NU Student Christmas Concert

Back at the beginning of November all of the professors with kids received an email from the director of the NU Choir asking if their kids would like to participate in the Choir’s Christmas program on December 5^th. Three of our four girls were very eager to do it and they talked their unwilling sister into joining them. There were total of 12 kids who ended up singing in the program, our family represented 33% of them! They were given 2 songs to learn in the upcoming weeks: “Frosty, the Snowman” and “Rudolf, the Red Nosed Reindeer”. Together as a group they only had 2 short practices, one of which was just right before the concert. I wasn’t sure how it would all turn out but it turned out AWESOME!

The concert was on Friday night. Our Polina had school that night but thanks to a blizzard it was canceled, so we didn’t have to get her out of school early. We had our friends, the Craigs, over for dinner that night (2 of their kids were also singing in the program) and when the time came, we dressed the kids in their pretty clothes and marched through the blizzard to the NU building where the program was taking place.

The kids were given red Santa hats, ran through the songs a couple of times, and sat down in the first 2 rows that were designated for them. There were just a few people there in the audience with 15 minutes left before the concert. I was wondering if anybody is going to make it there with the blizzard going outside. But … they did! The room filled up completely with people standing in the back!

Kids are waiting for the concert to start

The room starts to fill up

NU Student Choir with their director Jason Lewis (in the Ded Moroz -Grandfather Frost- costume)

The Choir opened the concert with “Silent Night” that they sang in German, English, and Russian, and it was just beautiful. The true spirit of Christmas was so strong there! Then after another song the time was given to the children. They did an awesome job and got the biggest applause!

The cutest bunch ever!

Then it was back to the student choir. They sang a lot of famous Christmas and New Years pieces, and they did a wonderful job! I was really impressed with them! Their director was Jason Lewis, who was a professional musician and a husband of one of our NU professors. When the students found out that he knows a thing or two about music, the begged him to organize a choir. They’ve had the choir for a couple of years now and they have a lot to be proud of!

NU Student Choir

Feliz Navidad

We had a wonderful time at the concert and we’re so proud of our kids stepping up and becoming part of the community! It was a nice way to get into a Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas to all of you and a Happy New Year!

Here are some video clips from the concert

Our First Winter in Astana

Steppe in the winter. A beautiful view from our window!

The first time it snowed this year was on October 9. The snow was wet and didn't stick to the ground very much. After that we had a lot of cold, rainy, muddy days for the rest of October. However at the beginning of November it snowed again, and this time the winter settled in for good. The average temperatures have been around -15 C (5 F) with lows sometimes down to -31 C (-24 F) for a few days. When you walk just a few yards outside, your eyelashes would be covered in icicles! When the temperatures drop down to -25 C (-13 F), they cancel school for grades 1-4. If the temperatures drop down to -30 C (-22 F), they cancel school for older grades as well. So far our kids’ school has been canceled 4 times, which made them really happy. We've heard that February is a very harsh month and kids miss school a lot in that month.

Our window when the temperatures outside dropped down to -30 C

Nazarbayev University after a big snowstorm the day before. See that yellow plow in the back hard at work?

Lots of snow!

We have a lot of snow here. It is usually pretty dry. For a couple of days we had some very unusual snow, something I haven’t seen before. Instead of snowflakes, we had big crystals that were almost a size of a dime. They sparkle so brightly both in the sunlight and in the moonlight like somebody dropped a handful of diamonds. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good picture of them with my camera.

The girls are looking at the falling crystals. They were so fascinated by this phenomenon! 

Our little crew!

When the snow falls here, the snowplows go right into work and scrape the roads. They always go in teams anywhere from 4 to 10 plows on each team. It is quite a sight! They all lined up diagonally and cover the entire width of a street all at once.

The city snow plow

Snow plows at work

This was a team of 8 snowplows all lined up in a perfect formation

We also had a couple of blizzards here, and those are scary!  The wind is so hard that it knocks you off your feet, and it blows the snow right into your face no matter where you are turning.

View out of our window during a blizzard

This was a sidewalk in the beginning of a blizzard

This is a sidewalk a few minutes into the blizzard

After the blizzard. The snow where Yuki is walking is about knee-deep but she can walk right on top of it because of its very hard crust.

But most of the time it is just frosty and sunny! My kind of winter! 

Coming home after ice skating.

Returning home to the university campus after a morning of skating at our local ice arena.

Of pumpkins and cookies

Back in September I was looking for a pumpkin because it was fall and I was craving a pumpkin pie! There is no canned pumpkin in the stores here or at least I didn't see any. I was hoping they would have some real ones at the local bazaars but they weren't selling them until October. The pumpkins that were here were way different from the ones I was used to in America and the ones I had in Russia. They are brownish on the outside and a very rich orange color on the inside with just a couple of seeds. The texture is also different, and so is the taste. They are super sweet! They almost taste as if somebody was watering it with honey while the pumpkin was growing! I am not sure what kind of pumpkin it is but we liked it!

I didn't have a pie pan, so I decided to try a new recipe and make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies instead. I found this ginormous 5 kg (11 lb) box of chocolate chips at the local store. 

And the chocolate chips were ginormous as well!

Because everything is ginormous in Kazakhstan! 


Even my cookies turned out ginormous! Oh, they were  good, really, really good! Since October I made them just about every week! They are always a big hit with kids and adults alike! 

So I decided to share the recipe here, mostly so I do not forget it myself! And I have to tell you that if you like pumpkin pie and you like chocolate, you will love these babies!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions: 

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.