It was three in the afternoon, when we found ourselves surrounded by Mongolian university students in a cafeteria, dancing our hearts out to Justin Timberlake.
When first introduced to the idea of visiting the university, we were left with the impression that we would take a bus there, get a tour of the facilities, and maybe sit in on a class. Walking into the cafeteria that day, we immediately realized it was a mistake to assume anything when it comes to traveling in another country. At the front of the room, stood a podium, and two long tables, complete with bowls of candy and water for the honored guests—us.
We nervously looked out into the crowd of Mongolian students, sitting quietly through a lecture on Genghis Khan. We listened intently to a multi-tonal throat singing performance, clapped along with a traditional Mongolian dance, and awed at a beat box performance. After spending some time exchanging words with the students, we were asked to sit down again. Assuming another speaker was in line, we quietly munched on the candy provided to us. Then the music was turned on, the bass was pumped up, and everyone was told to get up and dance.
So we did. There are few things which the language barrier does not apply to. One is playing Frisbee, another may be music or an appreciation of a sunset, but one of them is most certainly dancing, as we demonstrated two days ago in a cafeteria in Mongolia.
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