14

I have had a few questions regarding my life here, primarily my conversations with local people, and just what daily life it like.

Regarding conversations, there haven’t been too many, due mainly to the language barrier. While the overall English level in Japan was low, every one has still had 6 years of English lessons at school. Here, that isn’t the case. There has only been an English department at my school for 5 years, previously they taught German (there used to be a sizable community of Volga Germans in the area). This means that not only is the English programme here still getting started, but none of the adults have a knowledge of even rudimentary English. Some still remember their German though, so I have spoken more of that in the past 2 weeks than I have since school!

Therefore conversations have mainly revolved around the few talking points I know in Kazakh – Families and hobbies. Something that is of important here is being married, and it’s a guaranteed question, after name and age. Most people are married by the age of 25, and settled into a job and family life, so being 26 with no near prospect of marriage is an alien concept to many people here. I spend a lot of time explaining that its not just me, and that most of my friends are not married either.

With regards to daily life, some of it may come as a shock, and indeed the contrast between luxury and convenience still surprises me. Take for example my house, which has a shower, toilet, sinks and kitchen, along with television, lights etc. All the trappings of a modern house, anywhere in the western world. However, the shower is in the garden, and uses rainwater collected in a bucket on the top (the summer sun is also the only means of warming the water). The toilet is likewise in the garden, and is a squatter. There is also no running water in the house, all of it having to be brought from the pump in the street. The sink/ washing-machine/ kitchen use buckets of water that my sister/mother have to go and get. And I am only able to write this now, as the power has come back on, after a 23hour blackout. There has been such intermittent electricity that doing much of anything at night, or anything using computers during the day has been almost impossible. It is rather frustrating.

Life isn’t hard, at least compared to Africa or other Asian countries, and indeed, I have a house with all the facilities that are required for a comfortable life, it is just that they are presented in ways that are different to the west.

I hope this hasn’t put off anyone who was thinking of visiting me! It was just intended to better show my life here.