Mongolian culture speaker Amai Zolbayar Jambalsuren spoke to a crowd of traditionally dressed Mongolian students and other international students and faculty members on recognizing how great their own lives are by using Mongolia and its culture as an example.
Held in the HGB on Monday, Mar. 20, Amai said, “Heaven is here. This is the place where materials, mind, and spirit are all together. I think most people look for something better than this, but this is the actual heaven where everything is here like air, sound, ground, and sea, etc. Most people don’t appreciate it for the fact that they are on this earth.”
Using Mongolia as an example, Amai explained about the wide range of cultures and traditions including the natural richness in soil, the blue spot birthmarks, and the language, which he said is one of the ancient languages in the world. He said mankind can protect nature by learning about old times.
He said Mongolia produces the most amount of oxygen in the world. He said, “Anyone who has been to Mongolia has said air is so beautiful and the sky is blue.”
He said the blue spot birthmark is genetic for some Mongolians and develops when they’re infants.
Geoffrey C. Lewis, relationships manager at Alumni & Career Services, said learning about the blue spot was news to him. He said, “The most surprising one I’ve learned about is the [birthmark], which I’ve never heard about before.”
When it comes to Mongolian language, Amai used the word “school” to illustrate how Mongolian language is unique; for instance, in Mongolian the word “school” can be divided into three different words, and each of those words can mean “to learn,” “to teach,” and “place.”
He believes that learning about those old cultures and traditions enables people to make progress and preserve nature.
Amai said people have the responsibility to “see the history of humanity [and] a wider range of history—not only the history of the new world, but also the different civilizations that existed until now.”
He said most people nowadays don’t know much about old civilizations but know a lot about modern technology. He wants to bring attention to all people about the importance of seeing the “big picture” of the world around them. “We are actually copies of the earth. Whatever we have, it’s because of whatever the earth has.”
He continued, “Now people understand we have to respect nature, otherwise [nature] would strike us. But we have this philosophy of respecting and communicating with nature in Mongolia… because the earth has a life the same as humans has heart, blood, and so on.”
He said, “The one who destroys nature and progresses cannot be progressive because in the past, so many countries, civilizations, and buildings disappeared because of that lack of consideration. The one who keeps things is the one who can make progress.”
Chingunjav Gunkhuu, a freshman with an undeclared major from Dornod, Mongolia, said attending this event reconfirmed his sense of patriotism toward his country. “I am proud of myself and my country and tradition, and culture. Nowadays, adults don’t know much about these Mongolian cultures he shared today, so we need to learn about those things.”
Tserendolgor Dugar, a freshman studying political science from Baganuur, Mongolia, said Amai “summarized Mongolian culture very well.” She said she also learned new things like how one word in Mongolian can have more than one meaning. She concluded, “I hope he will travel more and write more books, but I think if he reaches 100 countries it might be enough because I also would like him to get married.”
Helena Hannonen, a professor in business management, said she has been to Mongolia and her eagerness to continue to learn about different countries brought her to this event. She said, “I’d like to learn as much as possible about the countries where my students come from.”
She continued, “There are a lot of histories. The way he explained about tribes [and their writing style] was very interesting. I didn’t know that they have eight different alphabets.”
For her trip to Mongolia, Hannonen said it was related to her career field. “When I went to Mongolia, we met government leaders there, and they asked me if I could help them with some projects. So I’ve always wanted to find out what they need and want help with.”
Lewis said he was honored to host this event in coordination with the International Cultural Studies Department. “Amai came to Hawaii after hearing there is a Mongolian student community up in Laie. He had not heard of this place before and had not planned to come here. But when he heard about it, he felt this is where he was called to come. So in his words, ‘The wind brought me here.’”
Lewis said he thought it was a great “opportunity not only for us to learn about Mongolia, but also to host someone living such an amazing life of visiting so many countries around the world to learn about them.” He also said he admired Amai’s effort in writing about modern history to share his culture.
He said, “I think that most people in the west know very little about Mongolia. Its population is very small compared to neighboring countries. But here in BYU-Hawaii, we have so many Mongolian students, so it was a great opportunity for the BYU community to learn about the culture of those students coming here.
“I hope that [attendees] were able to gain a greater appreciation for the millennia-old tradition and culture of Mongolia and how Mongolia played a part in world events that may not often make it into the history books of the various countries.”
Amai said he has been to 86 countries and is planning to go to Japan to give a speech in the future.
Writer: Gosuke Kawano