Job Discussion Forums

jonniboy · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 5:26 am Post subject:

That's true about the metro. I didn't bring so many clothes with me as I'm back to Latvia at Christmas and can top up then, so the shirts are being saved for teaching and it's jeans and t-shirts on my time off. The weather has been in the early to mid 20s so I've been making the most of it as well. I've also been stopped at quieter times of the day, mid morning when everyone else is at work and the cops (there are always 2 at each metro stop) seem to be standing around bored with nothing better to do.

The problem is that it's been a disastrous start and I'm now nervous about using the metro, nervous about going to local bars and edgy when I see any kind of police as I really have zero confidence in them after my early experience. I do want to give the place a chance, but I'm starting to think that if I still feel this way late next month then the Christmas flight could be one way. I've never bailed out on a contract before but this is really not how I want to spend the next 9 months.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:03 am Post subject:

I haven't been there, so I can't really say whether or not it is a good thing to stay or leave. Yet, many of the problems you describe are similar in Moscow, and I too went through a stage of wondering why I should tolerate all these stresses. I considered bailing out also. But I didn't, and now I'm glad I didn't.

You seem to have had a baptism of fire - it is true. But starting off is the hardest, as I'm sure you already know. I'd like to advise hanging in there - show true grit! - and all the rest. But any words of mine would be undermined by not having been to the places you have been. Still, don't you think that things can only get better? : )

jonniboy · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:20 am Post subject:

I hope they will get better! I'm determined to give it a go and wait until at least the end of next month to see what happens. I think that'll be a reasonable enough time to properly judge the place.

It doesn't help that my flatmate is also considerably down as she's had a worse week than me. She was in bed all day Monday from food poisoning from a dodgy burger that she bought at the food court of a shopping mall, was with me in the bar the other night when the incident occurred and today has just sent me a text to tell me that her wallet has been stolen on the bus with her passport inside. Household morale is about as low as it can go and that's really not helping my spirits. I know these are all incidents that can happen in other countries but so many of them on top of each other are just leading to the impression of Almaty as a dodgy place.

ecocks · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland

Re: Hardluck Household

Ouch!

Keep your chin up (unless you see a right cross or an uppercut coming)!

macedonianmike · Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 64

Funny story! The response afterward was amazing. Can't imagine being treated so well in Russia. Militsia would take all your money, ignore complaints and not even blink an eye.

ComradeBL · Joined: 28 Aug 2010 Posts: 72 Location: 'stan!

Again, as I've said before, short of getting hussled, I've had absolutely no problems in ALA.

On a ligher note, a bunch of us are rolling into town later at the end of the week.

ecocks · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland

I'll be back for at least a long weekend in early or mid January.

RoscoeTX · Joined: 06 Jul 2012 Posts: 56 Location: Moscow, Russia

Hey Jonniboy, so have things picked up since your last post?? Was just perusing this thread and interested how things are going for you...and your roommate now. Never been out that way myself, but been living here in Moscow for over four years and I've also had a few run-ins with the upstanding and respectful politsia (heavy on the sarcasm). It's kinda funny but been stopped 3 times in the metro during my time here in Moscow, and all times I didn't have my passport on me. No joke, I just told these douches in my broken russian and mostly English, "look I forgot it, sorry"...and then proceeded to show them my drivers license)) Luckily somehow it worked...

Anyways, hope things have improved for ya'll!

RoscoeTX · Joined: 06 Jul 2012 Posts: 56 Location: Moscow, Russia

Whoa! A bit worried since your last post Jonniboy...hope you haven't been locked up and are stuck in a Kazak prison!!??

jonniboy · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:09 pm Post subject:

Still here! Still alive! Was without internet. Almaty is steadily growing on me. Very glad I didn't bail out and that I had the experience to at least give the place a chance. It's a visually impressive place and the students are fantastic. Hard working, well motivated, appreciative adults and the odd cameo with polite, respectful teens. A far cry from the lethargic adults and spoilt, whiny teens I had in Spain. The people in general are far friendlier than I had in Latvia. More than once I've been shocked when a waiting person has actually smiled when serving me (I thought they got sent to Gulags for that in ex-Soviet countries?)

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. The early weeks were like an Americansky gorky (a Russian mountain for those of you that speak Latin languages Laughing

) hopefully it will stabilise a bit from here on.

and since boozers, crackheads and gamblers have them, anyone know a branch of shashliks anonymous I can join when I leave?

jonniboy · Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 7:20 pm Post subject:

So today was exactly six months since I arrived here and had the metro "incident." To be fair I haven't had any problems with the cops since then, in fact I was only stopped once after the first incident and as I mentioned above, that was a polite and routine search of my bag. Maybe I've learnt to look less like an awestruck tourist?

However all in all, in my own humble opinion, I still find Almaty to be a fairly dodgy place and most likely will not be back for a second year. At Christmas my flatmate left claiming that she had been raped near our flat. People commented on a bunch of discrepancies in her story (refused to go to a doctor, refused to have a shower) and timing wise it came the same week she's had a lousy observation, had been dumped by her b/f and her gran had died, so some of the girls even found that suspect. Be that as it may, it was pretty offputting.

Last week, I returned to find my front door open and our stuff strewn all over the place. We'd been burgled. They took my video camera and about 60 euro in cash (luckily I'd had my laptop out with me) as well as my flatmate's laptop and 250 euro. Two other teachers I know had the flat below them burgled days afterwards and suspected that the thieves had been targetting them but had just got the floor wrong.

I know .... yadda yadda yadda...all that can happen in any city, right? But the fact is, it's all happened with a half year window here. All in all, I simply don't feel safe here and while the offers to return are reasonable enough, I'm most likely to bail in June when my contract ends.

It's a shame since the people are generally quite friendly, the students great and the market for English pretty reasonable.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 7:31 pm Post subject:

Come back to Moscow!

jonniboy · Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:28 am Post subject:

Ha! Don't know if that would be hugely safer. It all depends on the missus, who is now back in Latvia. She has said before that she would do Saint Petersburg, only 10/12 hours by bus from home for her, but more likely it's back to the old haunts, either Riga or Valencia.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:04 am Post subject:

Dear oh dear... Of course Moscow is much more civilized than the near abroad out east. Our Politizia always salute before shaking you down!

jonniboy · Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:44 am Post subject: