I have safely arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan!! The journey over had some ups and downs (overweight baggage, lack of sleep and a lady collapsing on the airplane and screaming children), however, I arrived in one piece along with ALL of my baggage (6 pieces total)!!
The school is a wonderful building! The school grounds are located on the edge of town and are guarded 24 hours a day. The school year has already started here and I just finished up my first two days of teaching. The first two days were rather casual and used mainly as time to get to know the students. I have a wonderful and spacious classroom that has a gorgeous view of the mountains!! I have 14 students in my class and it is quite the mixture of nationalities: American, Venezuelan, Korean, German, Slovenian, Austrian, Chinese and Kazakh. The students are wonderful and most of them are very motivated. They were even asking for homework on the first day of school!!
I am still finding my way around town, but there is plenty of public transportation to take. “Gypsy Taxis” have become a favorite of mine. It is pretty much equivalent to hitchhiking, but completely safe here. All I have to do is stand on the side of the road, hold out my hand, and a car will pull over. They are fairly inexpensive (around $2-4) and are able to get me places much quicker than a bus could.
Some of the local cuisine is absolutely delicious! I am completely in love with Shashlik, which is basically grilled meat on a skewer, but for some reason, it tastes much better here. I have not yet summed up the courage to try horse or camel meat, but I have a feeling I will before to long. Some of the other staff have said that it is quite good. The open markets here are wonderful and I’m enjoying the fresh fruits and vegetables. There is a large market in downtown that has a wide variety of dried fruits, and they are also very good!
I'm settling in and am now developing a daily routine. I am so very happy to be able to do this and I'm excited to see where the school year goes! My plan is to update this site at least once a month, but will try to post as often as I can, when time allows.
The school is a wonderful building! The school grounds are located on the edge of town and are guarded 24 hours a day. The school year has already started here and I just finished up my first two days of teaching. The first two days were rather casual and used mainly as time to get to know the students. I have a wonderful and spacious classroom that has a gorgeous view of the mountains!! I have 14 students in my class and it is quite the mixture of nationalities: American, Venezuelan, Korean, German, Slovenian, Austrian, Chinese and Kazakh. The students are wonderful and most of them are very motivated. They were even asking for homework on the first day of school!!
I am still finding my way around town, but there is plenty of public transportation to take. “Gypsy Taxis” have become a favorite of mine. It is pretty much equivalent to hitchhiking, but completely safe here. All I have to do is stand on the side of the road, hold out my hand, and a car will pull over. They are fairly inexpensive (around $2-4) and are able to get me places much quicker than a bus could.
Some of the local cuisine is absolutely delicious! I am completely in love with Shashlik, which is basically grilled meat on a skewer, but for some reason, it tastes much better here. I have not yet summed up the courage to try horse or camel meat, but I have a feeling I will before to long. Some of the other staff have said that it is quite good. The open markets here are wonderful and I’m enjoying the fresh fruits and vegetables. There is a large market in downtown that has a wide variety of dried fruits, and they are also very good!
I'm settling in and am now developing a daily routine. I am so very happy to be able to do this and I'm excited to see where the school year goes! My plan is to update this site at least once a month, but will try to post as often as I can, when time allows.
