New Semester, Same Frustrations

January 26, 2008

For the last two weeks I have been busy getting back into the swing of things as we began a new semester her at the College. Last week, was a normal schedule of classes where we reviewed all of the stuff they had been working on before they left that they had forgotten over their five month long break. This week, however, was exams, and I would just like to note that as hard as exams are for students, they are even for teachers. Besides writing and giving three tests of my own, I was blessed with the opportunity to give a four hour long exam with my counterpart, Lazzat. For the exam each student was assigned a text from their book that they had to read, translate, and explain. They then had to “make up a situation” based on a few vocabulary words and talk about a randomly assigned subject. While most of the students did very well, but there were a few (the ones who normally sit in the back of the classroom) that did not, and then it was just painful to watch. They could complete the reading part well enough because they have all been thoroughly trained in phonetics, but when it came time to engage in translation or innovation, they just sat their in silence while Lazzat and I tried desperately to get them started with leading questions. Still, that exam was hardly the most frustrating moment of the week.

On Tuesday, I was scheduled to give a test to my K1D group, but the classroom I normally use was full of another group of students taking an exam. Not knowing where else to go, I brought everyone to “my classroom” that while small, still managed to hold everyone. We were ten minutes into the test when Lazzat came in and told us that the room was the “methodological classroom” where only groups of 20 people or fewer could have a class, and thus my group of 23 would have to leave. We managed to quickly find another classroom, and the students finished the exam, but afterwards I went back to ask Lazzat why we had to move. She said that the methodological classroom was special and needed to be kept clean and as unused as possible because that was where they put on the show when a supervisor or inspector came to look at the school. Then for good measure, she told me that even though it is -20 degrees outside and freezing inside, I should have my students should take off their coats before coming to class because it looks bad. I probably got a little more mad than I should, after all this was just another typical example of the Kazak custom of putting style over substance.

As often as I am impressed by the Kazakstan education system, there are times when I feel that they are more interested in the appearance of learning than actual learning. It is water under the bridge at this point, and I know while my teaching is important, my role as cultural ambassador is even more important. Thus, in the name of building bridges between nations, I will continue to smile, nod, and go to every little secondary school English show that my counterpart drags me to, but all the while I will wonder whether they might be making even more progress in English if they were back in class.

Op-Ed Response

January 23, 2008

A few days ago I read an op-ed in the New York Times by RPCV and former country director Robert Strauss. Mr. Strauss was praising the Peace Corps new initiative to increase the number of volunteers over the age of 50. There was much about the article that I liked, but there was also a lot that I disagreed with, and so I wrote the following response.

I am a current Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English in Kazakstan and am writing in response to the recent piece by Robert Straus on the current Peace Corps initiative to raise the number of Volunteers 50 years old and over. I would just like to say that while Mr. Straus makes an excellent point about the need for volunteers with extensive life and work experience, but he is greatly mistaken in regards to his remarks about younger volunteers. I am one of the “recently minted” volunteers that Mr. Strauss spoke of so derisively, and while I have only been in country a few months and thus cannot speak for my own impact, I have already seen ample evidence of the difference that past volunteers in my area, all under the age of 30 at their time of service, have made in my area. Mr. Straus is correct that there are many university trained English teachers in Kazakstan, but these teachers usually lack something that is much more fundamental than a university diploma, fluency. The value of a native English speaker in the classroom cannot be underestimated, especially considering that there are many university trained English Teachers that teach almost totally in Kazak or Russian and can barely speak English themselves. To be sure, if a country like Cameroon stops asking for English teachers, by all means, stop sending them. However, when a country still wants and needs qualified English teachers, why not send energetic, enthusiastic young people? Especially given the fact that with all of the extra-curricular activities demanded by graduate schools and programs today, few university students graduate with absolutely no teaching experience.

