A View from Home

About a week and a half ago, my mother-in-law gave a speech about Kazakhstan to her fellow townsfolk. She wrote out her whole speech to help her prepare and shared it with us. With her permission I am posting her writings about Kazakhstan and her view of it from home. Please feel free to leave comments for her and we'll be sure to pass them on:

Yearbook Theme – Seeking Growth Today – Doing the Things We Love

When we came up with that theme, I thought everyone, including me, would talk about their hobbies.   So, I thought, do I want to talk about fly fishing?—no, not really.  Golf, no, not really.   Another thing I like to do is read, and right now I am reading Apples are from Kazakhstan.  (Apples, we just love ‘em?)  It’s true, botanists have traced back the beginning of the apple tree to this Central Asian country.  Wild apple trees grow in some regions, and the fruit covers the ground in the fall.  They have an apple in KZ called the Aport which grows as big as a baby’s head and is sweet and delicious.   Tulips are also from KZ and trousers.    But KZ is a land that no one knows much about.  But I’m not really going to do a book report.  I am going to tell you WHY I am reading this obscure book about this obscure country.

You know how wonderful it is to HELP your children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews grow?   And then all of a sudden, some of them are doing things you never even dreamed of, and all of a sudden, they are helping YOU grow.    My middle son Levi—the quiet, artistic, introverted, son, and his wife April—have opened my eyes, widened my horizons, and made me seek growth. 

About five years ago, when most of us in this country were still reeling from 911 and harboring some real fears of Islamic people,  April took at job in the United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi, at a charter school where her uncle was the dean.  It was an all boys school, and she mostly worked with the teachers telling them about how schools in our country teach Math.  The next year they moved to Dubai.  There Levi worked for a magazine as a graphic designer.  The UAE is pretty bilingual, so they got along ok speaking only English. This is what April wrote to me about the Middle Eastern people:

   The people I met were so incredibly nice and curious about America; I never felt any hostility from anyone (OK, maybe a bit during Ramadan on the road - but who wouldn't be cranky when they've worked a full day on an empty stomach!). The teachers I worked with were willing to let me into their classrooms, which is a feat for teachers around the world to let someone in their space.  They spoke to me with respect (which of course I returned). They wanted to teach me about their culture and their language. Many of them commented how awful the Taliban is and how they are not liked by most of the Islamic community.  From these stories and interactions I knew that I wanted to spread the word to Americans about how much we stereotype Muslims. 

So, they came back home and bought a house and a dog, and April got a job at GOAL Academy on-line school. Levi went back to his graphic design job here.  But then they got restless to do it again, so April starting looking for another international teaching job.  In July Levi called to tell me they would be moving to Kazakhstan in three weeks.  Where?  I didn’t even know where Kazakhstan WAS.  It’s there, point down, 12 hours ahead [as she stands in the USA].  And here they were going all by themselves, not knowing anyone, not knowing the language.   Getting their Visas took longer than expected, but finally they got there, about 3 weeks ago, with their little pug dog.  April’s job is at a Gifted and Talented high school, and she will be teaching Math in English.  Almost no one in KZ speaks English, most speak Russian, although many speak Kazakh, but they are teaching their brightest students in all three languages.  The government sends 3,500 students abroad to university on a full scholarship plus living expenses on the condition they will come back to work for only three years.

KZ is the 9^th largest country in the world.  Texas can fit in it 5 times, and it’s larger than all of Western Europe.  It is located West of China, South of Russia, and bordered on the west side by the Caspian Sea.  Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan border it to the South.  It is approximately the same latitude as the Northern United States.  Levi & April are in Shymkent, a city about the same climate and size as Denver.  There are only a few cities in KZ.  It is a Republic government.  President Nazarbayev was elected as the first President when the country became independent from the Soviet Union and he has been in office over 20 years.  The Kazakh people seem to like him and they keep reelecting him.  Its historic culture is that of nomads living in yurts.  Under Russian rule, the people were forced to settle and farm.  Then the Soviets in the 1900s ruled the country and built large communist-styled bloc apartment buildings and factories.  Levi & April live in one of those old style apartment buildings.   It’s big and comfortable, and they have great, fast internet service, but no dishwasher, no clothes dryer, and the refrigerator is in one of the bedrooms. 

The present Capital city Astana is 1,000 miles away with nothing but steppe in between.  Astana is a brand new, very modern city built in the middle of the country just in the last twenty years, since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Many different nationalities live in KZ now, most of whom were forced there by the Soviet regime or came as refugees from wars in their countries.  Different cultures get along and accept one another, having past hardships in common.   About half of the people are Muslim and half are Russian Orthodox, but nearly everyone is moderate, not devout or extreme in their religious traditions.  They wear western clothing.  And they love music and love to dance.  The students at April’s school flash mob and line dance during their breaks.  

Levi tells me it is not just for the adventure that they have chosen to experience other cultures.  They wanted to challenge themselves by getting out of their comfort zones.  They wanted to see people from a different angle.  It has made them appreciate what we have in the U.S., and not take it for granted.  And it has made them relate to people who don’t speak our language, to experience being on the other side of the language barrier, how to communicate with few  words.   My kids are aware that they are representing Americans, and they try to be their best and break the stereotypes many people have of Americans.  I am so proud of them because I think it takes courage to do this just as regular people, not as part of an organization with an agenda, and not with a tour guide.  I can’t imagine doing it myself.  They are meeting real folks, not just service employees in tourist destinations. 

The most surprising thing my son told me is this:  Being in a completely new place makes you focus on the details, the things you take for granted at home.  That slows down time, and makes you live longer.         Well, we can’t all travel to the other side of the world, but we can all get out of our comfort zones, and experience something new.    Dosvedania!