Chat With an Expat - TalkTalking English with a Mug of Mare's Milk in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Scott Muehlbauer

• Originally From: Madison, Wisconsin, USA
  
• Currently In: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  

Scott and I go WAAAAY back. We've been through a lot of experiences together, like RVing through New Zealand, road tripping across USA and Canada and chilling out in his backyard watching the chickens and ducks lay eggs. If there's ever been a drifter so seriously bit by the travelbug it's him. Lately, though, Scott has been building a life for himself in the far eastern city of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I caught up with him somewhere between a cup of fermented mare's milk and a place named TalkTalk English. I asked him to share with my readers some insight into what life is like living in a foreign country. Here's what he had to say...

What were you doing before you decided to move to Mongolia?
I was living on the island of Lanai, Hawaii, working at the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele.  I'd been working there for 15 years before I came to Mongolia.

How did you choose Mongolia?
In 2009, I traveled around Asia.  I flew to Seoul, Korea and then to Mongolia...and then traveled overland by trains and buses through China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  In 2010, I decided to return to Asia.  Most of my friends thought I was just going off on another trip, but the truth is I was searching for a new home, a new chapter, a new adventure.  I have close friends in several countries in Asia that teach English.  So my 2010 trip had a secret agenda, and that was to see what it would be like to live in those places, and how easy getting work would be.  I visited Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and finally Mongolia.  I love each of these places!  I had an incredible trip.  But there was just something about Mongolia that fit me.

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