The 30 Hour Sunday!

For those who have traveled internationally and crossed the International Dateline, this post will be "old hat." For me, today was a new hat.  I mentioned early on that I'd never crossed the Int'l Dateline before, and I was sure it would be an  experience.

Going to Mongolia, it wasn't that big of a deal.  Mongolia is twelve time zones ahead of Lexington, Kentucky.  In other words, 1 p.m. on Monday in Lexington is 1 a.m. on Tuesday in Mongolia.

Coming back to the US, however, this difference takes on some rather bizarre twists.  Like today, for example.

I left Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's Chinggis Kahn International Airport at 6:45 a.m. Sunday morning. That's 6:45 p.m. Saturday in Lexington.  I saw a beautiful Sunday sunrise as we took off.  I landed in Incheon, South Korea at 10 a.m. Sunday.  After a 7 hour layover, I flew from South Korea to Detroit at 5:20 p.m. Sunday.

We headed due north around North Korea and over China.  Near the China/Russia border, the sun sat on Sunday evening.  A few hours later we crossed the dateline and were in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning again!  (You may be wondering how I knew where we were. On the Boeing 777, each seat has a Video on Demand tv screen. There's an option to track the flight.  A world map appears and shows where the plane is at any given moment. Voila!  A flight tracker.)

As we flew near the northern tip of Alaska above the Arctic Circle, I saw another beautiful sunrise...Sunday morning again!  At 5:30 p.m. we  had flown south down through Canada and landed at Detroit.  That's right. We left Incheon at 5:20 p.m. Sunday and landed in Detroit 10 minutes and 11 time zones later.

We fly out of Detroit at 8:04 p.m. and I saw the sunset again on Sunday evening and landed in Lexington at 9:30 p.m. Sunday.  As Jackie and I were heading from the airport to our home in Lexington, I received an email from Hatnaa in Mongolia - 10 a.m. on Monday morning in Ulaanbaatar.

I lived September 30th for 30 hours, saw two sunrises and sunsets on the same day and got an email from Hatnaa on October 1st.  My head is spinning around and around and I'm not sure what day or hour or where exactly I am, but I know I've lived it all before...deja vu all over again.

I'll be contemplating this experience for a long, long time.  Thanks to everyone for the prayers and well-wishes.  I had a Sunday I'll never forget...and I haven't even told half the story.  For example, I was denied boarding in Mongolia three times and once in Incheon.  However, I managed to get on the plane, fly home AND my luggage arrived safe and sound.  I'm counting my blessings!  More on that later...and it is a funny and sobering story for another blog post.

I'M HOME.

Diplomacy and Packing Day

5 Days and Counting...until I depart Lexington for Ulaanbaatar!  The excitement is building as Friday, September 14 approaches.  So much to do.  

Even though I've been planning, reading, studying and emailing with folks at the University of Kentucky, the US State Department, the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and Hatnaa (my Mongolian friend and onsite contact), TODAY it finally hit me.  I'm going!

My itinerary is completed.  The meetings and activities are set.  Today, I had a conference call with the US Department of State to go over details of the trip.  Adam, Della and Denise were incredible as they provided me with a lot of information about current events in Mongolia and answered my disjointed questions.  I'm sure they felt as though they were on a roller coaster as I swerved and turned from topic to topic at break-neck speed.  Information is KING!  They were good sports about it all.

I've decided not to post how I anticipate things will be.  It will be much more fun to blog as it happens and then have a laugh at my own expense when I realize how wrong my assumptions were!  That's the best part of the adventure.  I will say that packing clothes appropriate for the climate in September has been a real challenge.  It could be warm, cold, raining, snowing and sunshiny all in the same day.  We'll laugh about that later. Hmm...sounds a lot like spring and fall in Kentucky!

One thing I have learned is that Genghis Khan is BIG in Mongolia.  Have a look:

And we think we have big horses in Kentucky!  I can't wait to visit this place.  

Thankfully, I have a full schedule for the next couple of days.  I've been invited to speak to Dr. Jennings' class at UK tomorrow evening on the topic of strategic planning.  Maybe I should throw in a highlight reel of my strategic planning for this trip.  That would be a comedy, for sure.  I can't thank Dr. Jennings and Dr. Kim enough for nominating me to go on this journey.  KLC and the UK Martin School have an incredible partnership. Together, we are learning new ways to help all of our cities in Kentucky including reaching out to others around the world to better understand the "connectedness" that we all feel because of the global economy.

That's all for today.  Later this week, I'll do one final sendoff post and, then, I'll be posting from my new global headquarters in Mongolia!  Enjoy the journey.

