Well, this is it. My journal "swan song". I can't believe its over... we fly out tomorrow morning and it could not have come any faster. I really feel ready to go and as though I have no regrets; it feels like I've accomplished what I'd hoped to and kind of as though I've taken from this particular experience about as much as I could have given the time frame. But, at the same time, I don't want to leave my kids or the relationships I've built or the exhiliration of exploring another culture. We all have to say dasvidanye at some point though.
Today was a fairly usual morning; as always, I circulated the room constantly to work one-on-one with students. When the kids found out it was my last day, many of them were curious as to where I was going and were asking why I wouldn't stay. The beautiful thing about my age group is I still got to have a little attachment to them; I feel like the older age groups are mature enough and saavy enough about the nature of international education (changing schools each year and meeting all sorts of people temporarily kind of allows kids and people in general to disconnect or easily move on from relationships) and aren't as outwardly impacted by the loss of contact with someone. The youngin's, however, still want you there forever. I'd only been there a little over two weeks, and they were all begging me to come back and not to go! My mentor teacher took a picture of me with all my kids and printed it out immediately, gluing it to purple backing and allowing the students to sign the back of it. It is probably my most prized possession I will be bringing back from here, without a doubt.
Saying goodbye to all the staff was hard too. They have been so wonderful in accepting us and "showing us the ropes" around Astana. Its incredible how adaptive and cest le vie the teachers are; its probably their semi-nomadic lifestyle :) but saying adios to them hurt about as much as saying goodbye to the kids. Their kindness and welcome will not be forgotten and I intend to pay it forward with newcomers and the like.
After classes, we moved all of our things to Tim's apartment and traveled one last time to Baiterek Tower and then continued to walk for 3 miles (it was cold, but we didn't realize it was -30F cold...) to Akorda (the White House, so to speak... President Nazarbayev's house) and then through the "oil arch" as I call it towards Chan Shatyr. Needless to say, we felt as though we got a good last impression of Kazakhstan and look forward to seeing how it will grow. Then it was time for dinner, ice slides and ice skating (for Keri) at the Ice City and then finishing up the "pack up your life" process. Now it's a little after midnight my time and I'm exhausted, but can't decide if I should try and tough it out by staying up the three hours until we leave for the airport... hmm, decisions, decisions...
I will let you know when we land safe and sound in Seattle. Thanks for coming along for the journey, see you back in Spokane soon :) hopefully with a complete portfolio!
Chels
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Day 22: Lady Models
Why hello Suzie! I can't believe it's already here... we're supposed to leave now?! Just when we're feeling comfortable and accepted? So is life, I guess. I'm so unbelievably thankful for this whole experience, I've never felt so culturally aware or explorative. I'm in love with this place and its people, even with all its quirks :) Anyway, off to the races!
Today was a great 'ole QSI day. All was normal except we went to School 17 to see a Kazakh public school. It was very different than expected in more ways than one. We thought we were coming in to see a few lessons, tour the school and ask questions of the staff. Nope! We sat in and participated in an English lesson and then were led to a conference room where the high school students asked questions of us. It was kind of funny though, most of the questions were aimed towards, "I want to go to an American university, how do I get in?" or the one question we received, "What do you think of Barack Obama?" This question made the staff very uncomfortable and they reassured us that we did not need to answer the question. We were in no way offended and would have responded if asked again, but the culture here in regards to leaders is very different. Nasarbayev, Kazakhstan's president, is much beloved and considered to be the end-all-be-all for many. He is a poet, song writer, peace keeper, everything! And it is illegal in Kazakhstan to besmirch the name of the president or his family, punishable by jail, regardless of diplomat status or the like. I think the thought of insulting a president in public was too uncomfortable for them... very interesting.
A cool parallel I saw today though was found in a student's question: "I will probably be going to America in the summer, where should I go to see American culture?" I began to think about it and thought, "hmmm... what kind of America do you want to see?!" I started thinking about how many different cultures America sports; there's Texas with its stereotypical cowboy culture (not always correct), Boston culture, NYC Big Apple Culture, Maine lobster fisherman culture, deep South culture, California culture, Pacific Northwest culture... I began to think, "pigeon-holing a country to fit a single culture simply doesn't work! Just like America is diverse, every country is diverse. To assume each country follows a culture we see glorified in cinema or embodied in one acquaintance is unfair to their culture." I answered her question by saying that the cultures in America are as different as the cultures in Astana and Almaty. The students all nodded their head in agreement, so there's always a cultural universal understanding that one's home country is diverse in its own right; it takes traveling to other cultures to see that others follow the same rules.
In the English class, the students read poetry (memorized by some... in English!) and discussed how poetry affects their lives. They then asked our opinion and such, it was good :) after that we left and Keri and I wandered around Astana (a favorite pastime) taking pictures and playing in an Ice City close to our house. IT WAS AWESOME. I was particularly fond of the dragon-themed ice slide... anyway, went home and actually had a good, stress-free dinner with our host family ('bout time! And good thing, too, it's our last one...) and got all packed to leave. Tomorrow we'll be moving back with Tim so we don't have to wake everyone when he picks us up to go to the airport. One less stop, and Keri and I can't say we weren't glad to escape our host family early!
I still am in shock, we leave day after tomorrow. My kids were asking me to stay when they thought I was just going to the public school for the afternoon, I don't think they know tomorrow's my last day.... I don't wanna say goodbye to them, they make me want to stay forever. If you met them, you'd see why. But the thought of my future students in Dave's class make the switch worthwhile :)
Okay, final day! I apologize in advance if there are tear drops on my email (not possible, but you get the idea). Dasvidanye!
Chels
Today was a great 'ole QSI day. All was normal except we went to School 17 to see a Kazakh public school. It was very different than expected in more ways than one. We thought we were coming in to see a few lessons, tour the school and ask questions of the staff. Nope! We sat in and participated in an English lesson and then were led to a conference room where the high school students asked questions of us. It was kind of funny though, most of the questions were aimed towards, "I want to go to an American university, how do I get in?" or the one question we received, "What do you think of Barack Obama?" This question made the staff very uncomfortable and they reassured us that we did not need to answer the question. We were in no way offended and would have responded if asked again, but the culture here in regards to leaders is very different. Nasarbayev, Kazakhstan's president, is much beloved and considered to be the end-all-be-all for many. He is a poet, song writer, peace keeper, everything! And it is illegal in Kazakhstan to besmirch the name of the president or his family, punishable by jail, regardless of diplomat status or the like. I think the thought of insulting a president in public was too uncomfortable for them... very interesting.
A cool parallel I saw today though was found in a student's question: "I will probably be going to America in the summer, where should I go to see American culture?" I began to think about it and thought, "hmmm... what kind of America do you want to see?!" I started thinking about how many different cultures America sports; there's Texas with its stereotypical cowboy culture (not always correct), Boston culture, NYC Big Apple Culture, Maine lobster fisherman culture, deep South culture, California culture, Pacific Northwest culture... I began to think, "pigeon-holing a country to fit a single culture simply doesn't work! Just like America is diverse, every country is diverse. To assume each country follows a culture we see glorified in cinema or embodied in one acquaintance is unfair to their culture." I answered her question by saying that the cultures in America are as different as the cultures in Astana and Almaty. The students all nodded their head in agreement, so there's always a cultural universal understanding that one's home country is diverse in its own right; it takes traveling to other cultures to see that others follow the same rules.
In the English class, the students read poetry (memorized by some... in English!) and discussed how poetry affects their lives. They then asked our opinion and such, it was good :) after that we left and Keri and I wandered around Astana (a favorite pastime) taking pictures and playing in an Ice City close to our house. IT WAS AWESOME. I was particularly fond of the dragon-themed ice slide... anyway, went home and actually had a good, stress-free dinner with our host family ('bout time! And good thing, too, it's our last one...) and got all packed to leave. Tomorrow we'll be moving back with Tim so we don't have to wake everyone when he picks us up to go to the airport. One less stop, and Keri and I can't say we weren't glad to escape our host family early!
I still am in shock, we leave day after tomorrow. My kids were asking me to stay when they thought I was just going to the public school for the afternoon, I don't think they know tomorrow's my last day.... I don't wanna say goodbye to them, they make me want to stay forever. If you met them, you'd see why. But the thought of my future students in Dave's class make the switch worthwhile :)
Okay, final day! I apologize in advance if there are tear drops on my email (not possible, but you get the idea). Dasvidanye!
Chels
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Day 19: France v. Switzerland
Phew what a day! It took a whole day of mulling it over and recovering just to begin to touch on it! Yesterday (Friday) was a whirlwind of school activity, and not just for us newbies. It was International Day, the day that 15 countries all crowded the small, four story preschool building with displays, presentations, fabrics, foods and native crafts/activities. The countries involved included the United States, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania, Pakistan, Iran, India, South Korea, Japan, Belguim, France, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, and Canada. It was chaos, and as much as I adore Tim it didn't have nearly half as much planning into it as it should have. It was chaos, but not the kind of comfortable chaos that you expect in those kinds of big events. It was general confusion chaos... it was totally fine, I'm not saying that it cheapened the experience and I'm not putting down anything or anyone, but I think the teachers and staff have so much on their plates that two weeks wasn't enough time to logistically plan it. Anyway, I had a group of six of my 7 year olds and they were awesome; exhausting, but awesome! One of my boyos wasn't excited to start in Pakistan and started booing (we had to start where our schedules dictated because we each circulated in order to the rooms, going up floors each time), so naturally I pinched his cheeks together and made some joke. He stopped though, and wasn't miffed with me so that was good! I have never seen so many diplomats or country informational pamphlets or hand foods or video cameras in my life!
At the beginning of the event, we had the "opening ceremonies" in what is called The Garage at the school; it's basically the building next to their gym that, at times, holds the school company car but also can hold school-wide assemblies. Gotta love a school with 120 something enrolled :) we started with an awesome dance from the India Cultural Center and then did a parade of each country with the students from that place and whoever in the community came to represent it. All the countries of the students were there, regardless of whether they had a booth at International Day, and the flags were made by my ELL class the week before. It was one of those moving moments where you see people from all over the world, people who normally might HATE each other because of politics or conflict, walking side by side in their traditional dress and sharing their heritage with each other. I just saw everyone walk by me in the parade and swelled with emotion. If only the world were an international school, I feel like there would be so much less fighting. These places allow students to comfortably be out of their element and look to their classmates, saying "they're out of their element too, I understand where they're coming from". There's just this deep sense of understanding and empathy as well as curiosity towards other cultures. Yes, if the world were an international school the world would be a better place.
The day before was fairly uneventful, although it was a good lesson in how to teach on the fly. All the kids knew it was a big school event later and were the squirreliest I have ever seen them. In the mornings, we usually read to them, do language arts and writing, work with them in reading groups, do some math and finish up with a good chunk of cultural studies. This day, we read to them, had them do some writing and hardly touched reading... in the entire morning! My teacher was getting frustrated, I could tell, but she wouldn't let the kids onto it and was patient with them as always. She's a great role model for teachers hoping to influence the younger ones :) but after international day, the kids all went home and so did we. We got home and basically got ready to leave for dinner at one of the teacher couples' house (attended by half of the QSI teaching staff) and left from there to go (late) to a local hockey game (attended by the other half of the QSI teaching staff). Both were awesome and we're glad we did it.
I can't believe we leave in just a little over three days from now... we honestly do and don't want to go! We finally feel welcome and comfortable here, its hard to leave new relationships and cultures behind when they've become so comfortable and exhilirating. But I know we're also ready to come back to our loved ones. Anyway, we'll be back soon and have a lot to do between now and then! There's a list of things we want to make sure we do/see before we go and we're afraid we're going to run out of time or them... if so, I guess we'll just have to come back :) in the spring though, I wanna feel my face the next time I'm here.
Chels
At the beginning of the event, we had the "opening ceremonies" in what is called The Garage at the school; it's basically the building next to their gym that, at times, holds the school company car but also can hold school-wide assemblies. Gotta love a school with 120 something enrolled :) we started with an awesome dance from the India Cultural Center and then did a parade of each country with the students from that place and whoever in the community came to represent it. All the countries of the students were there, regardless of whether they had a booth at International Day, and the flags were made by my ELL class the week before. It was one of those moving moments where you see people from all over the world, people who normally might HATE each other because of politics or conflict, walking side by side in their traditional dress and sharing their heritage with each other. I just saw everyone walk by me in the parade and swelled with emotion. If only the world were an international school, I feel like there would be so much less fighting. These places allow students to comfortably be out of their element and look to their classmates, saying "they're out of their element too, I understand where they're coming from". There's just this deep sense of understanding and empathy as well as curiosity towards other cultures. Yes, if the world were an international school the world would be a better place.
The day before was fairly uneventful, although it was a good lesson in how to teach on the fly. All the kids knew it was a big school event later and were the squirreliest I have ever seen them. In the mornings, we usually read to them, do language arts and writing, work with them in reading groups, do some math and finish up with a good chunk of cultural studies. This day, we read to them, had them do some writing and hardly touched reading... in the entire morning! My teacher was getting frustrated, I could tell, but she wouldn't let the kids onto it and was patient with them as always. She's a great role model for teachers hoping to influence the younger ones :) but after international day, the kids all went home and so did we. We got home and basically got ready to leave for dinner at one of the teacher couples' house (attended by half of the QSI teaching staff) and left from there to go (late) to a local hockey game (attended by the other half of the QSI teaching staff). Both were awesome and we're glad we did it.
