Day 23

Easy as a-b-c

After 2 days in the apartment, I thought I was desperate to get out. After 5 minute trip round the corner to buy bread & milk I realised I was desperate to get back to the apartment. I managed to stay upright on the ice & made it back to the warm quite swiftly. I was glad I'd waited until Ray arrived home from work & not attempted to drag the children with me... They are really not keen to go our when it’s this cold and the trauma of getting them all dressed up for such an outing was more than I could bear. It then turns out that I didn't buy milk after all but a random carton of yoghurt that definitely said milk... So perhaps it was just slightly sour milk! I'm glad I drink my coffee black.

The children are all doing well & enjoying learning at home for a change... Rebekah survived her weekly spelling & times tables test & Matthias is very enthusiastic about letters, words & huge numbers! Kyria is eager to copy what they are doing although she had more fun with the play dough we made today.

Ali

 

Desperately trying to clear the lecture preparation for next week, but then also had to write the exam questions. Why are the school bodies wanting exam questions so far in advance? It’s a real pain, because I haven’t pitched part of the material and not sure how well they will respond to the lecture part, which I incorporate some tutorial style questions and then can figure out how well they could potentially do (or not). Got a few hectic days to start the week, then will try and clear some of the backlog. Only then can I start thinking about forming a PhD programme strategy and also organising my own research. So much to do, which is great. Little concerned about having finished everything and then twiddling my fingers. We find ways of occupying ourselves; today’s meeting involved a select few of us playing meeting phrase bingo. Actually it kept us alert for key phrases to cross off (surreptitiously). I’m just not sure of the ground rules about drawing such key phrases out of the rest of the attendees. I didn’t win. Wynter and I got together beforehand for a little focus talk and things seemed to run smoothly as a result. Reflection moments after the meeting mainly centred on just how much is needed to be set-up at NU before it can be improved. Still, a great opportunity.

 

A much needed weekend has arrived. But this promises to be rather busy too. However, spending this time with Ali and the children is fantastic.

Ray

Day 22

Not a day of relaxation. Had to manufacture a nano-based experiment for undergraduate labs, but with half the equipment needed and very limited chemicals. Had several lengthy meetings with staff and students. A number of lectures to prepare for next week. And other projects starting to build up because I cannot clear the current, immediate workload quick enough.

Still, met up with Jason today and had a chat about being foreign in Kazakhstan. He’s studying cultural anthropology and been in Kazakhstan for a couple of years. We also talked about faith and practising in Kazakhstan and some of the approaches to acceptable and unacceptable self-conduct, implications for foreigners and locals, the direction the government is taking. Also about some recent news developments that highlight several concerns. It is difficult to phrase anything in a public setting and the reaction can cause a lot of problems. I’ve said before that it doesn’t seem oppressive, but one wonders whether that is purely for foreigners – though being detained would never be a pleasant experience and they could ask us to leave the country if we are found guilty. There is a polar reaction by the foreigners and subsequent handling of conduct; those that don’t care and continue on and those that lock everything down and wont mention anything via email, SMS, etc. I would like to stay here for a while. I believe I can make a positive contribution in Kazakhstan. So I hope we find the right balance.

Also met up with my sponsor from last year’s trip to Almaty, but he reminded me of a book that we promised to write which now has to be completed this year. So, alas, more work. He also wanted me to come down to Almaty for 2 weeks to give another series of intensive lectures and also meet up with our shared PhD student. Nice to be in demand.

Went out for a meal this evening with my Dean and Vice Dean and Zulkhair Mansurov to an excellent German style restaurant across from Café Rafe. The food was great as was the company. The mixture of a Kazakhstani, a Ukrainian, a Dutch and a Brit was quite interesting. The evening was only let down by the restaurant organising the taxis back to our respective homes. I was with Alfred (my Dean); we went to Highvill first and then to Riverside. This left me paying the bill. Whilst I was trying to drive the cost down, the fact that the taxi driver didn’t speak English, nor the restaurant confirming the price, paying 3,000 tenge was far too much. All things considered, £12 for a trip across the city at night with the wind chill factor at minus 45 degrees C, I am happy to pay. Had I just insisted that I contact the university and get them to organise it, then this wouldn’t have been a problem. Perhaps that’s the downside of going on the town with full Professors. Plus I will have to pay my share of the meal tomorrow as NU doesn’t allow business entertainment expenses to be reclaimed.

Ali had a long quiet day and is happy that her husband is home and safe. (I think she is too tired to phrase something for the blog. Please stay tuned Ali fans, she'll be back tomorrow!!!)

Ray

Day 21

Went shopping with 3 children and managed to top up my phone all by myself. Please bear in mind that the only languages for the mobile phone topping up service was Kazakh and Russian! Okay so I did have 2 ladies that did try and help me. One of those didn’t speak any English. Trying to find where the taxi was to pick us up and take us home from Mega Ramstor turned Kyria into floods of tears through the extreme coldness. Despite the 1 mile journey, the 800 tenge (£3.50) was totally worthwhile. Oh, the iPad didn't come out today, which is a miracle with our children.