Choices & Decisions

Planning always comes down to two things doesn't it?  Choices and decisions.

Today was spent making some fundamental choices and decisions about my accommodations while in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital city.  There aren't a lot of choices when it comes to clean, safe and modern hotels for the international traveler.  I had narrowed my choices to three - Ramada CityCenter (which isn't in the city center at all), the Changgis Khan (closer but not CityCenter) or the Blue Sky Tower (truly in the center).

While Mongolia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world at 25% GDP growth per year, the infrastructure and hospitality industries are trying to catch up.  The international traveler really operates on a minimum amount of knowledge when it comes to balancing acceptable standards with the "local" experience.

Three things are critically important to me if I'm going into a foreign country blind - safety, cleanliness and wi-fi.  If this were a different situation, say one in which I were working as an election monitor or just backpacking across the countryside, then I would take a different approach. However, spending two weeks in one location and meeting with multiple government and NGO officials, I really want to feel and look my best.

I narrowed my choices to three hotels that cater to the international business clientele.  Finally, I decided to stay at the Ramada.  It's a fairly new hotel and has the amenities that I need, plus breakfast is included!   I'm satisfied with that decision.  My wife is very happy because we can Skype easily and being able to communicate with her is very important.  The fact that I'll be almost 8,000 miles away from home is a challenge for her, too.  She carries the burden of a busy work schedule and taking care of everything else.  She's been a trooper even though she would rather that I be here in Kentucky with her.



http://www.ramada.com/hotels/mongolia/ulaanbaatar/ramada-ulaanbaatar-citycenter/hotel-overview

September 14th is fast approaching and much remains to be done.  Hopefully, the itinerary will be finalized this week.  I have a conference call with the US State Department liaison and someone from the Mongolian desk to review current issues and opportunities for the US.  I certainly don't want to create an international incident!

The flight is booked.  Twenty-seven hours total travel time.  Twenty-three hours on airplanes.  At least I have a little time in Incheon, Korea to get my bearings before the final flight to Ulaanbaatar, but it's going to be a long flight.  I'll also experience crossing the Intenational Dateline for the first time.  That should be fun!

Yes, I'm finally getting excited and a little antsy about the trip.  I know it'll be a great adventure, and I'm looking forward to experiencing a whole new world.  Stay tuned!

Off to Mongolia - Let the Adventure Begin!

"Would you like to go to Mongolia?" asked Dr. Jennings.  "Uh...of course," I replied.  And that is truly how my journey to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia began.

My name is Tad.  I live in Lexington, Kentucky with Jackie (my wife) and Spicy Belle (our chocolate lab retriever).  My work and passion are one and the same.  I work with Kentucky's cities to improve the quality of life for the citizens of our Commonwealth.  One way to help our own cities is to visit other places, talk with people who have a different perspective and find practical solutions that are working in other places.  Inspired education through shared experiences.

Would you like to go to Mongolia with me?  Well, jump on board, and we'll go together.  That, in a nutshell, is the purpose of my blog.  I want to chronicle my experience from beginning to end.  Even though I'm going alone, I'd sure like to take a bunch of friends along for the ride.  I'm sure this is going to be an adventure like none other that I've experienced.

"Why Mongolia?" you ask.  The University of Kentucky's Martin School of Public Policy established a partnership with the U.S. Department of State to participate in the Legislative Fellows program.  The Fellows program is  a cultural exchange program that brings up and coming foreign leaders to the United States to experience life in the United States for a few weeks.  In exchange, the host organization nominates a representative to travel to the visitor's home country.  During the spring of 2012, my employer, the Kentucky League of Cities, agreed to host UK's first Mongolian Fellow. I was privileged to organize the agenda and share the mission of our organization with Khatanbold Oidov, our visitor from Mongolia.  

At the conclusion of his visit, Dr. Ed Jennings and Dr. Doo-Oak Kim of the Martin School asked if I would like to be nominated as UK's exchange visitor to Mongolia.  Fortunately, I was able to take some time off from KLC in order to go.  I feel excited, honored and humbled to have the opportunity.  

Was visiting Mongolia on my bucket list? Honestly, no. Should it have been? Maybe!  Those who have visited - and yes, I actually know folks who have been there - Mongolia is not to be missed.  It's one of the last great frontiers and the second most sparsely populated country on the planet (after Greenland).  It's called "Land of the Blue Sky." As a University of Kentucky alumnus and sports fan, that suits me just fine because I bleed blue!

September 14, 2012 is the departure date.  So, hang on!  It's going to be a ride we'll never forget.