How is life in Almaty?

The most difficult question is when someone asks you to describe living in Almaty.

As with any situation, your experiences, personal life, and personal outlook plays a large part in your perception of how a certain destination is like.

For some it might not be harder than any other place that they have lived in before.

For others it is just not easy.. it is just not like HOME!!!

Looking at the facts might put this question in perspective.

Many expats do not choose this destination purely for its metropolitan attraction or quality of life... they choose this destination for career and job opportunities and/or better salaries. Therefore, it can be difficult to compared it to other attractive expat destinations like Dubai, Beijing or Singapore. 

Living costs in Almaty is relatively high while the quality of life is relatively lower than in some other expat destinations.  Of course living in Kazakhstan cannot be compared with living in a developed country nor can you compare it with the top developing countries like South Africa and Brazil.

Many people are divide on the subject about living in Kazakhstan with many educated locals looking for better opportunities abroad and various expatriate and/or their partners/spouses finding it hard to live here, while others see great opportunities for starting their own business or getting a career jump.

There can be various cultural, climatic and other general aspects that might decrease your ability to adapt successfully.  The most important aspect is to make the best of your new destination and emerge yourself into the local culture and try to link into your new community as soon as possible as this will increase your adjustment.  

Earthquakes

On the 28^th of January 2013 the Almaty region experienced another large earthquake of a magnetite 6.3 in Eastern Kazakhstan.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000ewqq#summary

There is a Facebook page called Earthquake Preparedness for Almaty to keep the local citizens of Almaty aware and allow them to share necessary information.

Preparation is key and an emergency kit is essential to living in Almaty.    

What is necessary in your kit?

There are various international websites that will be able to provide you with a standard list of items necessary in your emergency kit.

  The most essential items for any emergency kit

• -       Copies of important documentation especially as a foreigner certified copies of passports, visas etc.
• -       Essential medication
• -       A change of clothes (winter and summer)
• -       First aid kit
• -       Torchlight
• -       List of essential information like phone numbers and family details
• -       Local maps
• -       Towelettes, garbage bags and other items for personal sanitation

     For more information about preparing for such events check out this website

http://www.ready.gov

http://earthquake.usgs.gov

The expatriate spouse and partner

I strongly believe that spouses should accompany the expats that want to come and work in Kazakhstan. Spouses and partners have the ability to bring some normality to the new location, and it is a helpful way for expats to deal with the culture shock, as they will have someone that will understand their viewpoint and tend to have a similar background as them.

The majority of expat spouses are still women, but expatriate husbands are also not uncommon in Almaty.

Sadly, there are limited activities available for the stay at home spouse, especially if they are not very sport or outdoor orientated. Almaty is great if you have the financial means, time, and inclination to practice winter sports like skiing or playing golf in the summer.

Although the support for expatriates has been acknowledged as key to successful integration, many companies do not believe that the life of their spouses/ partners are difficult, and therefore few companies have the tendency to provide them with support.

The reality is that expats still have some normality in their working life, as the work environment, however difficult, still represents an environment where they are respected and valued. In the work environment they are still surrounded by people that they can communicate with and where they can feel confident in their own abilities.

The same cannot be said for the spouses/ partners who are thrown into a new environment with a no support system.

Unlike the expat, the spouses and partners will experience a greater culture shock as they carry on with the domestic duties in the new environment. In their normal day to day they are unlikely to encounter anyone that speaks English or are unlikely to experience anything that is familiar. Communication will be a problem, finding stuff that you want will be a problem, and commuting around town could also be a problem... these are simple things that can be overlooked by the company and even the working partner.

Therefore the difficulty of adjustment for an expat spouse in a new environment should not be underestimated!

I hope you have enjoyed this post and look out for the follow up post, which will review other aspects of the expatriate spouse/ partner.

Esentai Mall in Almaty

The Esentai Mall is the latest edition to the shopping malls in Almaty http://www.esentaimall.com
And I must confess... I love it!!!

Excluding the fact that the mall is filled with luxury brands and shops way above my price range, the mall is also filled with other brands and shops like Crocs, Promod, Mango, Flash and Kari (accessory shop) to cater to the standard shopper as well.

Most importantly the mall has a cinema that seems to now show movies in English too... This is great news for all the foreigners that struggle with the Russian language and I am sure all of us are happy about this new feature in town!!!

Here is the link if you are interested
http://www.kinopark.kz/kinopark11-almaty/?lang=ru&shedule

Lea's Cooking: Russian Honey Layered Cake Medovik "Медовик"

I found this great cooking blog ... see the link below of Lea's Cooking.  Much of the food found in Kazakhstan is influenced by the Russian cuisine. Many of the wonderful Russian food that Lea's blog covers can also be found in Almaty's shops and restaurants.

And this Russian honey cake is to die for : )
 
Lea's Cooking: Russian Honey Layered Cake Medovik "Медовик": Medovik is one of the most popular cakes in Russia. It is also known as Honey layered cake.


The great thing about Lea's blog is that it is a great way to see what you might expect to find in Almaty, and just another way to prepare and familiarise yourself with how life will be here.

Preparation and being open about the experience is key to increasing the adjustment to a new environment.

Thank you for all the kind feedback that I have been receiving.

Please feel free to contact me with possible topics suggestions and feedback.
Tulipakz@gmail.com