Basketball Part II

This last week we have done a lot with basketball. Last Saturday (January 17) the girls on the basketball team invited our family and the Craigs to a lunch that they had prepared for us.  We had an enjoyable time getting to know the girls a little bit better.  They cooked us a bunch of of delicious food and we had a great time.  The most fun we had was with the basketball girls playing fun games with the kids.

The kids and girls getting ready to play a game.

Sitting down to a wonderful meal

NU Girls basketball team and the Craig and Willardson families.

The other fun item for the week for the girls was that they received their new uniforms.  They had received uniforms from the university, but they were all too big and were designed for men.  Brett got the girls some very nice green and white uniforms when he was back in the States over the Christmas break.  The big surprise was that Brett had gotten them a warm up jacket and printed the name on the back as well.  When they saw their names on the jackets it was pure joy.

This Saturday (January 24) we bought tickets to the Astana basketball team game.  They were playing the Enesey team (from Krasnoyarsk) so it was a good game to take everyone to.  We even convinced Babushka to come to the game with us, so that was nice.

The weather outside has been cold the past few days (so cold that the girls' school was cancelled from Thursday through Saturday and will probably be cancelled through the middle of next week as well) so it was an icy trip to the arena. Luckily it is close - only three bus stops, or about five minutes, from us.  The stadium where the team plays is actually a bicycle racing stadium, so the set-up is a bit different.

Getting ready to start game - wooden bike track in the background.

Astana (Gold) and Enesey (Krasnoyarsk in blue)

The cheerleader/dancers.  They came out at every time out and break in the quarter.

Babushka and the girls watching the game.

Watching the game part II

Yulia doing a selfie with me.  I was watching the game, so my eyes were wandering....

Halftime stats on the scoreboard.

We splurged and bought lower bowl tickets for 1000 tenge each (about 5 dollars) so for about $40 we all went to the game and sat right next to the court.  The game action was pretty good.  Somewhere between a regular college and an NBA game.  Both teams had Russians and foreigners (including three or four American players) on them and the action was good.  The Enesey team had a player who was very athletic and who had a great shot.  He hit about 6 out of 8 three pointers and had a couple of spectacular dunks.  The game was close until the end of the third period when Krasnoyarsk got out to a 15 point lead.  They held the lead through the fourth and won 95-84.

White (6) for Krasnoyarsk was the player of the game.  Here he finishes a fast break with a spectacular dunk.

It was a great way to spend the day as a family.

We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to do so many fun and cultural things together.  The game itself had a lot different energy and feel (from the crowd) than do sports in the US, but it was fun.  The cheerleader/dancers for the team were a bit more risque than what we were expecting.  Most of their routines looked like something from the strip club, so we had to tell the girls that some kinds of dancing can be inappropriate.

Great times in Astana - and more to come!

Astana Opera and Ballet Theater

Astana Opera and Ballet Theater in September

One of the blessings of living in a capital is that all sorts of cultural events are at the tips of our fingers. The city has a number of museums, galleries, theaters, and concert halls. On December 27 we took our family to the infamous Astana Opera and Ballet Theater to see the Nutcracker. This new Theater was built in 2013 and is grand and beautiful! The building itself is 64,000 square meters. Of these, about 3,000 square meters is the stage area. If I am not mistaken there are 4 levels in the theater (6 levels inside the stage area), and right above the main opera and ballet stage is a separate chamber music hall. We went there at the beginning of January to see Peter and the Wolf.

When we lived in Iowa I took the two older girls to see Nutcracker. That was a performance done by the local ballet school. They did a wonderful job, and we had a great time. But ever since that outing I wanted to take my girls to a professional ballet. Living here in Astana gave us that wonderful opportunity at a very affordable price (the best seats were going for about $40, the cheapest were about $3)

In front of Astana Opera and Ballet Theater - going to see the Nutcracker.

When we first walked into Astana Opera House, our first impression was that we’re standing in the middle of grand palace. Some of the ladies were wearing formal evening gowns and some men were in tuxedos, though they were the minority. Everybody else was dressed very nicely but more casually. Our girls decided to wear their fancy dresses and they looked like they totally belonged there!

