Peter Bittner, an IPE grad ('12) and former Fulbright Fellow in Mongolia, is writing a book about his experiences in Mongolia. Here's an update from him:
My name is Peter Bittner and I graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2012 with a degree in International Political Economy. This past year I taught English in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia through the US government’s Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Scholarship.
I first visited Mongolia in 2011 with Puget Sound’s Pacific Rim Asian Studies Travel Program, or “Pac Rim,” and immediately became captivated by it. Most recently, I taught at a vocational school for 9 months where high school students prepare for careers in creative hair design, traditional performing arts, auto mechanics, and many other fields.
As a designated cultural ambassador, my role was not only to share my experience and knowledge of “American culture” but, more importantly, to learn as much as possible about Mongolia! In addition to my time in the classroom, I was fortunate to travel extensively throughout the country's vast steppes, deserts, and mountains. In the process, I had the pleasure of meeting and staying with nomadic herders of Mongol, Kazakh, and other ancestries.
My upcoming eBook and photo book will explore the massive social shift from traditional nomadic lifestyles to urban ways of life. The ten-chapter travelogue will include photos, videos, and audio and print journals.
While this is a new project to share with and educate Western audiences about the Land of the Eternal Blue Sky, I’ve been publishing content with those aims all year! This is just the grand finale! Through my personal website, I’ve been regularly posting educational articles and photos, many of which have been published in periodicals, travel blogs, and websites focusing on international exchange.
My work has been featured on Gonomad.com (one of the world’s top 10 travel blogs), the UB Post (Mongolia’s premiere English newspaper), The Global Citizen Journal, The Beacon, Arches, the U.S. Embassy to Mongolia’s website, and The English Language Teachers’ Association of Mongolia. Check out the press section of my blog for links to full articles: http://peterswanderings.com/press/
You can pre-order copies of the eBook, photo book, and other fun product packages at:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10914809/a-nomadic-state-of-mind
Want a taste of my writing? Check it out here:
http://peterswanderings.com/e-book-teaser
Curious to see my photography? See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfiw6jtdCm0
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