November 7 Gratitude

Eight years in the foreign service and tonight I am going to my second - yep, only second! - Marine Corps Ball.  Today I am grateful for my husband, who is putting on a tuxedo tonight for me even though he hates dressing up.

November Gratitude 6th

Today I am simply grateful that it is Friday.

November Gratitude 5th

Today I am grateful that my children still hug me, and want to hold my hand. I know the days are coming to an end but as long as I can stretch it I will.

November Gratitude, 3rd and 4th

Once again I missed a day. Oops.

I am grateful for the wonderful education my children are getting at their international school at post. Not only is the teaching very individualized and high quality, but they are also learning about being in a minority (the school is 75% local children), diversity (not much socio-economic diversity but all other kinds), and just experiencing a different system (it's a British school, so my children have favourite colours, but also for example my daughter learned about "animals of the steppe" in science class)

I am also grateful for my community of colleagues both within the embassy and within other diplomatic missions. It is much easier to do my work when I look forward to getting there.

November Gratitude, 1st and 2nd

As usual I am hitting the annual gratitude a bit late. However, I have a fair excuse. More about that another day.

For today, I am grateful for today's snowfall, because I do love the snow.
I am also grateful nobody I know fell very badly today, because many people at work were running around the city and there were some falls, but so far as I know no major injuries. Especially broken bones. Not on my watch.

Back on the meds :-(

Haven't written in a while about Alex and dairy, because I thought we had everything figured out. I mean, the coughing is over (knock on wood) and what seemed like occasional heartburn was manageable with an occasional Tums. Last week she revealed that she has heartburn nearly every night (when she complains about it, it's almost always at bedtime) but she only complained to us when it was worse than just a little uncomfortable. After a conversation with our health practitioner, we started her on the bottle of Ranitidine we had gotten this summer in the USA "just in case." Less than a week in, she already says she feels much better.

We had thought butter was OK because it didn't trigger the coughing, but apparently it isn't OK. Our plan is for now, we keep butter and she takes meds. When we get back to the USA next year, where vegan margarine exists (because yes, margarine has dairy!!), we'll see about weaning her off. I am ever more grateful our next post is in Western Europe, where you can get soy yogurt and 3 kinds of non-dairy milk at the corner 7-11-type store.

American History in a Box

American kids growing up abroad miss out on US history. Stories abound of children experiencing their very first year in a U.S. public school in their third, sixth or tenth grade, devastated because they don't know the Pledge of Allegiance or which states were the original 13 colonies. U.S. History in a Box fills that gap.

We ordered the K-1 set for Zoltan and the 2nd/3rd grader set for Alex. It has been a blast! It comes with a workbook of suggested activities and questions/quizzes, books to read, and puzzles and games.  We've been reading several of the books (on citizenship, the civil rights movement, the presidents, and native Americans) and playing with the puzzles and games. The kids even made up an awesome game using the U.S. map floor puzzle (each state is a separate piece, except for some of the smaller, New England states. We're OK with that):  the 6 year old steals 3-5 states, and the 8 year old has to guess which ones they were.  Given that she couldn't pronounce half the states' names when we first put the puzzle together, this is a great way to reinforce our nation's geography.

Six

Just like that, the little blob Alex used to call, simply, "baby" is six!  His personality is deepening into everything we gleaned from his early years - stubborn, determined, loving, silly, and with "dance moves" to die for.

Today was the first day back to school after a week's holiday, so it was nice to sleep 15 minutes later than a usual school day - we drove the kids into school today to bring in the cupcakes.  He got the dinner of his choice - Burger King, complete with a crown and a toy (hilariously, the toy is a protractor, albeit Simpson's themed). Back home for the gift, cards (Bubby's made it last week) and the ubiquitous Bubby phone call because Happy Birthday must be sung.  He was happy to receive his batch of coupons, and he had asked me a month or so ago to remind him that he asked me to help him choose when to use them, so that he doesn't use them all in a month and then get upset when Alex uses hers. He had gotten pretty grumpy when Alex, who is quite a saver, used a couple of her coupons in September.