As for assessment, while it may not be scientific, a person can see the difference that the volunteers have made just by walking down the street. Every English teacher that I have met who has had the opportunity to work with a Peace Corps Volunteer speaks phenomenally better English than one who has not worked with one, unless of course they studied in England or America. Mr. Straus should remember that a volunteer often makes the biggest impact not with working with students necessarily, but with working with teachers. By practicing English and building friendships with their host country counterparts, volunteers have a chance to truly make a sustainable difference in their community. The volunteer only has the opportunity to reach students over a two year period, but the teachers they work with will continue to use their improved English to help students become skilled in the language years after the volunteer has returned to America. A person does not need an advanced degree or work experience to make such a difference, all they need is a lot of energy and an eagerness to help and to get to know another culture and community. These are traits that younger volunteers have in spades and can give them an edge over older or more experienced volunteers who are more set in their ways and worldview. I do not say this to detract from the value that older volunteers bring to the Peace Corps, and as I said earlier, the current Peace Corps initiative is laudable. But rather than replacing younger volunteers with older ones, why not just increase the numbers of both types of volunteers? After all, if the Peace Corps is going to achieve its mission and Kennedy’s dream, it needs the skills of both groups, not just one or the other.

A Different Kind of Peer Pressure

January 18, 2008
A Different Kind of Peer Pressure

In the past five months that I have been living in Kazakstan, I have come to realize that while peer pressure is definitely universal, the things that one is pressured to do varies widely depending on the country or culture you are interacting with. For example, in America, I, as was the case with most people my age, was most often pressured to drink or use drugs, but here in Kazakstan the biggest pressure is to get married. A person is pressured in two ways, the obvious and aggressive pressure that you encounter when meeting new people, and the more subtle pressure that a person feels on a daily basis. The obvious pressure that I refer to is the fact that the fourth question that every Kazak asks you when you are introduced is whether or not you are married, and if you answer no, then the fifth question is why not. Sometimes, such as in the case wirh my Kazak tutor, the aggressive peer pressure never stops. In the past five months I believe that we have had at least 15 conversations where she mentioned that I should get married soon. She was 18 and her husband was 22 when they got married, so I can see where she is coming from, but still it is somewhat strange to be so strongly encouraged to head to the altar. I imagine that this pressure is even worse for female volunteers, who at 22-28 years old are in serious danger of becoming old maids from the Kazak perspective.

Thankfully this overt pressure to find a wife is not that common, more often one simply faces more subtle pressure that comes from the fact that almost every person my age in this country is married and has a kid. It is hard to form friendships with host country nationals my age when they are unable to go to the cafe and hang out after work because they have to go home and cook dinner or pick up the kids from school. A recent article in the NY Times discussed how marriage and having kids can effect friendships and it is definitely true. My closest friends here in Kyzylorda are definitely the other volunteers, not only because we speak the same language, but because we are all single. My collegues are all nice people, especially the few men that I work with, but they have a whole other set of issues to deal with, and most of time it is couples hanging out with each other, it is fairly rare to see a group of guys my age out for a quick beer at the café without their wives. Forget about being a fifth wheel, I am not sure it is even possible to connect yourself to the friendship wagon if you are single. That said, it has only been a few months, and I have already made a few local friends so I am not that worried. Still, I have to admit that I never thought that an obstacle to integrating into the community and making friends would be my marital status.

Whew…What a New Year!

