December 9 through 17, 2007

This week hasn’t been good.

Sunday
I guess I should have had some apprehensions about the week after my landlady kicked me out of my room that I rent from her at 10 pm last Sunday with five minutes notice. If you want the whole story about this traumatic event, I will send it to you, but I am not going to post that story on my blog. I went to Joey’s after being kicked out. Thank goodness he is here. And I am thankful for his presence not just because he gave me a place to stay on Sunday night.

Monday through Thursday
Monday was the second to last day of school, so I had a lot of presentations, grading, etc. to get done. I also had a tutoring session in the morning with Salta. We are working on college applications. The biggest success was transferring money from a bank account in Kazakhstan to my bank account in the US. Joey received a package from him family on Monday. So we had a good time unpacking the big box of goodies they sent over.

Tuesday was the last day of classes and more of the same activities as Monday. Submitting grades for students at KIMEP is a bit tedious; however, they do submit the grades online, thank goodness. I submitted grades for one class on Tuesday. I also went down to the post office and picked up a package from my mom! It was wonderful to have new socks and a homemade scarf to wear, and chocolate chips and real liquid vanilla extract to bake with. I can’t wait to bake chocolate chip cookies.

(photos copywritten G. Phunk Photos)

On Wednesday, I had a lesson with Salta and got grades completed for two classes and submitted those. Thursday was meetings with students and teachers, tutoring sessions, and more grading. My grandmother fell and broke her hip one of these days, so I got bad news that day. I am not exactly sure what day that was. She can now walk a few steps, but it has been hard on Mom and Dad because Mom has had to be up in Eureka a lot.

Friday
Friday was rough. My brother informed me that Mom, Dad and him had to put down Patches, our dog. She was 14 years old, so very old for dogs, but it was painful that she was gone. I also felt bad that only John could be there with Mom and Dad. Patches had liver failure. They buried her in the backyard overlooking the creek. That same day my Aunt Tedi’s father had a serious heart attack. While most people wouldn’t necessarily consider this family, to me he is. My family is very close and doesn’t stop at blood relatives. Tedi’s parents have been a part of my life since I was young and have always been kind and supportive. It was painful to learn about his most recent heart attack. He has recently gotten out of critical care, but the situation still isn’t looking good.

The one good thing about the day is that I gave my last exam and was able to submit the class’s grades. In the morning I had to sit on the Entrance Exam Appeal Committee for the school. The school gives an entrance exam to potential students entering KIMEP to test their English grammar and reading comprehension. Students can then appeal their score if they feel that their paper was graded incorrectly by the computer. I had one applicant who was justified in his appeal; the computer didn’t count some of his right answers because he marked out one answer already bubbled in on the answer sheet. The other applicants did not have anything wrong with their scores. They just wanted to see if I could give them extra points.

I am not sure how good of an indicator the test is on English language ability. In school, you need to have good listening and speaking skills, as well as reading and grammar. To me, the TOEFL or other such standardized test would be a better entrance exam. That test measures reading, writing, speaking and listening skills and is harder to cheat on. We had an illegal set of answers running around Almaty for one of the test versions. You could buy the test answers for $500.

Saturday
In the morning I helped Joey with his English Club. We discussed Christmas. I think it went well. My English Club had a similarly themed session last Wednesday. The students really enjoy hearing about what we do in America.

KIMEP has the policy that students can appeal their course grades 48 hours after the grades have been posted. The grades are usually posted online 48 hours after teachers submit the grades to the registrar. So I had to be at school for part of this day. I also was at school for English Club. They watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” (in color!), while I researched activities and places for Joey and my Thailand trip. Joey came by later in the afternoon to help with the research.

After the movie and research was over, Joey and I tried an Italian restaurant about 40 minutes away walking from KIMEP. It was decent, but not spectacular. After dinner, we headed back home and were in the apartment by 11ish. We were happy to get back. The weather is frigid here. We had snow all day on Monday and that snow is still around. The weather hasn’t been warm enough to melt it away.

Sunday
I packed for Thailand and rearranged a few things. After packing, Joey and I headed off to see what his students said was the biggest Christmas tree in Almaty. It was in Ackent, a suburb of Almaty. We walked to the area, which was a pleasant enough walk. But the place and tree was disappointing. We saw a bigger Christmas tree with a more impressive set up on our walk to the Italian restaurant the night before. Also, the wait for the bus and remaining walk back home was incredibly cold.

Upon reaching home, we quickly made dinner. Since then, I have been doing small things that need to get done and writing this summary.

