URGENT

This is an urgent letter to the members of Coldplay and Radiohead: YOU ARE NEEDED IN MONGOLIA.

Mongolia's teens love your music and idol you. Ulaanbaatar has not one, but TWO, Coldplay cover bands. This is how they satisfy their need for live music by their favorite bands. And some of it's pretty good. It's a far cry from the cover band playing weeknights in the Minden Casino, belting out overwrought Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. No, this is the real thing, sung with heartfelt yearning.

These children need you to play your music here, immediately if possible. They are equally disillusioned with the 21st century. They wear t-shirts that say "God Save the Queen" and are not ironic in the slightest. My host brother strums your quieter songs, the ones he can play on acoustic guitar, and slowly whispers your lyrics. So does every other kid in the 18-24 year old range.

Just last night I went to the InfoClub, UB's popular youth bar. Quite a few people were drinking Sprite, most were drinking the equivalent of your Pabst Blue Ribbon, a buck a pint, called Borgio. The scene was mellow. One of the Coldplay cover bands took the stage and belted out three Coldplay hits and two Radiohead songs. The crowd went crazy. Somewhere in the mix, a strange feeling of mimesis hit me. Mongolian life isn't life, it's imitation of life. Everywhere I look it's a cheap knockoff here, an imported car there. The TV channels merely rebroadcast what other countries are playing, with bad overdubbing. In a land with about 15 million sheep, they import their feta cheese from Albania.

Well the weeks are winding down. I have two more weeks here and then I pack up my bags and head for Beijing, that puke-town of my recent past. I hope I can stomach it again. I remember yearning for Ulaanbaatar when I was gasping for air in Beijing. Now I'll take the hustle and bustle of Chinatown if it means I'm almost home.

While reading "Steppenwolf," I came across an excellent quote that I identified with:

"Our homesickness is our only guide."