Sep 13 2007

What I Will Miss…

Category: Amsterdam,Dasha&Kittens,Eating Out,Friends,Kazakh Driving,Kazakhstan,Personal — ChrisM @ 9:26 am

Although I’m obviously hyped up over going back to Amsterdam and Britain next Friday, my mind can not help dwelling on just how much I am going to miss some things over here in Kazakhstan

Obviously my wife, Ira, comes first. I will be away for just under a month, which will be the longest we have been apart, at least since we got married, possibly since we met. (I can’t remember the longest she ever returned to Kazakhstan without me before).

Our friends and family in this country. Although my communication with Ira’s family is still at a pretty basic level, I feel as though they have got to know me a little better at least. Not spending Saturday evenings with Walton and Asel will be strange, though I hope to make up for lost time (and steak, chips and vodka 😉 ) when I return.

Our kittens. As I work from home, Karra and Muska have someone in the flat with them nearly all day everyday, apart from Sunday’s when we visit the in laws. I recently mentioned just how much I’ve changed when it comes to cats – before moving to Kazakhstan, cats were something to look at from a distance – past a certain comfort zone, I always felt like they were liable to claw me without warning. Since we have our own cats, I have learned how to read them a little better, and when they mis-behave, I feel comfortable telling them off – not something I felt able to do with other people’s cats.

Taxis – or rather the fact that almost any ‘normal’ (read not rich) driver would consider stopping to pick up a pedestrian to earn a little extra cash. In Britain, walking everywhere is a lot cheaper than the taxis there, and other than long distance hitch hiking, your options are limited.

Irina – I know I’ve mentioned her already, but I’m not sure what life will be like without her being next to me…

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Sep 13 2007

Met With Dan

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Kazakhstan — ChrisM @ 7:53 am

Earlier this year, someone contacted me, having read 2006’s posts on the fun and frollocks involved when we sorted out my resident’s permit. Although he (Dan) had been visiting Kazakhstan (Shymkent specifically) since the early 90s, he was actually moving over here with Kazakh wife (sound familiar 🙂 ), and wanted to check if there were anything matters he should get sorted before leaving Britain. Anyway, skip forward a few months, and I heard back from him, that all was well, he had a job, and his wife seemed happy. Earlier this month, he discovered he would be driving his sister-in-law’s car to Astana, as she had moved, and wanted the freedom that a motor vehicle afforded her. We decided to use this opportunity to actually meet in the real world.
After a minutes thinking, Ira and I decided to take him to an Argentinian / Mexican / American / Italian restaurant that we had previously visited with Walton and his lovely wife. When I phoned Dan, we discovered that his journey over had been mostly uneventful, especially the sections of mile after mile of featureless steppe. Having arrived a little later than intended, he had spent the evening and early night at one restaurant, and then they had moved onto a 24hr place (actually Cafe Shymkent, weird coincidence!) and stayed there eating and drinking until 7am!
However, when we met Dan, it turned out that the restaurant he had started the previous night’s celebrations in was the same one we were heading to! It can’t have been a bad steak the night before, as he and his sister-in-law were both happy to return there. I took a long my camera to try and create another visual record of the courses we ordered, but as this was the first time Dan and I had met, I forgot all about it until the end. Anyway, Ira and I can not have made too bad an impression of your average Cheltonian and Astanite, as he repeated his offer of entertaining us should we manage to make it down to Shymkent 🙂

I couldn’t decide which of Dan’s photos to use – the smiling one with a blurry hand in concealing his face, or the clearer, less joyful expression, so have both 🙂
Dan Astana Kazakhstan 10 September 2007 Dan Again Astana Kazakhstan 10 September 2007

Now we have his wife’s sister (I forgot to write down her name, I’m sure he’ll remind me soon enough ;)), Ira and a plate of free water melon the restaurant supplied 🙂
Dan Sister In Law Astana Kazakhstan 10 September 2007 Ira Astana Kazakhstan 10 September 2007 Water Melon Arbus Kazakhstan 10 September 2007

After that we went for a drive around an area of Astana that his wife’s sister had not yet familiarised herself with yet. We both look forward to meeting up with Dan et al in the future.

