Undoubtedly, the highlight of my semester was exploring new places. My friends and I went to Almaty for the weekend to go skiing. Sadly, it’s not a hobby I’ll be pursuing in the future, but we really enjoyed exploring the city. We even took a 16-hour overnight train to get there; it was such a fun and unique experience! I loved Almaty so much that I went back with my mum and family friends when they came to visit. We did the highly recommended 17 hour day trip to the Kolsai and Kaindy lakes and Charyn Canyon. It was worth the 4am wake up- being amongst nature like that was truly incredible. If there’s only one thing I could recommend people to do in Kazakhstan, it would be this day trip.
Caris spent the first semester of her year abroad in Spain, but her second semester took her somewhere completely different – Kazakhstan! In her second blog, she tells us all about taking the leap into the unknown in Astana.
If you’d told me at the start of my degree that I would spend a semester abroad in Kazakhstan, I would never have believed you. 3 months in a country I knew nothing about? And that I actually had the best time and wished I could do it all over again?
When I returned home from my first semester in Spain, I only had 6 weeks to prepare for Kazakhstan. That might seem like plenty of time, but throw in moving house into the mix and you can imagine how stressed I was feeling! Then came Christmas; I blinked and suddenly it was January. Then I had to book my flights, find accommodation, sort out my visa, and buy everything I needed for a country where -20 was the normal temperature in winter. Luckily, I didn’t have to make the journey there on my own; I travelled with my flatmate (who I’d only met once before!) But having someone else there definitely helped, otherwise I probably would have let my nerves get the better of me and made a break for it.
Thankfully, I made it to Astana: Kazakhstan’s capital city. It took me a while to settle in, with the time difference being a huge shock. On the bright side, the weather actually wasn’t so terrible! It was still freezing, but surprisingly manageable as long as I was wearing my snow boots (I would’ve ended up with a broken ankle very quickly otherwise). Soon it was time for orientation, where I met the other students on the course and became familiar with the university. Over the next few weeks, I established a routine of sorts: classes, lunch, gym (a free perk of the university!), homework and housework. Although, it did take my flatmate and I about two weeks to figure out where they kept the butter in our local supermarket (of course it would be in the freezer!)
My semester in Kazakhstan surpassed my expectations in every way possible. One aspect of university life that I’d previously struggled with was socialising and making friends. But in Kazakhstan, I found friendships in abundance. I went out nearly every weekend with people in my class and even found my own group of girls who I grew close with. It was also really refreshing to live with someone my own age compared to living at home; it was a taste of the traditional ‘uni experience’ that everyone talks about.
I enjoyed having the opportunity to speak Russian too (after all, that’s why I was there). But it was challenging at times, like when my family friends came to visit, and I had to explain to a very confused server in a restaurant what ‘gluten free’ means. On top of that, when people realised we were from England, they immediately wanted to practise their English with us. This was frustrating at times, but it touches on another thing that surprised me about Kazakhstan – the locals are so friendly and welcoming. Anytime we met Kazakh people, we were greeted with a chorus of ‘Welcome to Kazakhstan, we hope you enjoy our country!’. It’s no surprise that we did!
As part of embracing a new culture, I loved trying typical Central Asian dishes. I practically lived off pelmeni and Medovik (i.e. dumplings and honey cake). But my favourite by far was plov. It’s actually the national dish of Uzbekistan, but it was readily available throughout Kazakhstan and I soon understood why. Unfortunately, there were some delicacies I just could not get behind. We went to a dinner party hosted by students of the university, where we tried Kazakhstan’s much loved national dish: beshbarmak (traditionally made with horse meat.) I gave it a go, but I wouldn’t eat it again. They also love fermenting things; I tried kumis (fermented horse milk), and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the taste. Introducing my taste buds to new flavours was certainly an experience!
Undoubtedly, the highlight of my semester was exploring new places. My friends and I went to Almaty for the weekend to go skiing. Sadly, it’s not a hobby I’ll be pursuing in the future, but we really enjoyed exploring the city. We even took a 16-hour overnight train to get there; it was such a fun and unique experience! I loved Almaty so much that I went back with my mum and family friends when they came to visit. We did the highly recommended 17 hour day trip to the Kolsai and Kaindy lakes and Charyn Canyon. It was worth the 4am wake up- being amongst nature like that was truly incredible. If there’s only one thing I could recommend people to do in Kazakhstan, it would be this day trip.
My other travel highlight was our trip to Uzbekistan. It wasn’t somewhere I’d ever considered going to, but I would definitely go back. The architecture is just remarkable, the food was amazing, and the whole country is so affordable compared to Western countries!
Not everything about my trip went smoothly, though. The main challenge was being so far from my support network at home. Plus, my university timetable wasn’t very consistent, which messed with my routine at times. But I soon learnt that there was only so much I could control, and I gradually learnt to be flexible. Eventually, I was so busy having a good time that I often forgot to update my family! However, I do wish I’d made more of an effort to speak Russian outside of university. I didn’t always make the most of the opportunities I had to do this, so it’s something I would have done differently.
Looking back, I can’t quite believe that I actually completed my year abroad. I am so grateful for the experiences I had, and so proud of myself. My confidence has definitely grown; I even went on my first solo trip this summer! I’m also glad I chose such a ‘random’ destination to go to – sometimes the most random places turn out to be the most exciting! I can’t wait to explore more of the world – and who knows, maybe I’ll end up living abroad somewhere in the future?
