Days 171 to 180

Family back in the UK having a good time. Would like to think they were waiting for me, but alas they had their fish and chips and dared to enjoy it! It is odd to be in Kazakhstan without my family for no other reason than we are now living here which makes it harder. Previous trips to abroad meant I was focussed on completing the job at hand and tuning into the family news via Skype when we found the time. Now it’s a case of having completed all my jobs, I’m twiddling my thumbs, straightening out my CV and watching the Tour de France.

There was some revelation this week. I needed to sign a form to return money to the university for not going to Korea. Money that I would have used for a hotel and flights. Not sure how good the news was, but one of our HR ladies informed me that we no longer needed to sign contracts with the NURIS organisation but could have done this direct with the School. And she seemed surprised that I didn’t know this. Perhaps this is pay back after giving her a hard time about getting an apostille for my PhD. I was frustrated that they couldn’t accept my PhD certificate and a letter from Sussex University that I had a PhD. Perhaps universities that produce only 2 Nobel Prize winners are not good enough? I also had to sort out my Kazakhstan and UK criminal background check. The former was easier enough, with a trip into the city to a stall in one of the shopping centres and signing a bit of paper. The latter was not too problematic, after finding a company that could do the checks over the internet, but was costly though. Still, it keeps me employed at NU for a little longer. Though I was in two minds as to whether I should have pushed them to see if they would withhold my pay or fire me. Some weird Kazakh employment rule that says anyone in academia must have a background check from the home country and also when working in education a certificate from a university approved by the government. So I had forgot that they are only doing their job, so I grew up a bit and purchased some nice cookies to say sorry.

With the majority of staff on holiday, now seems the time to try and conduct some repairs to the site, so they turned the power off for a full day and I spent my Saturday in the office alone, waiting for the TdF stage to start and wondering if grass is greener in another country.

Two men, suddenly pseudo-batchelors in Astana. Nathan’s misses and boy had stayed out of the country longer than Nathan, so off to find steak and chips. Fusion was calling. Must have been a thick accent as we turned up to their site to find it undergoing renovation. The whole things had moved elsewhere in the city. Thankfully Nathan could speak Kazakh and managed to get there in time to finish a meal before the football started. Trouble was that whatever taxi company the university use, it took over an hour and repeated phone calls before I cancelled them and ordered a proper one who took 5 minutes to get there. Naturally there was no apology from the receptionist or explanation as to the general incompetence of the taxi driver, but then after 6 months I have learnt that none would be forthcoming.