What did the last year hold for him?  He made good friends in Russian and English. He "graduated" from sadik, which is what would correspond to "preschool" except it is so much more.  He got his orange belt in karate and is so proud when he is one of the kids selected by their sensei to model the moves in the front of the room, or to interpret for Alex and our other friends who don't speak Russian.  He started big school, dispensed with naps for the most part, and made a best friend. He started reading and writing.  He has been exploring his rich imagination, causing his teacher and I to both marvel - during the parent teacher conference - at the plausible sounding whoppers he's told each of us. Must remember to document the story of a field trip that (allegedly) culminated in him swimming in an electric shark.

Happy birthday baby! I can't wait to hear what you think up next.

Eight

My baby girl is a big eight years old!  What did this year hold for her?

We made chocolate cupcakes with white frosting for her to bring to school and had more cupcakes at night as her birthday cake. Her favorite meal - chicken corn chowder - is back on the menu thanks to cashew milk.  She got to sleep late and I drove the kids to school, partly for a treat and partly in order to hand over the cupcakes.

At night she opened a present from her Grammy and Pappy and fielded a phone call from Bubby, who was not happy to hear the card she mailed three weeks ago still hadn't arrived. Alex was pretty happy with this year's batch of coupons - new additions being "one day she doesn't have to do any dishes" and "one movie and popcorn of her choice" - she and Zoltan have been having some serious difficulty lately cooperating on the movie choices, which we have started putting on during Sunday afternoons when they would normally have been napping. She got to use one of last year's coupons after dinner - 30 minutes on the tablet - and still has one more left!  We'll have to encourage her to be a little less parsimonious this year and use up what she has.

In terms of the last 365 days, some highlights include her very first sleepover (with her best friend, the weekend before said friend left post); returning to school and finding at least one best friend still around;  starting karate and dombra lessons (we bought her a dombra this weekend so she can practice at home); being allowed to come home from the bus on her own - using her key - and not met at the stop by the nanny.

Her maturity in all things other than matters relating to her little bother continues to grow and I sometimes marvel at the conversations we're able to have, or the ideas, thoughts, or conclusions she manages to think up. She still devours books and still wants to be a teacher.  One of the very sweet kids-working-together experiences is that she helps Zoltan with his spelling words each week, concluding the week with a quiz in advance of his test at school.

Happy birthday baby!!

Karate

Back when Zoltan was in sadik last year, Sensei Talgat came every week to teach karate to the kids. A friend of ours also brought her son to the studio where he taught for additional lessons. Before we went home for the summer we brought Zoltan there, once for a lesson and once to test for his orange belt.

He is a completely different child on the mat. He is focused, hardworking, serious.  Today the kids went together for the first time, Alex in her white belt and with two friends who are also giving it a go; Zoltan was especially proud to be the interpreter and, as a more senior student, to help out.

The lesson is in late afternoon, so by the time they were done with the rigorous workout (I wanted to jump into class!) they were exhausted and starving. They ate dinner with practically no complaint - a rarity, especially for a new dish.  We're all loving karate!

A very big week for Zoltan

Two wonderful things happened this week:  One, Zoltan was his class' Star of the Week. Then Sunday night his very first tooth, that had been wiggling for weeks, finally came out!  It turns out he does have the same tooth fairy as Alex (we weren't sure) so he got a new toothbrush and a few hundred tenge - apparently this tooth fairy has kept up with currency fluctuations and knew the tenge is worth less now than when Alex lost her last tooth.

Thank you internet

Because of the internet, and the ridiculously low (comparative) cost of nuts in central Asia, I have started making cashew milk rather than worry about shipping in enough boxes of rice milk, and expiration dates, and nobody even likes it all that much anyway.

Because of cashew nut milk becoming a regular staple, and doing some experimenting with the recipe (more sweet vs. more savory), I have come up with a version of the milk that I decided would be a good cow's milk substitute for Alex's favorite, birthday-request dinner - that she hasn't tasted in two years.

It turned out delicious.  I have a very happy little girl who will scarf this down tomorrow night while the rest of us eat enchiladas smothered in cheese.

