Speak Like a Native

This week has been end of term exams for our students.  I must say, it is brutal!  The kids are exhausted, nervous, and now, sick.

For the past two days, the 7 of us international teachers who are certified in English (although some teach a class called Global Perspectives) evaluated the English speaking abilities of our grade 12 students.  We did one student after another for 2 hours each evening.

So, this is what I have learned:  I never want to hear the words "interesting," "fascinating," "delicious," or "tasty" again.

Many of our students have the dream of attending the very prestigious Nazarbayev University when they graduate.  Others, dream of studying in the UK or the USA.  In order to do this, they need to have scores of 7 (out of 9) and above on the IELTS test -- a test of academic English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening.  Remember, this is our students' third language!

The use of idiomatic expressions and slang is what can push a student from a 6 to a 7 in the speaking portion.  The more they sound natural, the higher their score.  I've been trying to teach my kids some common terms as they arise:  bricks and mortar, suburban sprawl, sell out, so-so . . ..  I overheard a colleague teaching his students "meh."

So, here's where I ask for audience participation:  What terms do you think I should teach my kids?  I am taking all suggestions!

Food

The Kazakh diet is very meat centered. They even joke about how much meat they eat.  It amazes me when I see what the women at work eat.  They load up with meat and carbs for breakfast and lunch -- and they are so slim!  They must have the metabolism of rabbits.

I went to the market the other day and stumbled on the place they sell meat.

Take a look at how big the meat counter is.  There were three this size in the building.  Along the windows on all four sides were counters selling chicken, duck, and things I have no idea about.  It was amazing.

While I haven't worked up the nerve -- or vocabulary -- to try buying meat to cook, I have enjoyed many nights out in restaurants.

This is one of our favorites.  It's called The Friendly Bar.  It has a huge outdoor dining area -- like most of the restaurants in Taraz.  The building with the pointed roof is a little private dining area with one table.  You can have a party of about 6-8 people in there.  There are several of these surrounding the outdoor dining room below.

When it gets cool, they move a gas heater/lantern over by your table or bring out blankets.  Really.  It's a beautiful setting with good food.  

This is my favorite dinner there:  lamb and vegetable shashlik. Delicious.

The place we frequent the most is Cafe Mokko.  Styled after a French cafe.  My new favorite dish there is beef medallions with a mushroom sauce.  

Check out the presentation!  Especially the tomato rose.

Each of the above dishes runs about $10.  It is easy to eat very well for very little here.

I never imagined that I would find such beautiful and delicious food in Kazakhstan.  

A Day in the Mountains

On Sunday, we had a whole staff outing to the mountains.  I'd estimate that about 150 people or so were in attendance: every one from administrators to bus drivers to security. We left school at around 9:30 in the morning and arrived back about 8:30 at night.  I enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the city and see the landscape of southern Kazakhstan.

It was a day of travel, food, games, dancing, more food, more dancing, and football.  The party continued on the buses for the 1.5 hour trip home.

Here are some of the sites and people:

We traveled in 4 buses.  We decided ours was a rolling fez.

It was especially fun when we had to get out and walk -- or even push -- going up the mountain.

We traveled for miles through the mountains along the border of Kyrgyzstan

All along the border is a fence -- with barbed wire fences on either side of it.

This most likely is a border patrol outpost on the Kyrgyzstan side.

The vast Kazakh steppes

Me and my colleagues -- both local and international at the campground in the mountains

Breakfast when we arrived at the campground.  The ubiquitous round bread, salads, meats and cheeses, soup, sweets.  The bottle contains horse milk.  No, you really don't want to try it.  The locals drink it like crazy.  If you look toward the end of the table, you will see Coke bottles reused to hold horse milk.

As soon as we got there, they set to preparing dinner.  We had this lamb served over seasoned rice.  Very good.

The locals love to dance.  They can't get enough.  They even travel with a sound system! 

This guy started hitting the vodka around 11:00.  I took this picture around 6.  He was dangerous by then.

Possibly the most beautiful woman I have ever met: Nurgul.  Her dancing was a major event.  (Check out vodka man in the back!)

She is a Global Perspectives teacher with a lot of potential.

I'll leave off with that picture because the look on Nurgul's face expresses the vibe of the whole day: pure joy!

Put That In the Irony Box*

So, I finally retire, get a job, go to the opposite side of the globe, and what am I doing?  Leading the school self-evaluation process and developing the school improvement plan!  Put that in the irony box.

The idea of self-evaluation is new here in Kazakhstan.  My guess is only the NIS schools are doing it.  We use a program developed for NIS by Cambridge based on 9 common standards for curriculum, leadership, and student development.  NIS has put forward an aggressive timeline for all 20 of our schools to be internationally accredited by 2020.

It's interesting leading the process.  The document and the supporting evidence are all in Russian -- and of course, I don't read, write or speak Russian.  Yet, the teachers I have been working with have been astute students of the process, and many have shown great leadership and ingenuity in gathering our evidence.

I have been assisted by the international teachers.  Many of them have been through the process at schools in other countries, so they have been a great resource and have taken on the roles of facilitating the working groups we have for each of the 9 standards.

Last Wednesday, we had dozens of teachers throughout the school collaborating; drafting their portion of the evaluation; cross-referencing their evidence documents, photos, and videos; and engaging in productive discussions about the steps we can take to improve the leadership, teaching, and learning in our school.

This -- along with the absolutely beautiful children -- is what I came here for.  I believe in the NIS project and what it means for the education of these students and what it means for the broader education of all the students in Kazakhstan and what it means for the future of Kazakhstan.  If significant change takes 3-5 years of concerted effort in a US school, it will take 10-15 years here.  I just hope that my little part pushes them forward.

*with affection for BGHS English

Teachers' Day

A big day of celebration here in KZ is Teachers' Day.  The students, led by the 12th graders, go all out in showing appreciation for their teachers.  They greeted us in the morning with a red carpet, escorting each of us down the carpet, to the photographer and into the building.  All day we heard "Thank you, Teacher.  Happy Teachers' Day!"

Here is my colleague, Stephen, with his escort:

12th graders volunteered to teach our classes.  They made us cards, brought us flowers, and put on a concert and show for us at the end of the day.  It truly was a special day.

Here are some excerpts and photos from the performance:

Traditional dance:

A little Hip Hop -- apparently a universal language!

All the performers taking a final bow: