Day 63

 Trying to get organised with the packing and spent the day shopping for wide sellotape. Not sure it needed all day, plus the KFC and milkshake, but it certainly made the accomplishment of finding the sellotape more emphatic. Kyria dressed for the occasion; amazing how a Monsoon dress has lasted the years.

Kyria aged 3 years and 3 months

I certainly felt the clash between Western and Kazakhstani mentality when trying to get information regarding this move. It made no sense to me (and many others, so nice to know I’m not alone, or it may be my fragmented personae) why they chose to let us know 4 days before moving in the middle of a working week and to move us on a Saturday first thing. They are providing a team of helpers, but no boxes, packing material or sellotape (hence the trip out). Frustratingly they do not seem to realise that they arranged for us to be in temporary accommodation and for us to keep everything packed until the new rooms were ready and that our original boxes all survived the trips from across the globe and through Kazakhstani customs.




Rebekah aged 2 years 9 months

Further, they don’t seem to realise that insurance might be a good idea. When I enquired about it, I was told that there would be a gentlemen watching our boxes at all times and nothing would get lost as it should be adequately labelled. But they wont provide anything to affix the labels to our broken and non-existent boxes. When I then asked about whether they would accept liability for damaged and missing items, it drew a stunned silence.

We’re also being downsized. We were originally given an apartment with 130 m2 and now have one with 111 m2. It might not seem much to you, but then these rooms were small to begin with and getting less room is really not helping feel loved and wanted here. Their response was that the senior managers made these requests and that should be that. I told them that once again individuals are making decisions without reference to any of those directly affected and that they would certainly change their tune if they were the ones enduring the seemingly endless string of disappointments. I surmise that this is a universal phenomenon of the “I’m all right Jack” syndrome. Of course, most of this falls on deaf ears. They are unwilling or unable to do anything about it and perhaps that is the biggest frustration. That from top down and the last 3 years have bred policies making new staff feeling sometimes abject and verging on unwanted. The next hardest part is that I reckon I can do a better job, but I have no appreciation of how tightly my hands would be tied by even higher management. But at least I feel as though I fought for what is right. Yes, silly, naive me.

Must choose to be gracious and the rest will follow and the difficulties wont seem as bad!

Ray