A Near Miss While Job-Seeking in Mongolia: Part I

A few days ago I had a close encounter with a job. I was tantalizingly, perilously close to working for the Mongolian University of Film and the Russian Joint School (in fact I would have been in Mongolia already), but it didn't work out, and now here I am writing about what went wrong. Schools, jobs, and people vary widely, so my adventure here is just one possible story, but it is a possibility. I hope it will be of interest to other people looking for work in Mongolia, and might even prove useful.

Eternal Blue Sky

Anyone who reads this blog knows about my fascination with Mongolia. Hopeful of going back there, several months ago I began looking for teaching positions in Ulaanbaatar. Among the listings I found, was one from the end of April 2015, which had few details - not even the institution's name. It directed the curious to contact someone with the decidedly English-sounding name Greg. I figured I might as well find out what it was about so I emailed him and attached my resume. His brief response acknowledged receipt of my resume and assured me they would review all the candidates but did not give much more information. Greg was associated with the "Eternal Blue Sky" company - the hiring institution's name, perhaps? I didn't find anything about it, but many Mongolian schools have no web presence. I  supposed I would have to wait until I  got further in the hiring process to find out more.

Two months went by, and I assumed Eternal Blue Sky had chosen another candidate. Then one sunny morning in July - the morning of our Los Angeles Naadam, in fact - I received another email from Greg, apologizing for the delay and making up for the lack of information. Greg told me the opening was for a position with KUDS (КУДС). KUDS is short for Кино Урлагийн Дээд Сургууль (Kino Urlagiin Deed Surguuli), which means "University of Film," "University of Cinematography," or something: it does not appear to have an official English name.

The email also came with a large and colorful information packet, which explained the school's missions and benefits for teachers, although most of its bulk was general information about Mongolia. KUDS is an arts school, with several programs besides film, and as an artist that immediately attracted my interest. But the benefits also sounded very good: $2200 a month for 38 hours a week (22 of them teaching), my own rent-free apartment next to campus, and round-trip airfare! I know people teaching in Mongolia for much less. Heck, I know people working in America for less. There were a number of minor benefits too: eating at the school, an grocery supplement, reimbursement for  transportation, etc. The only thing that seemed to be missing was health insurance, but if I was getting paid that much, I shouldn't have trouble arranging my own.

A page from the Mongolian Film School's ESL information packet, describing some of the benefits

The other thing I remember was mention of a "long-standing, warm and professional relationship with the Mongolian - Russian Joint School." Now, while I wasn't familiar with KUDS, I knew the Russian Joint School, and had seen it once before. It is Secondary School #3 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolian schools are numbered), often called simply "The Joint School" or "The Russian School." Its official Mongolian name is Монгол Оросын хамтарсан сургууль (Mongol Orosyn hamtarsan surguuli). It is one of several nation / language-themed schools in the capital; others include the British School, the American School, the Chinese School, the Turkish school, etc. They apparently shared a faculty but I wasn't sure what else. But I knew that the Russian School was far from the apartment, and I'd rather not commute there. If I haven't mentioned it before, I'll mention it now: Ulaanbaatar traffic is the worst traffic I've seen anywhere.



The next step, in mid-July, was writing an essay about why I would like to work at the film school and why I would be a good fit - easy given my prior experience with Mongolia, teaching, and art. It must have pleased the hiring committee, because we arranged an interview for Saturday, August 1. In the meantime I researched KUDS. I had heard plenty about some other universities, like the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian National University of Education, and knew people who had attended there or worked there. The film school had completely escaped my attention during my three years in Mongolia though. I didn't know any students or teachers there. KUDS and the Russian School had websites in Mongolian but not English, but at least they had websites: some schools only have Facebook pages, and some have zero web presence. What little I understood certainly sounded good. A couple of Mongolians assured me that KUDS was a respectable school, so it would be to my advantage to have taught there, although none of them knew any of the teachers. I posted to Dave's ESL cafe too. No one there had heard of the place, unfortunately, but they did agree that the terms I quoted from the promotional packet were quite generous. I asked Greg if I could speak to some teachers at the school. I didn't get a reply, but it was quite possible that the question had gotten lost among the many others he was undoubtedly getting from multiple applicants.

When I finally talked to Greg on Skype, he assured me it was good that I was nervous - if I wasn't nervous, I probably didn't care. I relaxed and by the end it had turned into a friendly conversation, as I talked about my time in Mongolia and he told me about how how eager the students were to learn English and participate in the international film scene. It turned out Greg, a filmmaker from Canada, hadn't taught English there, but came as a specialist in film production. I was genuinely interested KUDS's goals and didn't want to ask too many "selfish" questions about benefits, but I wanted the relationship between the university and the high school clarified. I was informed I would teach at both schools. The Russian Joint School also focused a lot on the arts, and students hoping to get into KUDS would typically go to that high school. Although the class schedule was unknown now, I hoped I would be teaching on alternate days - switching between them would be a commuting nightmare.

Greg admitted that he did not know exactly when the KUDS hiring committee would make a decision. He would forward his recommendations to the university, but once he did, it was back to waiting. I tried to get back to my normal routines of writing, drawing, and living and not think too much about what will be. But, it was already August, and school starts in September. There would be a hurry later on, I just knew it.

I was correct. Over a week later on Tuesday, August 11, I got a surprise call from an unknown number. KUDS had only contacted me by email before, so I didn't initially suspect, but this time they found it necessary to reach me by phone: I was accepted to teach English at the Mongolian University of Film and the Mongolian-Russian Joint School #3. I was going to Mongolia!

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