Chinggis Khaan Statue Complex - 3 Goggles and All!

The first time that I searched for Mongolia on Google back in the spring, an image of the Chinggis Khaan Statue Complex popped up.   This statue stands 43 metres high (about 130 feet).   I've wanted to see it ever since that day.  Today was the day!

 

They have big horses in Mongolia!

 

This boot holds the Guinness World Record as the largest shoe in the world.

 

Hatnaa and I throw up the Kentucky 3 goggles while standing on top of the horse's head.  Where are you KSR????

 

That is what I call a landmark worthy of an empire!

 

Kentucky Colonel Hatnaa

 

Kentucky Colonel Khatanbold "Hatnaa" Oidov - officially one of "us."

In April 2012, Hatnaa was a participant in the US State Department's Legislative Fellows program.  The University of Kentucky hosted a group of five Fellows from Mongolia, Cambodia and Indonesia.  KLC was fortunate to have Hatnaa (Khatanbold Oidov) as our Fellows intern.  It's really more of a mentoring and cultural exchange program.  Hatnaa fit right in.  Our staff and our city officials really took to him.  I think that I learned as much as he did.  He was great to work with and we became fast friends.

The Kentucky General Assembly was in a special called session at the time.  J.D. Chaney, KLC's Chief Legislative Officer, introduced Hatnaa to Senator Dorsey Ridley and Senator Ridley wanted to recognize Hatnaa on the floor of the Senate...which he did.

In additon, Senator Ridley requested that Governor Beshear commission Hatnaa as a Kentucky Colonel.  Because of travel schedules, the commission certificate did not reach Hatnaa before he left the US.  When I found out that I would be traveling to Mongolia, I asked Senator Ridley if he could help us locate the certificate so that I could deliver it to Hatnaa.  Thanks to Senator Ridley for moving heaven and earth to make it happen!

This past week, I had the honor of presenting the certficate to Hatnaa on behalf of Governor Beshear and Senator Ridley in the presence of the agency for which Hatnaa works.  We decided to go downtown to the Ulaanbaatar City Hall building to take a photo.  Please congratulate Colonel Hatnaa!!  He was surprised to receive the honorary commission and appreciated Governor Beshear and Senator Ridley for making it possible.

 

US State Department's Legislative Fellows Participants from Mongolia (University of Kentucky Fall Session)

As the sun set on Ulaanbaatar this Monday evening, the four US Department of State's Legislative Fellows from Mongolia for the University of Kentucky's fall program gathered at Cafe Amsterdam on Peace Avenue to discuss their upcoming trip to Kentucky.  They are a part of the fourteen or so participants that will be coming to UK's campus from Mongolia, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia (hope I got that correctly)!

They will spend five weeks in the US - four weeks in Kentucky and a week-long national wrap-up meeting of Fellows from across the US in Washington D.C.  After an initial week-long orientation at UK, they will be distributed among several state and local government agencies and non-profits in central Kentucky for a three-week internship.  We will be hosting one participant at KLC, but I don't know from which country.

We discussed their careers and what they hoped to learn while in Kentucky.  These four ladies are anxious to visit and experience the unique hospitality of our great state.  We talked about everything from the weather to the friendly people, the beauty of the landscape to the turn of the seasons and all things in between.  Mostly, we talked about the incredible experiences they were going to have with the volunteer organizations and government agencies that will be playing host and mentoring the participants during the three-week internship program.

Dr. Kim and Dr. Jennings at UK's Martin School of Public Policy have a great program planned for them, and they can't wait to get started.  Please help make them feel at home and say welcome! They arrive in Lexington on October 8th.

 

The Mongolian Legislative Fellows, Fall Class of 2012 meeting at Cafe Amsterdam in Ulaanbaatar.