Day 51

We needed a change of scenery and wanted to see if it really was only -4 degrees C outside.  So we actually walked to the bus stop (only over the road but still a trek when it's really cold with 3 children and no pushchair!) and caught a bus about a mile up the road.  Then we just grabbed a table and a coffee in the shopping centre and had school there instead of here.  All fine for a few hours and rewarded ourselves with a little lunch to share.  The difficult bit is just motivating everyone to come home again - family trip to the toilet, snow trousers, boots, gloves, coats, hats, quick supermarket shop, ordering of taxi, waiting for taxi, searching outside for ordered taxi (the earlier warmth had then turned to a driving blizzard!), getting everyone safely inside and up to the 11th floor (praise the Lord for lifts!) - feels like an incredible ordeal when I feel totally outnumbered by my children!  But we made it and rewarded myself with a well deserved cup of tea.

Family girls and boys movie evening this evening.  Although Kyria opted to join the boys for Spaceballs instead of the girls for Little House on the Prairie - could have only been to do with their selection of chocolate, certainly nothing to do with choice of movie!

Ali

Day 50

We made it to post 50 on our blog! But it makes me think as to whether we have achieved our purpose in terms of blogging. I had hoped to introduce elements of Kazakhstani life, our family’s integration and the stresses, happiness and general experience of Kazakhstani work and wider culture. I am sure there is more, but the intervening time may become a laborious diatribe of my musings as I try and encourage Ali to share more of her day with the world or at least the regulars who access these pages on a daily basis. Numbers do shoot up anytime Ali posts.

It is possible that I have selectively defined what it means to blog. There are several reasons that one may do so and I am reminded that it should not be about the numbers. Neither should it matter whether this is hot, popular or widely accessed. It should not matter that I am not a gifted writer with such philosophical musings that would shape current and future societies. I could try and switch paths away from our original ethos and focus on science and try and develop a more specialized audience. But I am sure that would require far too much hard work. And we are some time away from getting the university ready for advanced materials research.

Anyway, getting back to Kazakhstan. It seem that we have been caught up in some Google vs Kazakh government battle, where Google had been redirecting its users away from Google.kz. In response Kazakhstan government had blocked several sites including Google’s blogspot.com. At least for the last few days (I had tried a number of Browsers and different computers). Quite strangely, access suddenly appears to have been restored. There’s a lot of politics and power shifting that goes on behind the scenes. It’ll be fascinating to watch how that spills into the public arena, though I’m sure the people of Kazakhstan will not care too much about internet access (as a nation). But the recent devaluation in the tenge will cause some headaches in the future. The government has taken steps to support the basics so far (apart from a problem with importing silky underwear, which as you can imagine has upset me greatly). My mind jumps to the current turmoil in the Ukraine (nothing to do with underwear, silky or otherwise). Though the Ukrainians I’ve spoken to do not believe that the country will split, I’m sure those same people would not have thought it possible to topple their President and his power structure. Truly amazing how so much could be accomplished by the tenacity and conviction of so few. But isn’t that something that could be said of how many of the major conflicts are precipitated?

Ray

 
Rebekah and I have just spent the last half an hour trying out the various flavours of Jelly Belly jelly beans. Ray’s work colleague brought them back from the USA this morning. A great entertainment. And a second brushing of Rebekah’s teeth. Ray reckons Jelly Belly should sue J.K. Rowling and her Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. Turns out Jelly Belly are selling Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans: https://jellybelly.com/product/596

Verdict has just come in. Best flavour: Dr Pepper!

Ali

Day 49

Gave my first ever lecture on chemical engineering thermodynamics. Thankfully Joe had prepare all the notes, but I had to make sure I understood all that was going on. I had not studied this for about 20 years and even then it was for physical chemistry rather than engineering. The students are bright and the majority are engaging with the material, which really helps. Curiously when asking about these equations conceptually, not one could come up with the correct answer. There is either a discord between their lack of chemistry to date or that these budding engineers tend to have more of a mathematic mindset. Anyway, managed to get through it all with only one minor mistake I was able to correct. So now it is a case of whether there were those that felt robbed in some way that Joe was unable to deliver the lecture himself. I may have to coordinate a whole semester of chemical engineering thermodynamics in September. Best get preparing.

Sounds like we are going to be staying at Riverside for yet another month. There are estimates that they wont move us in to the new place until the Summer or even autumn. Whilst I would not mind, Riverside is very nice for us, the maintenance costs are too high and they are subsidised 50% by the contractor who has yet to complete the our new homes. We are still in two minds as to whether to push for a 3 bedroom place at Highvill. There are families with more children than us living in 2 bedrooms at Highvill, so the chances would not be good. But at some point the issue over the lack of space in the new place is going to come to a head. Of course, must always remember that whatever we are given it is still better than the majority of Kazakhstani staff working at NU.

Still quite annoyed at Halifax. I have an ISA, a credit card and until recently a current account. Ali also has a current account there and her own ISA. I use the Halifax website to access these accounts and when I cannot pay the credit card online (I no longer have a current account and no I did not want to set up a direct debit. Whatever happened to paying with another debit card?), I could not find any way to contact them except by phoning, which I am reluctant to do from Kazakshtan, I then send an email through their complaints channel; the only email facility I could find for them. Two Halifax employees get in touch to say that I should contact my local branch in person, despite clearly stating that I was abroad for some time. Alas, it is not just Halifax that operate their businesses as though the EU is the limit of the world. But they did give me a credit card that doesn’t charge for purchasing or withdrawing money abroad. That is a rarity.

