Day 3

Hello, I am Rebekah. I am 7. We are visiting Kazakhstan for 3 years. I enjoyed visiting the frozen river and skating on it and sliding. Me and Matthias are getting ready for our Princess / Princes picnic. Bye bye.

Rebekah



Awaiting chocolate milkshake and fries!

Many of you know that I am over here for work and the contract is for 3 years in the first instance, hence we said about a 1,000 days of Kazakhstan; much easier than saying 1,095 days minus holidays and travel abroad from Kazakhstan. There are many reasons for trying to run a blog, but for us, I believe it could be a useful insight for those thinking of coming to Kazakhstan or those with a family venturing forth to live abroad. That said, every family dynamic is different, so our experiences may never map onto anyone else and also that having three children (all under 8) presents challenges that most would never have to face. Perhaps it also helps maintain regular communication with those that know and love us and providing it through a blog rather than Facebook keeps our purpose focussed.

There were some at work who said that the week for expats at NU is split between NU life during the working week and Kazakhstan life at the weekend. So we survived our first day of a Kazakh weekend. We went to a local coffee shop and I remembered the word for chicken in Russian – thank heavens for 2001 A Space Odyssey! I had heard the Kazkhstani are serious and initially suspicious folk; a holdover from the Soviet days. It was a brilliant moment to walk past two dour looking men on the streets who gave us steely eyes, when Rebekah and Matthias suddenly waved and said ‘hello’. Both men broke into wide smiles and waved back.

It is possible that we are spoilt or at least well taken care of. Though we haven’t used it yet, there is a number we can phone as part of NU staff that means we can have a taxi hired, drinking water delivered, a foot massage booked. Our Russian is laughable, but we muddled through most experiences today with smiles and nods from the locals. The story of Roland Brown getting electrocuted in the shower in his first few days in Peru suddenly came to mind. What a contrast.

I keep thinking what will this culture shock look like. Is it possible that being fairly well travelled and having lived in a few countries and having my family about me that it is far easier to get on with life? There’s food and drink, running hot water, a comfortable bed in a spacious and warm apartment and the internet. Perhaps we are spoilt; not sure I could imagine doing this without the support from those here as well as those back home.

Found an alternative to Oxo cubes; not the greatest revelation, but did help!

Ray