You Haven't Lived

Until you've seen a Russian-dubbed version of the Lindsay Lohan classic "Herbie: Fully Loaded." (Note to self: I don't want to live!) To be fair, I didn't actually watch all of it, and I was actually just starting to get into it when the power went out. I don't think I would admit this if I weren't several thousand miles and two oceans away from the nearest American friend or family member. But hopefully everyone I know will forget this comment by the time I move back.

Well, it's Christmas Eve in Kzylorda, and not a creature is stirring, not even the internet connection at Mega-Bait as I wait patiently for four different pages to load. For most of the month I hadn't really thought too much about Christmas, because unlike in America you don't get the bombardment of Christmas songs, Christmas ads, and Christmas decorations to get you constantly thinking about the holidays. There is some of it, but not nearly as much. But today as I was trying to describe to my language tutor in Kazakh some of our Christmas traditions, and especially as I was describing all the food I suddenly realized I'd be missing out on - the oyster stew, the roast beef, the potato-cheese-cornflake dish that I don't know how else to describe - I started to reminisce and it finally hit me all the great traditions I'd be missing (this also may have had to do with the fact that it was 2:00 and I hadn't eaten since the night before). I do think it will be good in the long run to miss a Christmas or two so that I appreciate it more and don't take it for granted, but I do miss being home this time of the year.

A few people have asked me this and yes, they do celebrate Christmas here. Sort of. They celebrate New Year's and have adopted/adjusted a lot of the Christmas traditions familiar to Americans for use on this holiday. For example, Ayaz-Ata (Frost Grandfather, or Santa Claus) brings gifts to everyone on New Year's Eve with his pretty young granddaughter, although I still haven't received a straight answer on how he gets around, whether it's by sled, by foot, or flying through the air like Superman. They also have "New Year's trees," and you do see some decorations around the city. There is a big fake New Year's Tree in the square, the center of the city, and exactly everyone here knows both Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas by heart, and exactly zero other Christmas songs.

It was also a nice Christmas Eve surprise to wake up this morning and see a small layer of snow on the ground, larger than the usual dusting of tiny ice particles that blow all over in the morning and melt by 11:00. I realized as soon as I walked outside though that it was less an early Christmas gift than a cold slap in the face, which is exactly what the wind felt like as it slammed against my face. (Some teachers in my department still said it "isn't that cold.") So my wait for the real winter continues on. Eventually I'm going to have to call them all out on their lie, especially if the calendar switches to February and it still "isn't cold yet."

Not a lot to update in the teaching department, seeing as how I'm not exactly teahing again until mid-January. One student is prepared to sing Rocking Around the Christmas Tree and Jingle Bell Rock for a New Year's celebration on Thursday. Hopefully it will happen and I'll be able to get a video of it; she's got an excellent voice. I keep trying to get other students to sing with her, since these are two more upbeat songs that work better with a group than solo, but everyone else says they don't have good singing voices. Though it's frustrating to repeatedly hear this answer, I can't say I would have been any different, especially thinking back to elementary school when I was one of four students in a group of 120 that didn't participate in the end-of-year 5th grade chorus. How the tables have turned...

Well Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays again to everyone. I'll be heading into school tomorrow, but I can't really complain as I don't really have anything to do right now. All the other teachers are giving exams, and I'm playing snake on my cell phone. So it's less that I'm "working" on Christmas than just showing up. Hope it's a good holiday back home, I miss everyone.