Ali

Day started off with no lights. No electricity. Matthias was extremely upset that I didn’t wake him for breakfast (great father-son times), but I had to get myself ready by torch light, which was hard enough. But after one email (thank goodness for iPads), the manager in charge of NU residents at Riverside had the workmen organised and everything sorted out by the time I got back home. Guessing it’s all part of the service.

Hyper busy today. Took a good 20 minutes trying to sum it all up for Ali over dinner. I received some student feedback on my lecture via the coordinator of that module. He reported positive things, which is helpful. Pity I didn’t have it in writing to put it on file.

So got lots done during a frantic day. One frustrating matter was having to contact HSBC in Astana to find out what was happening with my account. Found out that they need a letter from NU finance. Wondered when (or if) they were going to contact me to let me know. I am sure someone with a lot more experience of Kazakhstani bureaucracy will laugh at my Westernness.

It might seem an age ago, but December is often accompanied by Nat King Cole’s (or should it be Wells and Tormé’s?) The Christmas Song. Anyway, I met Jack Frost’s ugly cousin. The one they don’t sing about. Jack Hammer was prowling around this evening on my walk to and from the supermarket, ready to take as many pieces of me as he could. Minus 30 ^oC, with a slight wind, smashed through the many layers. I did purchase a decent pair of skiing gloves and extra inserts and still could feel the wind biting off my finger tips. You simply cannot afford to go out ill prepared and even properly dressed, you don't stay out for long.

Still the trip was worthwhile. Had a major decision to make. Wanted to get some salami. They don’t have any sliced up and packaged, so had to choose from the array of sausages. The final choice came down to one with a picture of a cow on. And the other with a picture of a horse on. Guess which one I finally went for?

Ray

 

Day 20

The reason why Ali is hibernating

We had our first visitors today. And for those of you who know us well, you'll know that's a good thing! We love having people over. So the children showed their new friends around the apartment & had a great time playing together (after they'd finished all their school work of course!)

The temperature outside is -26 degrees C and falling so I certainly won't be venturing outside tonight. In fact I haven't ventured outside all day, which is most unusual for this 'fresh air freak'! But I'm most content to just watch the snow from the window for a day or two.

Ali

Okay, so that was really weird. Gave a 2 hour lecture this morning on physical chemistry. The pitch was about right, though could have stretched them a bit more. But after I finished some of the students applauded me. And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t in thanks for having finally finished the lecture. Inevitably, there was a Boltzmann distribution of students who engaged with the lecture material. But some who didn’t even bring any writing material. Turns out the attendance for lectures is mandatory, though I’d rather they just didn’t bother. Next week I give a bit more phys chem, which will be accessed. Got a few days to prepare for it, so hopefully can figure out how to make physical chemistry interesting.

Got my first departmental meeting of academics this Friday. Quite excited by the prospects, but I doubt the feeling will last.

Ray



Day 19

So today was a much less adventurous, more peaceful day. The furthest the children & I ventured was down to the third floor balcony for a quick play on the swings to clear our heads & let off steam. It does seem a shame to spend half an hour putting everyone's snow gear on for a quick 10 minute play! I need to teach them to dress for the elements quicker!

I had an interesting conversation with 2 cleaners who knocked on my door. I'm not sure whether they were telling me I shouldn't leave my rubbish outside in the corridor, or whether they were offering to take my rubbish away from the corridor or whether they wanted me to pay them for taking my rubbish away from the corridor. Nevertheless, we all smiled sweetly, I didn't pay them and there was no rubbish there later! I do feel I should make some time to review the little amount of Russian I used to know.

This evening I am currently attempting to watch 'Call the midwife' on BBC iplayer. Considering the technological age we are supposed to live in, it seems particularly complicated to me. Nevermind, I have a good book!

Ali

It's cold outside and there's no kind of atmosphere...

Sheer exhaustion / fatigue. Feeling very much like Garfield’s dislike for Mondays. Trying to wade through work in NU and finishing work off in Brighton is very draining. Preparing lectures for tomorrow morning was only made easier by having done similar things, but I still don’t know how good these students are at chemistry. They are bright and capable, but pitching the material requires some form of iterative process, but the first lecture is usually hit or miss. I am not sure why third year undergraduates are only just starting their studies of chemistry. I would have thought that for a chemical engineering course, knowing something about chemistry should have started in year 1. But what do I know?

I'm all alone, more or less...

I’ve been looking at the work site across the street from us; they never stop. It was minus 15 and falling, they work all hours of the day & night and progress is being made. Do they complain? Well, not publically. I believe quite a few groups in the UK could benefit from this proactive attitude and stop complaining about the conditions. We’re all after equality, we all long for fairness no matter what our position in life, but where’s the reality in that? Enjoy what you do have, you’ll miss it when it’s gone and trust me, you have a lot.