Ray

Day 48

I liken it to arriving at tescos with a baby in one arm, a pile of shopping bags in the other and a toddler hanging onto my leg only to realise that I have no pound coin for my shopping trolley. Not a huge disaster but mildly frustrating at the same time... usually frustrating that I hadn't been more organised beforehand! So today we got into a taxi thinking that we had the right change to pay for it, only to discover that we didn't. As Ray already mentioned the issue with change I knew that there was no way the driver would have change for my 10,000 tenge note (around £33). I also knew that with 3 children who can barely shuffle along when kitted out in their snow gear there was no chance of us dashing anywhere to find change. Thankfully the taxi driver was kind and I think he took pity on me and let me off the last 50 tenge when I had emptied my purse. Fortunately it was the same kind driver who came back to collect us 3 hours later, by which time we had found the only local shop and managed to get some change whilst buying some (particularly revolting it later turned out!) frozen vegetables. So I was able to pay for the next journey plus the extra I owed him for the first.

This was our first outing (except for family trips at the weekend) since last Tuesday as we've had a poorly coldy Rebekah and have hibernated lots. I am really missing getting out and walking places! We finally saw our friends and had a quick toddler group followed by an art lesson. Squeezed in a little Maths and Literacy on our return and a good skype with the grandparents and Matthias's buddy Finn. Matthias enjoyed a special Daddy / son outing this evening and all three children are now asleep and I have pg tips... bliss! Ray continues to prepare for a lecture tomorrow and be frustrated by the crazy UK bank accounts... he is muttering at the computer every few minutes!

Ali

Mutter, mutter...

Ray

Day 47

University students behaving as children. Quite funny. Wynter, my office buddy, was giving a lecture today and students were still playing with mobile phones, so they got confiscated. Not only that, but other students were busy writing up their homework for another class, so Wynter confiscated that. Their deadline was today, but they get their work back tomorrow, with minus 20% marks. Then whilst walking to lunch, these students follow us and berate Wynter for not giving clear instruction at the outset of the class that they couldn’t do their homework during class time. It is a funny culture where students can buy all sorts of doctor’s notes to get out of trouble. Only thing is that they wont be able to graduate under those circumstances. The university needs a stricter policy, because the students are pushing for so much leniency.

The other thing NU should have done was make English compulsory for all staff as well as students. Had lunch today in Eclaire only to listen to a sulking Kazakhstani who refused to speak English and honour Wynter’s polite request, which was mostly given in Russian, which he did understand. His rudeness drove me to anger as he stalked off banging his tray against a wall. Apparently he’s been doing this to Wynter and a few others for some time, which makes this situation worse. Perhaps I should stay out of politics; I would probably cause more problems than solving them, but I believe a smack round his head with his tray is in order. Ah, Australian politics here I come. But I must remember that concept of Grace. Oh yes, and practise it!

Ray

 

Day 46

Kazakhstan has run out of change. Bizarre and highly frustrating. Take a bus it will cost 60 tenge (19p). A taxi 800 tenge (£2.59). A cheeseburger meal 1100 tenge (£3.56). A loaf of bread 50 tenge (16p). 3 day shopping bill 8,500 tenge (£27.51). Denominations usually given by the cash machine 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 tenge notes. And in every place you go to buy something, they all ask for exact change. Plus most places do not accept credit or debit cards. It wouldn’t be so bad, except it feels like a recent thing and I cannot find an explanation for it. In knowing the reason, I can better face the cashier who will invariably ask me for the impossible.

So today I had a hand signed credit note from the burger stall, which I redeemed 7 minutes later for a children’s meal. I had to scrape around to find enough change to make up the cost of the meal. I thought for a moment that the cashier was going to try and say that the credit note didn’t count. Perhaps she sensed the long face and tears welling.

Had a fantastic weekend with the family. Nicely relaxing, for the most part. The battle against the weather and the frustration of having to gear up all the children in advance and timing it with the unknowns of taxi arrivals and bus departures in order to venture outdoors will be handed over to Ali for the rest of the week.

Ray

Day 45

Fighting over the milkshake

Running battles in Kazakhstan

In light of recent events in Ukraine, this may be too provocative a title. I want to reflect on other battles occurring around the world. This time it’s against the elements in Astana and keeping a family intact.

A number of text messages flooded the phone this morning, all talking (we presume) about change in weather. Getting all the children kitted up then having to wait 20 minutes for the taxi to arrive didn’t help their moods. We headed out to the Yamaha store, not knowing if it still existed. I suppose we could have emailed or dared to phone. Nevertheless, the wind had picked up and was driving the dry snow across the cityscape. Not sufficient for whiteout, but we had to walk the kids backwards to the taxi. I don’t know why drivers insist on doing so, but if a car in front is waiting for a car in front to move before it does, why does our taxi driver insist on beeping? Moreover, with conditions as severe as they were, why drive at high speed? Thankfully the store was open, though once again we had to walk the children backwards into the store through rapidly moving drifts. There were a beautiful array of shining saxophones, dazzling drums and kinky keyboards. Okay, not quite kinky.

After trying to keep the children under wraps, preventing them from smashing the drums or each other, we try and predict how long before we need to call for a cab. Waiting outside is simply not an option. But keeping children inside when they are fed up, tired and starting to snipe at each other, when the store staff are watching your every move, doesn’t feel like an option either. Thankfully Mad Max, our previous taxi driver, was straight back to move us on to the next destination.

One crazy ride beyond the thunderdome and we’re viewing guitars and DVDs at the Mega store, accompanied by a KFC. Spent the time trying to reason with Kyria that water should be pronounced water and not war'ha. I think she gets it from her mother who recently was disgusted by the frozen chips I had got from the supermarket only to realize after extensive sniffing of each chip that the mayonnaise had some form of weird herb. Anyway, I’m not sure why, but our children’s sound levels have increased. Not sure if it was due to a barometric pressure change or the guy who decided not to offer his services in selling guitars, but play his electric at ridiculous volumes. Then we had to wait for a third taxi. We had the children ready to go, but more delays. This time trying to find the taxi proved challenging. I had run around the busy car park trying to find the right number plate and noticed the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped. From minus 5 to minus 25. I eventually found the taxi, 10 minutes late, and brought the family out. 30 seconds in high wind and low temperature reduced Rebekah to tears. Thankfully the taxi driver tried to help by carrying the shopping, open the doors for the kids to get in and then dump the bags on top of Ali.