This New Year’s we had a wild and crazy time in Kyzylorda as I played host to four fellow PCVS from my training village of Chamelgan. We all had a great, relaxing time, and to be honest the hardest thing about it for me was finding enough stuff to do around Kyzylorda. Robert came down from Zhezkezga, making the trip in a record eight hours because he took the bus rather than the normal 45-hour train. Eric came from Shimkent on the morning of the 31st and a few hours later, Emiko came in from Aktobe. We spent that afternoon getting organized and renting an apartment for everyone to stay in over the next few days. Neither Chris nor I had an apartment big enough for everyone, and we intended to party pretty hard over New Year’s and did not think the host families would appreciate that too much. We eventually found one that had a great location near the center of the city but was otherwise was pretty much a shithole. There was only one room that was warm enough to just sit and hang out it, and there were several plumbing problems that I will get into later. Still, the price was right, so we settled in and unpacked. We then made a small dinner of grilled cheese at the apartment and afterwards, had a few drinks at the apartment. My host parents had also invited everyone back to our apartment at 11:00 for a small party and toasting to bring in the New Year, but it turned out to be a lot more involved than my guests expected. Robert, Emiko and Eric all were thought we were just going to have couple glasses of champagne, say “Cheers” and then head back to the apartment for the real party. Instead we were treated to a huge platter of Monte and toasts of vodka and cognac. At this point, let me explain how drinking and toasting works here in Kazakstan. The only beverages you toast with are vodka and cognac, which you drink out of little shot glasses. As the party progresses each person makes a toast to the host and to the occasion of the party and then everyone takes their shot, and the glasses are refilled. For example there were seven people at our New Years party, my three friends, my host parents, my host brother, and I, which meant that there were seven toasts as well as seven shots. Fortunately the whole party lasted about two hours, and I think the last couple of months living here in the south helped me tolerate the amount of booze we were forced to drink, but I was definitely feeling pretty drunk at the end of the evening. Some of us however, were a little worse for wear. After the party, my host dad drove us back, and by then we were all in such high spirits that we spent the car ride singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and other holiday carols. We then hung out and talked for a few more hours before everyone passed out at around four.

I was the first to wake up on the 1st around noon. When I woke up I heard the water running, and I at first assumed that someone had gotten up before me and was taking a shower. I quickly realized however, that the sound of the running water was coming from the kitchen where the sink had backed up and overflowing. To make matters worse, the sink had somehow become electrified, though no to a dangerous extent, which meant that I had to use a plastic bucket and put on my shoes to avoid getting a jolt every time I scooped out some water. Eventually, the sound of my running back and forth to the bathroom woke Eric up who began helping out by wiping up the water that had already spilled out onto the floor. Finally, water stopped coming up the sink, but the sink was still electrified making breakfast preparation a bit tricky. We managed to make Kazak oatmeal and began to plan out our day, or what was left of it at least. We sat down and watched a movie, and around six my friends decided that their heads did not hurt quite so much and they were ready to go outside. We walked down to the main square where there were at least fifteen holiday displays where families could take pictures of their kids, and afterwards went to the cafe Buscuit that is near my college where the food is very good and reasonably cheap. Paying up front for the apartment had hit our wallets pretty hard, and someone had made a run on the KazCommerce ATM machines so there was no cash to be had. We then went back to the apartment for a more relaxed evening of catching up and discussing various issues we had come across in the last month of work.

The next day, everyone was beginning to feel a bit grungy. There was hot water in the apartment, but the shower faucet was tricky and all could really do was wash your hair. Also, it was so cold the bathroom that you were liable to freeze to death before you were dry if you tried to take a full shower. Thus, we decided the plan that day was to go to the monsha and get scrapped clean. Unfortunately, when we go there, due either to remodeling or lack of later it was closed. Still, the day was not a total loss. I also showed them the bazaar, and we went to a restaurant pizza for dinner that while nothing ike the pizza in America was still delicious. The evening also saw us up to more hijinks, as we tried to figure out what we might do. The movie selection limited, though we did think about playing a game with the Borne Identity where you would drink every time he beats someone up or you have been to one of the countries he visits, but in the end we to play a game called “SET" that involved making sets where the attributes of the cards are all the same or all different, and which became even more difficult as the night progressed.

