Matthias
Made it to the weekend. Yesterday was hard work. Caught up
in student plagiarism at NU, a student complaint for low marks back in the UK,
pointless back-to-back meetings where the necessary people are not present and
we still spend time discussing possible questions, trying to understand
procedures in NU (found out that for major items, we could be looking at 16-18
months before delivery could take place, which essentially blows apart any
possibility of research this year let alone trying to teach the students in a
more practical environment), expectations associated with launching our PhD
program, the dampening factors towards modifying the undergrad program. The
good news associated with getting our salary adjusted to the pre-devaluation
event of the tenge (reclaiming the 20% fall) was tempered with the news that
the Kazakhstani staff are only getting 10%. There’s nothing we can do, though
we will not let our creativity be squashed.
The gain was also let down by a number of foreign staff
boycotting paying the maintenance charge on the Riverside rooms. The monthly
charges are dictated by the Riverside management and NU pick up half that bill.
The complaints have been growing as the bills are not itemised. The NU staff
are trying to deal with the situation, but the disaffection from certain
quarters grows. It is also strange that not one of the Americans have joined in
the email banter. Having checked prices in London, New York, Tokyo, the monthly
maintenance charges seem a little bit cheaper in Astana by comparison with
these other capitals.
Tried to return a defunct DVD player, only to find that the
receipt was for a Next purchase rather than the electrical store we got it
from. Tried to make some quick decisions and thought it best to deposit the
broken DVD player into the bin and buy another one. I said previously that
warranty returns are a complicated procedure and the DVD player was cheap.
After searching the internet against the models of DVD players available to see
if they could be modified into multi-region (free internet but extremely slow
and painful), we selected one Philips version and were left disappointed as the
store attendant tried to find the box. Not only could they not find the box for
that one, several others were also empty or had the wrong contents. We also
tried to pick up a water filter and unhappily watched the same attendant going
through multiple boxes without luck, so we had to settle for anything they did
have.
It is a strange system that really doesn’t work for us
Brits. We like variety, options, choices. Kazakhstan appear to run on the “what
you see is what you get” so pick one and be done with it. It is a major clash
of ideals. The UK (and possibly the majority of the West) now thrive on
internet vs. high street battles, money back guarantees, easy return policies.
I guess the market is too small and simply uninterested in that over here.
Combined with Kazakhstani customs, excise, procurement policies and procedures,
makes imports expensive and a real headache. So it should be no surprise that
there is a lack of choice. But these shops are not under-stocked. In fact it
reminds me of Akihabara in Tokyo, only without the noise and bright lights. So
many phones, laptops, TV screens, etc, but when it comes to finding exactly
what you want, then prepare for disappointment. Kazakhstan builds patience. It may also be affecting Kyria too!
Made a slight mistake with an actual DVD purchase (our
laptop DVD drives are all multi region). Tried to play it this afternoon and it
kept spewing out Russian, even with the English setting enabled. So much for
Planet 51; very surreal to hear the US army talking in Russian as they tackle
an invasion problem. Quite relevant given what is going to happen next in the
Crimea.
Ray
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