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Sep 13 2007

Ildar’s Birthday Celebration

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,Pictures — ChrisM @ 5:18 am

Last Sunday we went over to Balzhan’s, to celebrate Ildar’s birthday, along with Dr Natalya, Sasha and Sveta. We bought him a board game that appeared to have a lot of instructions, as it had several different boards and rules as you progressed through the game. It will hopefully provide an alternative when his Gameboy’s batteries run out 🙂
Anyway, the adults had a nice meal, with a little vodka for some, and wine for others. I think. I remember having some nice vodka at least. Sasha is still on the offensive in terms of getting me to go fishing, though he didn’t seem to believe I really didn’t eat any fish. Combine that with my hatred of mushrooms and nuts, and I do occasionally get strange looks from fellow diners. I just hope my enthusiasm and capacity for vodka goes some way to balance it out 🙂

We have in the photos below Balzhan, Dr Natalya, her husband Sasha with Ildar and Sveta, and finally Ira.

Balzhan Astana Kazakhstan 9th September 2007 Dr Natalya Astana Kazakhstan 9th September 2007 Ildar Sveta Sasha Astana Kazakhstan 9th September 2007 Ira Astana Kazakhstan 9th September 2007

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Sep 11 2007

Ildar’s First Day At School Videos

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,Personal,Videos — ChrisM @ 8:15 pm

A little later than originally intended, here are the videos shot the day Ildar (Balzhan’s son) had his first day at school. Over here in Kazakhstan, they start going to school a little later than back in Britain – around seven years old seemed to be the average age there.
Not only is this day special for those just starting school, the last two years also attend this event, as they will soon be leaving the establishment.


First we have Ildar with his last little boy type display of the day. From this point on, he assumed the persona of a serious child – intent on learning, making his mum proud, and looking very smart. Apart from pulling faces to show off his missing milk teeth at the front 🙂 It was obviously an emotional day for Balzhan, though I believe there may have been a small amount of melodramatic acting. (She is the sports news achorwoman on the Astana TV channel, so maybe she picked up some hints from colleagues in the business?) It was quite strange seeing all the little children in their suits and Sunday-best dresses, a little different to the rag-a-muffin appearance of UK school kids at least…


Now all the children are neatly lined up in their classes, with their form tutor in front, the school decided it would be a great idea to get them to… do nothing for a long time. Again I was impressed, as the behaviour at this point seemed a lot better than I would expect from a bunch of British kids being told to stand still and be quiet. The people at the beginning of the video are Ilar’s Dad (Tima) and paternal (patriarchal?) grandparents, who came for Ildar’s special day.


We then had some motivational type speeches from kids who would soon be leaving the school – work hard, it is worth it, do as you are told etc. etc. Some of the message was conveyed by means of a little play.


At the beginning we have the school flag on display, and the children slowly wound their way into the building.

Right, that is it, no more videos are left on my hard drive to be uploaded, nor in YouTube waiting to be embedded on this blog. That said, I do need to record a new vid later on to promote one of the paid blogging companies I use… watch this space 🙂

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Sep 10 2007

Happy Birthday Tom…

Category: Friends — ChrisM @ 12:58 pm

Today Tom, of LifeOf2Me fame has his birthday. I don’t know how old he will be, so lets be nice, and assume 32? I hope today brings you the company of many friends, and that they all remind you what a great person you are to have around.
For newer readers to this blog, Tom spent some time in Astana this and last year, before moving back to America, and then taking some Afghan kids to Kyrgyzstan on a summer camp, with Walton.
I hope we manage to meet up again some time soon, in any case, don’t work too hard, and keep on being your brilliant self 🙂