I can't believe we leave in just a little over three days from now... we honestly do and don't want to go! We finally feel welcome and comfortable here, its hard to leave new relationships and cultures behind when they've become so comfortable and exhilirating. But I know we're also ready to come back to our loved ones. Anyway, we'll be back soon and have a lot to do between now and then! There's a list of things we want to make sure we do/see before we go and we're afraid we're going to run out of time or them... if so, I guess we'll just have to come back :) in the spring though, I wanna feel my face the next time I'm here.
Chels
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Day 18: Goose and Geese
Why hello!
Today was a much better day. After I sent you my message, everything seemed to go downhill. I know Keri told you about what happened with Alexander when on our way home, and it stuck with us the rest of the day. I felt terrible for making him cry, but Keri assures me I didn’t say anything terribly hurtful. I was just in shock that he hit her and continues to try to... I grabbed him by the collar after it happened to pull him close and told him that we would leave if he hit us again and that only bad boys hit people. I truly felt awful, but the behavior is not okay and apparently he’s been hitting his resource teacher at school too. I think he’s modeling the behavior his mother has been showing him is the way to deal with frustration... I don’t want to assume or judge, but it seems that way. There was a lot him screaming and yelling at us yesterday. We’re not too excited for the next few days because his mom is gone on a business trip and he seems to have realized that the authority in the house is gone. He snuck candy all night and wasn’t hungry for dinner which was another battle... it was just a hard night. Not to mention I wanted to let Keri have a break after what happened so she was upstairs decompressing and I was feeling terrible. I finally had to escape and take a nap on the bathroom floor haha. A flu bug has been going around and it was really quick for me but also intense. I’m passed it though! And as far as the house is concerned, my mentor teacher has offered us her home for the remainder of the trip and we will be out doing things with school people most of the time so we won’t really be around much anyway. Just an update, don’t mean to worry you. All is well; we’re just getting a little burnt out with our host home... so we’re finding escapes!
Anyway, something very cool happened today. The kids all ran into the classroom at the start of the day, as usual, but they all stopped after they entered the door and busied themselves with something. I was on the other side of the room and thought, “what are they up to over there?!” When I got up to see, I noticed that each student was taking off their shoes. I then remembered the tea ceremony yesterday and smiled. The kids were quietly (though quickly) entering the room and removing their shoes because they still saw the room as a sacred place. Every last student removed their shoes before story time; one or two of them even came up to Mr. Denis and I to tell us we should take our shoes off as well! Yesterday, Mrs. B and I very seriously observed and showed respect for the Japanese rituals involved in tea ceremonies and the children followed them even after the fact. I guess this showed me that the respect and understanding of a teacher is a great model for students. If the teacher respects and values other cultures and belief systems, the students are likely to do the same if they have a good relationship with the teacher. It was almost humbling to see them so serious about it. That was an awesome thing today :)
I also interviewed Mr. Cloyed today, the vice principal and one of the IE (Intensive English) teachers, about his experience at QSI. It was helpful to see the administration aspect of it and talk through some things with him. You’ll be seeing that later though :) Then some ELL and some science and now some journal! My big take away from today though was how a teacher’s attitude towards cultures and differences greatly influences how their students approach those same subjects. In all, good day :) and it’s just going to get better from here!
Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Hope you’re continuing to feel better!
Chels
Today was a much better day. After I sent you my message, everything seemed to go downhill. I know Keri told you about what happened with Alexander when on our way home, and it stuck with us the rest of the day. I felt terrible for making him cry, but Keri assures me I didn’t say anything terribly hurtful. I was just in shock that he hit her and continues to try to... I grabbed him by the collar after it happened to pull him close and told him that we would leave if he hit us again and that only bad boys hit people. I truly felt awful, but the behavior is not okay and apparently he’s been hitting his resource teacher at school too. I think he’s modeling the behavior his mother has been showing him is the way to deal with frustration... I don’t want to assume or judge, but it seems that way. There was a lot him screaming and yelling at us yesterday. We’re not too excited for the next few days because his mom is gone on a business trip and he seems to have realized that the authority in the house is gone. He snuck candy all night and wasn’t hungry for dinner which was another battle... it was just a hard night. Not to mention I wanted to let Keri have a break after what happened so she was upstairs decompressing and I was feeling terrible. I finally had to escape and take a nap on the bathroom floor haha. A flu bug has been going around and it was really quick for me but also intense. I’m passed it though! And as far as the house is concerned, my mentor teacher has offered us her home for the remainder of the trip and we will be out doing things with school people most of the time so we won’t really be around much anyway. Just an update, don’t mean to worry you. All is well; we’re just getting a little burnt out with our host home... so we’re finding escapes!
Anyway, something very cool happened today. The kids all ran into the classroom at the start of the day, as usual, but they all stopped after they entered the door and busied themselves with something. I was on the other side of the room and thought, “what are they up to over there?!” When I got up to see, I noticed that each student was taking off their shoes. I then remembered the tea ceremony yesterday and smiled. The kids were quietly (though quickly) entering the room and removing their shoes because they still saw the room as a sacred place. Every last student removed their shoes before story time; one or two of them even came up to Mr. Denis and I to tell us we should take our shoes off as well! Yesterday, Mrs. B and I very seriously observed and showed respect for the Japanese rituals involved in tea ceremonies and the children followed them even after the fact. I guess this showed me that the respect and understanding of a teacher is a great model for students. If the teacher respects and values other cultures and belief systems, the students are likely to do the same if they have a good relationship with the teacher. It was almost humbling to see them so serious about it. That was an awesome thing today :)
I also interviewed Mr. Cloyed today, the vice principal and one of the IE (Intensive English) teachers, about his experience at QSI. It was helpful to see the administration aspect of it and talk through some things with him. You’ll be seeing that later though :) Then some ELL and some science and now some journal! My big take away from today though was how a teacher’s attitude towards cultures and differences greatly influences how their students approach those same subjects. In all, good day :) and it’s just going to get better from here!
Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Hope you’re continuing to feel better!
Chels
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Day 17: Take a Bow
Haha yes, I fell down... it was a great sight apparently; I hadn’t caught my wind before I realized that Keri was crying from laughing. I don’t blame her, I was laughing pretty hard too. It was one of those epic falls you only see in movies, the kind where the person is basically horizontal in midair at some point... no piddly slips with splits for me, I’m in it to win it :) I’m totally fine though minus the bruised bum and ego. Both will heal! And no, haven’t had another migraine (thank goodness) but have been feeling ill to my stomach all day starting last night. I am usually in science right now (I’m beginning my journal at school) but have been feeling progressively fluish so I decided to stay in quiet, dark Mrs. B’s room for the next 50 minutes until school is out and I can go home. I’ve been hearing a lot of stories about kiddos getting parasites from the local food when they first arrive, I don’t know if that’s what’s causing me so much upset on this trip. That and the bacteria here are different and I’m not used to them, not to mention the way they cook meats. Haven’t had sheep head yet and it looks unlikely that I will before I leave (even though Tim does want to try and get Keri and I to a restaurant that serves horse before next week) but most all of the meats are served after being boiled. Just boils my stomach a little... myself and the other teachers here who have traveled from around the world to staff the school dream of lettuce, the only vegetables available right now are questionable tomatoes and cucumbers, cabbage, and of course spotless, perfect beets. So that’s why this is a primarily meat and milk society! Sorry, I feel like I go on food tangents quite often. It’s not the only cultural difference I have been noticing, I swear! It does press on my mind (and my tummy) often though.
Today was Mrs. B’s and my “Cherry Blossom Tea Ceremony” and it ended quite differently from how it started. We began by reading a book about Sakura trees and the significance of cherry blossoms to the Japanese people and the kids were already squirrely. Next we made cherry blossoms from pink tissue paper and some stencils I drew out yesterday, some ribbon and a few staples. I was playing my low key Japanese music from my laptop, turned up the volume as high as it would go, but the kids couldn’t hear it over the chatter. So Mrs. B explained how important meditation and reflection is, and used that as a way to gain silence. It didn’t quite work until she told them to “stop talking” altogether... the symbolism may have been a large expectation right after recess, but they follow commands just fine :) After cherry blossoms were made, we handed out the worksheet I made for the students’ music-listening exercise. We played some of my music for a few minutes, had them close their eyes, and then had them draw a picture of what the music looked like to them in their heads/made them feel and write a sentence or two about it. They started quieting and calming down after that; at one point, I looked around the classroom and saw them meditating (well, the version of meditation most all of us know and I’m not sure if it’s correct... from my kids I saw legs crossed, hands on top of knees, fingers creating the “okay” symbol, head thrown back and mouth agape) while listening to the music. After this, Mrs. B took them into the hallway to explain tea ceremonies and the customs involved while Mr. Denis (the aide) and I set up the classroom for the tea ceremony. We put down some yellow butcher paper to represent the eating area, scattered the cherry blossoms the kids made about the middle, and set each student’s place. We didn’t have paper plates at the school, so we decided that coffee filters resembled the shape of Japanese fans and therefore would not only work but were cultural :) we also put each of their names on a label on the filter so that each student had their very own place. Made it more intentional and a bigger deal to them, and also allowed Mrs. B and I to practice a little classroom management by putting kids where we wanted them. After the little plastic teacups were all placed and the small tea cookies were precariously perched on the coffee filters, we went and retrieved the class from the hallway. You could tell when they walked in that the room had transformed into a pagoda before their eyes. They silently filed in, took off their shoes and bowed to Mr. Denis and I (the hosts, apparently). It was remarkable; they quietly sat down and waited for their tea, listened to the music, and contently nibbled on their cookies. There were no, “I don’t want to sit next to so and so”, or “what’s her name got a bigger cookie”, or “why do we have to sit here like this? I’m bored”. I greatly underestimated my guests. They took everything very seriously and seemed to truly enjoy the experience. As they all munched and sipped in practical silence, Mrs. B read the haiku’s they had written the day previous and students beamed as they heard theirs being shared with the class. It was very special, and I think the kids took a lot from it. Sadly, there wasn’t enough time to do everything we’d planned (we even skipped math today to fit it in!) but we will continue tomorrow during cultural studies time and hopefully I will have enough time to slip in my student voice aspect at the end (I want to video a few students talking to me about what they learned about Japan).
Working at an international school is so different from any other experience I’ve ever head, especially in schools. The kids here have been all over the world, either living at or on vacation to other places. Their cultural awareness and respect for the cultural differences of others astounds me, even at the younger ages. It seems as though there is a general understanding that a person’s background contributes to who they are but doesn’t define them. The focus remains on the person as an individual and, since everything is different here, uniqueness is cherished and seen as a valuable asset. It spills over into other aspects of school as well. Kids with speech difficulties, due to language or otherwise, kids with attention issues, kids with strange behavior... all of the above are given ample opportunity within their classroom to be an equal part of it. I know that teachers are supposed to do that regardless and facilitate its happening in their classroom culture, but it actually happens here. Everyone is valued, and (as Anastasia said in her interview yesterday) each child is considered for the person they are and not what they know. It’s been a neat thing to see, especially in a classroom with such little kiddos :)
Well, it’s my host brother Alexander’s 11th birthday today so I went up to his classroom during lunch to sing to him and have the birthday cake he was so excited about! I didn’t want to eat cake before having something more substantial for lunch (especially with a sour stomach), but thankfully a kid didn’t want their school lunch so Keri and I thought “Jackpot!” and snatched it up. The college kid in us follows everywhere I’ve learned; free food is still free food, even if it is a questionable sandwich from a Kazakh restaurant. After that was ELL with Mr. Cloyed and now I’m here!
School is almost out and my bus comes soon, that and I’ve about unloaded the whole day, so I guess I’ll leave you alone now :)
Chels
P.S. We have talked to Tim about everything we’ve learned and seen with our host family, especially since the kids’ home life is such a mystery to the staff and administration. We’ve heard her hit the boys and yell/cuss at them, and sadly the boys also talk about it, but there is neither Child Protective Services here nor any jurisdiction for the school to intervene apparently. It’s a really painful situation, so the best we are trying to do is help the boys to make good decisions and work with them through their homework and questions in a manner that shows patience and understanding. We sadly can’t control what their mother does, but we can control what we do; so we’re trying to be kind and helpful to the boys, and helping them to keep out of trouble. All is okay though, I don’t think it’s because she’s a particularly angry person, I think she just gets frustrated with them. If we can chip away her frustration, she’s usually fine. So that’s the game plan! And prayer... lots of prayer.