Ray

 

 

 

 

 

Day 18

The bus ride takes its toll on unsuspecting travellers

Saw a bit too much of Astana than we wanted today. I had checked out the bus routes online and found a selection to get us from home to our gathering and back again. So when we got on one of the intended buses, it decided to head north and keep going for about 45 minutes. We were then kicked off the bus and had to stand at minus 10 ^oC for about 15 minutes not knowing what was happening next and there was almost nothing in the local area. Of course I had not dressed appropriately for that having expected only a few short walks between the bus and our destinations. We tried phoning the university, but they did not know where the number 18 line ended. We then jumped on another 18 bus, but it was far smaller and older than the first so all the windows were frosty; I presume that the driver’s window was clear, but I cannot swear to it. Sensory deprivation only added to our anxiety. We couldn’t communicate with the conductor effectively, but after 30 minutes a kind lady took pity on us lost, tired and hungry Brits and eventually we got off back where we started near the gathering. A short while later we found a better bus and our home.

The children were fantastically well behaved, not having eaten anything, going past lunchtime with only a Polo mint to keep them occupied (thankfully not shared!). But rather emotionally draining as we couldn’t guarantee whether the bus would ever head back into the city or push on towards Chelyabinsk.

It was probably the tiredness, but I was not too happy with an old lady trying to ensure that Kyria was well wrapped up on the bus. I am sure she meant well, but I was more concerned about making sure we made it back home before nightfall. Still, the teenagers on the bus practising their English and bumping into someone who studied in Malaysia (and therefore spoke good English) made up for it on the final leg. How difficult is it for foreigners to visit the UK? I recall being on a train and the conductor not having any patience with some foreigners; not that I could have helped. My heart went out to them at that time. I am sure some Kazakhstani’s heart went out to us in our plight. Do feelings need to turn into actions otherwise we’re left with well-meaning ineptitudes? Do incomplete actions really help, even if our heart is in the right place? Having the full care package at the right time and in the right place must be such a rarity that one is compelled to partake. Remember the Samaritan.

Can we stretch 3 weeks to 3 months? And 3 months to 3 years? We’ve all warmed up and ready to find our beds. It’s a start.

Ray

Day 17

Taking stock of what we miss, after friends and family comes UK supermarkets. The range here is limited by comparison and of course it’s the little things that can make the big difference. You don’t really multi-buy in Kazakhstan and there isn’t the varying range of Tesco Value to Tesco Finest. Despite a lot of the foodstuffs being cheaper, it’s the psychological change of having to shop little and often and not being able to vary by going for something that little bit special. I guess we are limited by the language as I did see some great looking steak at the counter. I want to get Mexican spice, Oxo cubes, peppered salami, tiger loaf with salt and pepper crust, Paxo stuffing. I will not pine for these so I guess that coming back to the UK will make these items even more glorious. Adjusting taste buds is all part of the experience of travelling and living in other countries and I am sure that after a while there will be things we miss about Kazakhstan food that we cannot get elsewhere. Right now it is probably a drink called Bio-C, a yoghurt-Actimel blend.

A gripe is the often lack of pricing of their items in Kazakhstani supermarkets. Or today there were two prices, one which seemed to imply a discount and yet we ended up paying the higher one. The counterpoint was that we got free garlic and apples, even though she weighed them and hit various keys, they didn’t appear on the receipt when we searched it after coming home.

Had a great day out, back to Mega where Ali had found Astana’s best cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake. Does seem strange that we seem to spend a lot of time talking about food and trips out to find food. So Ali reminds me that we did play a family game of Crazy Chefs, so I guess the food theme continues! Then we watched Princess Diaries 2, which doesn’t have a lot of food in it, unless you swap a few letters and you get Crisps ‘en Dairies.

Ray

 

Day 16

Goodnight sweetheart well it’s time to go

It’s felt like a long week and just after lunchtime I ran out of energy. Needed chocolate, but there is no immediate snack shop, unless venturing outside. I am happy to become one with the elements, but perhaps not a 6 month temporary statue. Ali and the children came to NU for pizza. The children were very excited to see my work and they drew quite a few stares (and smiles) from the students. Ali is gaining confidence in trying taxis and buses, although yesterday’s exploits gave cause for a little concern. As we said before, the locals take good care of children, so when she got onto a crowded bus, the children were whisked away to suddenly vacant chairs, leaving Ali to wonder if she would get them back in time to get off the bus. Taxis are cheap by UK standards and NU’s service means that they call you when the taxi arrives and tell you what taxi number it will be, so that no-one can deceive you. Great service and no annoying beeping from the street.

I hate to leave you, but I really must say

Goodnight sweetheart, goodnight

Trying to stay on top of the workload is a strain and need real direction as to how to find balance. When kissing Kyria goodnight, she has taken to pushing me away and telling me to go back to the computer and do my work! Not having been here that long and I’ve already got an evaluation of my lectures next week. I get to have one of my colleagues and the Dean sit in on a physical chemistry lecture. Only downside is I haven’t met the students for this module and do not know their capabilities. Plus I have little time to think about how to be creative with so many other projects needing immediate and urgent attention. Thank heavens that I now share an office with Wynter, who is charismatic and ever joyful.  

