Mongolian Ping Pong Reflection

Mongolian Ping Pong, it is about a boy Bilike, who finds a ping pong ball in the river, however he and his friends are unsure of what it is. They use various simple experiments to determine what the white ball is. When Bilike arrives home, he asks advice from his grandmother who declares is to be a glowing pearl. The boys believe that to be the true identity and guard the ball with their lives. Later on in the film when they discover that it is the national ball of Mongolia, the boys set out to determine where it came from. At the end of the film, while Bilike is at school he discovers the sport of ping pong.

In comparison to the previous Mongolian film, Bilike and his family do not live in the Gobi desert and have more money than the other family. Their son the privilege to attend school along with the older sister. In addition, since they live in a different part of Mongolia, they use horses to get around along with motor bikes in replace of camels.

Family is highly important in their culture, family is one's primary concern. The entire extended family lives together in the small house and raise the sheep and horses together. They do not have a lot of technology like people in the United States and it is interesting to see how their family interacts. Respecting one's elders and helping the family is more valued and encouraged in their culture than in the American culture. While they value their elders, in the US we value youth in our culture and expect more from the youth in our society. Being successful and studying in school is more important in their society. In America we got to school for a far less number of days compared to the Asian cultures, who encourage more study and success. In America, we go to school to find our passion and have more free time.

In Mongolia, they live far simpler lives than we do. Technology does not have a constant presence in their lives in comparison to ours. There are many differences between their culture and ours. Family, school and respect your elders are highly emphasized. I would highly recommend this film, it demonstrates a different culture and way of living that I am not used to. It was interesting to see their different values and compare them to society in the US. We put more value on money and success, where as success in their country is defined in numerous ways.