October 2010
*Every now and then I'm just struck -- awe-struck, in a way-- by the sheer lack of discipline problems I have at this school. Usually, I just go about my business, focusing on teaching and all the issues that come along with that. I start to get frustrated with my workload, the multiple groups I am teaching at multiple levels. And then, I remember: I used to have discipline problems. Last year and for my 4 years teaching at a public school in South Carolina, I had immense discipline issues. So much so that I rarely taught; I felt like my entire teaching life was simply managing discipline. If I could get the kids to not hurt each other or an adult, well, then, my day was a success.Here, though, discipline is not an issue. The kids are good, kind, loving, sweet, and hard-working. I have rules posted in my classroom, but I don't think I've even pointed them out to my students. THAT'S how good they are.
Most of my students WANT to work and WANT to learn. The biggest issues come from the students who speak almost no English. As they learn English, they start to behave. I have one older student with OK English who in America would be diagnosed with ADD. He has some problems, but he is not a disruption. I am more concerned about him academically and socially than I am concerned about how his behavior affects my classroom.
*As this is an international school, so many of my students are from far-away places. I know they are dealing with homesickness, culture shock etc. One 6-year old boy, with almost no English, on his 2nd day here, when his teacher tried to explain to him that he didn't need to change his shoes, crawled into his cubby and started to cry. Poor child--new city, new school, new language.
*I have a Kazakh student who is from another city. His family lives there; he lives in Astana with his tutor (or something like that). He is an older boy, but genuinely excited when his mother comes to visit. During Fall Break, he went home. This is a kid whose parents have enough money to pay the $20,000 a year tuition plus pay for a full-time tutor/nanny and for him to live in another city. What did he do over Fall Break? He collected mushrooms and grazed sheep. What wealthy American kids do that during their free time? What wealthy Americans are that close to the land and our rural roots?
*Other comments on this being an international school: Already we've had to declare our intent for next year--simply, do we plan on returning to this organization? Do we plan on returning to this school? By Dec. we'll have to say for sure and even what grade/subject we will teach! (Although that could change.) I know for sure that I'll be back, but others aren't too sure--for those teachers who have never taught abroad before, the first few months have tough and they're not sure if by the end of the year they'll be loving it or ready to high-tail it out of here.
Me, my main dilemma is whether or not I want IE (Intensive English) again. My other choice would be 4th grade. I love teaching IE, but with so many levels, it's a headache. Once our school gets bigger, we could probably get another elementary IE teacher, and I could focus on the beginners, the other teachers on the intermediate students. But for now, it's just me. Last year, there was no one, so the other teachers are quite happy to have me! Last year, the low-to-non-English speakers went down a grade or two for English class, and had an hour of Intensive English (with a local assistant) during the foreign language.
*Also, we just ordered our supplies for next year! Again, how hard it is to know now what we'll want for next year! Esp. since I'm also teaching 6th grade math--I know which supplies would have been useful to have for the units I've taught already, but I have no idea what I'll be needing later in the year! Oh well. I ordered some things to teach decimal place value with; last year, teaching 5th grade math, that was the hardest concept for the students to get. This year, too, so that's something I'm sure is needed.
I also ordered a ton of books, since the IE classroom doesn't have any books, since there wasn't an IE classroom next year. The principal let me order well over my limit, since he knew I needed the books so badly. So it would be nice to have IE next year and to use all those books!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dinner & Movie
Saturday, 16? October 2010
The librarian invited Sophia, me, and a few other teachers over for dinner and a movie on Saturday night. Her husband picked some of us up; a few teachers walked. Yes, it took them 45 minutes (and they walk fast). I am a bit jealous. I wouldn't mind walking that far, but I know Sophia would.
The librarian is a fascinating person; she is Belgian and was born in Africa. Her husband is American and works for the US Embassy. Together, they have traveled much of the world. They have two teenaged daughters and next year they plan on retiring to Colorado.
Their home is amazing. Sheerly amazing. They live in the same complex as the principal and his wife, and it's nice because the buildings form a circle of sort, with playgrounds, mini parks, and walkways in between the buildings, and mini-marts too. A sort of micro-c0mmunity.
She lives on the 4th and 5th floors--a 2-story apartment. Her first floor is bigger than my place.
They have an entrance way, with a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. They have a kitchen that opens to a a breakfast-nook-type area that opens to the dining room and living room. The windows in the living room overlook the river and the entire new-downtown of the city. All the while facing west, so you can watch the sun set over the city. Perhaps the best view in all of Astana.
Also on their first floor is the formal dining room (currently being used as a storage room) and their daughters' very large bedrooms. Upstairs there is the study, with a small gym in the back, and the master bedroom. As well as the perhaps the best room in the apartment--the cinema. The cinema room contains a large screen for watching movies, plus several large, comfortable chairs and sofas. A bookcase stands in the middle of the room, effectively dividing it into two parts--the cinema in front and the music room in back. The music room contains guitars and other equipment for playing music. A door leads to the sauna.
Yeah, a nice home.
We ate dinner--homemade chili--and dessert, including a yummy grapefruit-like fruit. Then the adults moved to the cinema room while the children stayed downstairs to watch a child-friendly movie on the normal-sized TV.
