Job Discussion Forums

[young_whippersnapper]

What are some things anyone considering going to the former Soviet "Stans" (or teaching there) should know? What are some of the biggest cultural differences, and what are usually the biggest surprises for foreign teachers and other expats?

[teacher X]

I hear they eat expats for lunch.

As far as I can tell, it very much depends on which 'stan you go to. Some are more developed than others.

[maruss]

Two of them-Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are run by quite nasty dictatorships and the latter is almost impossible to get into anyway unless someone officially invites you!!Kirgizia is a lovely country but still unstable and quite impoverished, while Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are the two where you will mostly find work-both are also virtual totalitarian and notoriously corrupt but they have the oil etc so this allows them to get away with it!

[ecocks]

Maruss has it pretty well nailed.

From my post on the Caucasus countries:

"I enjoyed my time in Azerbaijan. Saved some money and had some great students, but I needed a bit more social freedom. That said, I loved my apartment, the food was great, made some wonderful friends (locals) and saw a different side of the world."

I spent a few weeks in Kazakhstan and talked with a school in Bishkek while doing a long weekend down there. If I had to pick one of those two I would probably go with Kaz to follow the money. I believe there is some potential in Kaz ( only about 3-4 viable cities) for working the high-end, private market.

[Chancellor]

I'm in Kazakhstan now. From what I've experienced so far, and from what some of my students and co-workers (all locals) have been telling me, urban Kazakhstan has been infected with the Western consumerist virus - as evidenced by the plethora of shopping malls. (From the school where I work, I can walk to five separate malls). Clothing, though, is insanely expensive here and even some of my students and co-workers aren't sure where people are getting the money to pay these outrageous prices (e.g. more than $2000 USD for a parka that I can get in the States for around $100 USD; $50 for a polo shirt that I can get for $10 stateside).

If you're ever invited to someone's home, you are expected to arrive at least an hour late. That's something I don't think I'll ever get used to.

They have this stuff here that they call "pizza," and it's really popular, but they just don't have a clue!

If you like peanut butter, find a supplier back home to ship it to you on a regular basis: it's nearly impossible to find here.

Horses aren't just for riding, they're also for eating.

[ComradeBL]

All the comments posted are great....not much more I can add...

@ Chancellor - Did you know that the ave. cost of living in TSE is about twice as much as it is in ALA ($8K/yr vs. $15K), although we don't have all that tough a time finding PB down south...

[maqueen]

The armpit of the earth!...

[kazpat]

They really are so different in terms of development, culture and politics that each country really needs to be looked at separately. I disagree that it is the armpit of the earth, but different strokes and all that I guess, I love it in KZ.

Kazakhstan is also very different from region to region and city to city, should you live in the north or south or in an oil producing city. My man ComradeBL should be able to report to us from the northwest soon.

Having lived in a provincial city and then Astana and back, I can say that the cost of living difference can be extreme, however, in Astana the right and left bank are two different animals. I lived in the neighborhood that Chancellor is referring to and the wealth on display is overwhelming. I did not shop for clothes in Astana.

A few of my Astana colleagues had a steady PB hookup.

The high end private market is viable in more cities than you might think, especially if your the only game in town. It would take a year or so to get known and build a reputation, then you could write your own ticket. If I did not hook up with my current org I was thinking about that route. If your solid then word of mouth travels fast, especially in smaller cities.

It can be difficult here, I don't doubt stories of bad experiences with certain companies, but there is opportunity in KZ both professionally and financially, the latter being the striking difference between Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

[Chancellor]

[Chancellor]

[jonniboy]

Guys forgive my ignorance but what is TSE?

Okay here's my take on Almaty. Me and my colleagues had some travails in KZ last year, which I've detailed on another thread. Just before I left one of them was confronted by a gang of teenagers, bashed up and robbed. This happened at 10:30am on a Sunday morning too. There does seem to be a low level crime issue there in general based on my experience, pickpocketing, burglary etc and none of it helped by inept and corrupt local police.

Despite all that, there are a lot of positives. The economy is doing very well, there's a reasonable market for well paying privates and a fair bit of work around. The students are polite, hard working and keen to improve what is, compared to Europe, a fairly low level of English knowledge. Also Almaty has a pretty spectacular backdrop, surrounded by snow capped mountains.

The winters can drag a bit and are not helped by useless local politicians who do nothing to clear the footpaths and roofs of ice and snow and as the city is on a slope, walking around can be quite treacherous. After living in Riga, where the council is very well organised in that area that was a bit of a shocker for me. However the winters are not that long and it seems to jump from Winter to good weather very quickly. All of October was warm and sunny and around 20 degrees most of the month. There was snow into mid March but within a week, the temperatures were up to 20 degrees again. They also had a surprising number of public holidays.

Imported food can be difficult to find. There are dedicated shops (Interfood and Esentai gourmet) which have foreign products, but they can be very pricey. Same with booze. Guinness is my tipple, but it was only available in expat bars for 1600-1700 tenge a go, that's three times what I pay here. The city is pretty cosmopolitan though, so there is a great range of cheap local food from the various cultures, Slavic, Central Asian and a fair number of Korean supermarkets around the place selling kimchi, Korean salads, kimbop etc for fairly cheap prices. All said, it's not really a bad place to live and work. I'm back in Riga for a year for personal reasons, but wouldn't rule out a return to KZ in the future.

[kazpat]

TSE is the airport code for Astana... Former Soviet name of the city was Tselinograd.