Unsettling In

The opening day of term at the NU was an interesting one, not for the countless speeches, but for the feeling of anticipation at the beginning of what should be something momentous, for meeting the students who all seem so enthusiatic and for finally getting under way - after weeks of build-up, we have now crossed the start-line and are up and running. There were television cameras all over the place and seemingly several of the staff made brief appearances on Kazakh TV....!

For the rest of the week, students had introductory lectures and lessons in this and that and various tests. It was not, however, until Friday that I got to properly meet my class of 15 for our first lesson - impressions are that they generally seem nice enough, and mirror the enthusiasm shown by most others I have spoken to in the course of the week. The timetable proper starts on Monday, although some elements will not kick-in until the following week.

I had a bit of a night out with one of the Biology lecturers, an Italian (Emanuele) who speaks Russian, on Tuesday, which was good. We went to a rather expensive (£5 for a beer!) and empty bar first , before going to one he already knew, which was great - busy, and normal prices! - where we managed to talk to a few locals - or rather he did, as most don't speak English. It is such an advantage to speak Russian....

I had heard about the 'Singing Fountains', but found them rather by chance on another evening. It is when one of the countless fountains - at the front of the vast square in front the the President's Palace - is accompanied by music and flashing coloured lights. Worth a look, but much better was the discovery of the large square which leads upto the President's Palace, and which I had somehow managed not to find until now. I went as close as I could to the Palace and one of the security guards offered to take my photo!



Later in the week, I was struck by a stomach bug which seems to have been doing the rounds and was not able to go to work on Thursday. I felt better on Friday, so did my intro lesson and started to sort few things out for next week. I even went out in the evening - and discovered a bar which will definitely be worth another visit. The bug returned on Saturday and I felt pretty rough for most of the day. Feeling rather better, I did venture out in the evening on my own, more with the aim of finding some places, checking where they are and what they are like for future reference, than for a night out. I feel it is quite important, particularly before the weather turns cold, to find a few decent places to go in the evenings. Sometimes when I have been out, we have ended up waiting or wandering around for quite a long time before finding somewhere suitable - which just will not be possible in the depths of winter.

That's all for now...sorry there are not many photos!