Getting everyone back indoors at Riverside to warm up, one is left with the sense that for a Saturday it had taken a lot of energy to ensure the kids were warm, protected, fed, safe, that we were in the right places with enough resources to battle the elements. I somewhat forgot this as I still had to pick up some water, so had stepped out quickly to find 20 litres. But hadn’t got my complete cold gear on. Walking out felt like my face was being slowly sliced. There is no denying it that the weather here can be brutal. One cannot afford any slip ups, even for a brief moment. We survived the day, but the battle against the weather in Astana continues.

Ray

Day 44

I believe DHL now have competition from, and you may never have guessed it, Royal Mail. First we wish to thank Julie Burr and all the Burrs for sending through our bits and pieces, which made us excited; they arrived safely and pictures have gone up on the wall. We love you and miss you greatly. We also want to thank all our Life Group for their care packages, which arrived safely today. Fantastic goodies within, which made us all excited. To Richard & Ruth, Ally & Andrew, Hannah & Owain, Bex, Liz & Philip and Gail we love you and miss you greatly.

So, when comparing the delivery services Royal Mail took 16 days and DHL took 11 days. Royal Mail was about a quarter of the price to DHL. We also thank the lovely people at the Customs and Excise office down in Almaty for taking care of these packages and getting them to us quicker than expected. (Ali also wanted to thank the Customs people in Almaty for not removing any chocolate!)

Had our first monthly maintenance bill through for Riverside, which made us quite eager to move. Though we are not paying for actual rent, the maintenance (to encompass utility, services, satellite TV (tuned only to Russian channels) the existence of a phone line, oh and the broken toilet seat cover (my bad)) did seem quite steep. Nevertheless, we are not joining the revolution led by the expats who are refusing to pay until they get itemised bills.

The weather was getting warmer. Only minus 3 degrees today. But alas will drop to minus 25 tomorrow. Planning on visiting the Yamaha store to look at acoustic guitars and electric pianos tomorrow. Strangely the university has not yet found a music tutor that we could claim for on the home schooling budget. And slightly more strange is that they have not found a Russian tutor either.

Ray

Day 43

Had an emotionally stressed day, possibly because I had not brought enough chocolate to work, but also felt a little used by one or two colleagues. Anyway, I have never experienced trying to develop research strategies with so much uncertainty. It could end up being the greatest piece of fiction I’ve written.

Was examining student presentations today. Never had to give much of a talk in a foreign language, so cannot imagine the difficulty. But they did really well. Was surprised as to how many students refused to give a talk though. In the UK we would have made it compulsory and they would have failed the module for non participation. I’m guessing that this is one of many problems experienced with a new university.

If you have been following the situation in Ukraine, it is very concerning. One of my former PhD students is living in Kiev. She wrote the following:

“I am safe for now, have no idea about tomorrow. It is war, whatever you have seen on tv it is horror here. People have been beaten, tortured and shooted by police forces. Police have been given an order shoot to kill. In general situation is getting worse due to the Kiev partial blockage - not enough petrol on the gas stations, people getting mad buying all sort of food, medicine etc… We were free from work at 14-00 and our administration asked us to withdraw all money from bank cards, cos someone got àn information that there no money to put into cash mashine tomorrow.”

I remember the first exposure to the horrific images coming out of Ethiopia and feeling motivated to try and do something. Over the many years, similar situations and worse have been emblazoned on our TV screens so that I have become slightly sensitised. It’s just another horror story to be filed with so many others. But for the people caught up in it, they are facing a daily life and death situation. How does one live under those conditions?

Day 42

Oh the frustration of opening bank accounts remotely. We had tried to do this November last year in Eastbourne, but because of money laundering regulations and the fact we had mentioned Kazakhstan for a job, it took a long time to open the account and migrate away from our former bank. But we’re now waiting on an internet device to turn up from the UK, which is probably stuck in Almaty somewhere as the customs officials decide how much we should pay for it. Of course our mortgage provider and credit card companies are quite interested in being paid. On the plus side, when it arrives all stress will ease and having a HSBC account across the Eurasian continent will be rather useful.

Had a fun day ordering lots of equipment. At least it is a case of putting lots of items on a wish list and then waiting patiently for several months to see if (1) there will be any funds allocated to it, (2) whether they will approve the item, (3) whether they will negotiate with the supplier for a fixed percentage discount, (4) move on to issuing a tender for bespoke, specialist items, (5) find out how much import duties will be, (6) electrical testing of a bespoke item by someone who has never seen this equipment before and (7) finding the space for final installation and hoping that we can plug it in to the right power outputs without tripping the university’s power station. At the very least I understood a bit more about procurement. My worry was that there was no clear procedure. And I was right.

Also strangely enjoyed having yet another student come to query my marking scheme for some homework assignment where I gave marked them down by 1 mark on the whole paper (19 in total). It was also curious that students here expect lecturers to drop everything and instantly know how to solve a problem they found in a book related to the subject they had a lecture on a month ago. They certainly provide a lot of entertainment.

Took Rebekah out for a chocolate milkshake and a cookie this evening. Poor girl is feeling rough too, but I think the trip helped ease the pain. She wants to come back to the UK and have home schooling but close to her friends. I said this could not happen. So she wants a compromise where she goes to school in the morning and then home school for the afternoon. I think we’re all feeling that we could export our friends to Astana. You are all sorely missed!