Next Week
I hope the next few weeks are better than this week. Joey and I go on our trip to Thailand. I am incredibly excited about seeing this country and being in warm weather. J We go to northern Thailand for about 7 days, and then southern Thailand for about 5. We will be in the northern part for Christmas and the southern part for New Year’s Eve.

I don’t know where I will live when I get back. I will have to figure that out this week.

If you don’t hear from before the 25th, MERRY CHRISTMAS! And have a wonderful New Year!

End of November and Beginning of December, 2007

I have been horrible the past two weeks with updating my blog. I apologize.

Monday, December 2, 2007
It has been foggy, snowy and cold here for the past few days. However, this hasn’t stopped Joey and me from getting out and seeing different stores and parks within the city. As quirky as it sounds, one of our favorite types of stores to visit is grocery stores. Because some grocery items are rare, browsing through a grocery store is similar to going on a treasure or Easter egg hunt. The finder of the rarest and most coveted item wins great respect from the other. J So we continued our game and tried a new store on Sunday. We didn’t find anything too exciting, except boxed macaroni with a white cheese sauce. Sunday, we also explored a craft fair in the state museum close to Joey’s place. There were tons of traditional Kazak, Uzbek, and other Central Asian goods. I thought about buying things there, but most were pretty expensive and I think Thailand will have better deals.

Saturday, December 1, 2007
On Saturday, Joey’s school had their English Club which he develops, organizes, puts together and leads. He has no help, except what I can do. So, he is a one man show. I helped him get things together and bake a cake on Friday night. And then on Saturday, I helped him set up, clean up and lead the tasks during the meeting. After English Club there, we headed back home with the EC materials and had lunch – cheeseburgers. After lunch, we went down to KIMEP. The KIMEP theatrical society is putting on a play, Searching for Daniel’s Heart, so Joey and I watched it on Saturday night. Before and after the play, we figured out our Thailand schedule and booked our domestic flights. We have about 6 days in the Chaing Mai area, 5 days on the beaches and a National Park (Khao Sok), and any remaining days in Bangkok. Domestic flights are relatively cheap, but the initial price online isn’t what you should expect to pay. You need to double that price, because flight taxes are astronomical.

Salta had her SAT I today. I hope she did well on it.

It was foggy and snowy today.

Friday, November 30, 2007
I was supposed to have a lesson with Salta and Lazzat today, but it was canceled at the last minute – aka one hour after I was supposed to be there. They had a guest and they didn’t want lessons because of it. So my day didn’t get off to a great start. But I read some of my wizard book and did prep work for dinner with my free time in the morning.

In the afternoon, I worked at KIMEP. I reviewed some English entrance exams for the school. They want me on a council, but I don’t want the extra work. I am going to try and get out of it. (I just found out I am on the council – I can’t get out it. Bummer.) After reviewing English sentences, I started to work on final grades for my students. The semester ends next week, so I am trying to get prepared. I got started on all of my classes. I now have to decide how much extra work I want to do to help my students get a better grade because they didn’t do their work when they were supposed to. I think my spirit of giving might be limited, even though their grades aren’t the best. It isn’t my fault they didn’t do the work when they were supposed to.

Snowed today.

Thursday, November 29, 2007
I am trying to work out a little bit on Thursdays, Tuesdays, and Sundays. Sundays, I get Joey to direct me and on the other days I figure out things to do myself. Even though it is only a few days a week, it is better than nothing, which is what I was doing before.

I headed to school in the afternoon to attend a few meetings, Russian lessons, prepare for classes, and teach classes. Joey came by in the late afternoon to use the internet. Neither his school, nor his apartment, have internet, so he comes to use KIMEP’s.

I tried to talk to someone about my spring semester, but got yelled at instead of the information I needed. Great personnel relations, right?

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
I gave Salta an SAT I exam to prepare her for her upcoming exam. She didn’t do so well. Not sure what else I can do for her to make her learn things. She is trying to learn new words, which are a big part of the SAT, but it is a slow process and she seems to always forget what they mean. I had lunch with her and proceeded to invite her to Joey’s place for dinner since her family was away. She agreed to come at 6:30 pm to help me prepare food, and then eat it.

After lunch, I headed to KIMEP for a few meetings and prepared for class and a tutoring session. This tutoring session has become pretty regular, so that is nice. The girl I tutor is about 12 and named Assel. She is pleasant to talk to and I think, I hope, she enjoys the lessons.

The meeting I attended was for KIMEP’s English Club. We are planning a Christmas themed celebration with a gift exchange, singing, group discussions about Christmas in the US, and other Christmas themed activities. Hopefully, it will be well received. It occurs Wednesday, December 5.