The children seemed to have adapted to life in Astana, albeit early days still. Within a fortnight they have met with children of similar age and Rebekah is off to her first birthday party next weekend. Funnily enough to a girl called Olivia. As you can tell from the pictures, they are feeling a lot more comfortable now that their Build-a-Bears have turned up.

We’re running out of Marmite. Ali has heard there might be a shop in Astana that sells it, but I reckon it is nothing other than speculation. Might have to go hunting tomorrow.

Ray

Day 15

Our first post hit the mark

Another hectic day, but a lot of fun too. Set a test in the second week of semester and really amazing how seriously the students take all their assessments. It has a lot to do with their stipend; supposedly if they get poor results they get kicked out, if they do okay then their stipend is delayed, if they do really well then they get their stipend on time. It may not be the best motivation, but it works. Part of the difficulty at NU is to get the students out of the habit of cheating. Whilst it seems an obvious thing not to do, apparently it stems from an attitude of helping your friends not to fail; the distinction is culturally orientated. I gave them a more relaxing lecture afterwards where they built C₆₀ models in the quickest time. It went down well with the students who all were eager enough to stay another 20 minutes after the lesson had finished trying to complete their models.

Soft play Astana style

It is with great sadness that we report that the last of the Galaxy we brought with us to Kazakhstan has now been eaten. Thanks so much to Daren and Lucy Ransley for the emergency rations! We will attempt at some point to order through Amazon and see if they deliver to Astana. We have found online shopping, but still negotiating with the expats as to how it is best to use the service, given that we have apartment managers and a University Support Team that can translate for us. It’s a little complicated and would rather get an Indian takeaway, but that just isn’t popular over here. For those that know me, you’ll know I have just cause to get a bit excited. Ali went out with the children to the local shopping centre Ramstor Mega, managing the bus ride without me (well done gorgeous!) and met up with some other expat mums in Astana. Ali reported back that she has found the allegedly best burger and milkshake in the city, oh and found the mums have children of similar age to ours and potential has some coffee morning and home-schooling partners and some such other details (she’’ll fill you in later).

It's cold outside, but lovely and warm inside with hugs

Our first post arrived today. Thank you so much to the Fuggles for the card – very funny and wonderfully appropriate!

I’m guessing we should learn Russian. Those NU academics that have been here for a while fall into two camps. Those with children and those with plenty of spare time to have Russian lessons. I wont make a big deal of it, but it is really hard finding the time when I should be spending what spare time I have making sure that my family is happy. We’re in no rush to get back to the UK so there is a chance we can start the Russian lessons at some point in the next few hundred days.

Let us know if the blog colour combo is okay J

Ray

 

Day 14

Studying fluid mechanics at home!

How to make it feel like Christmas: Remove all your children’s toys, pack some of them into boxes and then deliver them three weeks later!  Could save us an awful lot of money next Christmas!  So our boxes arrived to our apartment and we are reunited with some of our long lost bits and pieces.  I’m wondering how long it will take for things to become untidy now we have more stuff. 

Working hard at least there's plenty of room

Today was incredibly cold and snow fell for at least the whole afternoon.  We stayed indoors in the warm and after school for the morning the children just played (no ipads, computers, phones) for hours.  This is one of the reasons I’ve always liked the idea of home-schooling... so much more time to play! They spent at least 2 hours pretending the apartment was a swimming pool... pretty much flooding their bathroom in the process.

We did have another early evening adventure for some fresh air and more milkshake (2 days in a row is dangerous) with Ray and one of his work colleagues. Then back to the warm again!

Ali

 

Day 13

It's getting colder!

So the children and I abandoned a trip we planned today to a toddler group (for Kyria to perhaps find a friend!) in order to await the arrival of our boxes. Surprise, surprise... The boxes didn't arrive! Never mind, we had school as usual and stayed in the warm, which was perhaps sensible considering the rapid drop in temperature.

By the time Ray arrived home however we were definitely experiencing a little cabin fever (my shipmates will empathise!) so we all escaped to a local cafe for milkshake. Fortunately the cafe is about a 3 minute walk away & by the time we arrived I could no longer feel my nose & was seriously envying the children's balaclavas!  Milkshake & coffee & some great family time much appreciated though:-)

Ali

Crikey it’s become very busy. Whilst trying to find my feet, I’ve been landed with additional lectures next week in physical chemistry and trying to organise a lab session with no chemical reagents in our school and set problem questions. My Head of Department wants to evaluate my lecturing capabilities at some point in the next month. A number of funding deadlines rapidly approaching, which I need to write proposals for. Just been handed a PhD programme to develop for Advanced Materials Design and Engineering, which needs to be written in two weeks time. I haven’t even met my TAs (we get assistants! Although not sure what they really assist in yet) or my tutees. And I still have a whole load of marking to do. I’ve been drafted in to recruitment interviews for the actual chemistry department this coming week., which could take place at all times because of our remote location with the rest of the world. Meetings with local companies that don’t speak English. Set exam questions for early next month. Ordinarily I would not mind being busy, but I haven’t even been here 2 weeks. It’s never an easy thing this work-life balance. I derive a lot of joy out of interesting science. I just hope I get a chance to do some again real soon. Alas had to sacrifice my evening just trying to clear the back log. Just hope I have enough time to focus of preparing the lectures properly next week.

