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)"