We watched "The Emperor's Club", a movie starring Kevin Kline as a teacher at a super-wealthy, elite school. The movie excels in its nuances. Nothing dramatic happens, no one dies or is fired. Kevin Kline does not change the life of the slightly-troubled boy he meets. A teacher's life rarely has amazing defining moments, but rather small, nuanced ones. A teacher's career contains successes as well as failures.
Of course, the story of a teacher trying to reach an unhappy student is a great movie for teachers to watch, and afterwards we had a great conversation. The topic changed to other topics in education, and pretty much everyone who had recently taught in the US had horror stories about teaching in the US.
We stayed up very late, but it was a wonderful evening; it was great to have intelligent conversation. And Sophia had a good time too.
The librarian invited Sophia, me, and a few other teachers over for dinner and a movie on Saturday night. Her husband picked some of us up; a few teachers walked. Yes, it took them 45 minutes (and they walk fast). I am a bit jealous. I wouldn't mind walking that far, but I know Sophia would.
The librarian is a fascinating person; she is Belgian and was born in Africa. Her husband is American and works for the US Embassy. Together, they have traveled much of the world. They have two teenaged daughters and next year they plan on retiring to Colorado.
Their home is amazing. Sheerly amazing. They live in the same complex as the principal and his wife, and it's nice because the buildings form a circle of sort, with playgrounds, mini parks, and walkways in between the buildings, and mini-marts too. A sort of micro-c0mmunity.
She lives on the 4th and 5th floors--a 2-story apartment. Her first floor is bigger than my place.
They have an entrance way, with a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. They have a kitchen that opens to a a breakfast-nook-type area that opens to the dining room and living room. The windows in the living room overlook the river and the entire new-downtown of the city. All the while facing west, so you can watch the sun set over the city. Perhaps the best view in all of Astana.
Also on their first floor is the formal dining room (currently being used as a storage room) and their daughters' very large bedrooms. Upstairs there is the study, with a small gym in the back, and the master bedroom. As well as the perhaps the best room in the apartment--the cinema. The cinema room contains a large screen for watching movies, plus several large, comfortable chairs and sofas. A bookcase stands in the middle of the room, effectively dividing it into two parts--the cinema in front and the music room in back. The music room contains guitars and other equipment for playing music. A door leads to the sauna.
Yeah, a nice home.
We ate dinner--homemade chili--and dessert, including a yummy grapefruit-like fruit. Then the adults moved to the cinema room while the children stayed downstairs to watch a child-friendly movie on the normal-sized TV.
We watched "The Emperor's Club", a movie starring Kevin Kline as a teacher at a super-wealthy, elite school. The movie excels in its nuances. Nothing dramatic happens, no one dies or is fired. Kevin Kline does not change the life of the slightly-troubled boy he meets. A teacher's life rarely has amazing defining moments, but rather small, nuanced ones. A teacher's career contains successes as well as failures.
Of course, the story of a teacher trying to reach an unhappy student is a great movie for teachers to watch, and afterwards we had a great conversation. The topic changed to other topics in education, and pretty much everyone who had recently taught in the US had horror stories about teaching in the US.
We stayed up very late, but it was a wonderful evening; it was great to have intelligent conversation. And Sophia had a good time too.
Fall Festival, 15 October 2010
Halloween!
Our school has a high percentage of kids from Western cultures, most of them homesick. Most of the staff is Canadian or American. And many of the non-Western kids have heard about Halloween and think it's a great holiday. So, we couldn't quite ignore Halloween, could we?
We did what schools in the US, who are concerned about being politically correct and culturally sensitive, do. We had a Fall Festival.
Our Fall Festival was on Friday, 15 October 2010, from 6 to 8 pm, and was "open" to the public. That is, we didn't invite massive amounts of strangers, but we did let others know about the event. (I'm not sure how, I was told that other foreigners were told about this and allowed to take their children here, and that they were grateful for the chance to celebrate Halloween.)
This is the school's first year with a gym and auditorium, and so everyone was excited that the Fall Festival could be celebrated there, and not in the teachers' individual classrooms. Teachers had to come up with an activity. Tables and chairs were provided.
My activity was the "Mummy Wrap." I'll be forever grateful to the parent who, 4 years ago, hosted a Halloween party in my classroom in the US. She found this game on the Internet, and it has proven to be a great success. It's so simple: get tons of rolls of white toilet paper. Put students in pairs. One child has to wrap his partner up as a mummy. Whoever finishes first, wins. Children LOVE this.
I requested that my students bring in rolls of white toilet paper, finding it a bit funny that I had to specify color. The cheap toilet paper here is brown. The not-so-cheap toilet paper comes in a multitude of colors, including white.
I set up my booth (meaning, I taped the sign that the children had helped me make, and I brought out the rolls of toilet paper) and waited for the evening to get started.
I had plenty of candy to pass out, as all the parents had been asked to bring in one kilo of candy. In Astana, there is no shortage of shops that sell candies by the kilo.
The gym soon became crowded and noisy. Adults and children were dressed in various costumes. Kazakh seemed to be a popular costume for non-Kazakhs. (Think about it--what's a good costume that you can find last-minute in a city that doesn't celebrate Halloween and thus doesn't have many costumes for sale at this time of year? A Kazakh dress!) I dressed as an Indian (from India), thanks to my Indian assistant, who dressed as a Kazakh. Sophia wore the Kazakh dress that I bought for her last year.
