Clothes in Kaz

        I wanted to write a blog about the clothes here. Not so much about the fashion (although the fashion here is really interesting. Yesterday I saw a woman wearing bright-fuchsia, knee-high suede, high-heeled boots!) but about changing clothes.
        I have established a whole routine as I bundle up to leave the house. First I put on my winter boots – they are the most difficult and I don’t like being constricted by my coat when I do this. Second, I put my headphones in my ears. I have to do this second so the cord is hidden under my jacket and scarf. After headphones it’s my scarf - followed by the hat. Finally I’m read for my coat. I button four really annoying buttons, hook my headphones to my iPod, select my music before I put on my mittens (otherwise the touch on my iPod doesn’t work), put my bag over my jacket, adjust the strap so it doesn’t make my headphones choke me, get out my mittens, put the left one on, say goodbye to my host mom, leave the house, press play on my iPod, put my right mitten on, and start walking. I’ve actually started timing myself to see how quickly I can bundle up. If I stick to my routine it takes me 3 to 4 minutes to get everything on. It may seem silly to have such a routine, but it’s not just the one time a day I leave for work that I have to bundle up. I come home for lunch each day, AND to add in another clothing glitch, I walk to and from work in different boots than I wear at work. The talented local women walk on slippery ice in high heels, but I’m not that talented. So I change boots when I get to work. Therefore, I putting on or taking of boots, jacket, mittens, hat, and iPod no less than 8 times a day (Bundle Up: Walk to Work AM – Bundle Down: Arrive at Work AM – Bundle Up: Walk home for lunch – Bundle Down: Arrive at home – Bundle Up: Walk back to work – Bundle Down: Arrive at work – Bundle Up: Walk back home – Bundle Down: Arrive at home.) And for this reason, I have established my routine.

        The funny thing is, it’s not even that cold out. Some days I could be fine without mittens or hat, but if my host mom or the people I work with see me without a hat they go crazy. They think I’ll get sick the minute I step outside. I tried to argue the first week or so, but now I’ve just kind of accepted it, and it’s good practice for when it actually gets really cold!

        Hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Посмотрим

Today was a day where “po-smatreem” kicked my butt. Let me explain. Planning my vocal studios and English clubs has been a struggle, because it’s difficult to get much information before the actual class. When I try to ask about things to avoid last-minute chaos, I get the same answer: “Po-smotreem.” (We’ll see.) “How many kids are signed up for my English Club?” Po-smotreem. ‘What age are the kids?” Po-smotreem. “Do they have any English experience?” Po-smotreem. Great, so I’ll plan 90-minute lesson for an unknown amount of children, whose ages may be anywhere from 6 to 20, who may not know the English alphabet or may be near fluent. But, as Peace Corps reminded us relentlessly throughout training, we need to be FLEXIBLE and have a SENSE OF HUMOR. 

After getting repeated “po-smotreem” answers to my questions about vocal studio I decided to be flexible and just “see.” Last Thursday was supposed to be my first studio, but I was told the first time I could just observe the other voice teacher. About five minutes before the lesson my host mom (who works with me) asked if I was going to be teaching myself. I told her I would be observing the other teacher. “No, she’s not here – she’s in Astana.” So that meant I had to teach the lesson myself when I had no clue what they normally did in lessons, what they were singing, or even if they had music anywhere in the organization (which they don’t.) I immediately decided this would be a great answer for an interview in two years when asked about a time I had to be flexible or think on my feet. I was excited to answer, “I had to be flexible when, after studying Russian less than three months I was told I would teach a 90-minute vocal studio in Russian only five minutes before the actual lesson.” Ninety minutes later, after a painfully awkward and just plain bad vocal studio, I decided I could no longer use that answer in an interview. Yes, I was flexible. Yes, I had a sense of humor. But it was a terrible lesson. It was useful only to find out there was no structure for vocal studios, they had no music, and they only want to sing fast, club-style dance or pop music. 