Last night I heard from my sister that my gran had been taken into hospital; collapsed after what they think was food poisoning. Just made the distance feel that little bit greater. Already bad enough that my pseudo-sister decided to have a marriage ceremony slap bang between having left for Kazakhstan and when we intend to return. Love you Laura!

One great thing about living at Riverside is that we are above an exclusive food shop, which is really expensive for most items. But after 8pm all their freshly baked goods are half price. So Ali has enjoyed the best Kazakhstani chocolate muffin. The other exciting news was use of the milk jug we purchased yesterday (yes we know how to live it up in Astana!), but Matthias will have to tell you all about that.

 

Ali was offered a potential job teaching English. Could be interesting. Though she would have to leave the country in order to apply for a work visa. Might have to consider it when back in UK.

Ray

 

 

Day 41

The children and I had a good day.  We had a lesson with more than two children as we visited friends and had a joint art lesson. I see how great homeschooling could be with just a slightly larger network.  It was good to share ideas and fun just to be with friends.  Finished nicely by a fun play in the snow (it’s been slightly warmer this week so is more bearable to play outside for a while). Rebekah feeling under the weather so girls snuggled on the sofa while Matthias enjoyed a fun Skype with his cousins comparing lego models!

Ali

 
A day full of meetings, deliberations, presentations, excitement and frustrations. And I’m not just talking about asking a local in my pigeon Russian how to get to the Post Office, when I don’t know any other word other than kashmar. There was some disturbing local news, but it is difficult to discuss it in this setting, so will have to think of another way round it.

Had to give a research presentation, open access to anyone within the university. Of course it’s difficult to know what level to pitch it at and it took 15 minutes to introduce me. So had to cover a lot of ground in a lot less time. Thankfully hardly anyone fell asleep and got some good feedback and a few potential PhD student candidates as a result. Now there comes a lot of hard work trying to see if NU can support the research development program so that we can do some research here. Otherwise it’s going to be time spent full of good intensions and not a lot else.

Was talking to one of my colleagues who was here at the beginning of NU and now heading back to the USA. It’s difficult to unravel the political and economic scene in Kazakhstan as to how stable NU really is. Naturally, it is harder to get definitive statements out the benefactors as to whether they believe NU will survive. Apart from staff, there are a lot of students whose academic careers hang in the balance. But with the first cohort about a year away from graduation, there is good reason to believe the undergraduate programme will be successful. Establishing research will require significant capital and time. Both are possible, yet there are no guarantees. It is a curious game we play, continuing on as though everything will be delivered with half an eye on the horizon awaiting the moment when they deign to tell us “it’s time to go home”.

Ray

 

Day 40

It is amazing and frustrating to be a part of a new university. There’s so much that needs to be done and so many things that undergo revision, which does not help with stability. However, the “nyet to da” practise has come through again. I wrote about the concerning revisions to my contract a few weeks ago and that it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Today, HR offered a choice between the old and new contracts and the Senate have requested feedback on anyone’s experience regarding contract changes. What happens to the local staff or the locals affected by the economy is still a wonder. It appears it is not in their nature to complain, so they must look on us foreigners with wonder. Still, there are foreigners who would like to put roots down in Kazakhstan, but are restricted by constant Visa applications and 3 year contracts. Change can occur and not only for the poorer, though there is still a long way to go.

The students have also revealed a new level I had not expected. They are bright, but it appears they can be quite challenging in terms of overcoming anti-social behaviour within a lecture setting. Wynter had to confiscate several mobile phones, laptops, mp3 players even after her warning. She brought them back to the office and wouldn’t let them have them back till the end of the day. The excuses they came up with were incredulous. One student even tried to negotiate making a phone call to their parents, which they considered an emergency. They needed to phone their parents in order to tell them that they wouldn’t be able to phone them until 6pm. I tried desperately not to laugh until the student left, but it was extremely difficult. I am going to need to find out how children are treated in the classroom and see if there are useful tips. 

Count the bars of Galaxy! Might last me a week I reckon.

Sergey had come back today after a week in the UK, which meant our care package arrived. Next time we will try and balance the amount of chocolate to other foodstuffs! Still there’s much needed Marmite and PG Tips. Not sure how well we would have survived until July.

 

Skyped with Andy back in Brighton, which was great. Catching up on all the news. Was slightly strange to hear about talks going on in order to find my temporary replacement. They'll be at a junior level until I get back and take over. Very thankful to continue to receive support from the Senior Management Team back at Brighton. And hopefully it will lead to the purchase of my, I mean a, new, state-of-the-art XPS. What's that I hear you cry, well are you sitting comfortably...

Anyway, Matthias has taken on the role of Daddy’s understudy. He is now Daddy 2. So it fell to me to try and explain what Daddy does all day long, so that he can repeat it. When I was typing on the computer, he was trying to do the same. When I was cooking, he was trying to do the same. Mornings have become very important; it’s a few minutes father-son time before the rest get up. And woe to Ali if I do not wake him up. I’ve left him a list of what I’m up to tomorrow and it’ll be interesting to see how much he will try and repeat with Ali encouraging him to partake in the homeschooling.

Not sure what the bug was I had last night. Seems to have resolved itself. Thought it might have been a local bean. Which reminds me, the Nauryz holiday is approaching in Kazakhstan. Fermented horse milk anyone? Tried it last year and accidentally again last week. Not too bad if you do not think about it.

Ray

ps. I've got to stop looking at the statistics of this blog. Trying to maintain the numbers at the record highs is ever going to happen. Would feel like we'd have to turn the blog into a soap opera. "In the next exciting episode of 1000daysofkazakhstan, Ali attempts to leave the rubbish bag on the landing, whilst Ray sees just how far his Russian will take him when negotiating with a Kazakhstani for directions to the post office. All this and much, much more on 1000 days in Kazakhstan (insert funky exit music)"

 

Day 39

Had a great day with the family.  Buses, taxis, food and fellowship.  Ray now feeling sick in bed (perhaps it’s the thought of a week at work!)… so we’ll update properly soon. Enjoyed a get together meal with the expats. Ferrero Rocher made an appearance, thankfully for Ray the children didn’t like theirs. Maybe that’s why he’s feeling ill.