He's turning British

Within 24 hours of beginning school at his British school, this was the conversation I had with my son:

Me: Zoltan, did you leave your sweatshirt at school?
Zoltan: My what?
Me: Your sweatshirt.
Zoltan: Yes mommy, I left my jumper in my locker.

Of all the Britishisms I love, and there are many, jumper is the solitary one I can't stand. It gives me scary flashbacks of that unfortunate skirt/overalls combo wardrobe item too many poor little girls had to wear in the 1970s.

Archery

The kids are junior archers! A couple of weeks ago we went into the steppe for a picnic and for them to practice shooting the bow.  When they focused on what they were doing, they did a pretty good job hitting the target.  Especially Alex. She got competitive when Zoltan hit the target first.

Not pictured here are the lovely rows of trees, clearly planted rather than rising on their own, that we wandered through when they took breaks. And the farmer and his cows that appeared at the end of the lane around the time we finished for the day.

We went back this weekend  for more practice. My little princess wore her pretty dress, and hooked the quiver into the elastic waist of the leggings we made her wear to protect her legs.  Her aim is getting better and better.  Zoltan ... well when he actually aims he hits the target. We should have a few more chances to go out before the winter hits.

Camping

We were supposed to go camping last weekend. The weather was turning up perfect, and we figured it was the last (and first) chance this year to go. We had everything packed up. We had the shashlik we'd make for dinner all marinading in the fridge. And then the menfolk (male-folk?) each came up with a medical reason that the trip would not happen.  So since we couldn't bring Mohammed to the mountain, we brought the mountain to Mohammed. Translation: We set up the tent in Zoltan's room. And then the kids and I slept there overnight. Before bed we turned all the lights off and let them put on the headlamps we'd gotten for camping. You would have thought we'd gotten them a puppy and gave them chocolate cake for breakfast and dinner the way they squealed and cheered.  We do still hold out hope of getting that tent outside...

Day of Knowledge

September 1, the Day of Knowledge, is a traditional first day of school in at least two countries where I have lived (Russia and Kazakhstan).  Today the kids met their teachers, listened to a lot of speeches, and then went home by lunchtime. Tomorrow will be the first real day of school.

We're happy that Alex's class is pretty much still together, and one of the very few new kids is another American!

Zoltan snagged a class with several friends, so although he was nervous and grumpy, we think he will settle into class faster than if he'd been with a full slate of strangers. Of course, one thing that makes it easier is that we don't bring him in - he rides the bus - so he can't cling too much.

Alex, in Key Stage 2, now has to wear the blazer and house tie. Appropriately, we just watched Harry Potter 2 over the weekend so she liked pointing out the similarities in attire. Edmonstone is most like Ravenclaw because it has blue. (And Ravenclaw is the house for the cleverest pupils ... and, you know ...) Sadly, Haileybury has no cloaks. I'd dig cloaks. I wouldn't even complain about the ridiculous prices if it were for cloaks.

A perfect date

Early in the week we booked the babysitter. 7:00 pm on Friday evening we're still bantering back and forth "where do you want to go"? We decide to try Trattoria, an Italian restaurant in Highvill where I have had several business lunches but have never had a real meal.

The night was stunning (and of course the camera was at home), we weren't starving, so we decided to go for a walk first. Somehow a year in we had never ventured into the Pyramid Park, but this was certainly not the last trip!  We spent about 45 minutes strolling the grounds, watching the fountains, and checking out different angles for possible future family photos with Astana backgrounds.

At the restaurant the waitress spoke excellent English. She asked if we wanted our pasta al dente or soft.  When she forgot our water she remembered on her own and was appropriately apologetic.  When I did not finish the dinner she asked if anything was wrong with the dish: "Really, you can tell me. If it wasn't good we want to know." (it was tasty, just too much food). I have rarely experienced this level of customer service outside USA or Japan. We tipped heavily.