There were mummies, vampires, witches, princesses, fairies, Darth Vader... everything you'd expect to find at a traditional American Halloween celebration. Dozens of nationalities were represented at this event, everyone clearly happy and excited. Two American teachers had spend the afternoon getting their costumes ready, creating theirs from scratch, using cardboard and other items. The pre-school teacher dressed as Khan Shatyr, the big tent-like mall. His wife dressed as Beyterek, the tall tower with a golden sphere at its top. Their son dressed as the tall building known as the "lighter building" due to its uncanny resemblance to a cigarette lighter. Their costumes were very cute, funny, and original. And proof that you don't need to buy your costume or have brought yours from America to have an awesome costume!
The vice principal and his wife, Sophia's teacher, came dressed as each other. The v.p. even shaved his beard so he could look like his wife, and his wife painted a beard on her face. They looked awesome.
My friend R. and her daughter came. She was tired form a long work week, but her daughter was clearly excited to celebrate Halloween. We hardly saw her and Sophia all evening, and whenever we did, they were having a blast and getting a LOT of candy.
The Mummy Wrap was a lot of fun. I gave up making it a contest, kids just wrapped each other up for fun (and candy). They soon discovered that playing with the used toilet paper (after someone had become a mummy, they tore the toilet paper off) was just as much fun as wrapping someone up. I started to create a new game--who can collect the most toilet paper?--because the toilet paper was spreading across the entire gym! What a mess!
But then I talked to the principal, who waved away my concerns about the mess. Toilet paper is relatively easy to clean (that is, clean toilet paper--it's not sticky or messy or anything) and he had already arranged to have cleaners clean the entire gym the next day. All I needed to worry about, he said, was stuff that was mine. Don't worry about cleaning, at all.
What a relief!
So I let the kids play and soon it was a free-for-all in my little corner of the gym, children and some adults throwing toilet paper around, making piles of toilet paper and diving in, burying each other in toilet paper. All the while some children continued to make each other into mummies and get candy.
I talked to some parents about their kids. They seemed really happy with this school so far, how their kid was doing, how their kid was feeling. My general impression about this school is that the kids are happy, and that most parents who work and live far from their native home are most concerned with how happy their child is at school. And--surprise, surprise!--happy children learn better than unhappy children.
And teachers in such an environment--where the happiness of children and staff is a priority--are better teachers. I really know my children and feel confident talking to the parents.
At 8 pm, we left. The gym was a mess, Sophia and her friend were excited and overloaded with candy, and we grown-ups were ready to go home!
A great Halloween!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Kazakh-American Wedding -- Part 2 -- Food!
Dinner was a buffet, full of interesting items, I took a lot to try them and relied on the pre-school teacher to try all of the food. He has an amazing appetite and always tries everything whenever we go places.
I ate something that made me feel sick as I ate it, it probably was pure fat and I shouldn't have eaten it. I didn't try the tongue, though. (There was tongue!) I liked the salad with cheese, olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes and some kind of yummy light sauce. That went quickly. I also liked the fruit--cut into amazing designs. Would you like an apple sliced and designed to look like a swan? It was yummy! There were plenty of foods that I'll categorize as "dumplings"--dough or bread surrounding meat or veggies or something on the inside. Something had caviar on the inside. (I didn't try it, sorry, I'm a picky eater!) There was this large, super-thin, hard & crispy, honey-glazed bread that was definitely delicious (and a bit sticky!)
There was even more food after that, plus two pies for desert, but I was pretty full!
After most people had eaten, the toasts began. I learned last year that Kazakhs love to give speeches, and so of course at a wedding there were speeches. The bride's family had come in from Shymkent (very far from Astana, in the southern part of Kazakhstan). Her grandmother, father, mother and aunt all gave speeches, as well the the school principal. Her grandmother was a typical Kazakh babushka, short, her hair covered by a scarf, and lecturing the bride in the firm yet loving way that grandmas do.
After the speeches, the 1st grade teacher and her assistant had a Newlywed Game prepared. The shortest married couple, the longest married couple, and one couple that volunteered all participated. She asked multiple-choice questions, they answered without telling their spouse, and then the answers were compared. It was a three-way tie.
Afterwards, we moved downstairs for cake, bouquet-tossing, and dancing.
The pre-school aide is from India and majored in Indian dance; she presented quite a show, an amazing dance. She is so expressive and beautiful, the dance was lovely.
It was an amazing evening, an American-style Kazakh wedding.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Kazakh-American Wedding -- Part 1
Wedding Reception, Sunday, 10 October 2010
In August, our school's "registrar" (like a secretary) announced that she was getting married. To an American. In October. And MOVING TO HAWAII.
So it's safe to say that most of the school is jealous.
My assistant, however, had a different reaction than me. "Hawaii?!" she said. "It's dangerous!" And she was being serious. Hawaii has volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis...
The wedding was at a small Christian church (she had converted to Christianity), but I missed it because I was sick. The next week was the reception.
I, like many others, did not bring any dresses to Kazakhstan. Last year, luckily, Sophia had had a nice dress, which she wore for many occasions, but she's outgrown it. So we raced to find us fancy dresses. There's no shortage of neat dresses around here, but it's difficult to find anything for cheap!
Sophia picked out her dress, it's two pieces and fits her well. It's pink, the skirt is long and flowing, very much has a princess feel to it. The material is more summer-y than winter-y, but she shall wear it for Christmas anyways! I found a long-sleeved white shirt in a nice material that looks good underneath it, so she can stay warm.
