Guuye ~ Гүүеэ

When I was feeding my baby girl I heard this thump in the hall. That was the postman delivering the post. I opened this heavy brown envelope addressed to me in a hurry.

‘Dear Mrs Ramsay

I am writing to thank you for coming to our school and giving us a taste of Mongolian life…’ continued the letters. They were the most sincerely written letters I had ever read. I could tell they made huge effort in writing them. I was touched. They made me smile, laugh and almost cry. I could not believe how much they learnt from my visit talking about life in Mongolia and my childhood. I’ll put some here so you can read them yourself.

‘… I really enjoyed learning about the games you played as I found them really interesting and I wish that I could have played them. I liked the horse racing game best!… I also liked the yurt as if you were moving house you could dismantle the house and take it with you. I would love to be able to do that with my house because I would live close to my friends but not have to move into a different house…’ Ben

‘… I also enjoyed the story about the wolves going to get your animals but it sounded a bit scary. It’s still not going to stop me about asking if I can go there in the summer with my family… I wish you could come back again to our class to tell us more about Mongolia…’ Cameron

 ‘… I also liked the story that you having to ascend up your house in the winter to scrape the frost off the window on the crown of the yurt… I really enjoyed everything. I hope you can come back soon.’ Lara

‘… I recognised the symbol in the middle of the Mongolian flag. It was the one with the normal and upside down drops with the dot in the middle… I hope you can come back to Patna to show us your new book because I would like to read it.’ Erin

‘…My favourite subject was when you were talking to us about the cow skin boots and how they were pointy at the front. I can still remember they were pointy at the front to protect the ground… My favourite fact was about how long the flight took from Mongolia to Scotland. It took 24 hours… It would be great if you could come to our Christmas show. I am a dancer and the show is called Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. Please could you come it would be great!..’ Leah

‘… I liked the big boots because they had nice coloured patterns. I liked the boots because they had a nice texture…’ Calum

‘… I enjoyed learning about the flag and what the symbols mean on it because I like flag and I especially like country flags. I learned lots of things about Mongolia and I may even go there myself…’ Ethan

‘… It was very fascinating learning about the chess pieces because … I liked the Queen and the King…’ Courtney

‘… The last thing I enjoyed was the Mongolian house called Gurr. I was just wondering did you ever have a pattern on your yurt?…’ Alena

‘… I couldn’t believe how small the UK is compared to Mongolia. I liked the bones because it was a way to recycle dead animal pieces. The chess pieces were very interesting and well made…’ Jonah

‘… I also enjoyed having the bones in my hands because that was the first time I had a bone in my hand. … I would love it if you came back…’ James

‘… I really enjoyed learning Mongolian language. I really enjoyed looking at the ankle bones from the sheep and goats. I liked your childhood story and it was really, really good…’ Charlie-Jane

‘… I liked the special shoes because they looked very cool because they had stuff on them…’ Dylan

‘… I particularly liked learning about the yurt… I thought going up on top of it would be fun because I like going on top of things…’ Brandon

‘… I learned that not everyone in the world has a stone house. It looks cool. It would be good not to get sent to your room…’ Adam

‘… My favourite game was the ankle bone game. It looked extremely fun to play! I wish I had it… Are the clothes comfortable? They do look nice though… I hope you can come again and maybe to our Christmas concert. We are doing Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special Patna Style. In case you don’t know what it is I’ll tell you. It is a game show and it is on Sunday nights at 7 o’clock on BBC2 on the t.v just in case you want to watch it…’ Rachel

‘…I thought the games you played looked and sounded fun. I wish we had games like that in Scotland. I also enjoyed when you told us about the temperature of Mongolia…‘ Megan

‘… I really enjoyed looking at the shoes and clothes. I thought that the patterns on the clothes were very fancy!… They were fantastic colours as well… A very big thank you for coming all that way. I would like to give you a ticket to our Christmas show… Here you go! … I wish you could come because it would be great…’ Ashleigh

If you would like to invite me for different talks please see here.

Photo credit to Gun Galuut.