Not sure how well the humidifier is working. Kyria had a nosebleed but may be due to her banging her head on a table, by accident of course.

Ali & Ray

Day 38

Even now the view from the top
is making me feel "vertigious"
(Ali's new word of the day)

Its minus 15  degrees C, not a cloud in the sky and the sun is almost warming. Whilst this was a great day to spend with the family, it started off with Rebekah coming in complaining of a tummy ache and then had a nose bleed. Poor girl seems to forget to pinch her nose whilst walking about the apartment dripping a little trail of red dots. Anyway, given that it was nearly getting up time, Super Dad jumped to the rescue, only to find Ali was already dealing with her in the bathroom. If it was earlier then it can only be Ali’s job. I simply don’t function properly during the night, much to Ali’s amusement when she tries to get any coherent sentences from me.

We did get outside, but only by taxi to Keryen shopping centre. It’s a nice place, except that it feels too open on all the upper levels and the escalators are too exposed and I kept imagining myself toppling over the side to my doom. I suffer from slight vertigo and for some reason I felt it acutely today, even sat still at a table with cheeseburger in front of me, my palms were sweating at the thought of having to get an escalator from the top to the ground floor. There are observation holes dotted throughout each floor to the lower floors. They have metal and glass barriers, which don’t help my mindset. Both Ali and I are fearful that somehow the glass will give way and the children will fall. But then Kevin from work had accidentally tripped over some marbleized tiling at work and a whole lump of masonry broke off. Perhaps it is right to worry.

Anyway, we purchased a humidifier, which was rather exciting. However, it did take 30 minutes from paying to actually getting the thing out of the store. It is a strange practise here to remove the instructions (and any other useful parts) from the box, before placing the item on the shelf. I think they need to play games to keep themselves occupied. Then you have to wait whilst they test any electrical  item. Whilst I was getting fed up and over heated, the children were amusing themselves with a 3D TV. Had to have a burger to calm down.

Was great to talk to Les and Sue via Skype and playing the Yes/No game across the continents or maybe continent, if we take the land mass as Eurasia.

Ray

 

Day 37

Rough night with Rebekah having woken up with a nosebleed. We sent her back to bed as there was only a little blood. She then woke up again with more of a nosebleed, so we kept her in with us, after Ali had managed to calm her down. So the day for both of us was a little hard going. Did some research on how to deal with this dry climate and ran “saline nasal spray for children” through Google translator. Ali managed to get this from the pharmacy, although was interrogated about children’s ages and whether she had used it before. Bearing in mind the pharmacist only spoke Russian, Ali thinks that was she was trying to say. Anyway, tomorrow is humidifier buying day. And of course the compulsory burger and chocolate milkshake.

Finally making some headway of the PhD development in Advanced Materials, but essentially we can only run 6 months of intensive lectures and exams for PhD students, but at the moment have to send them away to do all their experimental work. There is too much risk associated with the opening of the new research centre, which is planned for middle of 2015. But given that the new student accommodation was promised each and every month to be opened since middle of last year and we are still in Riverside, I cannot see the research building opening before September 2016. Then of course is the commissioning of equipment; assuming that we can afford to purchase any equipment.

Had a nice evening out with some work colleagues; Ali did have her evening out last night. But alas there is still a lot of talk about the devaluation of the tenge and because a wife of a colleague is leaving tomorrow, we wanted to find out her impressions of Astana and NU. Alas, it was not that positive. For all the glossy promises of attractive salaries and benefits, there’s too many things that have gone wrong or have not been delivered upon, making this a harsh wakeup call. It is still a welcome respite from Brighton, but the lack of security and the now not-extremely-competitive salaries are a consternation (more of the former than the latter). The tenge continues to slide and there is still little communication filtering through the NU system. The baine of a new university. We must deliver everything from nothing. Ex nihilo education.

Looking forward to spending some quality time with Ali and the children over the weekend. This experience has still afforded time to spend together without so many of the distractions back home; as nice as they were.

Ray

Almost a holiday day today. No school except for a quick spelling test as I realised schools back home are all on half term next week. I'm sure we have a little catching up to do as we started a week later so we won't take a holiday until the weather is slightly better. But we gave ourselves a long weekend. Loving the flexibility!

 

To recover from a broken night of nosebleeds (out poor girls are suffering) we gave ourselves a slow start and then visited an international toddler group. Meeting in an apartment it's a little different from our Focus and Vicky bees but lovely nonetheless and a chance for Kyria to play and get more attention for a change. The older children behave great and take books to read or enjoy playing with younger toys for a change! Today they were teaching some little ones origami. We then went on to our homeschooling friends Olivia and Noah for a fun making of our very own marble run and a teddy bears picnic (indoors of course!).

The afternoon was finished off with a fabulous showing of Mary Poppins and then a relaxed evening babysitting for me while Ray spent Valentines eve with friends... I'm still impressed by my surprise non-valentines massage yesterday!

Ali

Day 36

No chance to relax with a good book
on this one

The pace of life in Astana does not seem to have changed all that much since the devaluation. People and still toing and froing and the buildings are still being worked on. In talking with one of the teaching assistants, she said that some prices have gone up immediately and others will go up fairly quickly. She didn’t seem too perturbed by the Kazakhstani Central Bank’s policy and it is difficult to know whether that is a result of generations being taught not to criticise or whether the Kazakhstani have a more philosophical approach to life and can deal with this in their stride. I can only imagine the furore that would happen if the Bank of England had done something similar.

