More Student Questions about Kazakhstan

About Kazakhstan

• If you were to live in Kazakhstan, what would you do and why?

If I lived in Kazakhstan, I would love to teach at Gymnasium #10. I really liked the faculty and students there, and I also liked the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk a lot.

Here's a view of one of Ust-Kamenogorsk's two rivers,
the Ulba and the Irtysh.  This is the Ulba.

• It seems like a highly populated place.

I visited two large cities in Kazakhstan, but the country as a whole has a very small population for its size. Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world in land area, and its population is the 60th largest. Most of the land in the country is dry steppe (treeless grassland), which is not good for agriculture. Consequently large parts of the country were never settled. To make a comparison, Kazakhstan is larger than all of the United States east of the Mississippi River. The combined population of these states today is around 179 million people, whereas the population of Kazakhstan is just under 17 million.

• How are you doing there? Is it fine, cool, or awesome? 

It has been awesome! I have met so many nice people and had wonderful experiences. I feel like I have made friendships in Kazakhstan that will last a lifetime.

• Are their restaurants fancy, and is their money similar to our money? 

Just like here, some of the restaurants are fancy and some are not. I ate in some of these fancy and formal restaurants, but also ate from carry-out kebab shops and food stalls at the market.

Here's a menu at one restaurant where I ate.

Their currency is called the Tenge, and 150 tenge = one dollar. Here is what their money looks like.

Tenge bills: 10,000, 5000, 1000, 500 & 200

Tenge coins: 100 (front and back), 50, 20, 10, 5, 1

 
• Why was education a priority when they became independent? (from Jordan) 

This is a great question, Jordan. I am going to throw it back to all of you students—why do you think education was a priority for the newly-created nation? After I hear from a few of you I’ll share what I think too.

Suggestion for Mr. Dent

• You should have brought me. 

I really wish I could have! You would have loved meeting these students and experienced another culture. How are your Russian or Kazakh language skills????

Hotels

• When you arrived at 2:00 in the morning were you tired or sleepy, or did you sleep on the plane? How is the hotel? Is it comfy? Do they have good service? 

I was very tired! I did sleep on the plane some, fortunately. Both hotels I stayed in (one in Almaty and the other in Ust-Kamenogorsk) were very clean and comfortable, and the staff in each were very nice and helpful. We have houses here in the USA but in your writing you said there are a lot of apartments. I was wondering, do they also have houses?

Here is a neighborhood of houses in Almaty.

Here are some more houses in Almaty.

Time Difference

• Is there a time difference in Kazakhstan?

Kazakhstan has two time zones, and I was in the Eastern Time Zone which is 10 hours ahead of our time in Charlottesville.  In other words, when you are in school in Charlottesville, they are probably home in bed!

How Loud is Kazakhstan?

• Kazakhstan seems like a very nice and calm place. How loud is Kazakhstan? 

The parts of Kazakhstan that I visited were no louder or calmer than Charlottesville.  The marketplace was loud . . . the parks were quiet . . . the countryside sounded like bird songs and the wind blowing . . . the city sounded like cars driving and people talking.

I loved the way they displayed their goods in the market.