P.P.S. Yeah, I think Keri and I would love to talk about our experience to the SOE faculty! We have a lot we would love to share, that’s for sure :) and just so you’re aware, Tim and his family took a position at the QSI school in Chengdu, China for the upcoming school year, so I don’t know if JanTerms in Astana will continue unless other relationships are forged... it seemed as though the other teachers were extremely receptive, but a contact person to coordinate may be another thing. Just wanted to let you know! And I’ve been considering a place like QSI Astana or QSI Astana itself for my first teaching job and don’t know if I could do international teaching with the distance from family and such, but hey anything can happen :)
Today was Mrs. B’s and my “Cherry Blossom Tea Ceremony” and it ended quite differently from how it started. We began by reading a book about Sakura trees and the significance of cherry blossoms to the Japanese people and the kids were already squirrely. Next we made cherry blossoms from pink tissue paper and some stencils I drew out yesterday, some ribbon and a few staples. I was playing my low key Japanese music from my laptop, turned up the volume as high as it would go, but the kids couldn’t hear it over the chatter. So Mrs. B explained how important meditation and reflection is, and used that as a way to gain silence. It didn’t quite work until she told them to “stop talking” altogether... the symbolism may have been a large expectation right after recess, but they follow commands just fine :) After cherry blossoms were made, we handed out the worksheet I made for the students’ music-listening exercise. We played some of my music for a few minutes, had them close their eyes, and then had them draw a picture of what the music looked like to them in their heads/made them feel and write a sentence or two about it. They started quieting and calming down after that; at one point, I looked around the classroom and saw them meditating (well, the version of meditation most all of us know and I’m not sure if it’s correct... from my kids I saw legs crossed, hands on top of knees, fingers creating the “okay” symbol, head thrown back and mouth agape) while listening to the music. After this, Mrs. B took them into the hallway to explain tea ceremonies and the customs involved while Mr. Denis (the aide) and I set up the classroom for the tea ceremony. We put down some yellow butcher paper to represent the eating area, scattered the cherry blossoms the kids made about the middle, and set each student’s place. We didn’t have paper plates at the school, so we decided that coffee filters resembled the shape of Japanese fans and therefore would not only work but were cultural :) we also put each of their names on a label on the filter so that each student had their very own place. Made it more intentional and a bigger deal to them, and also allowed Mrs. B and I to practice a little classroom management by putting kids where we wanted them. After the little plastic teacups were all placed and the small tea cookies were precariously perched on the coffee filters, we went and retrieved the class from the hallway. You could tell when they walked in that the room had transformed into a pagoda before their eyes. They silently filed in, took off their shoes and bowed to Mr. Denis and I (the hosts, apparently). It was remarkable; they quietly sat down and waited for their tea, listened to the music, and contently nibbled on their cookies. There were no, “I don’t want to sit next to so and so”, or “what’s her name got a bigger cookie”, or “why do we have to sit here like this? I’m bored”. I greatly underestimated my guests. They took everything very seriously and seemed to truly enjoy the experience. As they all munched and sipped in practical silence, Mrs. B read the haiku’s they had written the day previous and students beamed as they heard theirs being shared with the class. It was very special, and I think the kids took a lot from it. Sadly, there wasn’t enough time to do everything we’d planned (we even skipped math today to fit it in!) but we will continue tomorrow during cultural studies time and hopefully I will have enough time to slip in my student voice aspect at the end (I want to video a few students talking to me about what they learned about Japan).
Working at an international school is so different from any other experience I’ve ever head, especially in schools. The kids here have been all over the world, either living at or on vacation to other places. Their cultural awareness and respect for the cultural differences of others astounds me, even at the younger ages. It seems as though there is a general understanding that a person’s background contributes to who they are but doesn’t define them. The focus remains on the person as an individual and, since everything is different here, uniqueness is cherished and seen as a valuable asset. It spills over into other aspects of school as well. Kids with speech difficulties, due to language or otherwise, kids with attention issues, kids with strange behavior... all of the above are given ample opportunity within their classroom to be an equal part of it. I know that teachers are supposed to do that regardless and facilitate its happening in their classroom culture, but it actually happens here. Everyone is valued, and (as Anastasia said in her interview yesterday) each child is considered for the person they are and not what they know. It’s been a neat thing to see, especially in a classroom with such little kiddos :)
Well, it’s my host brother Alexander’s 11th birthday today so I went up to his classroom during lunch to sing to him and have the birthday cake he was so excited about! I didn’t want to eat cake before having something more substantial for lunch (especially with a sour stomach), but thankfully a kid didn’t want their school lunch so Keri and I thought “Jackpot!” and snatched it up. The college kid in us follows everywhere I’ve learned; free food is still free food, even if it is a questionable sandwich from a Kazakh restaurant. After that was ELL with Mr. Cloyed and now I’m here!
School is almost out and my bus comes soon, that and I’ve about unloaded the whole day, so I guess I’ll leave you alone now :)
Chels
P.S. We have talked to Tim about everything we’ve learned and seen with our host family, especially since the kids’ home life is such a mystery to the staff and administration. We’ve heard her hit the boys and yell/cuss at them, and sadly the boys also talk about it, but there is neither Child Protective Services here nor any jurisdiction for the school to intervene apparently. It’s a really painful situation, so the best we are trying to do is help the boys to make good decisions and work with them through their homework and questions in a manner that shows patience and understanding. We sadly can’t control what their mother does, but we can control what we do; so we’re trying to be kind and helpful to the boys, and helping them to keep out of trouble. All is okay though, I don’t think it’s because she’s a particularly angry person, I think she just gets frustrated with them. If we can chip away her frustration, she’s usually fine. So that’s the game plan! And prayer... lots of prayer.
P.P.S. Yeah, I think Keri and I would love to talk about our experience to the SOE faculty! We have a lot we would love to share, that’s for sure :) and just so you’re aware, Tim and his family took a position at the QSI school in Chengdu, China for the upcoming school year, so I don’t know if JanTerms in Astana will continue unless other relationships are forged... it seemed as though the other teachers were extremely receptive, but a contact person to coordinate may be another thing. Just wanted to let you know! And I’ve been considering a place like QSI Astana or QSI Astana itself for my first teaching job and don’t know if I could do international teaching with the distance from family and such, but hey anything can happen :)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Day 16: Wipeout
Hello! I'm so sorry to hear you were so sick, Suzie... we knew if we hadn't heard from you it would have been for good reason! We were somewhat afraid that our emails had been going to your spam or junkmail by accident but ruled it improbable since our parents haven't heard from you and since the Kazakh police haven't shown up at the school :) I hope you're feeling better! Let us know if you need any Kazakhstan remedies that you've run out of at home!
Today started a little rough at our host home but we got to school just fine and plenty early; Keri had a middle school math class to sit in on so I walked with her (face almost fell off in the cold... can't believe that I'm looking forward to Spokane's weather) and met my mentor teacher early to discuss my lesson from yesterday and hers and my joint lesson plan for tomorrow. She had a lot of good feedback and some great tips about classroom management that were really helpful and she allowed me to unload what I felt wasn't great about how the lesson went. In all it was a really fruitful conversation. Then Lindsay and Tim came asking me for help with International Day which is this Friday, so we went through the preschool building and assigned all the 16 countries represented to rooms and divided the classes attending into smaller groups headed up by teachers and aides. Not too in depth but I spent a good chunk of my after-lunch time typing it all out and making it nice enough to present to the staff. Anyway, it was another good day in the life at Kazakhstan.
Sorry, I should have kept you updated about my host stay! It's much better. It is still a little uncomfortable at times but we're learning how to create boundaries for the boys and, although we don't always agree with her parenting, we've built a good relationship with our host mom. The variety of diversity we've encountered here still amazes me though... we've been to completely Russian-speaking places, partook (partaken? Partooken?!) in Kazakh relationships and traditions, work at an international school where most of our students represent different countries, dealt with people both in poverty and in extreme wealth, and live with a Russian woman with a Louisiana accent and two severely developmentally delayed boys. Needless to say, I feel good about our well-rounded experience :) have a huge week ahead including babysitting for some teachers, a hockey game, the indoor bazaar for my souvenir shopping, a birthday party at the super fancy indoor tropical resort, a visit to a public school, dinners with QSI staff to say goodbye, and oh yeah, teaching! I feel comfortable in saying that we've taken advantage of every opportunity given to us to integrate into the culture and I have no regrets. Relationships are being built and I'm honestly sad to be saying goodbye to the staff and kiddos at QSI. They tell us daily though that we can always apply for next school year :)
I actually had a planning period today with my teacher so we spent some time preparing for our Japanese tea ceremony/cherry blossom ceremony/music experience for cultural studies tomorrow. Missed ELL and science for it, but it was a valuable time to work with my teacher. Afterward school Keri and I had an interview with our Russian mama (Anastasia) and I spoke at the staff meeting about International Day. Went home, worked with the boys on their homework, had dinner, and am now in bed nursing my bruise from a very comedic and painful fall I had earlier today :) minus the slip, it was a normal day! We're starting to get into a routine, we don't even have qualms or much difficulty communicating with Russian speakers anymore! We've found ways to use the words we know and universals signs to communicate our needs or questions. It feels really good to be learning so much :)
Anyway, so happy to hear you're okay (or at least getting better) and thanks for answering those questions! Some of them we still went ahead and did enough to cover our bases so I'm sorry, you may have a little extra reading :) get well soon, and dasvydanye!
Chels
Today started a little rough at our host home but we got to school just fine and plenty early; Keri had a middle school math class to sit in on so I walked with her (face almost fell off in the cold... can't believe that I'm looking forward to Spokane's weather) and met my mentor teacher early to discuss my lesson from yesterday and hers and my joint lesson plan for tomorrow. She had a lot of good feedback and some great tips about classroom management that were really helpful and she allowed me to unload what I felt wasn't great about how the lesson went. In all it was a really fruitful conversation. Then Lindsay and Tim came asking me for help with International Day which is this Friday, so we went through the preschool building and assigned all the 16 countries represented to rooms and divided the classes attending into smaller groups headed up by teachers and aides. Not too in depth but I spent a good chunk of my after-lunch time typing it all out and making it nice enough to present to the staff. Anyway, it was another good day in the life at Kazakhstan.
Sorry, I should have kept you updated about my host stay! It's much better. It is still a little uncomfortable at times but we're learning how to create boundaries for the boys and, although we don't always agree with her parenting, we've built a good relationship with our host mom. The variety of diversity we've encountered here still amazes me though... we've been to completely Russian-speaking places, partook (partaken? Partooken?!) in Kazakh relationships and traditions, work at an international school where most of our students represent different countries, dealt with people both in poverty and in extreme wealth, and live with a Russian woman with a Louisiana accent and two severely developmentally delayed boys. Needless to say, I feel good about our well-rounded experience :) have a huge week ahead including babysitting for some teachers, a hockey game, the indoor bazaar for my souvenir shopping, a birthday party at the super fancy indoor tropical resort, a visit to a public school, dinners with QSI staff to say goodbye, and oh yeah, teaching! I feel comfortable in saying that we've taken advantage of every opportunity given to us to integrate into the culture and I have no regrets. Relationships are being built and I'm honestly sad to be saying goodbye to the staff and kiddos at QSI. They tell us daily though that we can always apply for next school year :)
I actually had a planning period today with my teacher so we spent some time preparing for our Japanese tea ceremony/cherry blossom ceremony/music experience for cultural studies tomorrow. Missed ELL and science for it, but it was a valuable time to work with my teacher. Afterward school Keri and I had an interview with our Russian mama (Anastasia) and I spoke at the staff meeting about International Day. Went home, worked with the boys on their homework, had dinner, and am now in bed nursing my bruise from a very comedic and painful fall I had earlier today :) minus the slip, it was a normal day! We're starting to get into a routine, we don't even have qualms or much difficulty communicating with Russian speakers anymore! We've found ways to use the words we know and universals signs to communicate our needs or questions. It feels really good to be learning so much :)
Anyway, so happy to hear you're okay (or at least getting better) and thanks for answering those questions! Some of them we still went ahead and did enough to cover our bases so I'm sorry, you may have a little extra reading :) get well soon, and dasvydanye!
Chels
Monday, January 17, 2011
Day 15: Corpus Collosum
Hi Suzie! Please talk to us, we have lots of questions! Hope to hear from you soon...
This weekend was delightfully cultural. Keri and I both felt as though we had finally migrated away from tourism and were just, well, living! It was wonderful to integrate into the culture and feel comfortable with it instead of petrified and unsure. On Saturday, we did have quite the getaway. My mentor teacher Nina and her husband picked us up at a mall just five minutes’ walk away from our host stay (it’s called Mega, we go shopping for groceries at the PAMCTOP, or Ramstore, inside of it all the time) and took us to a little place called the English Book & Coffee Store. I’ve adored this cultural immersion, I really have, but this place was a slice of heaven. Mostly English speakers, the first real coffee I’ve seen around here that’s not “instant”, and an older American woman who owns and runs this little library-like place with comfy booths and broccoli quiche. Twas amazing and exactly what we needed. Also, the woman who owned it was part of a mission I was given at the beginning of my trip! I was trying to be friendly to a nice older couple on my airport shuttle and found out they were going to be on my flight to Frankfurt; they were on their way to moving to Turkey indefinitely. They said, after extensive conversation, that they had a friend in Astana named Martha who owned a little coffee shop and if I ever saw her to tell her “Tom and Pauline said hi”. It had always been in the back of my mind, so it felt good to accomplish my mission J After that, we walked to the Artume indoor bazaar and met the Kruger family to look around. Found out some interesting Kazakh superstitions though... we were waiting for the Kruger’s to arrive and decided to sit on the floor until we did. We got a lot of interesting looks, especially from young men and older women. We asked Shari, Tim’s wife, why that was and she looked at us with wide eyes. She said that it’s a common medical belief that if you sit on the floor you will freeze your ovaries and kidneys. Apparently everyone was staring at us because we were voluntarily making ourselves infertile. Well, sometimes learning is hard and awkward!