It’s an interesting time for this to have happened, given that interviews for positions are taking place this week. Sergey said that it is now whether NU will offer appropriate salaries. Of course no-one really knows what anyone else is getting paid. I could have been offered a level consistent with that of an Assistant Professor rather than Associate. A Dean could be getting the level of an Associate. We would never know. What I found curious was a policy signed by all the Deans currently in post agreeing to accommodation for new staff where new Deans would get one of these small single bedroom accommodations, whilst they continue to enjoy 2+ bedrooms in a nice part of the city. In every case though the individual accepts it under the terms given. Now we’ve been hit, we are still waiting to see whether they will replace all the salary (according to its worth against the Dollar last month) or offer a token gesture. The new people could be offered more. Matthew 20:1-16 applies.

Finally completed all my marking for Brighton University earlier this morning, about 02:30. Hopefully I can now concentrate on future developments, which are all open-ended projects. Reviewed exam questions for chemical thermodynamics for engineers. Think my brain panicked a little. Some of it was familiar and other bits were totally alien. What we teach back in the UK for chemistry doesn’t come anywhere near this level, but I guess that is primarily due to the engineering aspects, which is heavy on the maths. The students have open notes but closed book for this exam, which is a little strange, but Joe knows what he is doing. A fear will be having to teach the entire course on chem. thermo. eng.

Did a stint of babysitting this evening, whilst Ali went out with Wynter for a massage. I set this up with Wynter last week, so it was a surprise for Ali. They went on to a restaurant after and Ali got excited by the toilet and took this photo. Go figure. Do we ever sake that childhood innocence of finding the cardboard box more exciting than the toy?

Whilst in my marriage I am still boycotting Valentine’s Day, Ali and I did make cards for the children. I am still trying to figure out whether I have caught myself in hypocrisy. But then I’m reminded that we do engage the children with the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas. When they’re old enough, they’ll be able to deal with it.

Ray

Day 35

A giant golfing tee

More of a family day today for the middle of the week. The children were pleased to have daddy work from home today... So everyone worked extra hard this morning so that we could head out this afternoon. 

Ray said his mushroom tasted funny

Survived two new shopping centres. That really is all there is to do in the cold... It's a good job there's a variety of them to liven it up a little. We had to make an 'exciting' trip to the bank and catch a second bus to the next centre where we continued our plight to make friends by joining a few others from Astana international club with young children at a soft play. 

Rebekah got some special daddy/ daughter time (much to her delight!) while the others charged around and got a little exercise. All was brought to a sudden end when Kyria's nose began to bleed leaving a beautiful red trail all through the soft play.  It seems she has joined Rebekah in developing nose bleeds due to the incredibly dry climate. Perhaps we need to buy the humidifier after all.

 

Rebekah preparing for her Easter
egg look-a-like contest

One of my lifelines to home at the moment is the superb "what's app" ... I almost feel a part of life in Eastbourne when at around 2pm here (8am back home) my friends begin to chat and send general messages about their day.  The children are similarly loving sending little voice messages to some of their friends who are getting ready for school and usually quite pleased to be able to tell them that their school is already over! How things have changed from our old fashioned snail mail.  I am so thankful for technology. Having said that it does mean that it is almost impossible to find out how to send proper mail to the UK... Nobody seems to know.  So our little pile of letters is still waiting and I'm continuing my investigations. 

Ali

Day 34

It is difficult to put into words the reaction to the events of today. Had we been in the UK we would never have experienced it and on some level I feel that our life experience would be diminished as a result. It certainly highlights the almost sheltered life I lived, privileged to be a part of a stable economy. Yes, I would moan and groan over the decisions the UK government had made, but ultimately nothing they had done had impacted me as significantly as the Kazakhstan Central Bank (KCB) devaluing the tenge. The news arrived in my office this morning and immediately I and my colleagues were shell-shocked. Joe has been trying all morning to transfer yesterday’s pay across to the States without success. It dawned that the actions of the KCB had lost him about $1,000 in the short hours of changing the tenge value. It took about 4 hours for the currency exchanges rate sites to list the new value. Had I studied economics, perhaps I could have seen the signs leading up to this. Essentially, our salaries have been instantly cut by 20%.

Of course it is easy to look at how we have been individually affected, after all we expats are continuously transferring funds out of the country and therefore very aware of what figures will turn up back home. A lot of NU staff were hit by the facile way in which this devaluation had been applied and how little protection we have here. You might think that it was part of the risk and you are absolutely correct. One had hoped in light of the reforms, the investment, new start-up projects, things were under control, but anyone who knew that the KCB had spent $56bn in trying to keep the tenge at yesterday’s exchange rate would have been counting the days till this type of event happened.

Their future hanging in the balance?

So lots of discussions ensued. No-one knows where this will end. The fear is that the expat staff will move back home, equipment purchases will halt, leaving NU unable to provide teaching and research for the students and essentially ceasing operations. A gorgeous building left to the elements; a grand white elephant. Whilst talk persisted and emails exchanged, human resources contacted everyone by the end of the day and said they would adjust the salaries of the international staff accordingly. Alas, no-one knows by how much. And we will be paying higher bills.

Forgotten in the backdrop to this saga are the Kazakhstanis, unable to escape and having to face sharp rises in prices. I asked a Kazakhstani colleague today how this would really impact them. He said hard. 18 million people in a vast land with unforgiving winters. It seems more desolate today.

Unemployment.

Devaluation.

Austerity measures.

Hyperinflation.

We hear it on the news. Our friends or family may have experienced them, but for me it was always something that happens to others. One cannot worry about them and even when it hits there’s nothing most people can do. The axiom that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer still holds true. The gap between these groups gets wider. Two key thoughts were shared today; I am sure they’ve been circulated before. The first is that we will not be defined by the event, but by our actions in response to that event. The second is that a situation is never so bad that it cannot get worse.

