I have a job opportunity in eastern Kazakhstan. Anyone been there? Did you eat horse meat?
Yes and no.
Would it be a good place to work?
What field are you in? I was in for a week. A long term job, I cannot really say.
[Moderating]
Moving from CS to IMHO
Dahhh-ling, nooobody who’s ANYbody goes to Kazakhstan anymore. Kyrgyzstan is where all the best people are going. It’s been that way for aaaages. You poor dahling, haven’t you heard?
Teaching English, somewhat ironic since can’t write a coherent OP.
I have some good friends who have been there, it sounds like a pretty fascinating country.
I loved Kyrgyzstan, but just went over the border briefly for a visit to Kazakhstan. I never succeeded in finding beshbarmek with horse meat, but there must be some around. Lot of money being made by oill fiekd workers in western Kazahkstah, but I don’t know about eastern. Huge country.
Kazakhs resent the fact that many post-soviet Russians stayed behind and still control the economy. But from my viewpoint, the Russians are pretty laid back, and the ethnic Asians are cool.
Almaty is said to be lovely, in the same way Bishkek is, while all the economic development and modernizing is taking place up in Astana.
One thing I love about eastern Kazakhstan is that’s where apples originated. And I love apples.
Nuh uh, apples originated in the Garden of Eden. Sheesh.
Maybe thats why apples love horses
ETA: that is too funny to fix
Never been to Kazakhstan; but I ate plenty of boiled horse brisket with butter and potatoes when I spent a summer in Iceland some thirty years ago. It was very nutritious!
I know that some members had posted about having visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome. If you get the job, that would be a cool place to check out, if possible. But Kazakhstan is a big, big place, and that trip might not be practical.
From The Diplomat:
**
“When the Peace Corps shuttered its operations in Kazakhstan in 2011, rumors abounded. Stories of rampant beatings and sexual assault. Tales of agents from the KNB — Kazakhstan’s successor to the Soviet-era KGB — harassing volunteers. Cases of governmental meetings ignored and apartments broken into by authorities, all backgrounded by Kazakhstan’s first brushes with Islamist terror.”**
A colleague of mine in Bangkok had been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan, and the above jibes with his account. He said they fucking hate Americans there. It’s like the Cold War never ended.