After Artume, we had pizza with the Kruger family and decided to walk the 2 or so miles home. We were in a new part of town and wanted to explore, so it made sense! It was wonderful to feel so self sufficient. We were able to ask questions and have people understand us, it was awesome. On Sunday, after homework and rest, we went to a local ballet production of Swan Lake with our host family and beforehand went to a Kazakh friend of our host mom’s for dinner. It was great, we asked questions about family culture and the Soviet Union, and ate the first good manti I’ve had since coming here (still made me sick though... fourth time in a row, but it would be rude to refuse. Fun stuff). The culture here seems to have an iron exterior since smiling at strangers is considered foolish, but when someone knows you or knows a friend of yours than they do everything they can to make you feel welcome. It was wonderful! P.S. Our host family situation is much much better. Our relationship with our host mom improves every day and although we don't always agree with her parenting we know we'll be fine through the rest of the trip. So yay!
Today I taught a lesson in the math hour for my second graders. It was really scary, I’m not used to that age group! And I know that every child is a culture of one and as diverse as they come, but haven’t really dealt with diversity on that scale before. I was told that the lesson was going to be regrouping and I had the weekend to prepare; thank goodness, because I had to relearn the addition tricks for 2nd graders! I thankfully had an “aha!” moment and thought of a new addition trick I called the “Dragonfly Trick”. It involves breaking the tens down on one side, the ones down on the other and combining them in the tail. You’ll see the lesson plan and worksheets J I felt okay about it, of course it didn’t go as I expected and I wished I had done things differently. I will be debriefing with my mentor teacher tomorrow before classes start (she had to jet right after school) and will have a better brain about the experience. It just helped me to realize how difficult it can be to keep all the cultures represented in a classroom in mind when planning a one hour lesson. I tried to scaffold it down by modeling first, having the whole class work through it, have partners create problems for each other and solve together and finally independent practice with a worksheet. The big thing I realized, and I know for all age groups but in a different way with these 7 year olds, how much of teaching is classroom management. The big issues I had weren’t necessarily confusion, they were “I don’t want to work with so and so” or “quadruple digit numbers are so much cooler!” I learned a whole new breed of patience today, and I think it was both humbling and good for me. Anyway, after hearing from my mentor teacher I will have more to report on.
So basically I went about my normal day, went to my ELL class and traipsed up to Mr. Burkey’s middle school classroom to distribute the chocolates I had forgotten to bring on Friday for my Jeopardy winners. I’ll be staying there in the afternoons for the rest of the week and it sounds like Mr. Burkey is very willing to share his classroom, so we’ll see what happens! Off to bed now though, can’t believe the last day is a week from tomorrow... oy, how time flies when you’re learning!
Chels
This weekend was delightfully cultural. Keri and I both felt as though we had finally migrated away from tourism and were just, well, living! It was wonderful to integrate into the culture and feel comfortable with it instead of petrified and unsure. On Saturday, we did have quite the getaway. My mentor teacher Nina and her husband picked us up at a mall just five minutes’ walk away from our host stay (it’s called Mega, we go shopping for groceries at the PAMCTOP, or Ramstore, inside of it all the time) and took us to a little place called the English Book & Coffee Store. I’ve adored this cultural immersion, I really have, but this place was a slice of heaven. Mostly English speakers, the first real coffee I’ve seen around here that’s not “instant”, and an older American woman who owns and runs this little library-like place with comfy booths and broccoli quiche. Twas amazing and exactly what we needed. Also, the woman who owned it was part of a mission I was given at the beginning of my trip! I was trying to be friendly to a nice older couple on my airport shuttle and found out they were going to be on my flight to Frankfurt; they were on their way to moving to Turkey indefinitely. They said, after extensive conversation, that they had a friend in Astana named Martha who owned a little coffee shop and if I ever saw her to tell her “Tom and Pauline said hi”. It had always been in the back of my mind, so it felt good to accomplish my mission J After that, we walked to the Artume indoor bazaar and met the Kruger family to look around. Found out some interesting Kazakh superstitions though... we were waiting for the Kruger’s to arrive and decided to sit on the floor until we did. We got a lot of interesting looks, especially from young men and older women. We asked Shari, Tim’s wife, why that was and she looked at us with wide eyes. She said that it’s a common medical belief that if you sit on the floor you will freeze your ovaries and kidneys. Apparently everyone was staring at us because we were voluntarily making ourselves infertile. Well, sometimes learning is hard and awkward!
After Artume, we had pizza with the Kruger family and decided to walk the 2 or so miles home. We were in a new part of town and wanted to explore, so it made sense! It was wonderful to feel so self sufficient. We were able to ask questions and have people understand us, it was awesome. On Sunday, after homework and rest, we went to a local ballet production of Swan Lake with our host family and beforehand went to a Kazakh friend of our host mom’s for dinner. It was great, we asked questions about family culture and the Soviet Union, and ate the first good manti I’ve had since coming here (still made me sick though... fourth time in a row, but it would be rude to refuse. Fun stuff). The culture here seems to have an iron exterior since smiling at strangers is considered foolish, but when someone knows you or knows a friend of yours than they do everything they can to make you feel welcome. It was wonderful! P.S. Our host family situation is much much better. Our relationship with our host mom improves every day and although we don't always agree with her parenting we know we'll be fine through the rest of the trip. So yay!
Today I taught a lesson in the math hour for my second graders. It was really scary, I’m not used to that age group! And I know that every child is a culture of one and as diverse as they come, but haven’t really dealt with diversity on that scale before. I was told that the lesson was going to be regrouping and I had the weekend to prepare; thank goodness, because I had to relearn the addition tricks for 2nd graders! I thankfully had an “aha!” moment and thought of a new addition trick I called the “Dragonfly Trick”. It involves breaking the tens down on one side, the ones down on the other and combining them in the tail. You’ll see the lesson plan and worksheets J I felt okay about it, of course it didn’t go as I expected and I wished I had done things differently. I will be debriefing with my mentor teacher tomorrow before classes start (she had to jet right after school) and will have a better brain about the experience. It just helped me to realize how difficult it can be to keep all the cultures represented in a classroom in mind when planning a one hour lesson. I tried to scaffold it down by modeling first, having the whole class work through it, have partners create problems for each other and solve together and finally independent practice with a worksheet. The big thing I realized, and I know for all age groups but in a different way with these 7 year olds, how much of teaching is classroom management. The big issues I had weren’t necessarily confusion, they were “I don’t want to work with so and so” or “quadruple digit numbers are so much cooler!” I learned a whole new breed of patience today, and I think it was both humbling and good for me. Anyway, after hearing from my mentor teacher I will have more to report on.
So basically I went about my normal day, went to my ELL class and traipsed up to Mr. Burkey’s middle school classroom to distribute the chocolates I had forgotten to bring on Friday for my Jeopardy winners. I’ll be staying there in the afternoons for the rest of the week and it sounds like Mr. Burkey is very willing to share his classroom, so we’ll see what happens! Off to bed now though, can’t believe the last day is a week from tomorrow... oy, how time flies when you’re learning!
Chels
Friday, January 14, 2011
Day 12: Kit Kat
Hi Suzie! So today was a great Friday, full of different things... Today was our visit to a nearby village school with the U.S. Embassy to distribute toys to some 1st graders. It was incredible, the press was out and everything. Three or four reporters jammed into this little room with 30 some odd 3 to 6/7 year olds... was quite the sight. Some of the kids were wearing traditional Kazakh garb and the event was opened with gift giving followed by a song by a little girl and an old Kazakh dance. This cultural experience was great and so different from anything we've had thus far. It was great to be a part of seeing so many happy kids thanks to QSI and the Embassy. One eye-opening thing was talking to a woman from the school while we were there. She said that the three classrooms we visited and gave gifts to were the only three rooms in the entire three story building (educating over 270 kids throughout the day) that had heat. And without the big buildings in Astana available to break the wind passing over the tundra steppe, it gets to be mighty cold in the winter. The children were so disciplined, the older ages stood when we entered and exited a room. They were also wearing similar clothing; not uniforms, but looking almost exactly like uniforms! Just with small differences. They sang to us in Kazakh and were quite like most all the Kazakh's I've interacted with here; they didn't smile much. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, just different! We Americans are so used to smiling at everyone and all the time, but here they probably think we're obnoxious for it. Their culture is much more reserved and private. It's just something to recognize and I've been trying to respect it. Anyway, the school seemed glad to have us and it was quite the whirlwind event.
Well, as you know, it is Friday. You also know what that means. Kids are living in Zero-Motivationland. My ELL teacher had them work for the first 20 minutes or so and then they could play games, so I of course played Mafia with a group of middle schoolers... you know, it's funny; no matter where I go, the arguments of kids and preteens are always the same, especially when playing games :) one universal that I've found among many! After ELL I went to my science class and prepared my classroom. I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I was shifting my sub-ly duties into a more creative, teacher role. I planned a Jeopardy review game for their lesson, complete with increasing difficulty and rules. It was wonderful to kind of loosen things up in there, the kids were laughing and
joking. I of course had to explain what Jeopardy was and they wanted to hear more about Alec Trebec, go figure. At the end of the day, one girl came up to me (very quiet girl, didn't say much except to ask to go to her locker and get the right notebook every day at the beginning of class) and asked if their normal teacher was coming back and I said that he was on Monday. She sighed and said, "oh no, but you made this fun" and shuffled out the door after a hardy goodbye. Its those little interactions you don't expect that are most affirming; here I thought nobody wanted the sub in the room trying to crack jokes and discuss learning... I guess it just made me happy to think that my review lesson was received well :)
And now for a weekend full of studying and other frivolities! This Sunday we'll be going to Swan Lake with our host family and tomorrow we'll be going to a coffee shop owned by an American woman I was told (by a stranger on the plane/airport shuttle actually!) I should say hi to. That and the indoor bazaar's supposed to be pretty cool. We haven't heard from you in a while and are starting to get worried, if you're receiving these please let us know! We aren't sure if you're getting them or if something has happened to you... anyway, would love to hear back. Thanks :)
Chels
Well, as you know, it is Friday. You also know what that means. Kids are living in Zero-Motivationland. My ELL teacher had them work for the first 20 minutes or so and then they could play games, so I of course played Mafia with a group of middle schoolers... you know, it's funny; no matter where I go, the arguments of kids and preteens are always the same, especially when playing games :) one universal that I've found among many! After ELL I went to my science class and prepared my classroom. I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I was shifting my sub-ly duties into a more creative, teacher role. I planned a Jeopardy review game for their lesson, complete with increasing difficulty and rules. It was wonderful to kind of loosen things up in there, the kids were laughing and
joking. I of course had to explain what Jeopardy was and they wanted to hear more about Alec Trebec, go figure. At the end of the day, one girl came up to me (very quiet girl, didn't say much except to ask to go to her locker and get the right notebook every day at the beginning of class) and asked if their normal teacher was coming back and I said that he was on Monday. She sighed and said, "oh no, but you made this fun" and shuffled out the door after a hardy goodbye. Its those little interactions you don't expect that are most affirming; here I thought nobody wanted the sub in the room trying to crack jokes and discuss learning... I guess it just made me happy to think that my review lesson was received well :)
And now for a weekend full of studying and other frivolities! This Sunday we'll be going to Swan Lake with our host family and tomorrow we'll be going to a coffee shop owned by an American woman I was told (by a stranger on the plane/airport shuttle actually!) I should say hi to. That and the indoor bazaar's supposed to be pretty cool. We haven't heard from you in a while and are starting to get worried, if you're receiving these please let us know! We aren't sure if you're getting them or if something has happened to you... anyway, would love to hear back. Thanks :)
Chels
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Day 11: 4th Floor
Another day, another dollar... well, paid by me that is. Oh well. Was able to talk with my teacher and feel comfortable with the differences between elementary and middle school and will be teaching math on Monday! That and I'm planning a lesson for my science class tomorrow as review, so it's a big time right now :)
Two things I wanted to address. My substituting for science has been really disappointing because the curriculum is so strict that the only way the specifications can be covered (especially since I don't know what they are exactly and saw the lesson plans 10 minutes prior to being in front of the class full of students) is through writing vocabulary words from the section, reading it, doing the section review problems and completing a worksheet recommended by QSI. I know with more time and freedom, I could meet the standards of the school and help them learn in more creative ways, but it's been frustrating feeling powerless over the absent teacher's wishes. I feel pretty useless; thankfully some kids had questions about the section today and I secretly said "hallelujah! I'm worthwhile in here!" Anyway, it was a very different experience than I've been used to, but hopefully tomorrow will put a little zing back into it :)
So it's been interesting at our host family. The host mother gets very easily frustrated with the youngest and we feel as though she's pouring all of her high expectations into him. It almost seems as though she's, for lack of a better phrase, given up on her eldest son and he does much of the housework when they're home. This morning, we heard lots of frustration and anger from her towards her son. They get up every morning and sit in the kitchen from 6am until breakfast and she reviews his coursework with him. She leaves little time for him to process the question (which is huge for him! His disability causes him to process longer and have slower responses, much of the time she cuts him off before he's had time to process the question...) and berates him in frustration. At one point, I may have heard a hit of some kind. We told Tim all this this afternoon when the oldest son's aide came up to Keri and I after school asking if we'd seen Alex, the youngest. Needless to say, most of the staff searched for an hour and couldn't find him. He was supposed to be in after school art class but wasn't there and some of his things were still at the school. We didn't know what happened to him! Finally the staff called his mother and she went home to find him there, he must have gotten on the bus instead. This didn't make mom happy either... we had dinner at my mentor teacher's apartment tonight and didn't see her for more than 30 seconds tonight, but this may become an even stranger and more awkward situation. Thankfully Tim has urged us to be completely honest with him and has offered us residence at his house again, but we don't want to inconvenience him and his family and want to at least try to see this through. Keri and I talked about it and we'll at least be staying here through the weekend, giving the benefit of the doubt that its a stressful time and they're still adjusting to school/work after vacation, etc. In all, it's been rough but we're making it.