Happy Birthday Tom

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Sep 08 2007

First 07 Kitten Video, Alex And A Garden

Category: Dasha&Kittens,Friends,Kazakhstan,Personal,Videos — ChrisM @ 1:52 am

Other than Ildar’s first day at school, this blog is now up to date with the videos I have shot over the last few months, at least after this post. I’m saving Ildar’s collection until I know whether or not we are meeting him again tomorrow.
Anyway, first we have Tima, the single kitten that Dasha had this year, (the brother of Karra and Muska), shot last week. As he does not live with us, I doubt he will have as many photos and videos of him on this blog, but as a few people asked what he looked like, here you go…

This is the last Alex video, taken when she visited us here in Kazakhstan. Not sure what to title this, other than possibly “Alex No YouTube”? Any other (polite suggestions)? For any fans of hers, we will hopefully have some more during our Amsterdam trip, which should also include ChrisD as well.

And the last two videos in this post are from the same day Alex visited my in-laws, here we have Irina taking viewers on a trip round the garden. Over here, especially in Kazakh (as opposed to Russian) families, gardens (if present) tend to be primarily for growing produce, rather than the British standard of lots of grass and some flowers. Anyway, take a peek, and let me know if you have any questions about the plants you see… I know nothing, but will gladly pass your requests on to Ira or her Mum, who can both tell the difference between weeds and flowers, and thereby best me with their expertise by a long way 🙂

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Sep 07 2007

Walton At Chelsea

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Pictures — ChrisM @ 11:03 pm

Last night we went to the ‘English Pub’ Chelsea, to celebrate Walton’s birthday last Sunday. It was relatively quiet, and not much had really changed in there. The prices are definitely set at foreigners and ex-pats prices, but they do good (cheese) burgers, the service is friendly, and the birthday boy wanted a nice burger, so we were happy to be there.

Breadcrumbed Hot Cheese Chelsea English Pub Astana Kazakhstan
The starter of bread-crumbed fried cheese was good, though once again all the food arrived at the same time, so it was soon ignored due to the arrival of the…

Garlic Bread Chelsea English Pub Astana Kazakhstan
The garlic bread was tasty enough, once the tomatoes were removed 🙂

Cheeseburger Chelsea English Pub Astana Kazakhstan
Although not in any way a traditional Russian or Kazakh meal, cheeseburger with chips is occasionally nice to bring back the tastes of home 🙂

Iras Starter Chelsea English Pub Astana Kazakhstan
Ira thought she was ordering a starter with this meat, though it looked more like a generously sized main course dish really…
Her actual main course of ‘Chipped fish’ turned out not to be a translation error (we assumed it would be like the traditional English fare of Fish & Chips), and Irina’s “starter” turned out to be more of a main course sized affair, but I think she liked it. As Walton had work the next day, he stuck to beer, as did Ira, but as my boss is a little more understanding, I had a little vodka.
Beer Chelsea English Pub Astana Kazakhstan Walton Chelsea English Pub Astana Kazakhstan

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Sep 07 2007

Forgot About These Ones

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,Videos — ChrisM @ 3:49 am

I had a nagging feeling I had forgotten some of the videos I uploaded to YouTube a while back. I eventually got around to opening all the posts within the Video category on this blog, then checked which videos from my YouTube channel had been posted. So we have a batch of four here, taken from when AlexC was still here in Kazakhstan, and we had all gone round to Ira’s parents for a nice relaxing evening, some food, and a little drink. I am still impressed that Alex was able to hold her own reasonably well when it came to downing vodka, considering she hadn’t had a drink in some five years!

Here we have Babushka (Ira’s grandma), her Dad, Mum, Alex, Myself, some Wild Strawberries (really little fruit that make great jam), and of course Irina filming. In fact I think she handled all the camera work for these 4 shots…

Ira’s Dad is a little old school in some respects, and so was not happy with the prospect of her chopping some wood up for the samovar§. This despite the fact that if I had done it, we would have ended up with wood splinters, sticks that were too wide to fit in the tube, blood, tears, sweat, and possibly a three-fingered Chris. Compare this to the nature loving, camping, tree-surgery-considering Alex, who knows how to handle sharp tools, and you can see why I giggled (oooops, sorry make that let out a manly guffaw…. hmmm why does that sound so unbelievable?) at the idea that I was a better choice to chop wood. Ira’s Dad did it himself in the end.

