Ira got home from work a little tired, and asked me to cook tea. Normally I am happy to oblige, as it often means I get to eat the sort of thing Irina does not like as much; however today I too am feeling a little knackered. Solution? Order some food from a cafe that delivers. This will only be the second time we have done so in this country, so I will update this post with details of how good it was a little later. I appreciate that people in Western countries would think nothing of ordering a Chinese/pizza etc. to be delivered to their home, but it is still definitely something of a novelty over here. They luckily had sashliq and chips on the menu, so unless it is stone cold, or smothered in scary vegetables, I should be happy 🙂 .
PS Yes I know I have categorized this post under Eating ‘Out’, but I don’t have a separate category for ordering ‘in’ 🙂
As the 25th October was Republic Day (celebrating the signing of the papers that made Kazakhstan an independent nation, following the collapse of the USSR, and most people had Friday off as well, this Sunday is a work day here. This is not unusual, as instead of having a random day of the week off, then working, then having the weekend off, they tend to consolidate the days off, meaning everyone gets their days off in one stream. This still seems odd to Westerners, but as I would have been working on the blog anyway, it makes little difference. As I don’t work Fridays with the language school, I told them I would not be in the office today (which is a replacement work day for the ‘extra’ Friday we had off this week).
Oh, and for any friends or family thinking of calling us, back in Britain the clocks went back to GMT again today, meaning that we are now 6 hours ahead once more in Kazakhstan.
Irina seems to be happy with her new mobile phone, a Motorola Razr2 v8 (I better go and check that I have actually got that model name right 🙂 ). It was a delayed anniversary present; the reason for the delay is that you can not yet buy it here in Kazakhstan. I could have ordered it and had it posted to our flat here in Astana, however using the normal post system involves long delays and visiting the Post Office to pick it up – assuming the postal workers do not ‘accidentally’ mislay it. That said, I have not heard stories of birthday cards arriving, with the money missing, as used to happen. So, when I visited Britain I picked on up there, and gave it to Ira on my return to Kazakhstan.
The phone does not have a memory card slot, but given that it has almost 1/2 gig of internal memory, Ira decided that this was one feature she could live without, for the sake of the sleekness of the phone. As she does not store multiple movies or a large collection of programs on her phones, the lack of expandable memory was not a problem. I remember when phones had external slots for an SD card. This meant changing from one card to another was fast and easy. The first phone I had with a memory card was my current one – a Orange C550 (actually a rebadged HTEC Hurricane), but as with most similar phones now, you have to remove the battery to gain access. This phone took mini-SD cards, which use the same electronics as their bigger and older brother, a normal SD card. However, phones have since moved on, and many now sport a micro sd slot. Again, the card is simply a smaller version of a mini SD card, and you can use adaptors to insert it into a standard USB card reader, or into a PDA. Personally, I prefer memory cards that are not smaller than my thumb nail, but that is more due to my tendency of losing things – the smaller the object, the less easy it is to find. I suppose if the memory capacities continue to increase, and the price premium is not too great for physically smaller cards, there is no real loss.
OK, this is one of the last posts I will make whilst in Kazakhstan, so I intend to use it to catch up with a few articles, videos and sites I have been meaning to post about in the last few weeks. Otherwise I will return in a little under a month, and forget all about them probably…
BBC article on the growth in high tech online crime. Article on 50 Cent’s promise to quit, which he gave prior to his album being beaten to the UK#1 spot.
Related article on fiddy postponing his European tour.
Cool article on speech to sign language translation software. Most impressive.
Another article, this time on how DNA data could be at risk if funding organizations succeed in twisting researchers’ arms. Article on how Chernobyl is to receive a new steel cover.
Were they pushed, did they jump, or were they stage managed dives? Check out a little background info here on the continuing political family soap opera that is Kazakhstan… Article on beloved uncle Pres Nazarbayev not being nominated for the Nobel prize. Never mind, he got a consolation prize.
From 3 weeks ago, an article on arrest warrants being issued over the Aliyev case. Piece on two bodyguard’s return to Kazakhstan and their confession live to the media. (Related to Aliyev’s alleged criminal activities).
VOA (Voice of America?) summary of the recent elections held in this country.
Is Kazakhstan to follow Russia’s example by moving in on, or at least re-negotiating contracts with, Western oil and gas companies? The International Herald Tribune’s website has a report on the goings on.
Reports from foreign diplomats/govt workers on Astana and Almaty. I had especially wanted to give these two pages their own post. Some of the information is incorrect, some is simply out of date, though there are some gems in there for those considering moving to this country. I may remember to make a more detailed post when I get back half way through October.
Finally a couple of YouTube vids that caught my attention, both from members over at the channels.nl forum I believe. The first is on a man with a lot of vision, and quite a variant on the static art you’ll see in most galleries…
Secondly, we have a video that will have little cultural reference if you are not in the right age band, but is about who would win if all the super heros and villans had a big scrap. Hmm, not sold that too well, sorry. Unless you have tight bandwidth restrictions per month, trust me, it is worth listening to 🙂
I’ll not post her name until I know whether she minds, but one of Irina’s friends at work recently took part in the BG (the newer name of British Gas) Energy Challenge 2007, here in Kazakhstan. Last night Khabar had a short piece on the event in their news bulletin, so I have uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it here. The audio is in Russian, though the video is mostly self explanatory. There are rumours that some participants took this very seriously, and tried to ensure only seriously sporty types joined the teams. Others appeared to have taken a slightly more laid back approach 😉 I have also burnt the movie to a miniDVD, as well as the original raw footage to a separate disc for her. Just in case her work PC can not handle it, I decided to embed it in this post as well. My congratulations to all who took part this year.
Things had happened a little differently in Russia, around 1917? Many historians have debated as to the exact order of events around the time of the revolution, and for a long time some people claimed they were the sole survivors of the Tsar’s family.
We now know that no one survived the assassinations, however when I came across a fellow blogger who was writing short stories, I suggested alternative history as a genre, and that the main character be called Ekzhol. I have no idea if that name is viable, or even if it could mean something rude, so my apologies to anyone who either giggles or seems embarrassed by it.
Anyway, Jenn Scott has now finished the story and published it on her Before I Am Famous blog. Do check out her writings, and in case you come across this post after her story has slipped from the front page, you can access the post directly here – Preservation.
My thanks to her for taking the time to do the research and write the story, I hope my readers will consider adding her blog to their list of sites they regularly check 🙂
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…
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 🙂
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 🙂
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.
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.
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 🙂