Today was fairly stressful, I apologize that I have just Negative Nancy things to say today. But tomorrow's another day in Astana! And we're going to a village orphanage outside Astana tomorrow with the U.S. Embassy to give away toys, so that'll be incredible to see some Kazakh villages and such. We live, we learn and we move on. Crazy to think we'll be back in 12/13 days though...
Chels
Two things I wanted to address. My substituting for science has been really disappointing because the curriculum is so strict that the only way the specifications can be covered (especially since I don't know what they are exactly and saw the lesson plans 10 minutes prior to being in front of the class full of students) is through writing vocabulary words from the section, reading it, doing the section review problems and completing a worksheet recommended by QSI. I know with more time and freedom, I could meet the standards of the school and help them learn in more creative ways, but it's been frustrating feeling powerless over the absent teacher's wishes. I feel pretty useless; thankfully some kids had questions about the section today and I secretly said "hallelujah! I'm worthwhile in here!" Anyway, it was a very different experience than I've been used to, but hopefully tomorrow will put a little zing back into it :)
So it's been interesting at our host family. The host mother gets very easily frustrated with the youngest and we feel as though she's pouring all of her high expectations into him. It almost seems as though she's, for lack of a better phrase, given up on her eldest son and he does much of the housework when they're home. This morning, we heard lots of frustration and anger from her towards her son. They get up every morning and sit in the kitchen from 6am until breakfast and she reviews his coursework with him. She leaves little time for him to process the question (which is huge for him! His disability causes him to process longer and have slower responses, much of the time she cuts him off before he's had time to process the question...) and berates him in frustration. At one point, I may have heard a hit of some kind. We told Tim all this this afternoon when the oldest son's aide came up to Keri and I after school asking if we'd seen Alex, the youngest. Needless to say, most of the staff searched for an hour and couldn't find him. He was supposed to be in after school art class but wasn't there and some of his things were still at the school. We didn't know what happened to him! Finally the staff called his mother and she went home to find him there, he must have gotten on the bus instead. This didn't make mom happy either... we had dinner at my mentor teacher's apartment tonight and didn't see her for more than 30 seconds tonight, but this may become an even stranger and more awkward situation. Thankfully Tim has urged us to be completely honest with him and has offered us residence at his house again, but we don't want to inconvenience him and his family and want to at least try to see this through. Keri and I talked about it and we'll at least be staying here through the weekend, giving the benefit of the doubt that its a stressful time and they're still adjusting to school/work after vacation, etc. In all, it's been rough but we're making it.
Today was fairly stressful, I apologize that I have just Negative Nancy things to say today. But tomorrow's another day in Astana! And we're going to a village orphanage outside Astana tomorrow with the U.S. Embassy to give away toys, so that'll be incredible to see some Kazakh villages and such. We live, we learn and we move on. Crazy to think we'll be back in 12/13 days though...
Chels
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Day 10: Snakes on Planes
Ahh today was a much better day in headland! Migraine was gone, hopefully never to return, and I felt well enough to involve myself in my classrooms to a degree that I'm happy with. My second grade kiddos were rambunctious but awesome as always (there's a six year old that was moved up to the 7 year old class and he's almost surpassing everyone in his third day... its incredible to see!); some of these kids have thought processes and minds that amaze me! After working with them on reading and math, they went to lunch and I had my Kazakh quesadilla (the school lunch for the day... more like a strange vegetable and cheese burrito wrapped in a non-sweet crepe. I loved it though! First time I've seen broccoli since coming here!) and discussed my new host family with Keri and her mentor teacher who teaches the youngest. Wasn't intending to be gossip, just as it isn't now, we were just trying to get a feel for what's going on at home.
The situation is somewhat strange as we're learning more about their home life; dad is in New Orleans and referred to by first name by the kids, but mom still refers to him as her husband... the teachers don't know what's going on and how that affects the kids, so its kind of a mystery. Also, we learned of their coming to the school and what took place. The mom alerted the school of her eldest's arrival and his need for special education, so the school hired a specialist to work with him. On the first day of school, she arrived with both boys and said that her youngest was ready for his 5th grade class. She said he never had an IEP back in New Orleans and was almost offended by their questions. I mean this in no slight whatsoever, but her youngest is quite noticeably severely developmentally delayed and in need of special services, especially speech therapy, but it seems as if their mother is almost in a little denial of that fact. I can imagine having two sons with special needs, no spouse (we think) and a very high-paying, powerful job must be taxing and not as she expected... I don't know, we're speculating quite a bit as to how that plays into Alexander's education.
After lunch I went to English and helped students write descriptive paragraphs on the animal of their choice. Also I spoke to the teacher about standards since I heard a lot of conversations about Environmental standards during yesterday's staff meeting. He handed me a huge book about QSI's standards as an institution and explained that it was very prescriptive. It tells you exactly what you need to teach, how they want you to teach it, what materials to use down to the edition of the text, and even which problems in the text are to be done. I was shocked at how constrictive it was. Mr. Cloyed said that the experienced teachers (who know how they like to teach and what they spend time on) complain about this curriculum, while the younger teachers are thankful for the framework seeing as they haven't begun to build a routine and curriculum of their own. I find this interesting because I began to think; I wonder if QSI does this intentionally. They probably expect more novice teachers to be younger and more willing to move and travel internationally, while they probably expect more expert teachers to be happily settled into a comfortable school district where their families and themselves have no want or need to go abroad. This may be speculation, but it makes sense; although it is not typical here. Some of the teachers are relatively young but most have teaching experience and spouse, not to mention children that have been moving with them between countries. Anyway, the curriculum is very set-in-stone and emphasizes rote learning; lots of out of book work and worksheets provided by texts. Leaves very little room for creativity. I started asking myself when I got here: could I work in an international school like this in another country?! For these kids, absolutely. The different cultural dynamics and learning based on that are incredible and I've fallen in love with it. But do I want to be under this curriculum umbrella with little to no room for my own ideas? And can I be that far away from my family and feel somewhat isolated from my host society? I don't think so... I kind of want to explore possible international schools in the U.S., if they exist. Either that or I'll just find a very culturally diverse city to teach in in the Pacific Northwest :)
Grading is also different at QSI. Students either meet A mastery, B mastery, or are P "in progress". Their rubric basically says that any student receiving a P is not failing but the teacher will focus on that subject with the student until they reach at least B level. Those are the only three grades, besides W for withdrawal. Quite interesting, not sure how I feel about it yet...
After English came science with my middle school/high school class. It once again reemphasized their importance on rote learning. The students every day have a section of the text to read, write down the vocabulary words and define them, answer the section review questions and fill out a worksheet. Yup. Awesome. They have a chapter review assignment on Friday that I'm hoping won't take too long because I want to plan a fun review game... can anyone say Jeopardy?! :) it was fine, I wanted to discuss the chapter in greater detail and discussed how the students learned best at the beginning of the class (asking if they preferred to read alone as they have been or if they preferred to popcorn or group read and discuss the work; they chose working alone) but ran out of time for class discussion. Boo.
Anyway, I was taught numbers one through ten in Russian by a 7 year old American today :) and finally learned a word in Russian I've been wanting to know and struggling to keep in my head since I got here: I'm sorry! Very important since I mess up constantly here... well, and in the U.S., nothing's changed much it's just amplified!
Keri sent you some questions we both had about our portfolio assignments, let me know if you didn't get them and I can send them along! Thanks
Chels
The situation is somewhat strange as we're learning more about their home life; dad is in New Orleans and referred to by first name by the kids, but mom still refers to him as her husband... the teachers don't know what's going on and how that affects the kids, so its kind of a mystery. Also, we learned of their coming to the school and what took place. The mom alerted the school of her eldest's arrival and his need for special education, so the school hired a specialist to work with him. On the first day of school, she arrived with both boys and said that her youngest was ready for his 5th grade class. She said he never had an IEP back in New Orleans and was almost offended by their questions. I mean this in no slight whatsoever, but her youngest is quite noticeably severely developmentally delayed and in need of special services, especially speech therapy, but it seems as if their mother is almost in a little denial of that fact. I can imagine having two sons with special needs, no spouse (we think) and a very high-paying, powerful job must be taxing and not as she expected... I don't know, we're speculating quite a bit as to how that plays into Alexander's education.
After lunch I went to English and helped students write descriptive paragraphs on the animal of their choice. Also I spoke to the teacher about standards since I heard a lot of conversations about Environmental standards during yesterday's staff meeting. He handed me a huge book about QSI's standards as an institution and explained that it was very prescriptive. It tells you exactly what you need to teach, how they want you to teach it, what materials to use down to the edition of the text, and even which problems in the text are to be done. I was shocked at how constrictive it was. Mr. Cloyed said that the experienced teachers (who know how they like to teach and what they spend time on) complain about this curriculum, while the younger teachers are thankful for the framework seeing as they haven't begun to build a routine and curriculum of their own. I find this interesting because I began to think; I wonder if QSI does this intentionally. They probably expect more novice teachers to be younger and more willing to move and travel internationally, while they probably expect more expert teachers to be happily settled into a comfortable school district where their families and themselves have no want or need to go abroad. This may be speculation, but it makes sense; although it is not typical here. Some of the teachers are relatively young but most have teaching experience and spouse, not to mention children that have been moving with them between countries. Anyway, the curriculum is very set-in-stone and emphasizes rote learning; lots of out of book work and worksheets provided by texts. Leaves very little room for creativity. I started asking myself when I got here: could I work in an international school like this in another country?! For these kids, absolutely. The different cultural dynamics and learning based on that are incredible and I've fallen in love with it. But do I want to be under this curriculum umbrella with little to no room for my own ideas? And can I be that far away from my family and feel somewhat isolated from my host society? I don't think so... I kind of want to explore possible international schools in the U.S., if they exist. Either that or I'll just find a very culturally diverse city to teach in in the Pacific Northwest :)
Grading is also different at QSI. Students either meet A mastery, B mastery, or are P "in progress". Their rubric basically says that any student receiving a P is not failing but the teacher will focus on that subject with the student until they reach at least B level. Those are the only three grades, besides W for withdrawal. Quite interesting, not sure how I feel about it yet...
After English came science with my middle school/high school class. It once again reemphasized their importance on rote learning. The students every day have a section of the text to read, write down the vocabulary words and define them, answer the section review questions and fill out a worksheet. Yup. Awesome. They have a chapter review assignment on Friday that I'm hoping won't take too long because I want to plan a fun review game... can anyone say Jeopardy?! :) it was fine, I wanted to discuss the chapter in greater detail and discussed how the students learned best at the beginning of the class (asking if they preferred to read alone as they have been or if they preferred to popcorn or group read and discuss the work; they chose working alone) but ran out of time for class discussion. Boo.
Anyway, I was taught numbers one through ten in Russian by a 7 year old American today :) and finally learned a word in Russian I've been wanting to know and struggling to keep in my head since I got here: I'm sorry! Very important since I mess up constantly here... well, and in the U.S., nothing's changed much it's just amplified!
Keri sent you some questions we both had about our portfolio assignments, let me know if you didn't get them and I can send them along! Thanks
Chels
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Day 9: Crab Chips
Why hi! Sorry this might not be the most eloquent email, I didn't get a ton out of today sadly due to my first migraine ever (not so much fun)... and it was a real bummer because I was asked to be the substitute for middle/high school science starting today through the rest of the week and there was a staff meeting we attended, not to mention my 2nd graders and all of that craziness. I'm feeling a little better now and getting situated in our new host home. It's a mansion apartment! We have the entire second floor (yes, this apartment has two floors) to ourselves. It should be a very interesting experience (as this all has been already), our host mom is Russian and lived in Louisiana... she is also a single mother to two severely developmentally delayed boys (her 16 year old reads at a low 1st grade level) and holds a very prestigious job (I believe as the manager of this region) at Conoco-Philips Oil. Eeek! Anyway, we're getting nicely settled in and are slowly integrating into our school.
