Picking on Someone Your Own Size

Kazakhstan, for those not in the know, is the 9th largest country in the world. Andorra ranks 196th, squeezed between Saint Lucia and some semi-country known as The Northern Mariana Islands. So it was not a surprise to see what would happen when the two countries met in their first 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Match in late August.
First some background [...]

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Back to School!

  
A storm last night brought the first whiff of autumn, crisper air and slightly cooler temperatures. And with autumn comes the beginning of school. September 1st is the traditional day for that in Kazakhstan, and I spent the ‘Day of Knowledge’ in the ‘village’ of Turkistan in the South of Kazakhstan. The main part [...]

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Happy…what holiday is it???

It’s a 3-day weekend here in Kazakhstan. To be precise, August 30th is Constitution Day, one of the three fall holidays that celebrate the Kazakhstani ’state’ as an independent entity. Prize for whoever can guess the other two. Here is a pic from some of the music/events going on in front of the Republic Palace in [...]

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Back from the road…

In case you were wondering where I’ve disappeared to, I’ve been traveling for most of the past 6 weeks. There’s a lot to catch up on, not to mention finishing writing about my Astana trip. To hold you over here are some pictures of students watching the solar eclipse on August 1st. They came up [...]

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Beijing Goes Boom

There’s an interesting article from Reuters on the Olympic construction boom in Beijing (and some great pictures). In preparation for the 2008 Games, China has concentrated on building ‘futuristic architectural statements’ to show off the state’s development. International events like the Olympics have long been used by the host nation as this [...]

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Searching for the Soul of a City…

So by now I’ve spent 10 months living and working in Almaty. I’ve had some time to think, what makes Almaty interesting? What sets it apart? Why am I writing about it…besides the obvious fact that it’s the only city I currently reside, and thus my only material for these ramblings.
Before talking about Almaty in [...]

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Welcome!

Кош келдініздер to the first official post! So why are we here? Where the hell is Almaty anyway? Kazakhstan you say…?
Personally, when I first knew I was moving to Almaty I looked about for information on ‘real life’ here. I tried to find even some pictures of the city, and found them extremely lacking. Most of [...]

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