Date: January 2, 2000

Dear Friends,
How are you after the crazy (or relaxed) New Year parties? Any hangovers? Over here we had plenty! Saturday was a totally blurry day. Not that we here in UB had too much wild fun, but we did have our share of champagne! At the National Opera House overlooking Sukh Baatar Square, where we could watch the whole vast square fill up with hundreds of people around the giant, lit up (Christmas) tree at the square’s centre.  A few toasts and dances with friends from the local scene, including those friends from the US, France, Holland+Japan (the 25% Japanese gentleman I was telling you about), Mongolia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Throughout the week, small happenings have been going on, like the diplomatic New Year cocktail on Thursday night, and another one on Saturday, which also featured facilities to view the entry of the rest of the world into the millennium on CNN. I’m sorry to be cutting this short this time, it’s just that I can’t concentrate enough (I guess my blood needs to be cleansed of foreign substances yet more- just kidding). The week has been uneventful otherwise anyway, hope to be in touch with a more interesting newsletter next week.

Yours, Ege

Ha ha! Thought I’d given up, eh?.. Alas, I am back to plug up your inboxes once again! hope all your weeks have been fine and full of good fortune. As it is the time of the year where everybody is wishing each other well as part of the season’s greetings, I hope the general rise of positive energy has been helping in this respect.

Here is yet another episode of the by-now-getting-established News from Mongolia. Even though it is 2 am here, I am very intent on finishing this on time (i.e. one week from the previous one) and being disciplined about it.