Thursday, the 3rd of January, saw the return of Chris and Cho from Shimkent. To celebrate the whole gang getting together, we decided that it would be the perfect day to go to the really nice sauna out in the Merei district where I live. The sauna not has steam and shower rooms, it also has a small cold pool that you can jump in between turns in the steam room. I could not get them on the phone to make a reservation so we decided to go out there and talk to them and person, and since it was only -10, we decided to walk. We walked along the river where I usually run, and saw that the river was frozen solid, and people were actually walking on it. It was a bit warm, and I was a bit skeptical of how solid a flowing river could actually be, but it did seem pretty solid for the five feet that I walked on. We also went by the camel farm where Eric had a staring contest with one of the camels and another almost spit on Robert. After making the reservation we then went back into town on the bus, stopping at the bazaar so Robert could pick out a birthday present for his mother and Emiko could look at cell phones as well as, picking up some beer for the sauna. All of us met back at the apartment and then we headed back out to Merei for the Sauna. Since Emiko was with us, we took turns. The guys hung out in the lobby while she used the sauna and vice versa, although given the beds adjoining the main room, and the pictures on the wall, we all figured that not everyone always took turns. Then it was back into town where we had a late dinner at the Café Buscuit and then went back to hang out at the apartment. It was a fun night, but it was also kind of sad because in the morning Eric had to get up a six to take the morning train back to Shimkent.

I woke at six with Eric and made sure he got a taxi to the train station and then ran a few errands, I picked up a package from the post office, bought a few more groceries and then went back to bed for a little while. Chris left because he had Kazak tutoring and so I just made breakfast and watched a movie for a little while. Robert and Emiko decided that they wanted try to one more time to get Emiko a cell phone so we headed back to the Bazaar to go to the trade house where you can get them pretty cheap. We finally found what she needed, and Robert even got some good stuff to send back to his family in the States. That took most of the afternoon, but in the evening, Chris met us the bazaar, and we went to a diner nearby. We also decided to go to the Restaurant/Nightclub Astana that night. I was not sure how the evening was going to turn out, the last time I had been to a club it had been an interesting time to say the least. Fortunately, this club only offered dancing, no “dancing” and the four of us had a lot of fun. Half the time Chris I were dealing with the most aggressive Kazak woman we had ever met, though I do have to admit that if we had not been trying to avoid her, we might not have asked half as many women to dance.

The next day I finally managed to get in touch with my TA Aeigarum who had offered to take us through the local museum. Chris and Cho had work, so Emiko, Robert, and I went by ourselves. Aeigarum and her sister did a great job explaining the exhibits, pointing out important people and teaching us about the history of Kyzylorda. Emiko and Robert were also very impressed with their English, though I seeing as how Aiegarum is a fourth year, I of course could take no credit for that! After the museum, Robert and Emiko went to the bazaar to get groceries for the big spagetti dinner we were going to make at the apartment that night, and I went to meet Chris and Cho at Contact Club, an organization founded by volunteers that is used as a forum for organizing community projects. We began planning a Valentine’s Day Charity Concert. We hope that the concert will not only work as a cultural exchange, but also allow us to raise some money for the local orphanage as provide the children valentines made by the concertgoers, but we shall see. Chris, Cho, and I then went back to the apartment to help Emiko and Robert finish making dinner, and bail out sink one more time. The dinner was delicious, and though I know that pasta is easy to make, I was definitely impressed. Chris and Emiko had turned tomato paste into something tasty, and I would like to think I helped with the garlic bread. Chris’ sister and cousin also came and took part in the meal, but I do not think that they enjoyed it as much as we did. Kazak food tends to be blander than American’s are used to and I think the peppers and garlic powder turned them off.

Sunday was the day that everyone was supposed to leave, but it did not quite turn out that way. Robert was supposed to leave first, on the bust to Zhezkazgan at eight, so at 6:30 we got up and headed out to the bus station, and since there was no bus, went to the café to wait, but it got later and later, and still no bus. Finally the bus station itself opened at and we went to ask the ticket lady what was going on. Apparently, despite the schedule clearly saying that there was an 8:00 bus on Sunday, there was not one, and in fact the schedule was totally wrong. Furthermore, it was too cold this week for the bus to go back and forth to Zhezkazgan so he would have to take the train. We went back to the apartment to nap for a bit and clear out of the apartment, and we then headed to the train station to see if Robert could get on the train, and to see Emiko off to Aktobe. Emiko got off without a problem, but Robert was still stuck in Kyzylorda. We tried to buy a ticket for the train to Karaganda where he could then catch one to Zhezkezgan, but since there were no seats until the Tuesday night train. We decided that the only option was to bribe a conductor, but since neither of us was comfortable doing that yet, we went back to my apartment to ask my host dad if he could help us out. He agreed to come with us at 9:30 to talk to the conductor and get Robert on the train and since we had five hours to kill, dorked out and played with the Bluetooth on our computers. Finally though, after one last gut-bursting meal of Monte, it was time to head back to the train station. The first price the conductor wanted was totally outrageous, but we originally wanted was outrageous, but we eventually got him down to a more sensible but still very expensive 7,000 tenge. Then, with my guests, all safely on their way back home, I went home and to bed.