Was challenged in the lift on the way down to the bus this morning. Some guy in mathematical modelling decided to berate me for giving thermodynamics lectures to chemical engineers given that I am only a chemist. Not having properly woken up at that point and not having any coffee in my system, I was not particularly receptive to such warm overtones. After asking him why he thought that the principles of thermodynamics should suddenly change when going from a chemical reaction to an internal combustion engine, I decided that there was something wrong with this gentleman’s attitude and ignored his rather incredulous defence that engineering wasn’t really science. I told him to consider that his thoughts were exactly the problem in the department when trying to separate chemistry from chemical engineering, but then walked off before he could come up with any more diatribe. Yup, we even get them in Outer Mongolia.

Minus 25 ^oC is an experience. We really should buy a thermometer. With the wind, the chill factor makes it feel like minus 38 ^oC (according to wunderground.com). Alas I'm just not interested in venturing outdoors at this time of night.

Ray

 

 

Day 12

If anyone needs to ship anything anywhere, especially the far flung reaches of Outer Mongolia, I recommend DHL. Exactly 2 weeks have passed since sending our personal possessions to Astana. It felt like firing your belongings into a black hole with almost no detailed communication being relayed back other than “Status update, customs event”. Nicely mysterious. Then all of a sudden, a phone call is made to the NU staff, some extra customs declaration forms arrive for signing and then a few days after that they have dropped off 6 hefty boxes in NU reception. The trouble with the speed is that we still are awaiting confirmation of when we will move on campus. So the boxes will have to come to Riverside, be opened up so we can live and then everything packed away at some point when the move occurs.

Okay, so we have not actually seen the contents. I’m assuming they are in good order and not replaced with sheep’s heads. Hopefully tomorrow we will be reunited with the exciting things that we decided to post, like my metal whisks! Poor Wynter Duncanson; she's been here a while and still waiting for things to get through.

I know it’s a new university, but still surprised at the disunity within the school of chem. eng. I would have thought that stronger steps would have been taken to ensure we are working together. So it is down to the individuals who are like-minded enough to join forces and deliver consistent content to the students. After seeing an email about me but not to me (super hacker that I am ;-) I had to nip the discussion in the bud and made sure that certain individuals knew that I knew what they were trying to play.

We are a way off from getting our research facilities organised, so there may be an opportunity to go to a partner university in UK for a few months to get some lab work done. I’m also thinking about Japan too. Or perhaps Hawaii. Not sure if any of it will be approved. They have strict policies that cannot be altered easily or quickly. Software that I really need cannot be purchased until possibly after June when a budget update is made. Must always plan in advance. At least I have a PC arriving with some of the software on it - assuming it survived the flight from London using DHL.

Ali has nothing specific to report today, but she is fine!

 

It's Monday, which means Steve Whits has written. Looking forward to catching up on Eastbourne news.

Ray

 

Ps. It should be possible to comment now. Blogger not really clear on its security definitions.

Day 11

Up too early, but got back to sleep unexpectedly. Then a frantic dash to get out of the door and find a bus for a meeting at a curry house. It is difficult to know how much one should write about church. The Kazakhstani follow a code of tolerance, which means you cannot make another person feel awkward in a given situation. Plus there is I feel, to a certain extent, an intrinsic mistrust of any belief if it falls outside of Islam (except extremism, though any form of extremism is dealt with severely) and Russian Orthodoxy. Various guide books and a few people I met when in Almaty last year say that Islam is not strictly followed by many, but the culture has been heavily influenced by nomadic Turkish Islamists. Those expats from the church that have been here say they would exercise caution whether in public, on the phone or by email. Whilst the congregation know they are being monitored, the expats do not want to bring greater attention on local attendees with careless words. That being said, the pastor is known to the government branch that deals with religious organisations and there is dialogue about activities, but it is not aggressive. We’re not forced underground. But we do have to follow certain guidelines in order to hold meetings. So whilst writing this blog of reflective experience, I wonder if there are government officials that would read these words? What do they look for?

Anyway, we went. What, by comparison, it lacks in style, size and sophistication of Kings Eastbourne, it is no less passionate. Singing in Russian with occasionally a few English slides, leaves a number of songs where we play, guess that tune. I really could do with a gift of tongues.

It is curious what certain rights groups have to say about certain countries. One might think that it is far better in their home country, but then fail to appreciate the depths of problems that exist there because they are not part of that social group, or not located in that part of the city, or not at the mercy of that level of deprived living. Or simply fail to recognise the controls that their government have on society because they have grown used to it. Some are critical of countries where you cannot speak your mind, but I contrast this with the myriad of reports where individuals who have done just that in the UK and have wound up in jail.