I found a tan-colored dress that I can't describe really well, but it fit me well, and looked very nice and had sleeves just past my elbows, so it should work for Christmas and other occasions as needed.
We found the restaurant easily on a map, but before we could go there, we had to trek to the school (okay, only a 10-minute trek, but out of the way!) where we'd unfortunately left our dress shoes. Then back to the bus stop, where we waited for 20 minutes in unbearable heat! Sophia and I each have 2 styles of coats--light spring jackets and warm winter coats. So we had on our warm winter coats and were burning! Sophia wouldn't take hers off or even unzip hers, because she wasn't wearing her long skirt--just her fancy top and short shorts over tights.
Some teenagers who spoke English started talking to us, everyone always seems eager to try their English with us. They said that their high school would be celebrating Halloween, they were very excited for that.
Then we got on the bus and went to the reception.
The bride was standing outside the restaurant, talking to relatives, in a gorgeous wedding dress. The dress was American-style, but the tall white hat was Kazakh.
We went inside, and quickly to the bathroom to put Sophia's skirt on, and then checked our coats. There was a downstairs and an upstairs, so up we went and found seats at a table. We were next to the kids' table, but Sophia preferred to sit with me.
We sat at a table with two other American teachers from our school (a couple with two kids), the librarian/French teacher and her American Embassy husband (fascinating couple!), a French woman whose kids attend the school, the Russian art teacher, and the Kazakh accountant.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Birthday Party
Saturday, 9 October 2010
There are only 6 girls in Sophia's class, and so when we got the invitation to a birthday party, I knew we should attend. I discovered that it was located not far from our house, and so Saturday afternoon we went.
I was going to drop her off, but she wanted me to stay. I was going to leave after a bit, but I ended up staying the whole time. Here's why:
First, the birthday girl's father offered me some tea. It had been a busy day, so I accepted, sat down and relaxed.
Then, another teacher (who has a child in Sophia's class) showed up. She, too, had been planning on leaving, but she too had had a busy day and welcomed the opportunity to sit and relax with a cup of tea.
Before we knew it, we were ushered to another table and presented with plenty of delicious food as well as champagne. Why not stay?
The party was located in a restaurant that had signs on it labeling it as "music" and "karakoe". Inside it was decorated with festive balloons for the party. Two "pirates" led the party. They were pretty enthusiastic, and also obliging when they learned that some of the party guests did not speak Russian. We heard "one two three!" in Russian, Kazakh, and English.
One adorable little 1st grade girl recognized me and clung to me when the pirates arrived, saying she was scared of the pirates although she did find them quite funny. A short while later, after talking to this girl, the birthday girl's mother came to me and asked me how it is that this girl speaks Russian. I tried to explain that the girl's mother is Uzbek, but she was still confused. Finally, she realized that I am not this girl's mother. We just look alike, and she was clinging to me, but no, this child is not mine, and speaks Russian way too well to be mine!
As the pirates led singing, dancing, games, and, later, pizza and cake, we grown-ups sat and chatted. The birthday girl's father has lived in many different places, including Georgia (the country). He was a jovial, nice man, quite happy to have us here; his wife was very friendly and very relieved that people had shown up for her daughter's party. There were about a dozen kids there, only one boy; but they had been worried that no one would show up.
The food was very good, I had salad similar to that at the wedding. Then I had the absolutely best dessert I have ever had. The closest thing I can compare it to is applesauce, but that does this dessert no justice. There were soft apples on the bottom, and some kind of whipped cream sauce on the top but this dessert was so much more sumptuous than "applesauce with whipped cream". The apples were soft and sweet, a dessert in themselves, the whipped cream light and creamy. The other teacher and I agreed, this was the best dessert ever, whatever it was!!
They sent us home with extra desserts (beautiful little cakes that turned out to be some kind of sugary gelatinous something or other---delicious!) It was a great day, Sophia had a blast, I had a relaxing, delicious time.
There are only 6 girls in Sophia's class, and so when we got the invitation to a birthday party, I knew we should attend. I discovered that it was located not far from our house, and so Saturday afternoon we went.
I was going to drop her off, but she wanted me to stay. I was going to leave after a bit, but I ended up staying the whole time. Here's why:
First, the birthday girl's father offered me some tea. It had been a busy day, so I accepted, sat down and relaxed.
Then, another teacher (who has a child in Sophia's class) showed up. She, too, had been planning on leaving, but she too had had a busy day and welcomed the opportunity to sit and relax with a cup of tea.
Before we knew it, we were ushered to another table and presented with plenty of delicious food as well as champagne. Why not stay?
The party was located in a restaurant that had signs on it labeling it as "music" and "karakoe". Inside it was decorated with festive balloons for the party. Two "pirates" led the party. They were pretty enthusiastic, and also obliging when they learned that some of the party guests did not speak Russian. We heard "one two three!" in Russian, Kazakh, and English.
One adorable little 1st grade girl recognized me and clung to me when the pirates arrived, saying she was scared of the pirates although she did find them quite funny. A short while later, after talking to this girl, the birthday girl's mother came to me and asked me how it is that this girl speaks Russian. I tried to explain that the girl's mother is Uzbek, but she was still confused. Finally, she realized that I am not this girl's mother. We just look alike, and she was clinging to me, but no, this child is not mine, and speaks Russian way too well to be mine!
As the pirates led singing, dancing, games, and, later, pizza and cake, we grown-ups sat and chatted. The birthday girl's father has lived in many different places, including Georgia (the country). He was a jovial, nice man, quite happy to have us here; his wife was very friendly and very relieved that people had shown up for her daughter's party. There were about a dozen kids there, only one boy; but they had been worried that no one would show up.
The food was very good, I had salad similar to that at the wedding. Then I had the absolutely best dessert I have ever had. The closest thing I can compare it to is applesauce, but that does this dessert no justice. There were soft apples on the bottom, and some kind of whipped cream sauce on the top but this dessert was so much more sumptuous than "applesauce with whipped cream". The apples were soft and sweet, a dessert in themselves, the whipped cream light and creamy. The other teacher and I agreed, this was the best dessert ever, whatever it was!!
They sent us home with extra desserts (beautiful little cakes that turned out to be some kind of sugary gelatinous something or other---delicious!) It was a great day, Sophia had a blast, I had a relaxing, delicious time.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Getting Sick
Over 2 weeks, end of September and beginning of October 2010. Ugh :(
Last year I NEVER got sick. I was pretty amazed--I mean, traveling to a new country, new school, drinking tap water (which locals never do! and foreigners are advised against!), working with kids who were getting sick all the time, under a lot of stress, single mom on my own for the first time, way-worse-than-freezing-cold weather.... You'd think that was a prime time for me to get sick! But I didn't. Except for a few times at the beginning, neither did Sophia.
Maybe it was all the juice I drank (I drank a lot... but I still do!) Maybe it was something in the water (ha, ha, I doubt it!) Maybe it was the Kazakh custom of everyone wearing masks when they think they might be sick (not sure if that works, because at least half the sick people don't wear their masks all the time, and sick kids are kids, pretty germy & good at spreading germs whether or not they're wearing masks). Maybe it was the Kazakh custom of keeping kids home for 10 days when they're sick. (Except... I can't believe that's the reason! You're most contagious before you really know you're sick, aren't you?)
Whatever the reason, I had a super-healthy year last year and fully expected another one.
When I got here, I got a runny nose & used up all my Mucinex-D, the medicine that works best for me on runny noses. I hadn't brought a lot.
Then, towards the end of September, I got an upset stomach. It came and went for a few days; one day I almost called in sick, but made it to work just half an hour late. Since we show up at 8 am, and the elementary classes don't start until 9 am, showing up a bit late was no problem.
Another teacher had a really bad stomach bug, so I was guessing I had something like him.
Monday, 27 September, my stomach felt fine but my throat felt like it was on fire, like it's never felt before. During the course of the morning it got better and I thought that this was the end!
Then Tuesday, I had to call in sick. I could barely leave my bed, and when I made it to the bathroom, I could barely leave the bathroom.
Always feeling guilty about calling in sick, when I started to feel better, I slowly got ready and Sophia and I went to school around noon. We could have stayed home and played the Wii, my important classes were already over, but I felt like I had to go into work.
At all previous schools I've worked at, I've felt guilty at calling in sick, and guilty that I wasn't sick enough. I felt pressure to go in, or to prove that I'm really sick. In South Carolina, of course, I had only so many sick days, so this was definitely a motivation to come in!
But here, when I showed up, other teachers & even the vice principal & principal were surprised. "You should have stayed home and gotten better!" was the universal reaction. They understood when I said I'd feel guilty staying at home, playing the Wii with Sophia, however, they said it'd be best for me to rest.
I've never gotten such a reaction. It makes sense, though, to rest thoroughly when you're sick so you can get better. But I've never worked for people who had that attitude towards their employees.
It was an awful rest of the day, as I didn't have a break (staff meeting after school!) and I had so many pieces to pick up from having missed the morning. I should have stayed home.
This sickness lasted like this--up and down--for over another week. But I didn't have to call in sick again. It slowly turned more into a runny nose and a mucus-filled throat, which was absolutely awful, and how I missed my Mucinex-D! But I waited it out, and eventually got my voice back so that I could sing with my students.
It went around the school and a lot of people got it. Sophia got sick for one day, towards the end of October. Not sure if it was the same thing.
Here's hoping, however, that that was my only time being sick this year!!
Last year I NEVER got sick. I was pretty amazed--I mean, traveling to a new country, new school, drinking tap water (which locals never do! and foreigners are advised against!), working with kids who were getting sick all the time, under a lot of stress, single mom on my own for the first time, way-worse-than-freezing-cold weather.... You'd think that was a prime time for me to get sick! But I didn't. Except for a few times at the beginning, neither did Sophia.
Maybe it was all the juice I drank (I drank a lot... but I still do!) Maybe it was something in the water (ha, ha, I doubt it!) Maybe it was the Kazakh custom of everyone wearing masks when they think they might be sick (not sure if that works, because at least half the sick people don't wear their masks all the time, and sick kids are kids, pretty germy & good at spreading germs whether or not they're wearing masks). Maybe it was the Kazakh custom of keeping kids home for 10 days when they're sick. (Except... I can't believe that's the reason! You're most contagious before you really know you're sick, aren't you?)
Whatever the reason, I had a super-healthy year last year and fully expected another one.
When I got here, I got a runny nose & used up all my Mucinex-D, the medicine that works best for me on runny noses. I hadn't brought a lot.
Then, towards the end of September, I got an upset stomach. It came and went for a few days; one day I almost called in sick, but made it to work just half an hour late. Since we show up at 8 am, and the elementary classes don't start until 9 am, showing up a bit late was no problem.
Another teacher had a really bad stomach bug, so I was guessing I had something like him.
Monday, 27 September, my stomach felt fine but my throat felt like it was on fire, like it's never felt before. During the course of the morning it got better and I thought that this was the end!
Then Tuesday, I had to call in sick. I could barely leave my bed, and when I made it to the bathroom, I could barely leave the bathroom.
Always feeling guilty about calling in sick, when I started to feel better, I slowly got ready and Sophia and I went to school around noon. We could have stayed home and played the Wii, my important classes were already over, but I felt like I had to go into work.
At all previous schools I've worked at, I've felt guilty at calling in sick, and guilty that I wasn't sick enough. I felt pressure to go in, or to prove that I'm really sick. In South Carolina, of course, I had only so many sick days, so this was definitely a motivation to come in!
But here, when I showed up, other teachers & even the vice principal & principal were surprised. "You should have stayed home and gotten better!" was the universal reaction. They understood when I said I'd feel guilty staying at home, playing the Wii with Sophia, however, they said it'd be best for me to rest.
I've never gotten such a reaction. It makes sense, though, to rest thoroughly when you're sick so you can get better. But I've never worked for people who had that attitude towards their employees.
It was an awful rest of the day, as I didn't have a break (staff meeting after school!) and I had so many pieces to pick up from having missed the morning. I should have stayed home.
This sickness lasted like this--up and down--for over another week. But I didn't have to call in sick again. It slowly turned more into a runny nose and a mucus-filled throat, which was absolutely awful, and how I missed my Mucinex-D! But I waited it out, and eventually got my voice back so that I could sing with my students.
It went around the school and a lot of people got it. Sophia got sick for one day, towards the end of October. Not sure if it was the same thing.
Here's hoping, however, that that was my only time being sick this year!!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Brazilian Singer & Super-Friendly Kazakhs
Friday Night, September 2010
The librarian at our school had informed us of a Brazilian singer coming to sing at the Pyramid--a free concert of Brazilian music! Sounds like fun! Once I learned for sure that it was at the Pyramid--not far from my former school--I was sure I could get there, although I knew it would take a while. Via bus and foot, my former school is roughly an hour away. Via car, it's much, much closer.
Another teacher, L., and I met up to take Bus 35 from in front of Mega (the mall). The accountant at our school (a local) had given us bus directions, which matched what I probably would have figured out on my own, but it's nice to have extra assurance that you're doing it correctly.
Bus 35 takes a long, ambling route through the new downtown, which is not nice if you want to get somewhere in a short amount of time, but it is nice if the sun is out and you want to enjoy the sights. So we decided to enjoy the sights of the amazing architecture of downtown Astana.
We got off in front of the Ministry buildings and waited for Bus 41. (Or was it 40? Now I forget which one it was.) We took this one until we saw the Pyramid, then we got off. We then noticed that the bus turned right and stopped directly in front of the Pyramid, whereas we now had a short walk to the Pyramid. Oh, well. Living in a foreign country you learn to smile and make most of mini road-bumps.
We were barely on time for the concert, and inside the Pyramid we noticed that many people were rather dressed up. We were wearing jeans.
On the basement level of the Pyramid is a theater, this is where we went. It was getting rather crowded, but eventually we found 3 seats in a row. We noticed that we were near Mr & Mrs L, two other teachers from our school. I noticed one of my favorite students from last year sitting a few rows in front of us.
The concert was a Brazilian singer, a middle-aged woman with an amazing voice, singing, well, songs that are fit for Lite Radio, songs somewhat reminiscent of Frances Cabrel and other calm, romantic French music. Her voice was amazing, strong and passionate, but the music was not the sexy Latin music we had been expecting. Sophia, especially, quickly became bored.
She first sang the Brazilian national anthem, and then she had the musicians play the Kazakh national anthem. She didn't know the words, but beckoned for every in the audience to sing. This was funny--because, nobody in the audience seemed to know the words! Sophia & I knew just as much as everyone else! Last year, everyone in our school had sung it at the assemblies on Monday and Friday mornings. So it was quite funny to realize how few people actually know the anthem.
Between songs, she spoke in Portuguese, and waited for a reluctant translator to translate into Russian. The translator seemed to be rather unsure of his translating abilities.
After a while, Sophia was antsy and so we decided to leave. However, the usher guarding the door wouldn't let us out! Several other people tried to leave, too, and she wouldn't let them out either, so we ended up sitting on the stairs and milling around the exit door, getting rather frustrated. Finally, someone discovered that if we climbed over some chairs, we could get out another door. So a large amount of people left that way. Not sure why we couldn't go out the door closest to us?
We milled around the lobby for a while. I saw my former student, he ran up to me and said, "Hello, Miss Elizabeth!" and then when I said something to him, he mumbled in Russian that he had forgotten all his English. Oh well.
We met up with the two other teachers who were there, and decided to figure out a bus home. If the buses in front of the Pyramid do a U-turn at the end of the road, as they did last year, then I felt confident that I could get us back. If they did not, and continued on in that direction, well, then, I wouldn't be so sure...
In the end we took Bus 40, which did U-turn, but did not turn back towards the new downtown and the Ministry Buildings, where we expected to get Bus 35. However, pretty quickly, everyone on the crowded bus figured out that we were foreigners trying to find our way to Mega (everyone knows that mall). Soon everyone was offering advice and ideas, in limited English and with tons of gestures. The decided-upon advice was the same idea I had come up with: Get off at Momyshuly Street and catch Bus 35 from there.
Several passengers and the attendant made sure that we got off at this stop, and that we knew exactly where to go to get to Bus 35's stop. We thanked them profusely, and got off--pretty close to where I used to live.
As we were walked towards the next bus stop (just across the street, really), a young man who had been on the bus with us came up to us. He spoke English better than most Kazakhs (not very well, but good enough for communicating without using gestures) and was eager to help us find our bus stop.
He was taking Bus 35, also, and so he walked with us to the stop, and rode the bus with us, eagerly talking to us during the whole trip.
Finally, we reached our stop, said good-bye to the friendly man, and returned home!
Quite pleased with the hospitality and kindness of Kazakhs towards strangers.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Metro - the Sam's Club of Kazakhstan
Another Saturday in September, 2010
Sometime last year, Metro opened in Astana. When I first heard people talking about it, I thought hopefully that this meant a subway system. Nope, it's a German-run discount, bulk, need-a-card supermarket store, kind of akin to a Sam's Club or Costco.
My brother and I researched it on-line, as all good nerds do, and learned that to get a card, you need a Tax ID number (which I had) and some other business-stuff (which I didn't have). Like good nerds, we decided not to go to Metro because we couldn't get a card.
This year, I learned that this is Kazakhstan, and you don't really need that stuff to get a card there.
My Kazakh friend R. offered to take me one Saturday (it's rather far away, located more on the steppe than in the city) and so of course I agreed.
She had a card, so I never bothered to figure out if I could get one.
Metro is huge and not entirely impressive. Not as much bulk items as I would have expected, and the prices didn't seem to be much cheaper than at regular stores. It did have a larger selection than most stores I've been to. It even had looseleaf, lined-paper! Something that is virtually impossible to find here, so I bought some.
It also had a ton of spices, with ENGLISH on them, I had fun looking at all of them, and ending up buying a huge jar of the French spice Herbes de Provence, which R. and I split.
In the frozen section, I found something that I had yet to find in Kazakhstan: frozen chicken nuggets. Fish nuggets are very popular, chicken nuggets seem to be unheard of. But here they were. I bought 4 packets. They were rather small, later I came to wish I'd bought every single one that the store had. I also bought a 2.5 kg bag of frozen broccoli---broccoli is the only vegetable Sophia eats. It had the frozen pizza that I buy for her (just sauce, nothing on it--have yet to see frozen plain cheese pizza!) and in the cheese section I bought some sliced Edam cheese, which took me less than 3 days to finish.
Overall, a good shopping experience. I bought a lot. Metro isn't entirely amazing, but it has a slightly better selection of things Americans like, and prices weren't bad. But it's so far away, I just have to rely on hitching a ride with someone who's driving there.
Sometime last year, Metro opened in Astana. When I first heard people talking about it, I thought hopefully that this meant a subway system. Nope, it's a German-run discount, bulk, need-a-card supermarket store, kind of akin to a Sam's Club or Costco.
My brother and I researched it on-line, as all good nerds do, and learned that to get a card, you need a Tax ID number (which I had) and some other business-stuff (which I didn't have). Like good nerds, we decided not to go to Metro because we couldn't get a card.
This year, I learned that this is Kazakhstan, and you don't really need that stuff to get a card there.
My Kazakh friend R. offered to take me one Saturday (it's rather far away, located more on the steppe than in the city) and so of course I agreed.
She had a card, so I never bothered to figure out if I could get one.
Metro is huge and not entirely impressive. Not as much bulk items as I would have expected, and the prices didn't seem to be much cheaper than at regular stores. It did have a larger selection than most stores I've been to. It even had looseleaf, lined-paper! Something that is virtually impossible to find here, so I bought some.
It also had a ton of spices, with ENGLISH on them, I had fun looking at all of them, and ending up buying a huge jar of the French spice Herbes de Provence, which R. and I split.
In the frozen section, I found something that I had yet to find in Kazakhstan: frozen chicken nuggets. Fish nuggets are very popular, chicken nuggets seem to be unheard of. But here they were. I bought 4 packets. They were rather small, later I came to wish I'd bought every single one that the store had. I also bought a 2.5 kg bag of frozen broccoli---broccoli is the only vegetable Sophia eats. It had the frozen pizza that I buy for her (just sauce, nothing on it--have yet to see frozen plain cheese pizza!) and in the cheese section I bought some sliced Edam cheese, which took me less than 3 days to finish.
Overall, a good shopping experience. I bought a lot. Metro isn't entirely amazing, but it has a slightly better selection of things Americans like, and prices weren't bad. But it's so far away, I just have to rely on hitching a ride with someone who's driving there.
Learning to Cook Plov
Some Saturday in September, 2010
My Kazakh friend R. offered to cook for me, and so one Saturday we had a nice long, relaxing day. First, we went to Mega, the mall near my home, with the kids. We instantly got side-tracked by a music-etc. store. I wanted to see how much a Wii cost here, since I had gone to the trouble of bringing a Wii from the US. I forget how much, but around $400. My parents later assured me that they had spent far less on my Wii! So perhaps worth it to bring it from the States?
(Side note--the American Wii power supply does NOT work in Kazakhstan, even with a converter. We had to wait over a month for my dad to order and then ship me a power supply that will work here. Now our Wii works great.)
Then we looked at CDs, and soon we were browsing the traditional Kazakh music section, where CDs are rather cheap (between 400 and 1000 Tenge---$2.70 and $6.70). Rabiga helped me pick out 3 CDs and then got some for herself, plus a karaoke DVD of Russian children's songs.
Finally, we made it to Ramstore, where we shopped for vegetables etc. R. was surprised to learn that I cook so rarely that I don't have onions at home, we had to buy some. Then I surprised her when I said I needed to buy flour, so I cook cook desert. She pointed to a tiny pack of flour, but I said I needed much more flour that that! Really? She rarely uses flour.
We walked home and the kids put on a DVD in Russian (Disney's "Atlantis") while we cooked. Okay, I watched and R. cooked.
Plov is a traditional Uzbek dish. And VERY easy to cook.
The main ingredients are rice, meat, and vegetables.
R. first soaked the rice in water to soften it and then we set about to cutting up the vegetables. She took out a huge, orange-ish vegetable, which I assumed was a yam. I told her what it was and surprised her. It was a carrot. I have never seen a carrot so huge before.
In a large pot, we heated some oil, then we poured in the vegetables, the already-cut-up beef, and some salt. We let it cook for about 20 - 30 minutes and then we poured in the rice and some water. R. added more salt, tasting the water to see if it was okay. We let it simmer for another 20 minutes and then we had plov.
Really simple and kind of fool-proof, since we had the pot on the wrong burner for quite some time, and so we really didn't heat up the oil as we were supposed to. It tasted really good, although of course Sophia didn't like it and R.'s daughter only picked at hers. And it refrigerates well, so I had dinner pre-made for the next couple nights.
And it's something that you can mix up and change to your taste--change the kind of meat, change the vegetables, add different spices.
Yummy!
Then, I made chocolate muffins, from a recipe I found on the Internet. Whereas R. made hers from memory, not even using measuring cups, I followed the recipes correctly, measuring everything precisely. R.'s daugher had never seen an electric mixer before and was enamored by its use.
The muffins turned out delicious, warm and moist. We listened to the Russian's children DVD and R. and her daughter sang some Russian songs. (I tried.)
In the end, we spent about 8 hours together, shopping, cooking, eating (and drinking a little Georgian wine).
A good evening which gave me enough courage to consider maybe making plov again, maybe learning a new recipe!
My Kazakh friend R. offered to cook for me, and so one Saturday we had a nice long, relaxing day. First, we went to Mega, the mall near my home, with the kids. We instantly got side-tracked by a music-etc. store. I wanted to see how much a Wii cost here, since I had gone to the trouble of bringing a Wii from the US. I forget how much, but around $400. My parents later assured me that they had spent far less on my Wii! So perhaps worth it to bring it from the States?
(Side note--the American Wii power supply does NOT work in Kazakhstan, even with a converter. We had to wait over a month for my dad to order and then ship me a power supply that will work here. Now our Wii works great.)
Then we looked at CDs, and soon we were browsing the traditional Kazakh music section, where CDs are rather cheap (between 400 and 1000 Tenge---$2.70 and $6.70). Rabiga helped me pick out 3 CDs and then got some for herself, plus a karaoke DVD of Russian children's songs.
Finally, we made it to Ramstore, where we shopped for vegetables etc. R. was surprised to learn that I cook so rarely that I don't have onions at home, we had to buy some. Then I surprised her when I said I needed to buy flour, so I cook cook desert. She pointed to a tiny pack of flour, but I said I needed much more flour that that! Really? She rarely uses flour.
We walked home and the kids put on a DVD in Russian (Disney's "Atlantis") while we cooked. Okay, I watched and R. cooked.
Plov is a traditional Uzbek dish. And VERY easy to cook.
The main ingredients are rice, meat, and vegetables.
R. first soaked the rice in water to soften it and then we set about to cutting up the vegetables. She took out a huge, orange-ish vegetable, which I assumed was a yam. I told her what it was and surprised her. It was a carrot. I have never seen a carrot so huge before.
In a large pot, we heated some oil, then we poured in the vegetables, the already-cut-up beef, and some salt. We let it cook for about 20 - 30 minutes and then we poured in the rice and some water. R. added more salt, tasting the water to see if it was okay. We let it simmer for another 20 minutes and then we had plov.
Really simple and kind of fool-proof, since we had the pot on the wrong burner for quite some time, and so we really didn't heat up the oil as we were supposed to. It tasted really good, although of course Sophia didn't like it and R.'s daughter only picked at hers. And it refrigerates well, so I had dinner pre-made for the next couple nights.
And it's something that you can mix up and change to your taste--change the kind of meat, change the vegetables, add different spices.
Yummy!
Then, I made chocolate muffins, from a recipe I found on the Internet. Whereas R. made hers from memory, not even using measuring cups, I followed the recipes correctly, measuring everything precisely. R.'s daugher had never seen an electric mixer before and was enamored by its use.
The muffins turned out delicious, warm and moist. We listened to the Russian's children DVD and R. and her daughter sang some Russian songs. (I tried.)
In the end, we spent about 8 hours together, shopping, cooking, eating (and drinking a little Georgian wine).
A good evening which gave me enough courage to consider maybe making plov again, maybe learning a new recipe!
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