I have to say that while the weekend was very expensive, it was totally worth it, and while they may have been the ones technically on vacation, it was definitely one of the best Christmas breaks I have had and the best gift any of those guys could have given me. I was sorry that more people could not come down, but the size of the country made that impossible, especially seeing as we only had six days before we all had to head back to work. I look forward to getting back together this summer. Emiko says that she wants to have an English Camp up in Aktobe, which would be ideal seeing as it is hotter than blazes in Kyzylorda by June, and hopefully since we have the whole summer off, more people can get there. Now though, it is time to return my attention back to work. I have to start my Kid’s Club back up again tomorrow, as well as get ready for the next semester. There are a number of activities and clubs that I want to start working on, and it will be nice to see the students again, who are now slowly becoming my friends as well.

The Christmas TV Special

December 30, 2007

If there is one thing that I believe all countries have in common, regardless their other cultural, religious, or political differences, it is the Christmas Movie Special. In America we spend hours watching classics “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, and in Kazakstan things are much the same, yet very different in interesting and amusing ways. For example, here in Kazakstan the subject of their holiday special was not Santa Claus or Rudolph, but rather the Romanov family. I thought this to be an odd choice for a Christmas special. Christmas movies are supposed to end happily ever after, and we all know that the story of the Romanov’s hardly fits that description. Furthermore, the Romanov family, particularly Anastasia, was the protagonist of the film, while the Red Army was portrayed as the ignoble force of the evil Rasputin. This struck me as very strange because while Kazakstan may be an independent country now, it still has close ties to Russia, and there are many here who look back on Soviet times with nostalgia. There are soviet monuments everywhere and many schools such as mine are named after heroes of the Red Army. Furthermore, Nazerbaev, like many Central Asian leaders was an important figure in the Kazakstan Communist Part before he became president. Why would they show a film that demonizes a close ally, and celebrates a family that are portrayed in Russian and Central Asian history as incompetent and blind to the needs of the people? I can only guess that Kazakstan is possibly reevaluating its relationship with its former master and trying to create a viewpoint on certain events and ideas that is different from the party line of Moscow. The more likely scenario is that I am reading too much into a cartoon featuring talking birds that come out of Faberge eggs, but you never know, we will just have to see what the New Year brings.

Christmas

If I was somewhere other than Kazakhstan, this probably would be declared the worst Christmas ever. It has been 15 below zero for the last week, the power and water was off at my house from the 22nd to the 24th, and I had work from 8:00 to 5:00 on Christmas day. I have not even had the chance to properly celebrate it yet because I had to stay in and get ready for an early morning seminar instead of going out with the other volunteers. Furthermore, the gift exchange was all of five minutes, and we did it on the 24th because I always leave for work before anyone wakes up. Still, I cannot be too upset or worried about it. I had to know that Christmas was going to be different this year, and have to accept the fact that to the people of Kazakstan, December 25th was just another workday. Also, I am going to have a major opportunity to celebrate later this week when some of my friends from my training village come to Kyzylorda to celebrate the New Year. Robert is coming from Zhezkezgan, Emiko is coming from Aktobe, and Eric is coming from Shimkent. I am not quite sure yet what we will find to amuse ourselves for five days, but I bet we will think of something. I am just glad that due to my working on the 25th I was able to arrange it so that I did not have to work for the days that they are down here. Thus, I believe that I can honestly say that this holiday season has the potential to be one of the best, albeit unorthodox Christmases I have ever had.