The food was also good. The pesto was fresh, they used generous quantities of fresh mozzarella on the brushetta. Terry's carbonara sauce tasted more like a light alfredo so it was a surprise but actually the dish was a bit better than mine. His strudel didn't look much like a strudel but tasted just right. All in all we'd go back on the rare night we're in the mood for Italian food.

After driving home we decided to go for a walk around the Baiterek to digest some of that dinner and were amazed how many kids were still out so late in the evening. 

Dinnertime, foreign service style

Last night for dinner we had steaks, snow peas, and baked potato. Halfway through the meal Terry looked at me and said "You know, these peas cost more than the steaks."

Polite society

Kazakhstanis are known for kindness, generosity and tolerance.  Here's something I am really getting used to and will miss when we move on.  When you let someone into traffic, or quite frankly even when they cut you off, they put on their hazard lights for a few blinks to say "thank you."  It turns out that being acknowledged for doing something for someone, even if they forced you to do it, reduces stress and road rage by 50% (using my very non-scientific method of asking Terry and mentally rating how I feel.)

Our summer vacation

What did we do on summer vacation?

We spent as much time at the cabin as humanly possible, although as always it wasn't enough. Cabin highlights included:

• counting the trees (planted last year) that are still alive. Not as many as we wanted, but at least the counting required us to go through a nice nice hike in the woods.  
• grilling dinner and roasting marshmallows over the fire
• fighting over who got to spend time in the hammock. Next year we put up a second one. 
• beach time! for some reason my children get along like Brady Bunch children when they are in or near water, and that's the only time.
• an "after dark" night hike up to the field to look at the stars. Mommy misjudged the time, we went to early, and the kids were bored before the constellations were visible. Next year we'll try again.
• Walking straight through the lower part of the property that we are studiously adversely possessing. We've been mowing it and are considering putting in a pond. That would certainly be notorious!

We went to Massachusetts to see my family. Highlights included:

• going into Boston to see my dad and riding both the Duck boat and the swan boats. Alex even got to drive!
• shopping with Bubby. No, seriously, the kids like clothes shopping.
• Terry grilling dinner in a thunderstorm. He pulled the grill right up to the sliding glass doors so he could get the least of his body outside and still cook food over fire.
• the epic game of Uno where my mom finally pulled out of last place when she decided to apply herself.
• spending time with both of the kids' uncles at one time, a feat normally accomplished once every 5 years or so.
• (for Terry and me) stumbling upon some kind of open air music performance at the park by the water in Newburyport on our date night.

We managed to hit one cousin's kid's graduation party. We managed a few date nights while grandparents got to spend quality time with the kids. We got to see some friends although not nearly enough.  We got to see some siblings although not nearly enough. Terry and I went ice skating one afternoon while the kids napped.  We saw movies in the movie theater (in English); spent loads of time at the grocery store; shopped for a year's worth of [fill in the blank]; left the kids in grandparent care in order to run errands; and managed to glut ourselves on various sorely missed food items.

Bless America! See you again next year!

Bless America!

One of the many blessings of annual trips home is we appreciate our country in ways that people who don't leave it for extended periods of time can't.  I don't think I will ever tire of an American grocery store even after we retire and spend decades in one place. So much stuff. So many choices. Thank you America, for having sugar snap peas, fresh green beans, endless sweet corn, steak, bacon (both piggy and turkey varieties), hot dogs, Turkey Hill All Natural ice cream, any kind of otherwise dairy food in a dairy free option (Alex has eaten her own weight in Tofutti Cuties). And when I go through the produce section, it is possible that I may not find even one rotting piece of fruit, even if I am looking for it. I think I gained 5lb in our first week. We've eaten Chinese, Thai, BBQ, Nepalese, real PA pizza, cheesesteaks (No, NOT with "whiz". The better, Lehigh Valley style with Provolone and tomato sauce).

It's mostly the food, but it is not just the food. I speak the language fluently. "Graduate school in this language" level of fluency, truth be told. It means I can communicate anything I want with anyone I want. Customer service? Ooooh. Nobody does customer service like good ol' USA - except the Japanese. But here, as aforementioned and how we can distinguish from Japan, I speak the language. And, for the most part, things just work properly here. This bears repeating. Things just work properly here. Until you live somewhere that things just don't work I don't know if you can have the same level of appreciation. Maybe you can. I didn't.

