Trust in Mongolian Youth

By Julian Dierkes

I went to Arkhangai with my mother to show her a bit of the Mongolian countryside (and also give me a chance to learn more about the election campaign).

We had a wonderful time.

On our way back, we had some time to spare in Tsetserleg and visited the lovely provincial museum housed in a former monastery.

Tsetserleg, capital of #Arkhangai and sometimes-site of small wonders! #magicalmongolia

A post shared by Julian Dierkes (@jbdierkes) on

Unfortunately, my mother lost her wallet, most likely when she got in the car.

As you can imagine, panic ensued. Credit cards, id, various other documents, and a significant sum of Tugrik.

How to Search for a Wallet

We first checked back where we lost the wallet, no luck. Off to the police next.

All along, I am thinking that the wallet will somehow come back, perhaps conditioned by my years of life in Japan where lost items return almost inevitably.

The police were very helpful and friendly, suggesting a radio ad and loudspeaker announcements.

Off to the radio station, then the market, where we were surprised to hear my mother’s name over the loudspeaker.

Five minutes after our bus for Ulaanbaatar would’ve left, we got a phone call from the museum that the wallet had been found. Ah, what a relief. We sped back to the museum and sure enough, there was the wallet.

Not surprisingly, the cash was gone, but other than one item that might well have slipped out when the cash was removed, all the credit cards, ids were still there.

And here was a very shy student from No. 1 Secondary School in Tsetserleg. He had found the wallet by the side of the road nearby and we were so grateful that he turned it in, saving us the massive hassle to cancel all cards, etc.

Faith in Mongolian humanity reinforced, thank you Tsetserleg parents and teachers for raising good kids who know what to do with a found wallet!

About Julian Dierkes

Julian Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton Univ) and a Mongolist by choice and passion since around 2005. He teaches in the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He toots @jdierkes@sciences.social.
This entry was posted in Curios, Tourism and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *