First week in school, and it's a whole new world

Michael and I just got through our first five days of long school meetings, and our first three days of teaching.  It's been such a change!   Don't get me wrong, I love my teenagers and my wonderful co-workers at my lovely Life Academy in Oakland (I have to give a special shout out to them because I really took for granted how together and organized they are there!) -- but there is something truly joyous about teaching a group of kids who are even more enthusiastic about learning, and just about as in love with reading as I am!   I'm so used to introducing an 'assignment' and bracing for impact, waiting for the "awe, maaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnn!" which inevitably flows from the mouths of teenagers being asked to write down, say, the date on their paper.

Today, I said that we were going to do some math and the kids ... cheered!   We moved on to Writing, and I was even more shocked by their eagerness to expand their knowledge.  "Can I write five sentences instead of two?"   Then Reading:  "Can you help me choose some more challenging books? I like to challenge myself!"  "Reading!?  Yay!  I love books!  I! Love! Books!"  And so began the chant, raising in volume as my twelve little 7-year-olds sat in a circle on my "Reading Zone" rug.   I pulled out two books, Blueberries for Sal and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, to applause and excitement.  "I love those books!"  "I have that one at home!"  "She follows a bear!"  "Maybe we should let him drive the bus this time?"  "Noooo!"  Giggles, and then, "Shhhhh!  She's going to read!"....  Ah yes, a whole new world for me.

On the other side of the school, Michael opened a poetry unit today.  He announced this first unit somewhat hesitantly, ready to convince and cajole his 12-year-old students into reading and writing poems -- only to be met with enthusiastic readiness:  "Will we get to read Edgar Allen Poe?!", "Can I write a poem and set it to music?!", "Will we get to share what we read?!", and the winner:  "Poetry is so cool!"

I continue to be shocked by the seeming randomness of the kids' love for learning.  I'll be cleaning up something in the room, during a transition from one activity to the next, when K, a Kazakh boy, runs up so close to me that I'm sure he can smell the laundry detergent in my sleeve.  "Will we have some math today?  I love math!"  Me (shocked):  "Uh, yeah.  We'll do math today."  K: "Yaaaaaaayyyy!  I hope we do some super challenge math!" (my phrase for math I think should be 'hard' for them, but usually isn't) and he runs back to his table to reassure his friends that math is indeed on the agenda.

I'm also shocked at the depth and breadth of their knowledge.  These seven-year-olds have had the benefit of true and literal investment in their education.  Tuition to this school is half my annual salary.   Most of the kids have their tuition paid for by their parents' company (as part of their compensation package), but if the kid is from Kazakhstan, that means that their parent is most likely paying from their own pocket.   They get to read a LOT at school and at home, have tutors and intensive instruction in several languages, and have visited almost as many places in the world as we have -- and that's saying something!  I put up my travel photos today and every one of the kids identified at least two of the locations (without looking at my captions), exclaiming something like, "Oooh!  Paris!  I loved Paris!"  To which someone else says, "Me too!  Did you go to the Eiffel Tower?"  ... response:  "Of course!"   Third kid:  "I liked the Taj Mahal better."  Fourth kid:  "The pyramids are cool, too!"  Collective agreement.  They turn to me:  "Have you been to the Eiffel Tower, Miss Friz-zizzle?"  (They haven't learned to say my name quite yet, but we'll get there!)  Me (stunned again):  "Yes.  These are my pictures."  Collective awe. "Coooooool."  Fifth kid:  "What's your favorite airline?  I like Turkish Airline, Boeing 737-800!"   First kid:  "Yeah, Turkish Airline has video games!"  Other kids shout out names of airlines, and describe seats and fun little perks that I associate with First Class.  Ah yes, this is a different place indeed.

On the flip side, we're also having to "make do" a bit here.  Our annual shipment of workbooks and supplies didn't arrive from the USA.  Technology isn't working properly because of some issues with upgrades, compatibility and lack of specific know-how.  Electives teachers "aren't ready yet", which means that my kids are with me most of the day instead of going out for all of their extra classes.  So, even though I'm in a much more 'privileged' school, my old-style public-school background of pulling solutions out of thin air has helped me a lot here!  Skills are priceless, my friends!  I learned mine in public schools. : )

What's your favorite airline?

Foods from the Kazakh market

We found out that we have a little bazaar quite close to our house and took time to explore it today.  It's much smaller than the big (Green/Zeloni) bazaar that we went to yesterday, but it still had plenty to offer and is great for day-to-day shopping.

We've been pretty happy with the foods we've found so far.  I've seen more than six or seven types of melon here -- all ripe and sweet-smelling, with beautiful skins of all different colors.  I can only identify two of the melons... the rest are a mystery.  A tasty mystery!  We bought one with a bright orange peel and a green flesh -- it was kind of like a honeydew.  The watermelons are delicious and very melon-y.  Peaches are kind of flat (like they were spun on their axles while they were still growing) but taste so yummy and are very juicy.  There are also an abundance of sweet apricots, apples, and other fruits that you'd expect to see in summer:  grapes of many kinds, tiny sweet strawberries, plump black currents, blackberries, gooseberries, all full of flavor and, of course, locally-sourced! :)   Veggies are also in large supply, along with herbs and spices and a variety of home-made pickles in jars from the sellers' homes.

Meat has been an interesting thing to shop for.  In the bazaar, we saw EVERY part of every animal hanging from hooks or laying on table tops.  Even though there was no covering or refrigeration, it was spotlessly clean and didn't smell at all.  There are also a lot of cured and smoked meats, like bacon and sausages. Michael bought a big chunk of  bacon (not sliced), as well as some sausage.  Horse sausage.  Yeah -- Americans are a little squeamish about eating horse, but it is so common in Europe.  We eat it every time we visit our extended-family in Belgium and have found it in delis all over France, Germany and other countries.  It's all about perspective.  I love eating kangaroo meat, too.  In outback Australia, that's as common as beef, but in the cities, it's still a little 'exotic'.  Lamb is the thing there... but in Korea, eating lamb would be as abhorrent as eating a family pet.  Americans generally love pumpkin, but in Belgium, that's horse food.  Some people love goat cheese and goat milk, while other people are used to eating horse milk (both fermented and un-fermented, here in Kazakhstan).  Which brings me back to horse meat.  You've gotta be open to new things.  The sausage, by the way, is hecka tasty.  Michael's talking about bring some to the staff outing tomorrow to see if anyone is willing to try it.  I hope they do.

And yes, I did say "fermented and un-fermented horse milk".  It takes up half the dairy case.  There are as many different brands and bottles as there are types of bottled water in the US stores.  When your from a culture where horses might be the only livestock you have outside your yurt, that's what you go for.  Now, there's a lot of cow milk and goat milk, too.  I haven't tried horse milk yet, but I plan to do so when I get a recommendation for where to start!

In case you were wondering, we brought a few things with us from the USA.  Michael packed a five-pound back of corn tortillas.  We also brought Cholula, Chipotle Tabasco, whole dried chillies, peanut butter, Vegemite, and a few other things that we couldn't get when we were living in Japan four years ago.  Happily, we're finding that the Kazakh markets are certainly well-stocked.  There are some things that are hard to find and/or strangely expensive -- like cereal bowls (all too small), butter knives (two for $8!), and Tupperware-like containers.  I guess the bonus is that all of those things only need to be bought once.

Michael's in the kitchen making a pizza-type dinner out of some fresh round bread we bought today and some yummy-smelling tomatoes and basil.  (Post-note:  dinner was great!  Here's two photos:)

I hope in winter there are just as many yummy things to eat.  Fortunately, that feels a long way away today, as I sit here in the sunshine and cool breeze, settling down after a 90-degree day.

Also, I'm feeling happy that I got to talk to my parents in Australia, on Skype video-phone (free, over-the-internet, long-distance calls!).  Technology is so cool.

Bazaar Day

Today we got a little tour of the city, out on an excursion with the new teachers at our school.  We went to Almaty’s ‘famous’ Zeloni (Green) Bazaar, which is impressively large and has more stuff than you can possibly see in one trip.  We also went to the city’s main park, which is where the beautiful Russian Orthodox Church is located (a very old wooden church, with onion domes and golden crosses, made without any nails – only dowels, dove-tails and gravity!), along with a few war memorials and statues of influential people.  We ate shaslik, the Kazakh dish of skewered meat (usually lamb), grilled over a wooden-coal fire with plenty of steam and yummy spices.  Yum!

It was nice to get a chance to talk to some of the people we’ll be working with.  One of the directors stated that there are more than 100 staff members at the school (for 430 students) – a huge number, especially considering that my last school in Oakland ran on about 30 staff members (for 260 students).  One of the new teachers is going to be teaching 2nd grade.  This was actually the role I requested, since I’ve never taught at lower-elementary and I was told that this would be a good place to start.  I was offered first grade, which makes me both nervous and excited because that is such an important year for building foundational knowledge.  It turns out that this new teacher is actually a first-grade teacher, and she wanted to teach first grade, not second!  So, we were both nodding at each other and wondering, “wanna trade?”   We’ll see… we’re both going to think about it this weekend and then get back to the director, who thinks it would be fine to make that arrangement if it’s what we’d like to do.  On one hand, 2nd grade is what I wanted to teach and I feel less intimidated by it:  I’d be building on knowledge rather than setting the foundation.  On the other hand, I’ve been preparing myself to teach 1st grade since January, and it would mean that both the new teacher and I would get a chance to try something new and expand our experiences.  Either way, I’ll be enthusiastic and willing to dive in. 

We bought a map today and found out where our neighborhood bazaar is, so we’re going to go back tomorrow and see what’s on.  On the map, we also spotted the mosque we can hear so clearly at night.  I’d like to see what it looks like so I can picture the imam in his minarets when I hear him singing his beautiful song of praise.

First day in Almaty!

So, we’re just had our first 24 hours in our new home of Almaty, Kazakhstan!  It’s amazing to finally be here, after so much planning and more than a day in transit. 

The ladies at the United counter in Las Vegas were SOOOO helpful and sweet!  We got all 10 packages on the flight and they took care of us the whole way (we paid $200 per bag for 6 of those bags, since the first four were free).   We had our 8 bags plus our two bikes (foldable Dahon bikes that we rode around Ireland last summer).  (There's a photo of a very full truck-bed on the way to the airport.) After we checked everything in, we had this mini anxiety-moment when we thought “what if it doesn’t get there” and then “are we bringing way too much?”  All you can do in that situation is just take a deep breath and hope for the best.

We flew from Las Vegas to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt, and then Frankfurt to Almaty.  On the last flight, we spotted a family that we recognized from reading their blog about living in Kazakhstan.   We also met another couple of teachers for QSI at the baggage claim, since they also had ActionPackers coming down the conveyor belt!

Two of the school directors were there to meet us at the airport, along with four drivers with big vans to carry all the luggage.  It was so nice to have friendly faces to greet us at 2am in a new land!  Another employee from the school went shopping and picked up some basic kitchen supplies for us – milk, eggs, ham, yogurt, soap and a few other things to make sure we could make breakfast in the morning.  It’s nice to know that the school is well organized and has thought about the little things that help new teachers feel settled in a place where so many things are so new.   They helped us carry all of our stuff into our new place, deciding that it was indeed a nice apartment and we were well situated in the city. 

Even though we were quite tired from the trip, we took some time to unpack a few things (the quickest move-in ever!), when, at about 4am, we heard the call to prayer coming from a mosque in the distance.  We stopped what we were doing and went to the open window, listening to the song coming across the breeze and admiring our view of the city at night.  At daybreak, we crawled into bed.

We then got up only a few hours later, finishing our unpacking, doing some cleaning, and moving furniture to look more modern and less ‘ex-soviet’ :D.  (All of the couches were pushed against the wall in this huge room, and the window treatments covered the entire wall – even though the window was just average-sized – white sheer fabric with a pink valance-type fabric ‘accenting’ the top.  Add to that the blue ambient lights in the ceiling, and you’ve got a prom-photo backdrop in a room set up for a rave.)  "Before" and "After" shots are included above.   After we moved a few sofas, took down the curtains and gave everything a dusting, we were very happy with our place.  So much storage!  So many windows!  Such a great breeze!  What a modern kitchen!  And we have all new appliances and a brand-new flat-screen TV (which hooks up to our laptops with an HDMI cable, making it easy to display videos from the Internet on the television screen).

We then took a 6-hour walk around the neighborhood, seeing what food was around and what shops we had, getting a feel for prices (not too bad), the architecture (ex-Soviet, with some modern stuff popping up here and there), the driving culture (a little cray-zay!) and the fashions (mostly up-to-date and stylish for people our age).   We don’t immediately stand out as foreigners here, but, once people get a little closer to us, they might smile and say “hello!”  People walk at night, kids were playing outside at 9 pm, and grandmas were outside talking and sharing fruit.  We’re also hearing the calls to prayer more than 5 times a day, since its Ramadan (Holy Month).

Today, (Friday the 13th) we visited the school and saw the campus.  It’s beautiful: green grass, a rose garden, athletic field, new projectors and equipment, big windows, modern floors and plenty of supplies.  People were getting ready for the school year in the same ways we’re used to:  enrolling kids, having meetings, re-stocking books, patching holes in the walls, and generally getting excited about meeting new teachers and starting the school year.  I’m looking forward to it.

Kazakhstan is cool!  Even though we’re still a little melancholy when we think of how much we miss the Bay Area, we’re certainly not regretting the decision to come.

Start spreading the news...

We’re leaving for Kazakhstan in the morning and we are way too tired to be enthusiastic!  Actually, it’s past midnight, which technically means we’re leaving today… eeep!

We spent the last two days packing everything we think we’ll need in order to ‘survive’ for two years.  Have you ever really thought about how many of your possessions you could live without?  It’s really hard to decide which things are ‘vital to my day-to-day life’ and which are ‘nice to have, but could do without’.  Everything we’re going to bring has to fit into the 8 bags we have between us:  Kazakhstan is a land-locked country, which means that shipping things there is neither easy or cheap – we’ll need to fly in everything we want as accompanying baggage.

Four of those ‘bags’ are actually large Rubbermade containers, called “ActionPackers”, which are about the size of a large suitcase and have lock-able lids.   Michael read about them somewhere and decided that they sounded like the right thing to move our stuff in, but no-where in Vegas seemed to them.  (We’ve been visiting Michael’s mom there.)  While we were on our 8,000-mile Road Trip across the USA and Canada, Michael found an ACE Hardware in Denver who carried them.  We already had a full car, but I found a way to fit them in the back seat by playing Tetris with our stuff.

And now we’re back in Vegas, trying to fit everything into our bags.  We’ve got kitchen things, clothes, bathroom supplies (cold medicines, etc.), and a few classroom/teaching supplies (this was the hardest thing to decide on – which books are “best” when you use more than 20 on a regular basis?).   Plus, every bag has to weigh fewer than 50 pounds, which also limits what we pack.  Every bag over the first four (we’re allowed two free bags each) will cost us (actually the school as part of our shipping allowance) $200 each – so we’d better really want whatever it is we’re packing!  Everything else is staying in the storage unit we rented in Vegas, for us to decide on again later (when we move wherever we’re going next).  Also in the storage unit is our car.  Michael's mom is helping to take care of things while we're gone and will go and take it for a spin every month or so.  We got a 10x25-foot bin, which gave us room to put a bunch of boxes in the back.

We did a midnight run to Walmart (yes, there’s a 24-hour store here) to pick up luggage locks for the ActionPackers… only to find that the locks are very small and don’t hold the lid on!  Ha ha… So, we had to put on two locks to keep the lid on… which means we now don’t have enough locks and will need to go back to Walmart on the way to the airport tomorrow.  Sigh.
I love the adventure, but I hate moving.

6 years and counting

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary.  I am so happy Michael took me as a wife 6 years ago!  That’s a Friends reference… but in Greece, where we got married, that’s pretty much what happened.  Michael had to pay the mayor a goat for marrying us, then Michael signed a paper stating that I am now his wife.  I signed nothing – just stood there and looked pretty while the ‘trade’ took place.  (I was happy with the deal, though!)

I love you, Michael!  I’m glad we do everything together, since it’s hard to be homesick when I have my “home” with me everywhere I go.

8,000 miles on the way home

We’re home from our four-week, 8,000-mile Road Trip!  We had so much fun traveling around the USA and Canada, seeing places we’ve never seen and visiting friends and family we haven’t seen in years.  Here’s a basic summary of the cool stuff:

• Mount Rushmore:  it totally rocks!  I was really amazed by it.  I was expecting to like it, but I was way more impressed than I thought I would be. 
• Wisconsin:  probably one of the prettiest states we drove through.  Red barns, blue silos, green grass, golden wheat and black-and-white dairy cows that look like they were just Oxy-cleaned.  Add to that some great barbecue and a pack of squeaky cheese curds, and that’s a winner!
• Niagara Falls (Canada side): beautiful views of the water and a bustling town center with plenty of activities (Coney Island-style) for the kids.
• Montréal’s old town center:  cobbled streets, old buildings, local beer and some very yummy foods.
• Québec City and Île d’Orléans: a beautiful fortress city with so much to see, just by walking around.  The island is only a 20-minute drive away and very much worth the day-trip away from Québec.  It’s one of the oldest towns in North America, settled in 1642.  Buy some fresh strawberries from the guy who grew them – on farms that date back four hundred years.  Then, go into town and buy some fougasse, beautiful bread stuffed with olives, ham, feta, or whatever else they want to put in it. Yum!
• Portsmouth, New Hampshire:  a very picturesque New England town, also dating back to the 1600s.  We had such a lovely time visiting family there, hanging out with my aunt, uncle and young girl cousins.  We went swimming at nearby Pleasant Lake – aptly named, I must say.  We also went blueberry picking in Maine (only a 15-minute drive away) and ate some juicy lobster.  Hard to beat!
• Cape Anne and Boston, Massachusetts:  we got to visit some old friends and enjoy more lobster!  Nice.  Boston’s Freedom Trail is a very cool walk – seeing Paul Revere’s house and following his ‘midnight ride’.  Some of the countries more well-known ‘patriots’ of the American Revolution are buried there, near Boston Commons.
• Washington, D.C. and Front Royal, Virginia:  more family and friends to visit here (yay!).  We also got to see a Civil War re-enactment, and learn a lot about ammunitions and fighting methods of the day.
• Utah:  I talk about Southern Utah every chance I get because it has to be one of my most favorite places on earth.  GO THERE!  You cannot be disappointed by Arches National Park (Moab), Zion National Park, or Bryce Canyon National Park (in my top 3 favorite parks).  It also adds to it for me when I get to visit my wonderful family in Salt Lake City when I'm there.

There were so many other experiences every day that made the trip so worth the many hours of driving, and it was nice to see family again!

Okay, now we have to switch gears and start packing for Kazakhstan.  We haven’t been getting excited about it because there are so many things to do between now and then… difficult logistics often get in the way of enjoying an upcoming adventure.

We don't know each other but at all!

Brooke and I are having a fantastic roadtrip.  What a great way to say au revoir to North America (Do I sound like a Canadian?) until we can come back next year.  We're currently driving back to Las Vegas and will leave the US from there to Kazakhstan on August 10th so there's not too much time before then to get things done.

I'm blogging from the middle of Illinois.  The title of this posting?  I'm just having a little fun with one of Chandler's lines on Friends.  I think we know each other pretty well.  But, apparently Brooke had always thought I'd been to Chicago.  I haven't.  I thought she'd seen the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.  She hasn't, but she will today when we cross the Mississippi.  So much to learn about each other still after knowing each other for 17 years.

There are some blogs we'd like to catch up on writing soon about the places we've been and some great food we've had along the route.  I hope we can get to that soon, if not before leaving, then from Kazakhstan.