
around a bit to find why Tsagaan Sar is celebrated at this particular time. It
falls soon after the Chinese New Year. My counterpart told me that after Tsagaan Sar is generally when
herders (of sheep, goats, cows, etc.) begin preparing for spring by breeding new offspring for the new year.
Others have told me that it marks the end of the coldest part of winter and the
beginning of spring. My favorite explanation, though, came from one of the
students in our Speaking Club for secondary school students: “It’s like… yay,
we’re not dead.” I suppose Tsagaan Sar can be seen as a celebration of life, of
surviving the winter.
Because Tsagaan Sar is a traditional holiday, it is steeped
in all sorts of ritual, both traditional and not. People greet each other in a
certain way, share snuff bottles in a certain way, and receive food and gifts
in certain ways. They create round structures made of havsee (a type of sweet bread),
topped with arral (a kind of hard yogurt-like cheese), white candy, and sugar
cubes (usually all things that are white or light in color). You can see a picture of these
structures below!
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| The breads that make up the stack is havsee. |
When you visit another person’s home for Tsagaan Sar, there
is generally a lot of dumplings--buuz and/or bansh. The two are almost identical—both being
types of dumplings—but bansh are smaller and less common (unless you live in
Zavkhan). It is also traditional to down three shots of vodka, but if you’re an
American, you can get around that requirement. Unless you don’t want to. But
keep in mind you may be visiting 3 or 4 homes in one day!
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| The photogenic son of one of my school's teachers, dressed in his deel. You can see various traditional offerings on the table, including candy, bansh, meat, vodka, and milk tea. |
Winter here has been cold, but bearable. It seems that every
chilly day can be warmed by the generosity, humor, and optimism of the people
around me. The Mongolians have spent their whole lives with winters like these,
and their defense against it comes not only in what they wear and eat, but also
in their positive attitude and unbreakable spirit.
I will post pictures soon; until then, you can find many on
my Facebook page!
Cheers,
Karen
