THE LAST DAY

I met my last full day in Karaganda with a lot of walking around the city and a lot of visiting to with friends that I had met in the last year. The entire day seemed to move in slow motion and I have had a hard time telling if I'm happy or sad about going because I think it is a mix of both. Happy to come back and see my family and friends, but sad to leave the ones I have made here in the past year of my life.

So this is it, we leave on the train at noon on Tuesday the 8th and head for Almaty where we will fly out of Kazakhstan and head back to the states. I will be arriving back home in California on June 16th where it will be quite a change to be back in America again.

I haven't had a chance to completely contemplate my entire year here, but as I said in my last entry, my main goal was met. I made friends with my students, developed relationships with them, and had a chance to serve in many different ways during my time here.

So I don't know when I'll be signing on again for this blog, but check back again in the future and maybe I'll have a final picture up here of my class. At this point I'm in a rush because I need to prepare to leave and also because I'm running out of internet minutes on my card. Ahh..the life of dial-up internet. As one of my student would proudly proclaim, "Free Internet Forever!" Well we aren't at that point yet, but maybe someday...either that or they'll just start taxing us for the minutes as well as for the online purchases.

Thanks for all of you who read and enjoyed it. I hope it was a blessing for all and that it was helpful for you to see a different culture. And for those of you in Karaganda who are reading this, I hope my stories made you laugh to see how a American tries to adapt to a new life and a new culture for a year.

This is it...signing off now...until we speak again.

PEACE INSIDE,
JOEL

- posted by Joel @ 12:07 AM

 
FINAL WEEK OF TEACHING

The last day of class ended with a bang. It is hard to believe that everything is over now, but this last week we finished up our last classes. On Wednesday the students took a final test which I hoped would show that they at least remembered some of the things we talked about during the semester. They all proved, for the most part, that they had remembered and did well on the exam.

On our last day of class we had a party. I invited both classes to meet together at one time so we could all celebrate and enjoy each other’s company. We had dessert and drinks. A different item was brought by each student, and we had a great time together talking a little bit about the year and remember the enjoyable times we have had together. I prepared a movie that included a mix of all the pictures and video that I had taken during the past year and presented it to my students. It was about ten minutes long and I could see they really enjoyed watching it. I enjoyed making it and it reminded me of all the activities we had done together this year in and out of class.

When the class time came to an end, we all cleaned up and then headed out of the school building for what would be the last time for me to see the place where I had spent my first year of teaching. As we were walking out, my student said to me exactly what I was thinking in my head. He told me that this was the part where I should breathe a loud sigh and say “Wow!” I laughed because I think I had just done that on the inside when we walked out. It was a good feeling to know we were finished, but also a satisfying one because I saw that the students appreciated the year of teaching and were going to miss it just like I was. Although it was very challenging for me, I really loved getting to know them and that is the part I will miss the most.


GRADUATION CEREMONY

The ceremony for all the English students was held on the day after classes were finished. We all gathered in a good-sized auditorium complete with a stage and stage lights that helped to bring beads of sweat to our foreheads as we took our turns standing up on stage and presenting the certificates. About 200-250 students came for the ceremony from all the classes that were run by our local organization where we taught.

It was the usual type of ceremony with short speeches and the presentation of certificates to each student who had taken the class. There were a few things that were different and one especially different aspect that I would like to mention. Usually at a graduation it is not very interesting to have to sit for hours just waiting for the name of the one student to be called that you came to see graduate. Normally a speaker stands at the front and makes his or her best attempt to correctly pronounce all the names of students that are written on what seems like an eternal list of people which will never end. When the person comes along that you are waiting for, it’s time to cheer and scream and show how proud you are of them for completing this achievement. And before you can stop screaming you realize that your friend who you came to see is sitting down now and a new person who you don’t know if coming up to receive their award…and on it goes. Usually the only sound you hear is the voice of the announcer and the scattered cheers of family and friends throughout different areas of the crowd. There was one big difference at this ceremony that I had to laugh about and enjoy. During the time that the students were receiving their certificates, a DJ sitting down front at the stage area blasting away techno music while each student was receiving a certificate. It was quite a sight to behold as the presenters tried to shout the names above the music and the students tried to hear if their name had just been called. Meanwhile, since the music was being played so loud, all the other students back in the audience were busy showing off their certificates and talking up a storm, but it wasn’t too distracting because their voices were drowned out by the music.

I saw the pros and cons to this whole method of award giving. In the plus side, the music kept anyone in the audience from falling asleep or becoming bored with the ceremony. Everyone had to pay attention to hear when one of their friend’s names was being called to come and receive the award. The music also added a little more excitement to the whole atmosphere. The drawback of the whole thing was that it was difficult to hear the names being called and it made the ceremony seem like more of a disco party than a formal process of receiving a certificate. Since most of these students were teenagers, I figured they didn’t mind it too much. It made it more interesting for them and it drowned out the voices of those who were too talkative in the audience without and supervision to keep them quiet. I asked after if this was a cultural norm at graduation and my student said that it was. Apparently in Soviet Union times there was an official song played at each ceremony just like we have at ours, but now people are changing and cultures are mixing so they have come up with different ways to perform the ceremony. The music is different every time.

CONGRATULATING MY STUDENTS

The time finally came for our class to line up on the stage and receive their certificates as the administrator correctly pronounced them in Russian (it would have been a great challenge for me to do so) and I correctly handed them their certificates and thanked them for being in the class. Each student came up and shook hands with the administration and then I gave them their certificate at the end of the line.

Before all of this my students gave me a big surprise first. As we came up on the stage, one of them came up to the microphone and thanked me on behalf of the class for the year of teaching, and then they presented me with a very nice souvenir to take home. I was quite surprised by it and it was like icing on the cake for me at the end of the year. After the gift, we continued with the procession and then I decided that I should say a few words to the audience and let my students know how much I appreciated it. My parents might be shocked to see me standing on the stage in front of 200+ people and giving a unrehearsed mini-speech to my students to show my appreciation. If there is one thing I learned this year in Kazakhstan, it is that people appreciate it when a person is willing to stand up and give personal thanks to an individual and group of people. Toasting and speeches are quite common here and if it is given by a foreigner, I think that the nationals appreciate it even more. I hope I have learned how to do it well.

After the giving the certificates the administration called all the teachers up together to thank them and give them a small going-away gift to show their thanks for our efforts this year. Each person working the office presented had the chance to present to one or two of the teachers and as I mentioned before, they took the customary opportunity to gift a short message about why the appreciated the teacher so much. When my turn came, I was quite amused by the description given to me. The business accountant of the office presented me my award and she described in the following way.

“To a man who is very serious, very cheery, a sportsman and businessman.”

I liked the part about being serious and cheery. This was a description given to me by my students toward the beginning of the year. I don’t know exactly how that is possible, but I guess that I can be serious and some times and cheery at others. I hope I have a good balance of both. I asked on of my students later and he said, “You tried to be serious at the beginning (of the semester), but you just couldn’t do it.” He meant that I finally broke down and started being cheery too. I asked if it was good to be like this and he said, “Just be yourself in class, everyone liked it.” So that is a big thing I learned this year…don’t try to be someone else than myself, just be myself. I could probably learn a thing or two about discipline in class, but that is another subject all together which I will not broach at this time. Either way my students told me that one of their favorite parts about the class was just the atmosphere of it. I was happy to hear this and to know that this class was something different from their daily routine of going to school and college classes all day. Hopefully they learned how to speak English a little better in the process.

SUMMING UP THE YEAR

We went out to the park as a class after the ceremony was over and walked around. We chatted and talked about the year while going on a few amusement rides there in the park. They asked me what I liked most and least about Karaganda and I asked them what they liked about the class during the year. My favorite part about Karaganda was the diversity of the people. It was just like living back in Sacramento, except hardly anyone spoke English, so I suppose that was a slight difference.

We sat in a café toward the end of the evening and continuing our conversations and enjoying each others fellowship. It was at this point that I heard a statement that confirmed that my goals for the year had been met in a very important way. It is hard to try decide if a year spent in a other country is a success when basing it on just one thing, but I think what this student said touched me personally and really showed me that I had accomplished an important part of why I had came.

I asked again, “What did you like about the classes the best?” There were some answers about games, the atmosphere, the tests (just kidding), and then conversation continued on to other subjects. A few minutes later, the student sitting next to me, who had obviously still been thinking about the class, spoke up and said, “What I also liked about the class is that we were able to become friends with you outside of the class.”

That hit it right there. Mission accomplished. I came to teach business-English, but I also hoped that I could have a chance to personally get to know my students outside of class, and now I know that this goal was accomplished. Hopefully I had a positive impact on the students who I spent time with. I know that they touched me in many ways through their hospitality and friendship, and these friendships are what I will cherish the most when I return home.

- posted by Joel @ 6:56 PM

 
IS THERE A PROBLEM OFFICER?

Here is something that just occurred to me recently that I had never thought about the entire year even though it was a common occurrence in my daily life. Imagine if you were riding on a public bus and you’re on your way to work, or maybe you’re in a taxi cab and you’re heading home for the evening. You’re just sitting and minding your own business when all of the sudden…two police officers climb into the vehicle and sit down on the bench next to you. Would you take notice of them? Would watch them out of the corner of your eye to see why in the world they are riding on a public transport vehicle? I certainly would be curious and maybe even a little scared. What if they’re tracking a suspected gunman or thief who is sitting in the seat right behind me and trying to figure out how to escape? Usually when the police are around, something is going down and people take notice.

Well I just realized this the other day when I happened to be riding in a marshrutka on the way to work and there were two local police officers sitting right next to me on the bench. Do you know how I felt…absolutely fine. Funny thing about different cultures…even when it comes to law enforcement there is still a different mentality about the way people perceive or think about these things. Here in the city, many officers don’t seem to have their own mode of transportation and they are often seen taking local buses or marshrutkas to get around town. I wonder if they get reimbursed for all of their bus rides, or maybe if they don’t have to pay at all. There’s a question I would not be willing to ask them though. I do get a little nervous sometimes because I wonder if they’ll notice that I am a foreigner and become suspicious of me (there can be reasons to be worried), but I haven’t been bothered the entire year and for that I have been grateful. Just another interesting difference in the adventures of getting around the city of Karaganda.

- posted by Joel @ 12:38 AM

 
TWO WEEKS LEFT OF TEACHING

The countdown has begun (for teachers and students) as we are down to our final two weeks of classes for the semester. This week my classes will be preparing for their final exam that will take place next week. They will have a test that will cover the major topics discussed this semester in business. We have had some interesting discussions in the areas of management, business letters, business ethics, accounting, resumes, marketing, and business meetings.

I am excited about the end drawing near, and I am also excited about seeing these students finish the semester and receive a certificate at the graduation ceremony. We will spend our last class of the year before graduation as one group with a traditional Kazakh/Russian celebration that will include food, music, and games. Out of the thirty some students that began the class last September, about twenty-three of them will complete the class. It is a good accomplishment for them because this is a class that they have taken in addition to their regular studies, their regular jobs, and their daily activities. Most of them are not required to take this class (unless their parents are paying), and they do it because they want to improve their English. I only hope that I have helped them in their efforts a bit and they that will remember much of what we have studied and discussed during the past year.


ALLERGIES AND MOSQUITOES

Yes they have both of these dreadful things here too. Normally I am severely afflicted with the spring hay fever which knocks me out for about a month in the early spring. The pollen and dust just drives me crazy. This year I have been fortunate in that I have not suffered any allergies, but now that it is warmer I have noticed the mosquitoes are starting to appear more often. The evidence of their activity is currently swelling up on my arms and legs thanks to bad allergic reactions I have to mosquito bites. When I lived in North Dakota, they used to have a joke that the mosquito was the also the state bird. It seems that they could qualify for that the country bird here as they are fairly large and intimidating as well.

- posted by Joel @ 6:54 AM

 
MORE INTERESTING STUDENT OPINIONS

Today in class we discussed the topic of “burnout” and how it can affect so many people today in work, school, or at home. I asked my class to give me a list of jobs they felt had the biggest potential for producing burnt out workers. My first class had an interesting combination. Their top three choices were a student, a stay-at-home-mom, and an unemployed person. Teachers were also mentioned and I tried to hint to them about how a teacher might be burned out from teaching, and one student mentioned that it can happen if the class doesn’t listen to the teacher. I said in my best sarcastic manner, “That’s right, especially when the teacher is trying to talk, but half the class is whispering to each other in Russian!” Only a couple of students got the joke and started laughing. I think the others missed it because they were too busy whispering to each other.

The second class’ top three choices were also interesting to me. Number one was a teacher, and then a soldier and oddly a ticket collector on a bus. That may not seem like such a horrible job, but here in Karaganda I have had my share of watching the work of those ticket collectors who have to wander the aisle of a bus for the entire day trying to remember who paid and who is trying to escape without paying. It is a thankless job that doesn’t have opportunity for promotion I suppose. This week was really bad to be a ticket collector because we had temperatures in the mid 90s that just made those buses roast like an oven. At the end of the day, everyone getting on the bus from work or school has a tendency to permeate the air with some pretty unpleasant smells, and the collector has to deal with that for the whole time. I can see how burnout might be a quick reaction to dealing with those sort of things.

- posted by Joel @ 7:13 AM