The big barbecue thing is, well a barbecue, made by the guys ar Ira’s Dad’s work. He complained that most barbecues are made for shorter people, so they made one with extra long legs 🙂 It looks like I had been demoted that day from my normal duties of burning things. hmmmm, fire, flames, burn, petrol……. sorry, where was I? Seriously, I normally manage to burn the wood well enough, as it is not too difficult task to ensure that wood is burnt well to provide the charcoal needed to cook the sashliq (skewered kebabs) later on.

Finally we have almost everyone at the table before dinner, with Babushka chilling in the reclining garden chair. Alex tries out a little Russian, and Ira tells a blatent lie – the cake can’t be have more than my 43rd!

§ – A tea urn with a difference – the heat is provided by burning wood within the tube that runs through the middle of the area that the water is boiled in. You can now buy electric versions, but there is no fun in that, IMHO.

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Sep 07 2007

Language Differences

Category: Friends — ChrisM @ 3:04 am

We went out tonight with Walton, as a belated birthday celebration for him. (I will post up some pictures when I get round to emptying the memory card again, hopefully tomorrow). One topic of conversation was the difference between UK English spelling, and how the Americans can not spell properly. OK, to be fair, I am pretty sure he defended his nation well, explaining that they know how to spell, it is just that UK English has too many un-necessary letters.
Seriously, I discovered tonight that I did not know the UK English spelling of some words, and that in fact he occasionally spells some words in UK English. For example, he would write arguement, where as the American spelling is in fact argument. It looks as though all these years of not bothering to change the default language of my spell checker has effected me, as I did not realise I had been spelling it in American English myself. In fact FireFox’s spell checker is set to UK English, and even it does not like arguement! Sometimes though, different words entirely are used, for example, in Britain, estate agents ‘help’ (sometimes) with the process of buying and selling houses, whereas in America the same job is performed by a person called a realtor. (Assuming they belong to the official realtor association).
OK, well I need to help organize my neighbor’s aluminum gray colored jewelry in the center of his apartment.
Or if you prefer to spell that as an English person…
I need to help organise my neighbour’s aluminium grey coloured jewellery in the centre of his flat.

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Sep 07 2007

Two Weeks Today!

Category: Amsterdam,Friends,Personal,Windows Mobile — ChrisM @ 2:10 am

Yep, 14 and a half days, and I’ll be waiting to board the plane from Kaliningrad to Amsterdam. I have checked with the hotel about their luggage storage facilities, and all is OK there. (I can not check into the apartment they own until 5pm, and Alex & ChrisD arrive 4 hours after me anyway.) I have tried updating a couple of GPS related PDA programs, with varying success. As I do not want to risk losing the use of the older versions, I will leave trying to fix the problems (related to .NET Framework issues) until I am back in Kazakhstan, in five and a bit weeks. I am sort of itching to sort the problem now, but I know from experience that if something works, it is best to leave until the need is not there before attempting un-necessary upgrades. Anyway, I need to double check on a few forums that I have made fair and accurate summaries of what, where and how much to spend in Amsterdam, and then make sure the data is replicated across the PDA, Smartphone and real world paper and ink 🙂 No flat battery is going to throw this break into a mess for me 🙂 I discovered that there was no point in checking for Java based GPS applets to install on my Sony Ericsson K700 (my backup phone that will have my UK SIM card in it) does not allow access to bluetooth services through JARs, unfortunately. Given that Alex is bringing her (newer) Smartphone as well, and the installation files I need are on my mini-SD mem card, I guess I’ll just have to survive somehow 😉

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