I thought it might be fun to answer the questions myself as well, or at least the ones that she put up on her blog. I can really only give my impressions of life in Astana because this is the only part of Kazakhstan I have ever really lived in. I’ve also linked the questions to the post where Kazakhnomad talks about her results.
What is the most common question asked of you by Kazakhs?
Are you married? Is your family here or in the US? Are you a volunteer or do you work for the Embassy? Are you parents still alive? Is it cold in the US like in Astana?
Kazakhstan can be a challenging place to live, even for the locals, what bothers you as a foreigner the most?
The brusqueness of people on the street and lack of common courtesy, lack of customer service, things break all the time and fixing them is difficult, the cold weather, the constant changing as stores close or move to new locations, company and government policies change constantly so you never know what is going on.
What is the most onerous thing about living in Kazakhstan?
Suggested answers:
1. disparity of income in cities of KZ compared to the rural areas
Bothers me, but doesn’t affect me. What bothers me more is the lack of attention to the poor quality of life outside Astana and Almaty.
2. old Soviet era methods of doing things
Very much so. Bureacracy is king and filling out pieces of paper is the national sport.
3. politics in this new “democracy” with residual nepotism
Again, doesn’t affect me directly, but bothers me.
4. traffic gridlock and cars getting too close to pedestrians
As a driver, I can say that the gridlock isn’t too bad–although the fact that it is constant and unpredictable is awful. The psychotic drivers are a real problem. And the psychotic parkers, c.f. lack of common courtesy.
5. air pollution or cold weather or both
Both, yes.
6. police and their wand wave for trumped up fines to drivers
It’s not the trumped up fines. It’s the fact that they take away your license or impound your car for any violation. And they make you wait while the tow truck comes. No matter how cold it is. Then they try to chat with you as if you are friends. “So how do you like Kazakhstan? Have you tried beshbarmak?” Sir, you are towing my car to God knows where because it was dirty, I don’t want to talk to you.
7. laws that are too complex to understand about visas and work permits
More the constant changing of the laws and the fact that no one ever gives you clear and complete instructions. They tell you you need document A, then when you bring that, they tell you that you also need document B, then when you bring A and B, you find out you need a physical from the hospital, so you bring that but you find out that you went to the wrong hospital. Etcetera.
8. feeling cheated or feeling like you are not wanted in Kazakhstan
Feeling cheated, definitely. It seems to me the mentality here to suck the marrow out of workers by piling more and more work on them without increasing their salaries or any kind of benefits.
What is the most precious memory you have had when dining in a Kazakh friend’s home? If it hasn’t happened yet, just wait, it will.
Being served sheep ear and a huge hunk of fat, like 1/4 pound of fat, and being told these were the most precious pieces of meat and a great honor. Realizing I would have to eat them and like it. It was really sweet of them to honor me in that way, and it wasn’t the worst thing I have ever eaten in my life. After a few bites, they figured out I wasn’t really enjoying the fat and I got some meat to mix it up with, which was nice.
Kazakh people are known for their generosity, peacefulness and hospitality. T or F
They are known for it, but generosity and hospitality only extends to family and friends and superiors (bosses, celebrities, the rich or the powerful). To strangers, the Kazakh people (like all former Soviet people) are very brusque or even rude.
Kazakh people are known for their hypersensitivity and holding grudges. T or F
Only when it comes to Borat.
How much does it bother you when you go home from Kazakhstan to your friends and family and they ask you “How is life in Russia?
That rarely happens. It bothers me more when I talk to my bank or a customer service center and they ask me what state Kazakhstan is in, or why I can’t come to a branch store to deal with my problem. You’d think the computer would tell them where Kazakhstan is, if they don’t know it’s a foreign country. That being said, can the world decide if they think Kazakhstan is part of the European zone, the Middle East zone, or Asia?
How do you think we, as foreigners living in Kazakhstan, can help create a better image about this great land of Kazakhstan?
I don’t think we have a responsibility to do so, but writing and telling the truth about life here is probably the best way. That means the good and the bad. The problem with the campaign to have foreigners only write good things about Kazakhstan (i.e. these paid advertisements written by foreign journalists) is that no one believes them. The truth is usually a mixture of good and bad.
Do you think this upcoming O.S.C.E. conference in Astana (Dec. 1-2) will make a difference for Kazakhstan?
I have the benefit of hindsight, but no. The OSCE is not popularly known in the world, the summit didn’t make international news and most places that have declarations named after them are not famous for that. Have you ever heard of anyone going to Geneva to see the place where the Convention was signed?

And of course the way international news travels, Kazakhstan gets international press attention even when it isn’t hosting a summit. So the OSCE summit may have some positive effect but if there is a scandal tomorrow, that will get attention too.
Do you believe that Kazakhstan will reach its goal to be one of the top 50 countries by the year 2030?
Well, it was 51st the year they announced this goal, 2005. The next year, it went down to 56th place. It was 67th last year and now it’s 72nd. So the trend appears to be downwards not upwards. But by 2030, I think it is possible. Reduce the bureaucracy and the corruption, make laws and policies from the point of view of the users (i.e. citizens and businesses), and start really innovating instead of just copying ideas from the West and Russia. The people of Kazakhstan are well educated, intelligent, persistent, and hard working.