After lessons I rushed home to get things ready for Salta’s arrival and then went grocery shopping with her. Kung Po chicken was on the menu and I think most everyone enjoyed it. Salta then dropped me off at my mountain home – the room I am renting in an older lady’s house.

I guess I haven’t told everyone that I moved. Rent was too high at the apartment James and I rented together, so we started looking for somewhere to live. James’ housing idea was the apartment market, which wasn’t successful. I came up with about three suggestions. Two didn’t work out, but the other is where we are now. It isn’t ideal by any means, but it is less expensive than our apartment. Instead of $600 for rent, I now pay $250. This is because I rent a room in a house. I no longer have my own apartment, or even set of keys. The landlady, a recent widow of about 65, stays at home all day, so she says we don’t need a set of keys. This is fine if we come home before 10 pm, but after 10 pm I begin to feel bad for the landlady. So there is a tacit curfew to the place.

She also hopes, expects, us to be around to talk with her. For me that is impractical. For James, it is also hard.

Yesterday, Sunday, my landlady asked me why I never come home. She evidently was unconscious for about 5 minutes on Saturday and James didn’t hear her fall. She wanted to know why I wasn’t there to help her I guess. I proceeded to tell her that I am sorry, but I work most of the day and teach until late most evenings. On the late nights, I go to Joey’s because it is closer and feels like a safer walk. I don’t know if she fully understood my reasoning. It is odd having a motherly figure in your life after 8 years of not having a mother check in on you everyday. And even when I did live at home, I was free to come and go as I pleased. My parents trusted I would be back eventually, or find a good place to spend the night if it got too late.

Sunday, November 25
Woke up a little late and did some late minute shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner preparations. After the grocery store, Joey and I did some exercises to get ourselves nice and hungry. Once clean, we started on Thanksgiving dinner. We had a roasted chicken instead of turkey, corn, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and a chocolate pie. Needless to say it wasn’t as good as home’s, but I was very full after the meal anyway. After cleaning up dinner, I headed back to my mountain room to visit my landlady and complete some late night grading.

Saturday, November 24
Today Joey and I relaxed in the morning and went grocery shopping to get most of the items we would need for our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. In the afternoon, I went by to see my landlady and unpack a little bit. We just moved into the place on Thursday and I have very busy Fridays and Thursdays. So I had not had time to do that yet.

After a few hours at my mountain room, I headed back to Joey’s and we made a late lunch. We then rushed out of the apartment to try and find a basketball game on the other side of town. After some walking around and few inquiries, we found the game. It was the Kazakhstan national championship tournament. The game we saw was Almaty versus another city’s team. It wasn’t the most exciting game, but I was impressed with their shooting ability. Lots of 3-pointers were made in the game. The “box” is an odd shape. It isn’t a box; it is more like a triangle with the point cut off. It was unusual to say the least.

During half-time Joey and I took a walk outside to see if we could find the circus. We found the circus, but we couldn’t find out the performance times because it was closed. I was bummed out. After the game Joey and I headed to the largest shopping mall on that side of town and explored. We didn’t find anything too exciting, but it was nice to get warm before our walk/bus ride home.

Friday, November 23
I moved in the morning to my mountain room. The driver was an hour late. James had to leave as soon as he dropped his stuff off at the house, so I felt like I should hang around a bit and talk to the new landlady. I didn’t want us both to be completely rude. This caused me to be late for my tutoring lesson that afternoon.

Thursday, November 22
Not at all like in the States, but Joey and I tried to make the best of it. I called Grammy in Eureka to say hi.

James and I tried to move into our new place in the morning. We had a car arriving at 8 am. The car arrived around 8:20 am, but James didn’t get out of bed in time so we didn’t leave our place until around 8:45 am. Because of this, we arrived too late at our new house. The landlady had already left for her doctor’s appointment. The driver and I weren’t too pleased.

Wednesday, November 21
We had English Club on Thanksgiving. I wasn’t feeling too good, so I wasn’t the best person to be there. But I didn’t have to do much, so that was good.

Monday, November 19
We had Salta over for dinner. Her family was again away. She then wanted to get dessert at a nearby restaurant so we went with her. The desserts here are deceiving. They look spectacular, but once you taste them you want to spit them out. Most cakes taste like cardboard. By far, I prefer to cook at home. The meals here aren’t my cup of tea and the desserts are bad. People here must have very high cholesterol because they eat a lot of eggs for breakfast.

Alright, that is it. Phew… I bet you are tired of reading.