It's easy to watch the news and figure our country is going to hell in a handbasket. But the on-the-ground truth is that there just isn't anywhere quite like home.

Summer vacation, Foreign Service style

It's summer in the foreign service, which means we are on a several week whirlwind trip to see as much family and as many friends as possible, plus handle a year's worth of medical needs, grocery, clothing, and other purchases, and maybe get some "relaxing" done at the cabin.

We had dentist appointments last week. While checking out one of the kids, the hygienist asked when we would go anywhere for summer vacation this year.  We both just looked at her.  "This is our summer vacation," I explained.

Istanbul was Constantinople ....

There was a conference that was supposed to be held in Nepal, but then the earthquake happened, and it got moved to Istanbul.  And then I was invited to go to the conference.  10 days before it happened. And two days before the family left to starts summer vacation 2 weeks before me.

The conference itself was awesome, I met a lot of wonderful people doing incredible work to make the world safer and better. I ate my weight in Turkish Delight, pide, kabobs, and one one night, Chinese food, because I could.

I flew in on Monday night and flew back out Thursday evening - both direct flights, thank you Air Astana!  The conference was Tuesday through Thursday. Needless to say, I saw more of the hotel conference room than anything else.  It is also worth mentioning that Istanbul is one of about 5 places left that I am dying to go but had not yet gotten to in my life. Of course, this was just an appetizer, but then it means I will still have a lot to discover together when I eventually go with my family!

Happy 4th of July!

Well, picnics and fireworks and red, white and blue weren't in tonight's plan here in Astana but I did manage to get a little of 'Murica ... went to see Terminator: Genesis and it was IN ENGLISH!

Astana Airport

It has been quite a week for us, Astana Airport. It all started when my flight from Istanbul touched down at 6am on Friday morning. You had no idea that you'd be seeing me again in fewer than 24 hours, as I brought my family over so they could go home (a.k.a. 'Murca. Which is something I never, ever call it.) And then again 12 hours later to pick up the delegation.

Sunday is a day of rest, as we all know. In our case Monday was as well. But Tuesday our 5am date happened as scheduled. And Wednesday. Ah, Wednesday, when I went to Almaty for the day.

One pick up, one drop off, one inbound, one outbound. We've watched the sunrise together a lot this week, dear Astana airport. I'm glad to know I have a whole week before I see you again!

Spring Days

One of the days we were in England we went into Hexham and it turns out a spring fete was going on.  There was live music in a park, and plenty of food trucks, sweets, and activities for the kids.

Alex loved her horseback ride. Zoltan refused to go.  They both loved their face paint though!

Peacocks!

The peacocks like biscuits ("cookie" to you Yanks ... well, um ... us Yanks)  It must be mating season because the two males with long feathers kept yelling at each other and shaking those tailfeathers

Alnwick Castle

When we went to England, we were desperate to find a book long enough to keep Alex's attention for more than an hour because we didn't have enough space or weight to carry as many of her usual books as it would take to make the trip.  I thought Harry Potter would be the perfect complement to an English vacation.

She stubbornly refused to read it. In retrospect we should have had her watch the movie first.

The scene in the first movie where they have their first flying lesson?  Alnwick Castle, about 1.5 hours' trip from the hotel.  Turns out a Downton Abbey Christmas Special got filmed there too.

The place is impressive, with several smaller museums in various towers, the main State Rooms beautifully decorated, a library I could kill for, and for the kids a whole Knight's Quest area with costumes for dressup, activities to pursue (they made soap) and medieval games to learn to play. In addition, for the older and/or braver ones, a Dragon Quest that was like a tamed-down version of a haunted house but with the addition of riddles and games to solve to get the answer to the Quest.  And, finally, the broomstick flying lesson.  Because there must be a broomstick flying lesson. It went way longer than we expected so halfway through Zoltan got bored and tired and went to sit down.