Whilst we try to understand the Kazakhstani customs a little better, there are several things so far that I find are positive. You cannot appear drunk in any public area. You cannot gamble outside any regulated establishment. You cannot drink anything alcoholic and drive. You don’t see in appropriate reading material near any children’s section. We are only a few days in and a long way to go. We are in a fortunate position that if there are things that we do not agree with very strongly, then we can leave.

It's about to get a lot colder. Wednesday forecast -20 ^oC by day 

.

Just had an unpleasant experience. I brought a bottle of wine. Shared a glass with Ali. Then found out it must be a mead. I missed the 16% sig on the label. Neither of us can stomach it. Perhaps it’ll be useful for cooking.

Ray

Had a fabulous weekend with my family. I enjoyed my first sledge down the hill. Been really nice not to have to work at everything, e.g. DIY, washing car, packed lunches, etc. Pending Monday blues are the same no matter what country. Ray is having to go to work, but should be a little easier when we are all on campus and we can see him some lunch times too.

Ali

Day 10

Mother ship calling me home. Now
making up for lost time...

A better day by far. More relaxed in getting up. A day of hiding behind all things Western. Well almost. We did our first bus trip, without a translator, going from Riverside all the way up to the Ramstor Mega shopping centre, about 1 mile away. Had just enough time to step on the bus, pay the conductor before stepping off again. One might question our lack of resolve to walk it. But a mile of walking in -6 ^oC with a 3 year old would be rather silly. Heck, a 39 year old was complaining just going from the bus to the store! Once again we were impressed with how Kazakhstani take care of the young. The bus driver wouldn’t pull off until we were all safely stood on board. Adults gave up their seats for the children. The driver waved the children off the bus.

The Ramstor Mega had all the niceties of being back home, including a Costa and a KFC. And yes we did succumb. Also got excited about a few other stores in there too. Big toy shop, hobby shop, sports shop that sold everything from ice skates to hockey pucks to snorkels to punch bags. In particular was a shop that sold electric pianos and guitars. I promised Ali that she could have an electric piano if she came to Astana with me. Treat rewards obviously works for us adults just as much for the youngsters. Just got to wait till pay day. Hopefully I can get the guitar.

I did a mammoth grocery shopping trip by myself, taking time to consider the purchases. Actually trying to decipher Cyrillic and determine whether this can of tuna had sunflower oil, tomato sauce or brine takes a lot of time and I’m not yet sure until we open the thing if I got it right. Had a pleasant chat with one of the staff taking care of the trolleys. Hadn’t got a clue what he said.

So the early evening was filled by taking Rebekah and Matthias down to the river and sliding down the bank and across the ice. Naturally I was in my element. It is a strange allurement of snow that brings out my child-like adoration for frolicking in the stuff. I believe the children enjoyed it too. Curtailed the outing due to an invitation to a Georgian restaurant with a lot of the new and fairly new staff. So hot in there, weird lighting, awe inspiring decoration and some guy singing not too well. The food was actually great. The children sampled quite a bit. It brought to mind that having the family here in Astana plays a different dynamic to most other members of staff, so we were thankful to be included in the outing.

Where are the brakes dad?

Ray

After 7.5 years, the Whitbys are finally nappy free. Yippee!

Ali

Might have something to do with the dry weather here. We’re all dehydrated!

Ray

Day 9

Aaaaaaaaargh. Now that’s off my chest I feel much better. The day has been crazy busy and tiredness still pervades my system, which didn’t help trying to get things organized (ooops, I’m slipping into US English spelling for all my work now). For example, I have to wait 3 months before I can get a second monitor for my PC. When trying to sign up for a trip to a major supermarket through the university, I had to find the Accounting Department, but no-one seemed to recall where they put it! It wasn’t where they had originally listed it, it wasn’t where the receptionist thought it was, nor the administrator in our department nor the receptionist of the next building. After wondering the grounds in sub-zero temperatures, checking a building that had no English speaking staff, I found a security guard who had photos of most rooms and buildings on his phone. So negotiated the tickets to go to this place called METRO, only to find out that despite what the handbook said, the bus does not go to METRO from where we live! Oh and I cannot have a refund.

Sunset on Riverside. 

Ultimately, it’s only a minor thing. But it suddenly highlighted what a number of people had spoken to me about life in Kazakhstan. It had taken the edge off, but I think I saw the first signs of culture shock. Or maybe culture exasperation… And yet, we got our passports back from the Immigration Police, with the right bits now present and correctly stamped. Hoping we can proceed to tax registration and opening a bank account. The system can work and the Kazkshtani are friendly and do try to help.

We saw photos of our new accommodation. There was little excitement. We are spoiled with Riverside and now most of the new intake have heard or seen Highvill, which is very plush too. Alas, we are being kicked out of Riverside (at some point) and the new place will be relatively smaller. Got to love that word “relatively”. Here I am slightly moaning at the frustration of today and an image forms in my mind of my time in Mumbai. I took a train through the city and saw the incredible divide between the have and the have nots. How wrong I was when I thought I saw the have nots in the shanty towns, until I saw those sleeping on the streets. No walls or roof at all. Must always remember that after looking up the slope at those better off in life, turn around and look down the slope at the billions staring at you, wishing for what you’ve got.

