Sharing the knowledge thru a Teaching Seminar

This past week, I led my first English Teaching Seminar. Peace Corps encourages all its education volunteers to participate in such professional development sessions. Being the first volunteer in the county, it initially was slow to get things organized for English teaching seminars had previously always been embedded within an entire teaching seminar. An hour is given to English instruction at these teaching seminars and it ended there. So, planning this English seminar demanded time and patience. Marina (the lead English teacher in Lesnoye) and I planned the six hour seminar. English teachers within the county came to the seminar. The 5th and 6th graders learned a poem and seminar commenced with their greeting. The county teachers observed three classes in all (I taught one class with each respective Lesnaya English teacher). After observing the classes, I led a roundtable discussion centered on Student Interaction in English Lessons. The seminar ended with pleasant and constructive teacher feedback and another seminar is in the works for early next school year.

A month back, I took a train back to Lesnoye from Almaty. During the 27 hour ride, I chatted with an agriculturalist named Assan who researched vegetable growth in Northern California some years back. He gave me a brief summary of Kazakh ethnic and cultural history and the ‘tribal’ Kazakh map (see pic). Of the 16 million people who live in Kazakhstan , about 8 million are Kazakh. Assan informed me that Kazakhs trace their genealogy back to these 20 dominant Kazakh tribes before the Mongol Horde swept through Kazakhstan in the 12th century. News to me!

It's been SIX months in Lesnoye - and Spring is here!

There are two questions which the locals have kept asking me during my 6 months in Lesnoye: Do you like it here? Do you miss home back in America ? A mix of yes and no is the answer to both these questions. Despite its ‘tinyness’, there is enough in Lesnoye to keep me occupied and productive. Integrating into the community, learning Russian, and teaching are enough to keep one occupied even in a village with no cafes. There have been several times where I’ve wished to be somewhere more metropolitan and warmer. However, I am loving life over here in Siberia and can say no deluge of homesickness has visited me during my service yet.

For all those future volunteers who will serve in North Kazakhstan , Winter lasts from early November to mid-April. Now Spring has arrived and it’s the first time I’ve seen a color other than white on the hills. When I arrived in Lesnoye back in the first week of November, there was snow and only now can I shed the thermal underwear. With the fast thawing snow, it is very muddy and slippery in the village. It’s so dirty that the teachers wear their waterproof ‘slush’ boots on the streets and then replace them with their dress shoes once indoors. When will it be nice out?

A Happy Meeting in the South

Returning to the North after a couple of weeks in the South demands transitioning. I forgot how it felt like to be naturally warm after experiencing 5 months of straight bitter cold. When I left Lesnoye for the train station back in late March, a windstorm hit the village and left over a foot of snow overnight. It was questionable whether the buses would operate due to snowy conditions. Thankfully, they did and after a 3 hour bus ride to Kokshetau and 29 hour train ride to Shymkent, I arrived in the South to +20C sunshine. Just some shades and a coat and you’re good to go. After Shymkent, I headed over to Ecik (my first town) for a few days to see some local friends and then to Almaty for a 3 day long Peace Corps conference. I didn’t realize how much I missed the local friends in Ecik until I saw them. Catching up with other volunteers and listening to their stories showed me how diverse our experiences in Kazakhstan can be. Some volunteers have high-speed internets in their rooms and nice showers while other volunteers have no running water in their homes or at their schools. Others serve in sites which are completely Kazakh and others in sites almost completely Russian.

Lesnoye is over 90% Russian and everyone speaks Russian. Meeting Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Azerbaijanis, Uighurs, and even a couple of Indians down South was a change. Cooling down with a beer is something you would not do in the North during early Spring. But coming back North isn’t so bad. Getting back into the groove of teaching is energizing. There is still snow in Lesnoye and for the first time in over 10 years, I went skiing in the forest. Skiing in April! Only in the North.

Admire the PC Volunteers - No Water , yet they press on

As one can imagine, there are far fewer luxuries in a village than even a town. Besides having only four daily buses (7, 9:30, 11:30, 2:30) to get you to an ATM or café and having very unreliable cell phone reception, it can be downright difficult to get basic services from the county center which is only 15km away. Throughout this snowy season (approaching 5 months strong), the electricity goes out or the water pipes sometimes malfunction in Lesnoye. Usually, it takes about 10 hours or so to fix these problems. On several occurrences, it has taken 36 hours. The serviceman straight out says, “we’ll fix it tomorrow or when the weather gets better.” I’ve gotten used to this. No sweat right, you’re working for the Peace Corps. However, this time around, Lesnoye’s water pipes aren’t working and the Water Man has not come to Lesnoye for six days. Half of Lesnoye lives without running water as is but now the locals are all lining up at the sole functioning water pump. It’s tough without an indoor shower and toilet. Walking to the outhouse in -20C weather while your hands begin to get numb isn’t pleasant. Having to fetch and bring water from the pump against 20mph North Kazakhstan spring snow-winds demands patience( see photo where the Pump is located). I give my respect to locals and those PCVs who live without running water.