I didn’t panic though – I resolved to have a stellar plan ready for the next studio. All weekend I looked through my iTunes music and tried to think of English songs that were good for beginners but were upbeat and lively. Seeing as I studied classical music and don’t listen to a lot of pop, I did not have a lot of options. Nevertheless I came up with a playlist of possible songs and wrote out a lesson plan. I translated all my directions into Russian, had my host mom correct them, and practiced my Russian instructions. At 3:00 pm I walked into the classroom all ready to teach – a little nervous and excited about my lesson. I walked in to find not one, but TWO other voice teachers and 15 students. I get a little shy around a lot of new people if I have to speak Russian, so instead of asking, “Are you teaching this lesson or am I?” I just sat in the back. I acted like I totally knew what was happening. The first five minutes of the lesson I expected I might be called upon to teach, and that maybe they were just observing. But after 20 minutes of the other teachers leading the class, I decided I was just expected to observe that day. In all honesty, I did not mind (in a chicken kind of way) because I was nervous about teaching anyway. I had just begun to like the idea of watching when the teacher started talking to me in Russian. I couldn’t understand what she was saying and I was getting all frazzled at looking so incompetent in front of the students and the other vocal teacher. Finally I got that she wanted to know what songs I wanted the kids to sing. I asked her the same questions I had asked my counterpart earlier: Do they have any music? How do they normally choose songs? How should I teach a song if I have no music for it and just a recording? (I hate the idea of singing along to a recording.) She didn’t say “po-smotrem,” but the “Whatever you want” answer I got was not a lot better. I don’t really know why I bothered to ask the questions – I knew they didn’t really have any music, but I think a part of me was hoping there was a big library of vocal music someone failed to tell me about. Anyway, after telling me I could do what I wanted she turned the lesson over to me and left. I’ll spare you the rest of the details of the lesson, but it again went bad. I basically threw my plan out the window (it was in my computer bag, but I never even got it out) because I was thrown off course by starting in the middle of the lesson and not having a good Russian conversation and there being twice the amount of students than I had the previous lesson. It just was not a very active or interesting lesson – we hardly sang at all. I felt stupid ending the lesson again saying that next time we’d get more done and sing more now that I have more information. The truth is, I don’t really have that much more information. I could resolve again to make a detailed lesson and practice, but who knows who will be teaching the lesson on Thursday. 

I thought “po-smotrem” may be a good philosophy for life and it would teach me to be flexible. Or I at least thought I could learn to plan and be flexible. I’m sure I’ll figure out the balance after two years of “po-smotrem” answers. But right now after only two weeks, I’m still struggling. It’s just tough to plan lessons that are engaging for beginning singers who are 14-17 years old. Even in English they look at you like you’re an idiot sometimes, because they just have that attitude. But it especially comes across that way if you’re not confident with your language and your lesson plan has gone out the window. 

I wish I could have a happy ending to this rant, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Maybe in a week or two I’ll blog “Po-smotrem: Part 2 – the Moral of the Story.” For now I’ll conclude my blog the way it started. Today po-smotrem kicked my butt.  

It all begins... (or began 3 months ago and I'm just getting around to making a blog)

New Blog!

I have started a blog to keep people back home updated throughout my Peace Corps journey in Kazakhstan. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole blogging thing – you know, exposing your life to the world wide web – but I read another volunteer’s blog and it was actually pretty cool. I think it’ll be nice for me to have when I finish my service in two years. So – here goes my first attempt at blogging! (Be warned – I tend to be long winded…. Feel free to skim!)

My Life:
 I’m living in a city called Kokshetau in Northern Kazakhstan. There are about 130,000 people in the city, but area-wise it’s pretty small. I just moved here about two weeks ago, so I’m still trying to find my routine and figure out what works for me. I think I’m going to absolutely love living and working here. It’s definitely good so far – just a little overwhelming adjusting to so many new aspects: a new family, a new city, a new job, and having to function in Russian all day every day. 