Ali was out for coffee with Janine. She braved a taxi across the city and again to get back to Riverside (okay so the taxi was organized by the University Helpdesk). Janine and Phil have an amazing heart for Kazakhstan and with their 3 and soon to be 4 children have been living here for a few years now and were able to give Ali some great advice. There’s internet home delivery shopping! Now we’ve got to find the number of an Indian takeaway – really missing a chicken balti.

Ray

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Day 8

Classroom outdoors, letters in the snow.

We went to the play park and played on the swing.  I built a snow castle with a snow moat and a snow drawbridge.  When we go outside we have to wear a balaclava, snow trousers, snow boots, mittens, coat and hood. Matthias practised writing his letters in the snow!  Kyria played on the ... roundabout, swing, seesaw and two slides.

Love from Rebekah xxxxxxxxxxx

 I am most thankful for my cafetiere! Broken sleep and tired children... much the same as home really!  Even though we are only 6 hours ahead of the UK, the children have found it difficult to adjust and have been awake very late at night.  But they’ve slept later in the mornings than ever before.  We’re obviously trying to wake them to get them into a better pattern, although it’s tempting to sit with my coffee and let them sleep!  School in our new apartment is going well and it really is fun to have my children around all day ( I know many of you think I am mad!) We did indeed practice letter writing in the snow. I am however missing my other mummy friends back home for some adult chats and sanity.  I need to work at my Russian and find some friends!

                                    Ali

Just discovered a fantastic Kazakhstani version of Aero chocolate. Called воздушный for obvious reasons!

Ray

Day 7

Has it really been a week? Big funding deadline today within the university. Only problems I had were not yet having a computer connected to the internet, which meant I couldn’t print the forms for signing, or email the Research Office from a non-NU account, or access the online help forms. Still managed to put together a couple of proposals and collaborate with different schools within NU. These are all minor problems to be overcome. Actually convincing the reviewers is another matter. Someone sent through a copy of the evaluation criteria with an hour to go, so no hope of properly going through the scripts.

 

I’m really fighting myself not to expect standards from back home. I know the boxes we shipped here with all our possessions are somewhere in the country already (anyone remember that scene from Coming to America when all their luggage goes missing?), but cannot get in touch with anyone about them to assess progress. Actually, this is very much like home; tried contacting Eastbourne Council Tax department before and after leaving the UK and still haven’t heard anything from them. We’re also waiting to find out any repercussions about not being given our Immigration Cards at the airport. The security returned our childrens, because they didn’t need them, but didn’t return ours and because we did not know, we did not ask for them and proceeded into Kazakhstan. The major downside will be trying to leave the country without them. I get the impression that they believe we lost them, because the security have never not given the Immigration Cards to the passport holder before. I’ve search the internet for help and some of the stories paint a troubled picture. But this is in stark contrast to the experience of people we’ve spoken to, who have lived here for 3 or more years. Regardless, this is a country with their own rules and if we don’t like them then we know where to go!

 

It could be that Astana is unique in Kazakhstan and therefore things tend to go more smoothly than other Kazkhstani cities. One could almost say something similar when comparing nightlife in (for want of a better example late at night) Bradford to that in Eastbourne about safety, attitude of the police, interaction with the locals. Eastbourne is a lot more “easy going” than Bradford ever was. Not to say that Eastbourne is Shangri La. Astana is a focal point for the country and therefore the situation appears far less troubled than the goings on in other areas.

 

Nearly the weekend, hoping to get out into the snow and see some sights. Might be a little bit more awake by then. Children’s body clocks finally beginning to return to normal.

 

Ali is missing fish and chips and I haven’t had a cheeseburger in over a week! Wonder if I can get that flown into the country in a diplomatic pouch…

 

Ray

 

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Day 6

Been a tough day today. Still fighting jet lag and the office I’m in is far too hot. Been thinking of moving office to one on the lower floors where it is a little cooler. Perhaps I am too fussy, but sharing with colleagues is all a bit strange after several years in my own office. There’s a mad dash to get funding applications in for tomorrow; it was my fault when I decided that I could write a second proposal within 24 hours. But it is mostly complete. The procedures for raising funds here are not completely ironed out and trying to determine what is required is often a case of banging on several doors, opening up to see who’s inside and asking them all the questions you have. I’m not used to the ways of a new university, where everything is still undergoing constant revision. It also bespeaks of a fusion (or is it a clash?) between Kazakhstan bureaucracy and Western practises. There’s currently no infrastructure to conduct my kind of research, the ability to get chemicals in becomes a serious headache with waiting periods that could be up to 12 months. But ultimately these are challenges to be worked on and solved. Having spoken to one of my colleagues, they appeared to be very down after a couple of years of not doing anything because they felt they were unable to do anything. I couldn’t take that lying down and it will become my battle to get things set up.