We were not here for the financial reward. Our wise elder and friend, Steve Blaber, said that the financial gain would only ever be part of the side-benefits of going. Today was a clear reminder. Clever chap that Steve.

Ray

 

Day 33

Feeling a little bad now for having asked so much of Julie Burr to take care of our UK post. Julie you are doing a fantastic job, we really appreciate it!

Been a day of two halves. Felt really low this morning after receiving a scathing review of a proposal due in at 22:00 today, from someone who sent it in Russian to a colleague who I had asked to lead this proposal. After translating it using google I found out that they had completely misunderstood the application and they were telling my colleague it was a waste of everyone's time. The arrogance of that man. Then I got a black mark from a UK funding body after two proposals last year had been ranked in the bottom half of their round ranking tables. One proposal had scored over 80%. Vicious. I got a response from one of the top managers here, which totally failed to answer the question I had posed. Grrrrr. 

The afternoon was far better and was able to progress some documentation of the PhD theme in advanced materials. Still have to work on the engineering side. A colleague was claiming to be running the NU side of a major EU proposal and then I found out it was one that I helped write back in the UK. Had a fun lecture with the students on presentation skills. And finally submitted the proposal by the deadline - on to the next ones.

It was a day of wishing for clearer, more refined policies to be in place. But it's not all  great back in the UK. Having tried to open up a bank account in the UK in November, we are now almost there. Though getting internet access may take longer. Still awaiting to hear from the council tax office in Eastbourne after two months of trying. The world may be getting smaller, but the distance between customer and (certain) service departments is getting larger!

Ray

Day 32

Very relaxed start to the day. We mostly spent the morning in our pyjamas. A spot of lunch and then a bit more slobbing in the afternoon. Finally got out and headed for the river for sledging. Then on to an expat gathering. 

Took Rebekah out afterwards for a few minutes at the play park. Had to adjust Rebekah's balaclava, thus had to take off my gloves. 10 seconds at minus 20 degrees centigrade and I could not get my hands to warm up. No wonder Ranulph Fiennes lost his fingers. Okay he got frost bite and then cut his own fingers off. 

Wondering if we are under surveillance and slowly having our internet cut off. Everything worked fine this morning. Then after lunch most of the Windows PCs cannot access the net. Only Apple tech is winning through. And the Kindles. I bet it was down to Ali leaving rubbish bags on the 11th floor landing...

Ray

Day 31

Affectionately known by our children as
the Wonky Shopping Centre

Fantastic day with the family. Must have been off to an excellent start for not being inundated throughout the night from children visitations. Ventured forth on a packed bus, but thankfully only for a few miles south from Riverside. Whilst people tried to make room for the children to sit down, we have taken to trying to politely refuse. Mainly because you need to start preparing to exit the bus just before your intended stop otherwise you’ll never get off in time. When I was in Mumbai 14 years ago, we had to do this on the train but had to start towards the exit at least 2 stops before the one you want.

We’ve been here a month, so we headed towards Khan Shatyr, which we had briefly visited on our first day. This time we explored a bit more and found a scary ride that Rebekah was trying to convince us that she would not be scared on. We erred on the side of caution and persuaded her to help find a milkshake. They found ice cream and some new friends. Khan Shatyr is an award winning shopping centre, designed by the British architect Norman Foster, and it is bedecked with many top end shops. Ali was rather excited to find a Next store! We need to head back there soon. There’s a monorail, dinosaur land and an indoor beach resort. There’s a lot of shops there, but not so many shoppers, which for a Saturday is curious. Either most Kazakhstanis work on Saturdays or it is too expensive for many. In turn it made me curious whether the government gives support for these businesses in order to survive. I saw the same thing in Japan, where there are so many shops and yet most look to have a very small clientele. Somehow they survive the years. Anyway, we purchased a DVD player today, which was great because it had a plug not requiring an adapter. Also, forgot that it would be region specific. We currently only have two region 5 DVDs. I am sure there is a solution.

Found some new friends

Just to get into the spirit of Kazakhstani culture, we’re headed to an Indian restaurant tonight with a couple of friends from work. Wonder if they have horse tikka massala?

Ray

 

 

Enjoyed a up of tea in bed for a small lie in this morning, always a bonus. Thanks to my darling husband. Fantastic day with family, finishing off with evening meal at local Indian restaurant. Children impressed us, with Kyria downing loads of rice and naan bread, Matthias scoffing a lot of chicken sausage (too spiced, but gently flavoured) and Rebekah eating most of my Chicken Tikka Masala. Now completely stuffed and children finally in bed. Praying for another undisturbed night of sleep.

Ali

Day 30

Kazakhstan could change its name! It is a strange but valid fact that most people, even enlightened and travelled, have major concerns about Kazakhstan. Mainly because it is not well known and associated with Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. The name change could indeed happen. There’s a lot of historical reasons behind names in Kazakhstan, for example the World Airport Code for Astana is TSE, referring to Tselinograd – now the district surrounding Astana. Astana itself just means Capitol. The new name floating about is Kazak Eli, though for my tastes I would prefer something like the “Awesome State of the Kazakhs” and getting a cool acronym of A.S.K. Hmm, food.

Managed to start the preparation work for the new PhD programme in Advanced Materials and Engineering. There’s unsurprisingly a lot to do in a short space of time. But it is excellent to be a part of creating something from scratch and pouring all your ideas into a vehicle that could be realised. I’m still hopeful that I can get a few big toys approved on the uni budgets. A state of the art XPS (£1m) would be handy and then having several PhD students and staff able to process numerous papers. I can dream, but I am holding on to the hope that one day we might be able to land an FEI Titan, a £7m high resolution transmission electron microscope.