Second photo is my Artwork.

March & it's a wee bit warmer in Kazakhstan

Last Summer, the Kazakhstani government passed a bill which banned access to almost all blogging websites. Since mid-January, this censorship took effect so my blog is currently being updated through e-mail. Thanks Pa, Ma and Johnny. The ban prevents one from logging into his/her own blog and from viewing other public blogs through the country’s computer networks.

Its March here in Kazakhstan so that means Spring is officially here. About three feet of snow still sits outside my room window and it is in the negative 10s. Being from Northern California , one has to travel some ways to get to snow. For the first time in my life, I went sledding. On a warm -5C afternoon, my host brother (Artioum) and some other village kids took me to a 20 foot hill and we sledded down it for a couple hours. Crashing into the snow feels great.

On March 8th, it is Women’s Day. This holiday is taken seriously in Kazakhstan and is a national holiday. All the local stores have ready to go gift packages to purchase and it is culturally polite to wish every woman you come across with ‘To Women’s Day’. This time round, the men staff at the school read poems and sang songs for the women staff though the women still prepared all the food. When I got home, there was even more celebrating.

Guest Teaching at Balkashana Sec. School

This past week, I was a guest teacher at Balkashana Secondary School in the Sandiktau county town center of Balkashana. As of now, Peace Corps plans to place a volunteer at this school in November. Though Lesnoye is only 15 km from Balkasha, there are immediate differences between the two schools. Balkashana only serves students within its town borders, has running water in the school, and serves a more ethnically diverse community whereas Lesnaya school serves students from four villages, has no running water, and is about 90% ethnically Russian.
Having acquainted myself with the Balkashana English teachers previously, I observed a few of their English lessons, wrote several lesson plans with them, and taught six lessons collaboratively. Like Lesnoye, Balkashana has three English teachers: Natalia (a 20 year veteran), ‘Natalia Jr.’ (a 6 year veteran), and Anatoli (a 38 year veteran in English and German). Team-teaching 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades demanded energy and adaptability. Overall, the lessons flowed well considering it was the first time we taught together and the three teachers invited me to guest teach again. The students loaded me with questions and being from California helped because almost all the students knew Arnold Schwarzenegger (aka Governator) and about Hollywood . “Is there snow over there”, “what kind of car did you drive”, “why did you come to Kazakhstan ”, “do you like it here”, “do you speak Russian”, “what ethnicity are you” and “do you have a wife” were the questions received in almost every class. A day full of energy indoors.

Febuary 27th '10 - Celebrating Military Service

Kazakhstan embraces its military history. February 23rd was Soviet Army Day, a holiday where respects are given to all men who served militarily under the Soviet Union . About 80% of the men I’ve met in Lesnoye(in or past their late 30s) have served in the Soviet military. These men often proudly share their numerous service stories which have taken place in Belorussia , Siberia, North Russia, Ukraine , and Armenia . In addition to WWII memorials and statues of Lenin which you will encounter in almost every village or town in North Kazakhstan , military respect is also within school walls. For instance, 10th and 11th graders attend two military classes weekly: 1. practical instruction on marching and military demeanor and 2. automobile training (big trucks and busses). Whenever I see any of my students in their camouflage uniforms, it’s due to one of these classes. Being from California , this military pride is very new to me and has provided me with several opportunities to listen to personal service stories which give me deeper insight into Kazakhstani culture.

On Soviet Army Day in Lesnoye, the female teachers treated all the men who worked at the school. Coincidentally, it was -33C on the 23rd so that meant no students. All school staff gathered for a pot luck in school at noon. The women cooked numerous dishes and even presented upbeat, humorous poems for each male staff member. Too bad I could only understand about half of the poem written for me but it was simply great to be included. The male teachers, usually stoic, were mostly smiles on this day. Another interesting and enjoyable holiday in Kazakhstan. Now, only if the snow will melt away.