Why were the Mongols in such good shape?

They were always going up and down the steppes!! Ha ha ha ha!

Mongols are the bomb, yo!

How cool are the Mongols? Infinity-cool, right? 

This pretty much covers it, eh? 

What's that? You want some dating advice from Genghis Khan? I got you.

God, I hope this conversation actually happened at some point. 

But seriously though...

We'll spend some more time with our Mongol brethren over the next few days, but a few things to consider:

1. We mentioned this in class, but keep mind that a lot of what we know of the Mongols came from the people they conquered. I bet that colors their opinion, don't you agree? 
2. As I mentioned in a few of my classes, I love the historical idea that there is a "proper" way to fight and win a war. You see this happen again and again. The Mongols were never handicapped by this. Their religious beliefs didn't prohibit certain methods or anything. So, they won most battles because they were willing to do things that other societies just willing to do. 
3. Their goals differed radically from many of the other civilizations we've looked at. The aggregation of political, religious, or social power was not anything they were super interested in. You heard in the video today how Genghis Khan defined happiness - basically it is victory in battle. VERY different then some other folks we've met. 

Asia Projects!!

Tomorrow your projects are due! Remember:

• Hard copies of everything MUST be turned in tomorrow. No emails or digital copies. 
• Please include a picture of your visual art projects. 
• Drop your project off in the designated spot in your classroom. 
• Good luck!

Soundtrack of the Week

We're halfway to Spring Break!! Pretty exciting, huh? You can almost taste the freedom. 

After you've spent a few days relaxing and recharging the batteries over the break, it is time to get your groove on. Spring Break should always have a little time to shake your booty. Well, have I got a song for you. This was literally released today. When this is all over the place in a few days, you can tell your friends you heard it here first. 

If this song doesn't take over the radio very, very soon, then popular music in America is truly obsolete. I also predict that this will be one of Ms. Virdin's favorite songs of the year. 

This is "Slide" by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean & Migos. Get funky!