New NU

Monday morning was free so I went back across the river to see the real part of the city again - just wandered around and tried to get some bearings, but it is hard when all the street names and shop names are written in Cyrillic script. If you can't read something, you can't remember it. I am gradually learning the letters and trying to read things - when I can read them, I can often understand as many things are quite similar to Polish.

The highlight of Monday was, bizarrely, going to work. From the outside, Nazarbayev University doesn't look much, but when you get inside, the main hall is the size of a very large aircraft hanger, with a lot of trees and plants, and (not yet working) fountains. It is impressively huge. To use a cliche, it will be great when it is finshed - very much still a work in progress, and perhaps even years before it will be completely finished.

 (this photo doesn't do it justice, but you can see the person walking down the left, less than 1/3 of the way down...)



Our part is almost ready, and they seem to be working hard to make sure it is. For those who don't know, the NU aims to become the top university in Central Asia, and a significant player on a world scale. To this end, it is forming partnerships with leading universities from around the world, including UCL and Harvard. Timing still seems a little unsure, and plans seem to change quite often (the President, after whom it is named, has decided not to visit and give a lecture next week), and the nobody seems quite sure when teaching will start. At the moment, it seems unlikely it will be this month, but when it does, we will be the first teachers giving the first courses to the first students to attend this university.


Still not adjusted to the time difference, feeling tired at funny times, and wide awake at others. Weather has been gorgeous - cloudless and sunny every day, in the 20sC.


Today we had to go back to work this morning, but apart from a meeting with my 'team', there was nothing else to do. I had lunch in the newly opened canteen on the campus, which was surprisingly good, and pleasantly cheap. Most of the food seems more Russian than Kazakh - and a lot is, again, quite similar to Polish. I had borscht and golabki (stuffed cabbage leaves). I went into town before returning for my first Russian lesson, from which I didn't learn much for a few reasons - other people had a lesson last week, there were too many people in the class, and some were really annoying as students - I pity the students who will be in their classes...

This is my office (with a couple of colleagues), as we move the furniture around - it has already been moved again, and will probably be moved some more before the week is out...but that is my desk in the middle...

Back to the hotel for dinner - a buffet breakfast and dinner are provided here, and as there will be plenty of time for going out and sampling the local fayre, and it is free here, there seems little reason to go elsewhere for the time being. It is fine without being spectacular, and is quite typical hotel food - not much that stands out as being particularly local or traditional, except that they did have some horse meat one day - cold. It tasted nice, but I will try it properly in a restaurant some time.


Unfortunately, my photographic nightmare is ongoing - the charger I bought doesn't work, so having run out of battery, I cannot even upload any more photos for the time being. My trip to town this afternoon was a fruitless search for a charger, which will be resumed tomorrow morning and hopefully I will be able to add a few photos to this some time tomorrow. While I was looking, I had more cause to speak to people than before, and it seems that younger people know some, but often not a lot, of English, but anybody older than about 30 probably won't know any. A couple of people I spoke to could speak reasonably well.


Anyway, I'll sign off for now....