My Family
My new host family is absolutely GREAT. They have a really nice house – with a shower, internet, AND piano! And they are the nicest people ever. It’s a mom, dad, and 18-year-old son. The dad is a builder/constructor worker, and he is so kind and considerate. He’s very interested in history and cultures, so half of our conversations are comparing America to Kazakhstan, or discussing the English vs. Russian vs. Kazakh words for all the food or tableware at dinner. A few nights ago I was on the computer and my host brother was studying around midnight. The dad came walking in with two plates with little freshly-washed apples for us to snack on. He then noticed that I didn’t have topotchkee (slippers) on, and came back with a pair for me so I wouldn’t be cold. He’s just a very kind and considerate guy.
 My host mom teaches a poetry club at the organization I work at and stays home the rest of the time. She’s really great as well. I was sick yesterday and she kept checking up on me in the night to see how I was doing and asked me what I wanted to eat and went out and bought oatmeal since they didn’t have it just because I asked for it. 
 My host brother – I love having a younger brother. It’s been so much fun talking with him. He also sings and plays piano, so we spend a lot of time comparing music tastes or learning new piano songs. He also started learning English a few months ago, so we practice English and Russian together. There are a lot of mistakes made between his English and my Russian, so we laugh a lot. The other night he asked me for advice on girls. I thought it was so cute, because he tried to ask in English, and it took about 8 tries for me to finally understand what he was asking about! I’ve never been an older sibling, and he’s never had a sibling, so I think it’s fun for both of us. 

My Job
 Along with everything else in my new situation, the organization I work for is really neat. The name of it is Детский Дом Творчество which basically translates to Children’s Home of Creativity, or maybe Creative Home for Children, but you get the point. They offer tons of classes all day long for children: dance classes, art classes, science club, chess club, dombra lessons, voice lessons, knitting club, etc. Kids here have school either in the morning or the afternoon, so there are clubs going on at all times. Next week I start teaching three clubs. I will have two English clubs (a younger and older group) and a vocal studio. The clubs meet two times a week, so it basically means I’ll be doing studios or clubs twelve hours a week. My counterpart and director really didn’t give me much to do the rest of the time at work, so I kind of created my own project for the time being. There are about 35 teachers there plus the full-time staff, so I made a survey in Russian just asking what they teach, what they usually do in their clubs, their favorite part of the organization, and what could be improved about the organization. It’s been a good way for me to meet each of the staff, get an idea of everything the organization offers, and see possible areas for improvement in the future. When I’m done meeting everyone, I will take their pictures and make a bulletin board for the lobby with all the teachers and staff and what they teach or do. They don’t have anything with all the teachers, so I hope it’ll be a good way for parents to see what other programs are available while they’re waiting for their kids to come out of the clubs. Hopefully once I finish the bulletin board I’ll know the organization better and my Russian will be better so I can actually help them out with one of their current projects. 

My Russian
 Hmmm, Russian is definitely the source of most my stress and uneasiness, however it’s also the source of most my laughter since I’m always making mistakes! It sounds sweet to say that it’s all Russian 24/7, but it’s really not that great. It doesn’t really mean I speak Russian all day long – it just means I talk a lot less than I normally would, listen a lot more, and understand a lot less. Trying to function in a job where English isn’t spoken has taught me several things: It’s actually not important to understand every word (or even half of the words) to get the meaning of something, you can still get a feel for other’s personalities and show your personality with little talking, and a lot of things in life can be acted out. (Side note: In two years I dare anyone to take me on in charades – I’ve definitely been practicing!) 
 Some days it’s really good, and I feel like I understand a lot and I’m able to get my point across. But some days when I’m tired, I feel like I understand nothing and can’t say anything right. I know I’ll have to learn quickly, and in a few months it’ll be a lot better. It’s just kind of exhausting trying to always push myself to study or learn more. I know I’m expecting myself to have way too much Russian capabilities after only 3 months, but I’m not a very patient person when it comes to communication. It turns out I like to talk!