So what do my expat readers think? Any answers to these questions?

Frankly, I would hate my parents (or in this case, my grandparents, since they’re the ones who gave the name to this child) if they gave me such an odd name. I wonder if 15 years from now, when he starts university, if anyone will remember the summit (or when it was). How often will he have to explain his name?

On the other hand, in communist times, he might have been named one of these Soviet Names, like: Dazdrasmygda short (relatively speaking for Da zdravstvuet smychka goroda i derevni (Glory to the ties between the city and the countryside) or Leundezh: Lenin umer, no delo ego zhivet (Lenin died but his work continues)!

Perhaps there is a Osprislak out there somewhere OBSE Sammit privoz slavu Kazakhstanu (The OSCE summit brought glory to Kazakhstan).

So here is my take on the OSCE summit. First though let me point out that it is worth looking at Upyernoz‘s post for links to some good articles about the summit and the measures Kazakhstan took. And for the primary sources, check out the the OSCE Summit site, which is full of transcripts and videos and so on.

From my point of view, if the goal of the summit was to put Astana on the map and increase the reputation of Nazarbayev, then it was more or less a success. Nothing bad happened. Diplomats took it seriously. There were no embarrassing questions from the press or serious gaffes by the President or Saudebayev (although whether it was necessary for Saudebayev to congratulate President Nazarbayev on his election in 1991 in his opening address, the first words out of the Chairperson-in-Office’s mouth, is a valid question I believe). The opposition didn’t steal the limelight nor did the West overly criticize Kazakhstan’s human rights record. Bad timing on the Wikileaks leaks, but that’s for another post. The only slight to the reputation of the capital of our country was that Obama didn’t come, but Hilary Clinton is pretty high-level. And Obama is a bit busy at the moment.

On the other hand, outside of Kazakhstan, the consensus seems to be that nothing really good happened either. The Nagano-Karabakh dispute is no closer to being resolved. Challenging words were spoken about the Georgia-Russia war of 2008 (although nothing overly aggressive and certainly nothing new), little was said about Kyrgyzstan, and no Action Plan was signed. The Astana Declaration, much hailed in the domestic news apparently because it has the word Astana in it, is a pretty vague document and contains no surprises. Apparently the world leaders are all for peace, security and prosperity and worried about Afghanistan and the Middle East. And they think the OSCE is doing a good job but could be doing a better job. Now to be fair, most declarations of international organizations look like that.

I have read analyses (none of which I can find now of course) that indicate that part of the problem was that the agenda for the summit was not agreed upon until July. So there wasn’t enough time to really prepare for the meeting. It does seem that Kazakhstan spent a great deal of its time and energy as Chairman of the OSCE using political capital to get the summit approved in Astana, as opposed to ensuring that the summit would be a success or paying attention to other things. Now Kazakhstan has done a lot and drawn international attention to critical issues like Nagano-Karabakh. It also has made some nice gestures like allowing Afghan students to come study in Kazakhstan and Nazarbayev suggested at a press conference that this program might continue in the future. But one wonders how much more might have been accomplished if Kazakhstan had spent time concentrating on Kyrgyzstan or Armenia and Azerbaijan instead of trying to increase the prestige of the capital city. And one wonders if there will be blame spread around for the fact that the second day of the summit was the first day of a cold snap, and a small blizzard here.

One also wonders what other countries really think about the way the city was shut down (Seoul was not shut down for the recent G20 conference and New York is never shut down for UN meetings) in the name of security.

Overall, I would give the summit a solid C+/B-. Everything went fine. But so much more could have been done.

Basically, the beginning of the Karaganda Highway, the road to the Left Bank, past Highville, the entire Left Bank, Turan/Sara-Arka, the road to the airport, Kurgalizhinskoe Highway, and the greater Kenesary area will be closed to unofficial traffic on the 1st of Dec from 7am-10am, from 5pm-8pm, and from 9pm-midnight. On the 2nd of Dec, they’ll be closed from 7:30am-10am, 1pm-3pm and 5pm-9pm. This being Kazakhstan, those times will likely be extended and it’s probably not the best time to be arguing with police.

The bazaars will be closed as will all nightclubs and bars. Public transport will be severely limited. Apparently, cars not registered in Astana (i.e. number plates Z) will not be allowed to drive in the city. And of course, we all have those two days off anyway. Schools I gather will be closed from the 29th of November to the 5th of December.

That’s the best information I have. My advice is to do your shopping on the 30th of November and stay at home for two days.