My mentor teacher is still wonderful. She is unendingly patient (as you need to be with that age group) and pays attention to every student when they speak, regardless of whether it's related. She just has such a way of imparting value to students, its no wonder they love her, especially when most of these kiddos have hard-working parents that are likely not home as often as they would like to be. She places a lot of trust and responsibility on her kids, taking time to teach them the skills to solve their own problems and reiterates when necessary. She employs repetition beautifully as a way of learning (of course different varieties of questioning and such but a lot of repetition of the same rules) and has a very calming, confident persona. I know I'll learn a lot from her while I work with her. We haven't really discussed my lesson in the class yet, but we will soon; I'll be going over to her and her husband's apartment for dinner sometime at the end of this week or this weekend and will discuss it then along with an interview :)
I think Keri and I are kind of sad to say goodbye to the home we've held since we've been here, the Krugers' apartment. Its not ours and we have no title over it, but it's been our refuge and the one piece of consistency this whole trip. That and the family has been a blast! We know we'll do fine here and that everything will be great in a few days, but it kind of feels like the beginning all over again. Oh well, it shall pass!
I'm trying to see if I can integrate anything into the science class near the end of the week, just into one of the class periods, but the teacher's lesson plans that he left are pretty strict, necessary, and time consuming. Hopefully if I motivate well I can slip something in in the last 15 minutes of class, but we'll see. The kids were awesome and extremely diverse! Out of 8 students, we had students from Kazakshtan, the U.S., Japan, Pakistan, Korea, Poland and France. Bah. I thought it would be an insurmountable challenge on Migraine Day, but they were extremely self-motivated and knew what was expected of them while their teacher was gone. At the end of the class I held an impromptu discussion of the lesson, asking some questions that applied the content to Astana, and then allowed them to grill me like I knew they wanted to :) they ended up asking me my age (of course), where I was from in America, and if it was as cold there as it is here. They were great, I can't wait to head over to the high school building each afternoon to talk a little science with them.
On another bright and happy note, I was taught how to use QSI's very own dysfunctional copy machine! Yay! I helped my mentor teacher by making some book packets and guiding questions/worksheets for tomorrow's reading groups. I've been working with two kiddos during this time; one of them is a Kazakhstan native and about where she needs to be, the other just got moved up to the 2nd grade from the preschool/kindergarten classroom and almost seems at the top of the class in reading and math already. Smart kid! But also a little socially immature and has a lot of energy. It's quite the test of patience, especially since the Kazakh girl is known for being passive-aggressive and inciting some mischief... should be fun to see how this plays out.
Anyway, I'd better get to sleep or I'll be one heap of miserable tomorrow. Keri and I both have had a bit of a hard time acclimating our bodies to this change the last few days, hope it doesn't last long... oh, and some of the kids think we're sisters; we think it's pretty funny and it kinda feels that way :)
Peace,
Chels
My mentor teacher is still wonderful. She is unendingly patient (as you need to be with that age group) and pays attention to every student when they speak, regardless of whether it's related. She just has such a way of imparting value to students, its no wonder they love her, especially when most of these kiddos have hard-working parents that are likely not home as often as they would like to be. She places a lot of trust and responsibility on her kids, taking time to teach them the skills to solve their own problems and reiterates when necessary. She employs repetition beautifully as a way of learning (of course different varieties of questioning and such but a lot of repetition of the same rules) and has a very calming, confident persona. I know I'll learn a lot from her while I work with her. We haven't really discussed my lesson in the class yet, but we will soon; I'll be going over to her and her husband's apartment for dinner sometime at the end of this week or this weekend and will discuss it then along with an interview :)
I think Keri and I are kind of sad to say goodbye to the home we've held since we've been here, the Krugers' apartment. Its not ours and we have no title over it, but it's been our refuge and the one piece of consistency this whole trip. That and the family has been a blast! We know we'll do fine here and that everything will be great in a few days, but it kind of feels like the beginning all over again. Oh well, it shall pass!
I'm trying to see if I can integrate anything into the science class near the end of the week, just into one of the class periods, but the teacher's lesson plans that he left are pretty strict, necessary, and time consuming. Hopefully if I motivate well I can slip something in in the last 15 minutes of class, but we'll see. The kids were awesome and extremely diverse! Out of 8 students, we had students from Kazakshtan, the U.S., Japan, Pakistan, Korea, Poland and France. Bah. I thought it would be an insurmountable challenge on Migraine Day, but they were extremely self-motivated and knew what was expected of them while their teacher was gone. At the end of the class I held an impromptu discussion of the lesson, asking some questions that applied the content to Astana, and then allowed them to grill me like I knew they wanted to :) they ended up asking me my age (of course), where I was from in America, and if it was as cold there as it is here. They were great, I can't wait to head over to the high school building each afternoon to talk a little science with them.
On another bright and happy note, I was taught how to use QSI's very own dysfunctional copy machine! Yay! I helped my mentor teacher by making some book packets and guiding questions/worksheets for tomorrow's reading groups. I've been working with two kiddos during this time; one of them is a Kazakhstan native and about where she needs to be, the other just got moved up to the 2nd grade from the preschool/kindergarten classroom and almost seems at the top of the class in reading and math already. Smart kid! But also a little socially immature and has a lot of energy. It's quite the test of patience, especially since the Kazakh girl is known for being passive-aggressive and inciting some mischief... should be fun to see how this plays out.
Anyway, I'd better get to sleep or I'll be one heap of miserable tomorrow. Keri and I both have had a bit of a hard time acclimating our bodies to this change the last few days, hope it doesn't last long... oh, and some of the kids think we're sisters; we think it's pretty funny and it kinda feels that way :)
Peace,
Chels
Monday, January 10, 2011
Day 8: Fantastic Mr. Fox
First day in the classroom: awesome. My teacher is wonderful, her kids are awesome and so cute I almost cried, the school is so friendly and the staff/aids were a huge part of my feeling welcome, and all other good praises! The kids call me Ms. C and are asking if I'll come teach them here in Kazakhstan when I graduate (typical friendliness of 2nd graders I think :) ) and the classroom management I've seen in Ms. B's class has been a great model as to how I can mold my own classroom. She has basically given me the choice of how I want this experience to look; she said I could observe, interact with students, teach, whichever I wanted! So I talked about how the first day or two I want to do a little more observing than usual in seeing how elementary education works (you know how secondary and elementary are two very different monsters) and get to know names... not to mention phase into the classroom so it's not too much of a shock for the kiddos. I circulated the room and knew everyone's name by the end of the day (only 16 of them in her class total and 13 were present... 3 were still on vacation) and want to next learn where they are from. I know that we have some students from Korea, India, Finland, America, and Kazakhstan but want to make sure I know the rest. I spent the first half of the day with them, had a small pull-out group for reading and circulated during math, had some lunch, went upstairs for an Intensive English class (basically ELL) and finished with art with my kids! My mentor teacher, Ms. B, has a 2 year old (funny enough, her husband was the ELL teacher I was with!) and goes home right after lunch to relieve their nanny, so Tim and I are trying to figure out what would be a best use of my time for the remainder of the day. I'll keep you posted!
Something that was huge for me today was getting to know one of the aids in Ms. B's class. Her name is Ireena, she's a 23 year old Kazakh with a degree in translation and interpretation. She was unbelievably friendly and engaging, asking questions and always making sure I felt comfortable and knew what was going on. I guess it just kind of reiterated the importance of being that friendly face and in being interested in newcomers, it goes a LONG way in making them feel welcomed. In all, everyone at the school was very friendly and I got to meet a lot of teachers and hear their stories. The strength it must take to move your whole family to another country! It's incredible to me. And the kids in my class are so smart and so want to be in school, its almost an idealic setting. I know it won't be like this for long or for me particularly, but its been nice to have this whirlwind of culture shock and change staved by a good school experience. Tomorrow is the day Keri and I (hopefully) move into our new host family's place with them and is also a staff meeting where we will be meeting all the teachers and sitting in on some good 'ole administration junk :) also, Friday may be an interesting day for us. The U.S. Embassy did a Toys for Tots drive through the school and wanted some teachers to help distribute the toys to villages around 80km outside Astana during school hours this Friday, so naturally Tim thought maybe we'd be interested! I truly hope it works out, we've only been in cities in Kazakhstan and there's a whole other culture in the nomadic villages that I know Keri and I would love to experience. Here's to hoping it becomes a reality!
Anyway, off to bed with me. I can't believe it's almost 9:40 and I haven't passed out! Bye bye jetlag! Unfortunately, I'll meet you again in two weeks... blurgh.
Hope you're well :)
Chels
Something that was huge for me today was getting to know one of the aids in Ms. B's class. Her name is Ireena, she's a 23 year old Kazakh with a degree in translation and interpretation. She was unbelievably friendly and engaging, asking questions and always making sure I felt comfortable and knew what was going on. I guess it just kind of reiterated the importance of being that friendly face and in being interested in newcomers, it goes a LONG way in making them feel welcomed. In all, everyone at the school was very friendly and I got to meet a lot of teachers and hear their stories. The strength it must take to move your whole family to another country! It's incredible to me. And the kids in my class are so smart and so want to be in school, its almost an idealic setting. I know it won't be like this for long or for me particularly, but its been nice to have this whirlwind of culture shock and change staved by a good school experience. Tomorrow is the day Keri and I (hopefully) move into our new host family's place with them and is also a staff meeting where we will be meeting all the teachers and sitting in on some good 'ole administration junk :) also, Friday may be an interesting day for us. The U.S. Embassy did a Toys for Tots drive through the school and wanted some teachers to help distribute the toys to villages around 80km outside Astana during school hours this Friday, so naturally Tim thought maybe we'd be interested! I truly hope it works out, we've only been in cities in Kazakhstan and there's a whole other culture in the nomadic villages that I know Keri and I would love to experience. Here's to hoping it becomes a reality!
Anyway, off to bed with me. I can't believe it's almost 9:40 and I haven't passed out! Bye bye jetlag! Unfortunately, I'll meet you again in two weeks... blurgh.
Hope you're well :)
Chels
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Days 5-7: French Fries
Hello Suzie! Wow, what a weekend, where to begin... I guess I could list off all the stuff we did and all the things we saw, but this trip was truly eye opening in a bigger way. It was incredible to be on our own in a city where every sign was unreadable and where almost every word was unknown to us. I felt like this weekend was like culture shock on steroids; it truly helped me to appreciate how welcomed we were in Astana and how hard everyone here is working to make us as comfortable as possible in an uncomfortable situation.
We got lost a lot in Almaty and had a hard time getting directions from our map (in Russian) and the locals (Russian speakers). We became very creative in our ways of asking questions and pointing out distinctive buildings on our map when speaking to shop owners and taxi drivers, but it was really stressful. We had no clue if the information they gave us was what we were asking; there was some very carefully placed trust involved. A few times we were jipped by a taxi driver (he drove us literally two blocks to our hotel, insisting we couldn't walk it after we'd mimed walking to the "Astra 'Otel" as we were told by Anastasia it was pronounced in Russian, and he charged us 400 tenge for the ride which was worth around 50 if that) and misled by a shop owner (we asked where we were in relation to the river... you can imagine the miming here... and we were pointed in the wrong direction. I don't think it was intentional, but still very confusing and a little disencouraging), but we felt extremely empowered to be living it out on our own. We worked together to read city and bus maps, talk to Russian-speakers, attempt to translate signs and writing based on our small understanding of the Russian alphabet, etc. Many of the attractions that were suggested to us we stumbled upon by chance, such as this beautiful orthodox church (we wish we could have entered, but it was their Christmas and it was crowded... that and we didn't want to disrespect anyone), a huge World War I and II memorial, some old Soviet buildings as well as some cool newer ones, the Guns and Roses Pub and Grill (??? apparently it's a chain... wonder if the band knows about it at all...), a market-bazaar type place with shops and a costco-size room with hanging meets and cow heads unlike you would believe, and lots of other things. We saw a Kazakh wedding, a Kazakh policeman pulling over and yelling with a citizen, old babushkas begging for money outside the church, kiddos sledding on nearly impassable ice, all sorts of things. It was an incredible two days... sadly, the food and different smells here began to play kickball with my stomach the day we left and continually throughout the trip, and the sleeping situation on night trains aren't the easiest (and I slept on the floor in the hotel room). I wasn't feeling my best, but there was so much to do and so many places to explore I hardly noticed. We had a free traditional Kazakh breakfast at the hotel both mornings and were all feeling as though we needed a taste of home, so we dined American. This helped all of our stomachs a bit, I think :) nothing quite like pizza and french fries to set things right! Although, it does make people usually feel wrong when had at home... funny how that works.
I again, but more extensively, felt frightened and intimidated about immersing in the culture but am so glad I did so. This trip was huge in shaping my view of newcomers' emotions and struggles, in our communities and in our classrooms. The fear of not knowing the area or the language or even the different foods can cause these kids to not communicate or explore or even eat. Throughout my time here, my heart leapt when people spoke even a little English and when they respected my attempts at their language; this just reiterated the importance of embracing the cultures of our incoming students and how crucial it is to take the time and learn as much about them as they are attempting to learn about us. Learning how to properly pronounce their names, basic phrases, holidays, all of those things will help them feel welcome and valued.
Long weekend, long hard lessons, good learning :) until tomorrow! Starting in my second grade classroom, SO stoked! And won't be meeting our host family until Tuesday, a pipe burst in their apartment while they were on vacation and they're now in a hotel so we'll be with the wonderful Kruger family.
Hope all is well in Spokanistan!
Chels
P.S. To family and friends- I've been posting pictures to Facebook if you'd like to take a looksy... not many though, you'll have to see me when I get back to see them all and get the full story :)
We got lost a lot in Almaty and had a hard time getting directions from our map (in Russian) and the locals (Russian speakers). We became very creative in our ways of asking questions and pointing out distinctive buildings on our map when speaking to shop owners and taxi drivers, but it was really stressful. We had no clue if the information they gave us was what we were asking; there was some very carefully placed trust involved. A few times we were jipped by a taxi driver (he drove us literally two blocks to our hotel, insisting we couldn't walk it after we'd mimed walking to the "Astra 'Otel" as we were told by Anastasia it was pronounced in Russian, and he charged us 400 tenge for the ride which was worth around 50 if that) and misled by a shop owner (we asked where we were in relation to the river... you can imagine the miming here... and we were pointed in the wrong direction. I don't think it was intentional, but still very confusing and a little disencouraging), but we felt extremely empowered to be living it out on our own. We worked together to read city and bus maps, talk to Russian-speakers, attempt to translate signs and writing based on our small understanding of the Russian alphabet, etc. Many of the attractions that were suggested to us we stumbled upon by chance, such as this beautiful orthodox church (we wish we could have entered, but it was their Christmas and it was crowded... that and we didn't want to disrespect anyone), a huge World War I and II memorial, some old Soviet buildings as well as some cool newer ones, the Guns and Roses Pub and Grill (??? apparently it's a chain... wonder if the band knows about it at all...), a market-bazaar type place with shops and a costco-size room with hanging meets and cow heads unlike you would believe, and lots of other things. We saw a Kazakh wedding, a Kazakh policeman pulling over and yelling with a citizen, old babushkas begging for money outside the church, kiddos sledding on nearly impassable ice, all sorts of things. It was an incredible two days... sadly, the food and different smells here began to play kickball with my stomach the day we left and continually throughout the trip, and the sleeping situation on night trains aren't the easiest (and I slept on the floor in the hotel room). I wasn't feeling my best, but there was so much to do and so many places to explore I hardly noticed. We had a free traditional Kazakh breakfast at the hotel both mornings and were all feeling as though we needed a taste of home, so we dined American. This helped all of our stomachs a bit, I think :) nothing quite like pizza and french fries to set things right! Although, it does make people usually feel wrong when had at home... funny how that works.
I again, but more extensively, felt frightened and intimidated about immersing in the culture but am so glad I did so. This trip was huge in shaping my view of newcomers' emotions and struggles, in our communities and in our classrooms. The fear of not knowing the area or the language or even the different foods can cause these kids to not communicate or explore or even eat. Throughout my time here, my heart leapt when people spoke even a little English and when they respected my attempts at their language; this just reiterated the importance of embracing the cultures of our incoming students and how crucial it is to take the time and learn as much about them as they are attempting to learn about us. Learning how to properly pronounce their names, basic phrases, holidays, all of those things will help them feel welcome and valued.
Long weekend, long hard lessons, good learning :) until tomorrow! Starting in my second grade classroom, SO stoked! And won't be meeting our host family until Tuesday, a pipe burst in their apartment while they were on vacation and they're now in a hotel so we'll be with the wonderful Kruger family.
Hope all is well in Spokanistan!
Chels
P.S. To family and friends- I've been posting pictures to Facebook if you'd like to take a looksy... not many though, you'll have to see me when I get back to see them all and get the full story :)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Day 4: Simon Says
Today was certainly interesting! There were only 12 preschoolers today (yesterday was 16 and we had planned for 40 for these two days based on their enrollment... but many Kazakhs celebrate Christmas on January 7th so there are still quite a few of them on vacation) but they sure were a handful! It was a nice surprise to walk up to the classroom and find one of the girls at her locker; she took one look at us, her eyes got wide and she spoke (in Russian) with great excitement. Anastasia translated after she had traipsed away, saying the little girl said "thank goodness you are finally here!" I think the kids were more comfortable with us today, which may have been the source of rowdiness. Also, a boy who was sick yesterday was back in class and he proved to be quite the handful. He wrestled and hit other boys and when out of games he would slam his fast against the bench he sat on; it was quite alarming, he seemed to have strength beyond his years. When told to stop he would immediately continue, and it took his teacher coming over and pulling him to her side to keep him somewhat tame. I felt so helpless, he would be hitting a boy next to me and all I could do was pull him off and say nyete or "no", but he would go right back to it, usually fight away from my grasp. Not only was it not my classroom (so I was unsure if I could participate in classroom management) I had a hard time figuring out how what to do with this situation. I couldn't communicate how his actions were affecting others, and that was discouraging. But thankfully, the resources I had available (Anastasia) were extremely helpful. She jumped right in and repeatedly talked to the boys. I wish I knew more about the school and its students, such as if this boy was thought to have some sort of behavioral disorder or difficult home life or something else, but I guess the best I can do is care while I'm there.
The first thing we did as a class was put together a puzzle I'd brought from the States; it was my gift to them and it seemed like it would be a good activity, especially since we'd exhausted many of our ideas in the three hours of instruction yesterday. The puzzle was a puzzle of the United States and each state was a piece. This made for a very uniquely shaped array of puzzle pieces, we thought it would take them a while. They were so quick and seemed so excited to do it, I was very happy :) They worked together so well for their age and we were able to practice creative nonverbal cues with them. The box had a picture of the puzzle and sections of the puzzle were color-coded, so we would point to the picture on the box, the particular piece they were "puzzled" over (ha! puns...), back to the box and the color-coded area it belonged to and then to the puzzle strewn about the floor. It seemed to work pretty well! And for those particularly hard pieces, we had Anastasia :)
After some stories, some games (we taught them "Musical Chairs", "Simon Says" and "Hot Potato"), they started their art project (a fold-up penguin we'd found in a book) and finished just in time for us to leave! Jetlag seems to be off and on for me; yesterday was great and I felt that I had finally conquered it, but today I was tired and sluggish again. Good insight to remember that my students, especially ones who have just moved to the country, have more than just social adjustments to make. Yes, the language barrier and differing customs can be awkward and scary, but they aren't the only things to worry about! Keri and I have basically been on our own for two out of three meals a day. Thankfully it's not been a big problem for us, we figure things out pretty well and know we have help from Anastasia if we need it. But for students new to the United States, their families may still be figuring out how the appliances work, or how to buy food, or how to get their sleep patterns on the right schedule. People might go without eating or sleeping in figuring these things out, and it's important as a teacher to remember the importance and potential confusion caused by basic physical needs.
So I now sit, writing my journal, in Tim's apartment waiting for him and his family to come home from vacation in Malaysia. An hour or so after their arrival, our car will come to take us to the train station where we will board the train for Almaty. We're excited and talked a lot to Anastasia about public transit in Kazakhstan, but we're also nervous about what experiences this trip may bring. If it's okay with you Suzie, we won't really have Internet access when we're there and I would rather leave my hunky clunky laptop in Astana since we may be carrying our luggage around with us for a long time. Would it be alright to reflect on our trip to Almaty when we return? You would probably hear from me late Saturday night or early Sunday morning your time. If not, I'll try my best to find an Internet cafe. I will be taking notes of key experiences throughout the weekend as well :)
Okey dokey, this is where I sign off. Dasvidanye, talk to you soon!
Chels
P.S. I'm super excited, putting myself out there in language is paying off! I'm learning some basic Russian, it's been really helpful in navigating around :) fun fact, in Russian "Astana, Kazakhstan" is written ACTAHA, KA3AXCTAH... I love learning :)
The first thing we did as a class was put together a puzzle I'd brought from the States; it was my gift to them and it seemed like it would be a good activity, especially since we'd exhausted many of our ideas in the three hours of instruction yesterday. The puzzle was a puzzle of the United States and each state was a piece. This made for a very uniquely shaped array of puzzle pieces, we thought it would take them a while. They were so quick and seemed so excited to do it, I was very happy :) They worked together so well for their age and we were able to practice creative nonverbal cues with them. The box had a picture of the puzzle and sections of the puzzle were color-coded, so we would point to the picture on the box, the particular piece they were "puzzled" over (ha! puns...), back to the box and the color-coded area it belonged to and then to the puzzle strewn about the floor. It seemed to work pretty well! And for those particularly hard pieces, we had Anastasia :)
After some stories, some games (we taught them "Musical Chairs", "Simon Says" and "Hot Potato"), they started their art project (a fold-up penguin we'd found in a book) and finished just in time for us to leave! Jetlag seems to be off and on for me; yesterday was great and I felt that I had finally conquered it, but today I was tired and sluggish again. Good insight to remember that my students, especially ones who have just moved to the country, have more than just social adjustments to make. Yes, the language barrier and differing customs can be awkward and scary, but they aren't the only things to worry about! Keri and I have basically been on our own for two out of three meals a day. Thankfully it's not been a big problem for us, we figure things out pretty well and know we have help from Anastasia if we need it. But for students new to the United States, their families may still be figuring out how the appliances work, or how to buy food, or how to get their sleep patterns on the right schedule. People might go without eating or sleeping in figuring these things out, and it's important as a teacher to remember the importance and potential confusion caused by basic physical needs.
So I now sit, writing my journal, in Tim's apartment waiting for him and his family to come home from vacation in Malaysia. An hour or so after their arrival, our car will come to take us to the train station where we will board the train for Almaty. We're excited and talked a lot to Anastasia about public transit in Kazakhstan, but we're also nervous about what experiences this trip may bring. If it's okay with you Suzie, we won't really have Internet access when we're there and I would rather leave my hunky clunky laptop in Astana since we may be carrying our luggage around with us for a long time. Would it be alright to reflect on our trip to Almaty when we return? You would probably hear from me late Saturday night or early Sunday morning your time. If not, I'll try my best to find an Internet cafe. I will be taking notes of key experiences throughout the weekend as well :)
Okey dokey, this is where I sign off. Dasvidanye, talk to you soon!
Chels
P.S. I'm super excited, putting myself out there in language is paying off! I'm learning some basic Russian, it's been really helpful in navigating around :) fun fact, in Russian "Astana, Kazakhstan" is written ACTAHA, KA3AXCTAH... I love learning :)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Day 3: Horse Sausage
Why hello :)
First off, sorry if my titles for my journals don't make sense... they're kind of fun ways for me to remember the little, funny experiences and the small cultural differences I've encountered :)
Today was fantastic, very nerve wracking but very good. The Kazakh preschool was incredible, the kiddos were so stinking cute and incredibly well behaved! This Kazakh preschool, or kindergarten as they call it, costs 7000 tenge to attend (which equals out to around $50 USD) and goes from 8am to around 6pm depending on when parents get off work; they provide three meals a day to these kids, and use china to eat food in! Just thought that was interesting, in America most wouldn't dream of giving a 6-year-old a china plate and bowl to feast out of, it's disposable or plastic all the way. But these kids are so well behaved, their craft time we planned was so organized and each child had a job. Kids even put out place settings for lunch for their fellow classmates! Anyway, we taught them "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and also taught them "I'm a Little Teapot". They then sang us a song, in English, that was ten times more complicated! Never underestimate children :) they could also count to 25 in English and we helped them learn words for colors and shapes during art (they made a snowman). Some of the kids were shy, possibly because they didn't understand what we were saying, but they were all very sweet and kind-hearted. Full of energy, too! Especially during one of the books we read to them (Anastasia translated, poor girl hardly had a voice because of a cold too...) about finding circles and triangles in the world.
I'm beginning to realize how scary it must be for students to be in a place where they don't speak the language. Keri and I successfully communicated to a store clerk, "what time does your store close?", but it took a lot of time, patience, gesturing and writing. I'm trying to encourage myself so that I'll speak the little bit of language I know, like speciva or rakmiet (thank you), prujalista (please/you're welcome), salaam (hello), priviet (how are you?/hello) and dasvidanye (goodbye). I've had some native Kazakhs laugh when I turned around, or they've replied in English... this can be a little discouraging, it's scary to put yourself out there and risk embarrassment to learn the language. But I quickly realized that by withdrawing I won't get anywhere; it may be strange and seem awkward, but attempting communication through multiple means and a new language is the best place to start. I can only imagine how intimidating it is for our ELL kids, and I think experiencing it has been more helpful than any study or assumption can be. I'll keep trying to immerse myself in the language, as frightening as it is, and hope that I continue to catch on. I'm beginning to learn their alphabet, and can read some things! It's really exciting :)
After preschool, we went back to Anastasia's apartment where she lives with her parents (both very very nice) and her mother cooked us a traditional Russian lunch: borsch, boiled chicken with spices, mashed potatos, bread, cucumbers and tomatos, followed by tea and numerous cookie types that have me salivating as I'm thinking about it :) we talked with her mother (through Anastasia of course) and had a great time. Then Keri and I made the stupidest decision of our life: went for a walk outside our house. We first went to the market in our apartment building and the staff have been very nice so it's good practice in interacting with Kazakhs and Russian-speaking people in a less-stressful situation. It was bitterly cold today, I had hand warmers on my face. Not smart. But we are relatively frostbiteless and I think I'm getting over my jetlag finally! Keri maybe not as much... it's been so nice having the two of us here, thank you for that insight. It's made reflecting on this experience and debriefing very fruitful, and also fun :)
In all, great day for preschool. Can't wait to go back tomorrow! Thanks for answering all my questions, everything sounds great. Prayers would be appreciated for our trip to Almaty, we're all realizing how hard it will be without a translator on our trip and are now very nervous. I'm sure it will be fine... I'm sure there'll be plenty of stories from that as well :)
Well, До завтpа (or do zavtra which means "see you tomorrow" in Russian... learned that in preschool today :) ), hope all is well for you!
Chels
First off, sorry if my titles for my journals don't make sense... they're kind of fun ways for me to remember the little, funny experiences and the small cultural differences I've encountered :)
Today was fantastic, very nerve wracking but very good. The Kazakh preschool was incredible, the kiddos were so stinking cute and incredibly well behaved! This Kazakh preschool, or kindergarten as they call it, costs 7000 tenge to attend (which equals out to around $50 USD) and goes from 8am to around 6pm depending on when parents get off work; they provide three meals a day to these kids, and use china to eat food in! Just thought that was interesting, in America most wouldn't dream of giving a 6-year-old a china plate and bowl to feast out of, it's disposable or plastic all the way. But these kids are so well behaved, their craft time we planned was so organized and each child had a job. Kids even put out place settings for lunch for their fellow classmates! Anyway, we taught them "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and also taught them "I'm a Little Teapot". They then sang us a song, in English, that was ten times more complicated! Never underestimate children :) they could also count to 25 in English and we helped them learn words for colors and shapes during art (they made a snowman). Some of the kids were shy, possibly because they didn't understand what we were saying, but they were all very sweet and kind-hearted. Full of energy, too! Especially during one of the books we read to them (Anastasia translated, poor girl hardly had a voice because of a cold too...) about finding circles and triangles in the world.
I'm beginning to realize how scary it must be for students to be in a place where they don't speak the language. Keri and I successfully communicated to a store clerk, "what time does your store close?", but it took a lot of time, patience, gesturing and writing. I'm trying to encourage myself so that I'll speak the little bit of language I know, like speciva or rakmiet (thank you), prujalista (please/you're welcome), salaam (hello), priviet (how are you?/hello) and dasvidanye (goodbye). I've had some native Kazakhs laugh when I turned around, or they've replied in English... this can be a little discouraging, it's scary to put yourself out there and risk embarrassment to learn the language. But I quickly realized that by withdrawing I won't get anywhere; it may be strange and seem awkward, but attempting communication through multiple means and a new language is the best place to start. I can only imagine how intimidating it is for our ELL kids, and I think experiencing it has been more helpful than any study or assumption can be. I'll keep trying to immerse myself in the language, as frightening as it is, and hope that I continue to catch on. I'm beginning to learn their alphabet, and can read some things! It's really exciting :)
After preschool, we went back to Anastasia's apartment where she lives with her parents (both very very nice) and her mother cooked us a traditional Russian lunch: borsch, boiled chicken with spices, mashed potatos, bread, cucumbers and tomatos, followed by tea and numerous cookie types that have me salivating as I'm thinking about it :) we talked with her mother (through Anastasia of course) and had a great time. Then Keri and I made the stupidest decision of our life: went for a walk outside our house. We first went to the market in our apartment building and the staff have been very nice so it's good practice in interacting with Kazakhs and Russian-speaking people in a less-stressful situation. It was bitterly cold today, I had hand warmers on my face. Not smart. But we are relatively frostbiteless and I think I'm getting over my jetlag finally! Keri maybe not as much... it's been so nice having the two of us here, thank you for that insight. It's made reflecting on this experience and debriefing very fruitful, and also fun :)
In all, great day for preschool. Can't wait to go back tomorrow! Thanks for answering all my questions, everything sounds great. Prayers would be appreciated for our trip to Almaty, we're all realizing how hard it will be without a translator on our trip and are now very nervous. I'm sure it will be fine... I'm sure there'll be plenty of stories from that as well :)
Well, До завтpа (or do zavtra which means "see you tomorrow" in Russian... learned that in preschool today :) ), hope all is well for you!
Chels
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Day 2: Spongebob Squarepants
Hey there!
Today we stopped by the school and planned for our lesson at the preschool. Sounds like we'll be teaching a full three hours tomorrow and are in charge of planning it! Question that Keri and I had: can this be one of our lesson plans? We're also planning a lesson for Thursday, can that also be one? Or should we split them up? Totally up to you :) after that we had a Russian lunch and went to the Oceanarium to see the Fish of Kazakhstan. And yes, we saw Lindsay today for the first time and spent some time with her! Sounds like her Polish family is great and she's attempting to beat jetlag like the rest of us :/
These experiences have already molded how I will approach new students. It's shown me what it feels like, not just helped me to assume it. I was realizing today how much patience Anastasia has with the three of us in understanding us and working with us. That and simple functioning is ten times harder when she isn't around. I hope to always be patient and always offer endless support to my kiddos so that they are less likely to feel these insecurities in the school setting. I'm beginning to realize how we put our most difficult foot forward in going to the Kazakh (completely Russian-speaking) preschool first followed by a weekend in another city without our translator... it'll be growing for sure. The preschool tomorrow will be quite the experience, and planning for it was truly unique. We had to consider every tiny detail, moreso than usual, because of our language barrier. What would be best for the kids? What songs could we teach them that have minimal, easy English? Would reading this book confuse them more than entertain them? A lot goes into planning for these things, I'm so thankful to be getting hands on practice.
I really wish my reflections made more sense, I apologize if they don't... jetlag still has a hold on my brain. But it's now 8pm my time, off to bed! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be full of insight and stories from the day ahead :)
Chels
Today we stopped by the school and planned for our lesson at the preschool. Sounds like we'll be teaching a full three hours tomorrow and are in charge of planning it! Question that Keri and I had: can this be one of our lesson plans? We're also planning a lesson for Thursday, can that also be one? Or should we split them up? Totally up to you :) after that we had a Russian lunch and went to the Oceanarium to see the Fish of Kazakhstan. And yes, we saw Lindsay today for the first time and spent some time with her! Sounds like her Polish family is great and she's attempting to beat jetlag like the rest of us :/
These experiences have already molded how I will approach new students. It's shown me what it feels like, not just helped me to assume it. I was realizing today how much patience Anastasia has with the three of us in understanding us and working with us. That and simple functioning is ten times harder when she isn't around. I hope to always be patient and always offer endless support to my kiddos so that they are less likely to feel these insecurities in the school setting. I'm beginning to realize how we put our most difficult foot forward in going to the Kazakh (completely Russian-speaking) preschool first followed by a weekend in another city without our translator... it'll be growing for sure. The preschool tomorrow will be quite the experience, and planning for it was truly unique. We had to consider every tiny detail, moreso than usual, because of our language barrier. What would be best for the kids? What songs could we teach them that have minimal, easy English? Would reading this book confuse them more than entertain them? A lot goes into planning for these things, I'm so thankful to be getting hands on practice.
I really wish my reflections made more sense, I apologize if they don't... jetlag still has a hold on my brain. But it's now 8pm my time, off to bed! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be full of insight and stories from the day ahead :)
Chels
Day 1: Chocolate Butter
Hi Suzie! Hope all is well in Snowkane :) this has already been an incredible, eye opening trip... I don't know how newcomers to America or any country for that matter do it! Without Anastasia, Keri and I would probably still be munching on our protein bars we packed for travel emergencies, unable to figure out the key to his apartment and not knowing where to go.
We've been learning so much about the culture and about the city itself; this place is incredibly, buildings bigger than I've ever seen! And each one of them is a different architectural style. It's been great :) the buildings somewhat represent how I feel the culture is somewhat: no windows in storefronts. Anastasia was talking about how Americans smile and say hello to every, rather boisterous, while many Kazakhs lived through the Soviet Union and their lives were forced to become private. When Anastasia took us to the supermarket earlier, I foolishly was snapping away with my camera when the doorman/bouncer came and frantically spoke to Anastasia, asking why I was taking pictures. He then asked me to put away my camera and I of course did, but the fear in him was palpable. *Disclaimer: this is simply an observation, not a judgement; I believe it is simply a cultural difference and I do not take offense* The people seem to feel inconvenienced when you ask for help or attention; most of the time they continue talking to friends (if they are store employees, etc.) or watching television (as was the case when Keri and I stumbled down to the market in our apartment building to get basic provisions like 2.5% milk (looked better than the 3.2%...) and chicken and tortellini-like things which according to Anastasia aren't tortellini at all). It seemed that in both Russia and in Kazakhstan there are a lot of unmanned stores and areas, which is interesting considering how many police were around. There's kind of this feel of, "I'll get to it when I get to it, and you'll just have to deal with it" that's so foreign to me. In America, everyone is asking you questions and pushing items on you, but not here. I'm trying to pick up on who is Russian and who is Kazakh; thankfully, I've been noticing the difference (although Keri and I did remark how we felt they all looked similar... sounds familiar, hmm? Quite like a commonly held American misperception of other people groups). I tried to practice my Kazakh, but it has only ended up towards a Russian... and of course when I whip out what little Russian I have, yes, I am in the presence of a Kazakh. Thankfully they all speak both, but I did get some laughs :) was worth it, I've been trying to be proactive about practicing my phrases!
Today was wonderful, I'm having the time of my life and am learning so much it's ridiculous. Today was a driving tour of Astana (too cold to walk, my nose hairs were freezing before stepping out the door... was -22F today at some point I believe), a large pyramid-shaped entertainment center and a Kazakh lunch. Tomorrow is hopefully the museum and Anastasia did mention the Astana acquarium followed by a traditional Russian meal at her home. I'm learning quite a bit, I dunno if I could ever truly capture it all here and jet lag has my eyes drooping as we speak, but tomorrow will be a more rested day and more experiences to share!
Peace and blessings,
Chels
We've been learning so much about the culture and about the city itself; this place is incredibly, buildings bigger than I've ever seen! And each one of them is a different architectural style. It's been great :) the buildings somewhat represent how I feel the culture is somewhat: no windows in storefronts. Anastasia was talking about how Americans smile and say hello to every, rather boisterous, while many Kazakhs lived through the Soviet Union and their lives were forced to become private. When Anastasia took us to the supermarket earlier, I foolishly was snapping away with my camera when the doorman/bouncer came and frantically spoke to Anastasia, asking why I was taking pictures. He then asked me to put away my camera and I of course did, but the fear in him was palpable. *Disclaimer: this is simply an observation, not a judgement; I believe it is simply a cultural difference and I do not take offense* The people seem to feel inconvenienced when you ask for help or attention; most of the time they continue talking to friends (if they are store employees, etc.) or watching television (as was the case when Keri and I stumbled down to the market in our apartment building to get basic provisions like 2.5% milk (looked better than the 3.2%...) and chicken and tortellini-like things which according to Anastasia aren't tortellini at all). It seemed that in both Russia and in Kazakhstan there are a lot of unmanned stores and areas, which is interesting considering how many police were around. There's kind of this feel of, "I'll get to it when I get to it, and you'll just have to deal with it" that's so foreign to me. In America, everyone is asking you questions and pushing items on you, but not here. I'm trying to pick up on who is Russian and who is Kazakh; thankfully, I've been noticing the difference (although Keri and I did remark how we felt they all looked similar... sounds familiar, hmm? Quite like a commonly held American misperception of other people groups). I tried to practice my Kazakh, but it has only ended up towards a Russian... and of course when I whip out what little Russian I have, yes, I am in the presence of a Kazakh. Thankfully they all speak both, but I did get some laughs :) was worth it, I've been trying to be proactive about practicing my phrases!
Today was wonderful, I'm having the time of my life and am learning so much it's ridiculous. Today was a driving tour of Astana (too cold to walk, my nose hairs were freezing before stepping out the door... was -22F today at some point I believe), a large pyramid-shaped entertainment center and a Kazakh lunch. Tomorrow is hopefully the museum and Anastasia did mention the Astana acquarium followed by a traditional Russian meal at her home. I'm learning quite a bit, I dunno if I could ever truly capture it all here and jet lag has my eyes drooping as we speak, but tomorrow will be a more rested day and more experiences to share!
Peace and blessings,
Chels
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