KZBlog

A Peace Corps volunteer has a series of great posts on cultural tidbits in Kazakhstan, which really come down to what Americans find interesting or different about habits and life in Kazakhstan.

This one cites the habit of wrapping babies up in so many layers they can’t move. I call them “potato sacks” because the only way to then carry the kid is like a sack of potatoes, as well as the politics of straws, man-purses (I don’t get it either especially in such a homophobic country), plastic bags (much the same thing), and greetings.

I would say the bit on having to greet every single man every day is a bit exaggerated. Many people do go through the office shaking hands with everyone. And occasionally someone will come to the office to talk to person X and shake hands with every man in the office. Imagine working in an office and every time a customer came in, he shook hands with everyone in the whole office. On the other hand, not everyone is quite that hardcore. And I don’t do it. If that’s annoying anyone, I haven’t heard feedback yet.

If you look under Life in KZ or Culture you can find my own observations on interesting differences between Kazakhstan and the US.