Mr. Ardaq Adilet made a number of comments criticizing the article and these have been complied into a special report sent out by the Kazakhstan Embassy to the US. I always have trouble finding where they post the Embassy newsletter online but the text is basically the same as in Ardaq’s comments on the Huffington post article.

Interestingly at the same time, I discovered this press release from the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE about Zhovtis stating that:

In his report to Joao Soares, the President of the OSCE Parliamentary, Mr. Mecacci, the Assembly’s rapporteur on human dimension issues, also said that this case raises serious questions about the respect for the individual to receive a fair trial in Kazakhstan. Mr. Zhovtis has been subjected too long to a sentence he does not deserve, he reported, adding that the Kazakh OSCE Chairmanship has a special responsibility, like all previous OSCE chairs, to make sure that the OSCE commitments in the field of human dimension are respected….Mr. Mecacci also expressed his disappointment that the press release issued immediately after last week’s visit was not published on the OSCE website on instructions from the Kazakh Chairmanship.

So that is one point that cannot be denied easily. Kazakhstan did try to block the report from the website, and rather than explain why, they seem to be putting out reports that say, “Well it ended up on the website anyway so why are you bothering us about it?”

While the Astana office of the OSCE and the Kazakhstani authorities made the visit possible, the chair of the OSCE ordered the press office not to publish the report on the visit on the OSCE website. However, the Parlimentary Assembly ignored that order. Eurasianet has the full text or you can see it on the OSCE PA’s website itself. Whether this is the full report or not, I have no way of knowing.

If this is the full report, it doesn’t strike me as particularly damning. Mecacci writes that Zhovtis is fine but had hoped the Supreme Court would hear his appeal. The report speculates that especially with the “Leader of the Nation” law being under consideration in Kazakhstan, that the chairman and all OSCE states should reaffirm their belief in the rule of law. However that statement, while unflattering, is not based on any evidence of wrong doing or something Zhovtis said. It’s a statement of opinion. So I’m not clear on why Kazakshtan wanted to block this short and rather speculative report.

Another blog OSCE Unbound has also picked up on the story and gives more details about Kazakhstan’s order to keep Mecacci’s report off the website. The author, Catherine Fitzpatrick, notes that relations between the Chairmanship and the Parliamentary Assembly are not always perfect. She also asks the big question that needs to be asked: What else is being blocked?

First, Kanat Saudabayev, Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the OSCE, is sending his Special Envoys to Bishkek [RUS], Zhanikbek Karibzhanov, who is deputy speaker of the Mazhilis of Kazakhstan as well as chairman of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz Interparliamentary group. Herbert Zalberg, Director of the OSCE Center for Conflict Prevention, will also be going to Bishkek to assist Karibzhanov.

Also, from Baku, Nazarbayev condemned the rioting and looting [RUS] and indirectly criticized the government for playing politics instead of feeding the people.

It’s not politics one needs to attend to, nor barricades. [The government] should work on first feeding the people and giving them jobs”

Nazarbayev noted that the instability in Kyrgyzstan is leading to capital and foreign investors leaving the country.

As it turns out, what really happened is that the National Bank has issued a commemorative 1000-tenge bill in honor of Kazakhstan’s 2010 chairmanship of the OSCE. So stop panicking, there won’t be any replacements. This is just a special issue. 10 million bills will be printed and I got my first one today. It’s very pretty. Looks nothing like the usual 1000 tenge bill.

Also I couldn’t photograph this, but that space over Bayterek is clear when you look at it, but if you put it up to the light it becomes a silvery hologram of animal shaped rock drawings. Very cool looking.

In case you were wondering, the OSCE element is very subtle. Under Bayterek, it says “OSCE 2010″. I think that’s a lot more classy than if the note had a big picture of the OSCE headquaters on it or huge letters saying, “Kazakhstan OSCE 2010″ or something.

Inform.kz, the official news agency of the government puts it optimistically, preferring to focus on the positive outcome rather than the failure and quotes the Kazakhstan delegation’s report:

We consider that the selection of Kazakhstan to the post of the OSCE head will have multiplicative effect for the complex modernization of our country, and renewal of the organization for the welfare of all its participants.

The vote for 2010 was unanimous. Kazakhstan will be the first non-European nation to lead the organization.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has issued press release condemning the decision on the grounds that the nation does not meet OSCE commitments and cites election practice and crackdowns on opposition media.

Under the compromise, Greece will take the chairmanship in 2009 and Kazakhstan in 2010. Lithuania, another former Soviet Union nation, would assume leadership in 2011. Finland has already been selected to lead the organization next year.

However, nothing is certain. The plan relies in part on Kazakhstan agreeing. It is possible that having put so much energy into securing the rotating chairmanship for 2009, the government will feel that any compromise is unacceptable, a form of losing face. And there is no information as of yet on which nations support the compromise and what other alternatives may be put on the table.

For more on this issue you can check out my post on the debate over giving Kazakhstan the chairmanship and throw your voice into active debate in the comments!