The university is incredible. The city too. Without the Cyrillic everywhere, you could imagine yourself to be in any modern Western city. It put me in mind of my trip to Almaty early last year, where I gave some lectures at Al Farabi University. It is known that at present (until students start graduating from Nazarbayev Uni) that Al Farabi is number 1 in Kazakhstan. From the outside the buildings are great, but when you go inside you then see how time and lack of investment has taken hold. Little bits of equipment that we take for granted back at Brighton University are coveted and highly protected. Trying to do any advanced analysis is never going to happen because they cannot afford to replace any components or get them serviced. You go into the loos and they are (sorry to say) awful. They once were plush and new and now are to be avoided unless you have a strong constitution. But that is my concern about Nazarbayev Uni; will it happen there too? There is a chance to help contribute into making Nazarbayev Uni a leading light in this part of the world and over a longer period of time within the top 500 world rankings. Over the coming years there will be a large influx of top end analytical equipment; HRTEM, SEM, XPS, etc, all the kit that I dreamed about. All the necessary machines required to take my research to the next level. I guess it is whether one can change some of the red tape to streamline the development cycles or whether one can endure the paperwork, work the system whilst exercising great patience in waiting for that chemical to turn up.

Ray

Day 5

No school run!

I have to say I didn’t particularly miss the Monday morning dash... alarm clocks, school uniforms, packed lunches and dragging 3 children with pushchair and scooters to their schools! 

We had a much more sedate start although I am probably being kind to them while they continue to get used to local time and recover from the changes of the last week.  We waved Ray off to work (he did need an alarm clock!) and then relaxed for a while before attempting our first proper morning of school.  We are somewhat limited as we are awaiting our boxes which have a few more resources and only have the basics at the moment.  So thankful for the internet... I certainly didn’t have that 12 or 13 years ago when I was trying to teach children at sea for days at a time!  Anyway we all survived and had a fun day together.

On a very mundane note we managed two loads of washing which was miraculously dry by the end of the day... since we are used to constantly trying to prevent damp in the UK, it’s a novelty to be in such a dry climate that we’ve been advised to buy ourselves a humidifier!

Ali



Do we pluck up the courage to buy local poultry or
chicken out? Rather inexpensive though, £3 for
several chicken breasts or one whole chicken.

What’s cheap and what’s not. Perhaps it is sad, but we’re trying to keep tabs on what everything costs and compare to what’s back home. Ali and I really liked the noodles we found in the supermarket the other day, but then spent quite a few minutes trying to translate the Russian on the receipt in order to find the price. Possibly would have been easier to walk back to the supermarket to see, given that it was well hidden on the receipt. Like most places, we find that Astana has many cheaper products and anything imported is usually more expensive, but not ridiculously so. There is a bio-market in the same building that we live in and going round there was painful; so many nice things at three times the cost of what you could get in the local supermarket.
 

Anyway, on the cheap side we found beef, chicken, noodles, bread, coca cola, quite a lot of chocolate. On the more expensive side fruit and vegetables. So who needs to eat really healthily anyway?

Ray

Day 4

Going round in circles?

Took a little while for everyone to wake this morning, so up against the clock to make it to our destination. Becomes a little difficult to describe the day; not sure how much we can really divulge. Apparently we go to a Sunday thing where there is a children’s programme and some fries and tea for the adults. Then we went next door to a restaurant with a few others that attend this Sunday thing for more fries, and a calzone, and a pizza. And then back towards the apartment for another Sunday thing in a different location.

We had heard about Kazakhstani people taking an interest in children when they feel they are not dressed properly. So today was our first experience of it. Kyria was on a bus (yes, we survived a city bus, but used a friend to guide us through to the right one) and coughing and didn’t have her hat on. The conductor spoke to me and I smiled, but someone else translated that she wanted to know if Kyria had a hat and she was concerned about her coughing and the temperature outside. It didn’t feel like they were nosy, but probably that was due to some foresight and preparation on Kazakhstani customs.

As foreigners, we do stand out. Perhaps having our friend from the US made the contrast stark. She finds being black in Astana is quite a novelty for the locals and they do tend to stare. She finds it quite funny. I find it curious as a study of the diversity in humanity. I guess this was tempered by hearing someone’s testimony today; a Kazakh lady who is on missionary work in Afghanistan as a medic. Why mention this? Over here, if a Kazakh man is introduced to a Kazakh lady, often they will not shake their hands, so last year on my visit to Almaty I made sure I shook hands with anyone I was introduced to. What the missionary was saying was that if a Kazakh lady is working in Afghanistan, is single and a Christian then she is lowest of the low. It seems cruel, alien, lamentable. Pick your word. She didn’t like it and wanted to leave many times this past year. She went on to say that even between a male doctor and female patient almost no interaction occurs and this is why she is there. Female doctors are a rare thing. She is willing to give up her comfort and security in order to provide care, love and connection to those in greater need than hers.

How feeble that made me feel. How thankful for what I have.

Ray