Home About Us Media Kit Subscriptions Links Forum
APPEARED IN


View All Articles

Download PDF

DIRECTORIES:

Job Opportunities

Tutors

Workshops

Events

Sections:

Books

Camps & Sports

Careers

Children’s Corner

Collected Features

Colleges

Cover Stories

Distance Learning

Editorials

Medical Update

Metro Beat

Movies & Theater

Museums

Music, Art & Dance

Special Education

Spotlight On Schools

Teachers of the Month

Technology

Archives:

1995-2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

SEPTEMBER 2004

Barnard Student Makes Learning The Center Of Her Vacation
by Sarah N. Lynch

For most college students, vacation consists of sunbathing and sipping margaritas, but for Barnard College student Deborah "Jane" Cooper, her summer vacation had a different purpose this year.

For seven weeks this summer, Jane traveled with her boyfriend Alex and his father to China and Mongolia.

"The trip came about because my boyfriend was planning on going with his father, but he didn't want to go if there was no one to go with him," Jane said. "Before the trip, I had no knowledge or specific interest in China or Mongolia, but any opportunity in travel is a clear opportunity and I jumped on that," she said.

But the trip was more than just a chance to travel through Asia and see the local hot spots. During their time in Mongolia, they interviewed local herders about the problems of land privatization. Jane and Alex intend to use the first-hand information they gathered via an interpreter to write a paper that they hope to submit to scholarly journals for publication.

Jane said that the land privatization has proved to be problematic for the Mongolians who live a nomadic lifestyle. Many of the landowners wish to keep the herders away, but the herders cannot survive or raise their animals without open space. To these nomadic herders, the idea of private landownership is alien to them because for generations they have been able to travel freely and let their animals graze.

"It was Alex's father's idea to make this trip more of a learning experience and not just a travel trip, so we started look at what the current issues are and (land privatization) is a hot issue right now," she said.

"Alex and I want to write a paper about Mongolian pastoralism," Jane said. "(In Mongolia), they have a nomadic society...Mongolia was communist for a number of years. In 1990, they became democratic...and they've privatized a lot of the land."

Initially, Jane did not intend on traveling to China or Mongolia, let alone write a paper. Jane first arrived in Mongolia after taking a 30-hour trans-Siberian train ride from Bejing to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia's capital. During the few weeks she was in Mongolia, Jane stayed in hostels and got an up-close and personal look at how the locals lived.

"Alex's father wanted to try authentic Mongolian food, but we tried to assure him it's not good," Jane said. "It's basically mutton and different dairy products. The herders live off their animals, which are horses, sheep and goats, but instead of killing their animals, they get more out of the animals through their milk," she said.

The herders make different types of dairy producers like curds and milk tea. They even ferment their milk to make alcohol. "In one place I tried fermented goat's milk. You can taste the alcohol, but I could not get over the bad milk flavor," Jane said. After Jane and Alex were able to interview locals and collect first-hand accounts of how privatization has both helped and harmed herders, they left Mongolia to explore all the major cities of China. Jane said that of all the things she saw in China, she was most surprised about the country's views towards Mao, the former communist dictator.

"In Bejing one thing that surprised me was how everyone idolized Mao," she said. "I always had this impression of him as being a ruler that made a lot of mistakes. A lot of people died because of him, but in China, he's a national hero."

Jane returned from her trip on July 21 and is now gearing up with Alex to write the paper about their time in Mongolia. Jane said her experiences abroad have only strengthened her curiosity about other places.

"It's cool to go to China because it's so off the beaten path, but now I have dreams of going to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Europe and Africa would be great," Jane said. "It's opened up the whole world of travel to me."#

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

Name:

Email:
Show email
City:
State:

 


 

 

 

Education Update, Inc.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2005.