Tried to give a catch up lecture to the one that was cancelled earlier in the week. Only problem was that no-one told the students until part way through and even then only 10 turned up. It’s a Friday, so happy weekend!

In desperate need to go shopping. The cupboards are bare.

Ray

Day 29

Too long a day and too tired to write too much.

I really did feel the full impact of what it is like working at a new university today. So much scope for potential, but so many headaches. I need to calm down a bit and focus on the immediate and mega-urgent projects and hopefully will also find a way to actually do some research. This is going to be very important if any recent research grants do get awarded.

Still cold. But no longer a surprise. Still shocked as to the weather back in Blighty. I don’t miss it.

Ray

Day 28

So I discovered how to buy baking powder and yeast and lots of other things that I wouldn’t have a clue on a translation or know how to find them in supermarkets. Perhaps we can start to be a little more creative in our cooking... pancakes for breakfast this weekend! I dragged the children (much to their disgust although they behaved beautifully for the hour we were there) to a newcomers meeting of the Astana International Club where a lovely lady opened up her home to show myself and a few other new, lost people the best places to buy all the ingredients we may be missing. Great idea for welcoming people.

We then caught the free bus from there to the university. This is a treat for the children as it’s a lot more like a coach than a local bus so they get a comfy seat and dash right to the back as it seems to be empty at lunchtime. Plus they are extra excited as they get to see Daddy for lunch!

The reason for our visit was to have a little tour of the new apartment block where we should be living at some point. We’ve been told this should be within the next month but it sounds like there are others who have been here since August or September that have been told that every month and are still here at Riverside. I won’t hold my breath! The block itself was actually better than I expected and very well resourced with shop, cafe, medical centre, dry cleaners and children’s play area... although of course these were all still empty and who knows when they will open?! The people showing us around wanted to be sure we didn’t miss anything so it took an awfully long time and we were accompanied by an awful lot of security guards too... we didn’t really need to see the parking facilities as we won’t have a car (I’m pathetic driving in the snow and the other side of the road, plus the cost of a car is incredible!) but they insisted on showing us anyway. The apartments themselves are a fair bit smaller than here, as we expected, but quite nicely furnished. We are grateful that as a family of 5 we will have 3 bedrooms, while those singles or older married couples will have quite a poky living space. The children were excited and it was like viewing houses all over again, but with less decision making. We will take what we are given... but they were certainly larger than a cabin on a ship, and for that I am thankful!

 

Ali

 

From Nyet to Da seems to have worked with the homeschooling budget. I believe we can now claim for Russian and music tutor lessons for the children, which was a turn around from earlier this week. There is a really hard working guy in the International Hiring and Affairs Office at NU who had been able to seek approval for us. Things are being progressed on the contractual changes front. I'm not very hopeful on this score, but I have backing of my managers at least. So I don't feel like I am being petulant; I did keep the foot-stamping and teddy bear throwing to a minimum!

 

The viewing of the apartments was interesting (see Ali's thoughts above). It was curious that the multitude required to show us academics around the new place seemed very eager to know what the Whitby family thought about it. Suddenly I was very conscious of some of the negative things we had picked up on as we went round (for example a cupboard that couldn't open because there was an oven handle and door in the way. The building manager said you need to move the oven back a little, proceeded to show us and then couldn't open the cupboard door either. On the more practical front though was a really small 3rd bedroom, albeit bigger than Matthias's room back in Eastbourne, small bathroom, no dishwasher (although they said they could plumb one in for us)) and then tried to ensure this was properly balanced with the good things we felt about the place (really big main bedroom with en suite, the fact that it wasn't a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, the services provided within the complex). Ultimately, the 3 bedroom apartments were far more roomier than the 1 and 2 bedrooms - you may think this is self-evident, but just in the consideration of lounge and dining room space, there is a marked difference going from the 2 to 3 bedroom place, whereas there's almost no difference going from 1 to 2. I think some managers are going to have some complaints from staff only getting 1 bedroom apartments (they are, after all, no longer students).

 

Fantastic to have the family over for lunch. Also great that my office colleagues were really happy to have our children all doing their school work in the office.

 

Ray

 

 

Day 27

A mixed day of frustration and accomplishments.

I was to have had a lecture this morning and for it to be evaluated. Then it was decided at the last minute that the students were best off in a lab session. So that was cancelled after a bit of a restless night. The most frustrating thing today was finding out that my contract, which I had signed on agreement for this position last year, has undergone subtle changes without my knowledge. Not so drastic that I am handing in my notice tomorrow. But they are changes that do make a difference. The thing is, if I complain I then come across petulant. If I don’t say something then they get away with it. It is difficult standing up to your principles in a foreign climate when you don’t know what is legally allowed. I managed to check the Kazakhstan Labor code and section 10.3 says unilateral changes to contracts are not allowed, but if I push this with NU I am sure they will not favour renewal of my contract and might even bring this one to a premature close. Surely contract changes should not happen without some form of notification? It also highlights some inequalities based solely on timing. Those who arrived 6 months ago have some better things and some worse things than those who arrived very recently. This would not have been a problem if they didn’t get me to sign the previous contract; I’d be none the wiser.

Why does it also have to take so long and so many repetitive emails to get answers out of people? I fear that each email goes through a long chain of people to find an answer that then becomes stuck on the way back. It’s been a long day and I think the tiredness is getting to me. This I believe is a universal constant (the lack of answers and the tiredness).

We may get to see the accommodation on campus tomorrow. Though all we are currently hearing is that it is much smaller than where we are and with less facilities in the immediate surroundings.

On the plus side, I managed to get a funding application completed. But even if this is awarded then a Kazakhstani national will get the credit. Currently working on the principle that getting any money for the team is better than getting no money for just me. I also received notification that I have been approved for the Membership Board of the journal Carbon. Small things, but no less significant.

Ray