Solongo
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990444
Name: Solongo
Parent's name: Dülbaa
Ovog: Toliton burgud
Sex: f
Year of Birth: 1951
Ethnicity: Ööld
Additional Information
Education: higher
Notes on education:
Work: works at National University
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: [None Given] sum, Ulaanbaatar aimag
Lives in: Bayangol sum (or part of UB), Ulaanbaatar aimag
Mother's profession: doctor
Father's profession: soldier
Themes for this interview are:
(Please click on a theme to see more interviews on that topic)
education / cultural production
literature
foreign relations
childhood
NGOs
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
childhood
schoolchildren's life
movies
plays
student life (in the Soviet Union)
children's upbringing
To read a full interview with Solongo please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 091045A with Solongo
I was born in 1951 in Ulaanbaatar. I graduated from the 2nd secondary school of Ulaanbaatar, and then from the State Institute of National Economy in Irkutsk. I worked as an economist at the taxi and bus station. Then, beginning in 1978 I worked for 17-18 years at the Ministry of Transportation, and with coming of democracy the Ministry of Transportation was shut down. After that, I worked at at a private company, and from 1998 I have been employed by the Mongolian National University, where I am still working after 12 years.
I originate from family of intellectuals. The children in the family all went to kindergarten and nurseries, and went to school. I remember our childhood passed in a wonderful way. The children in the block of flat were well-suited to each other. We used to play outside the apartment building. Those who didn’t live in the apartments didn’t have as much free time because they had to bring home firewood.
At that time we studied according to the Soviet Union program. Russian was taught beginning from the fifth grade. I was good at my studies and I completed the tenth grade with a golden medal. We would join the Pioneers from the third or 4th grade and from the 7,8th grade we became a member of the Revolutionary Youth League. There used to be various circles at the pioneer palace or the schools, and public works and competitions were often organized among the schoolchildren. When we were kids, we didn’t have television, so we used to listen to the radio and we read a lot of literature. We watched a movie once a week. Parties were often organized in the secondary school. Hygiene was strictly enforced at school. The teachers had very high requirements, the schoolchildren were very afraid of them. In the elementary classes we mostly had Mongolian language and math, but beginning from the fifth grade we used to study many subjects like Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra and PE. I think we learned all the subjects at secondary school to the same level as the subjects were being taught in the secondary schools of the Soviet Union. Beginning from the 1960s the Soviet Union schools tought very intensively. Those who couldn’t enter the high education institutions became workers at the factories.
I studied in the Soviet Union after completion of secondary school. We studied Russian at the preparatory classes. Then, in the regular classes we were taught vocational skills. When we studied in Irkutsk, the only foreign students were the Mongolians. When I went to study there in 1969, there were less than twenty Mongolian students, but at the time of my graduation the number had sharply increased to 70-80. Mostly we had economics, finance classes and also the classes that taught us about of statistics and software. Because there were many Mongolian students, the people in charge of the Mongolian issue organized lots of meetings, and competitions and art performances were organized among the schools. Those students who successfully participated in the art performances used to visit Soviet towns to present concert programs and they were included in the TV broadcasts. Even though we studied abroad, in the summer time we went back to Mongolia to participate in the building of the nation and we went for a month to work on the state farms. And then we got from the Ministry the right to continue our studies in the second year.