The girls changing their shoes.

Since it was Christmas/New Year’s season, in the middle of the hall stood a big and beautiful Christmas Tree! Around New Year they hold Novogodniye Utrenniki (New Year Celebrations for children) in there just as in all of the other theaters, concert halls and entertainments centers around the city. 

The big Christmas Tree in the entrance hall

Our family in the entrance hall. I guess Lexa wasn't ready for the picture!

 

Now we are ready for the picture!

When I bought our tickets I decided to get one of the bell-etage private sections. They had a section with 7 seats in it. There were six of us plus my mom who was visiting us from Krasnoyarsk, just perfect! We had a good view, and the kids loved being up high (we were only on the second level but to them it felt up high).

Here is our little private corner.

The view of the stage and the orchestra pit from our seats.

Isn't it beautiful!? There were no empty seats by the time the ballet started.

The twins watching the people from their little "nest"

A scene from the Nutcracker

Another scene from the Nutcracker

The ballet performance was outstanding! The decorations were beautiful! And the music was magical! Spencer was fascinated by the orchestra down in the orchestra pit and was probably watching them more than the performance itself. But the rest of us had our eyes glued to the stage. During the 20 min intermission I took the girls to the main hall, and they spent the whole time twirling and jumping like ballerinas there.

 

Showing off their ballet moves!

All in all we had a wonderful time!

These two dancers were amazing!

A couple of weeks later my mom and I took the girls to see Peter and the Wolf which was a wonderful experience as well. Peter and the Wolf was written by Prokofiev to teach kids about symphony and the instruments that play in symphony. This time we went to the chamber music hall on the top level of the theater. We also discovered a little museum of costumes that were used in different performances.

Second level of the theater.

The ceiling in the chamber music hall 

The museum of costumes used in some of the performances by famous opera singers and ballet dancers.

One of the dresses in the museum

We are looking forward to visiting this beautiful place again!

Sledding!

After the New Year celebration and before the kids went back to school, we wanted to do a new winter activity with the girls.  We learned that there is a park in Astana that has cross-country skiing trails and a place where you can rent skis.  We decided to do that.

In the morning when we woke up, I made a big breakfast of biscuits and gravy.  I didn't do sausage gravy since we don't have pork sausage here, but I used hamburger and spiced it up a bit, and it turned out quite yummy.  I also used a bit different recipe for biscuits since I didn't have any shortening.

Once we were fed, we got dressed, got on the bus, and headed for the park.  From our stop we had to walk for awhile until we came to the hotel that rents the skis.  We passed several skiers on our way.  When we found the entrance to the building and the rental shop, it was closed.  We asked in the office across the way about renting skis and they said everyone was out doing training.  We went out and it looked like they were doing some races.  We were unsuccessful in renting skis.

Entering the river from the riverbank.

Walking up the river on the snow.

Undeterred, we decided to go for a walk on the river.  I was quite nervous about that - I am not someone who has ever spent any time on frozen water in general, and the thought of a river underneath me was disconcerting.  The fact that it was warm and the snow was quite slushy on top of the ice didn't assuage my fears!  We walked up the river for about half a mile and saw that there was sledding going on.

Sledding!

We came closer and saw that there were inner tubes for rent.  On both sides of the river landing where the tour boats embark from in the summer an ice path had been made down the bank to the river.  On both sides along the bank blocks of ice formed walls all the way down.

We rented four tubes at 500 tenge (about $2.80) each and the girls and us spent about an hour having fun.

We were glad that we found an exciting winter activity to do - even when our first plan fell through.

Climbing up the steps after a run down the hill

Sophie reaching the end of her run on the river ice.

Lexa on a run!

Sophie catching air off of a ramp!

Lina catching the ground after catching air.

Lexa climbing off the ice to climb back to the top of the hill.

Nika after a run.

Sophie Lexa, and Nika finishing a run together.

Yulia getting ready to take a turn - notice the ice wall to the left and right of the run.

 You can tell from Sophie's face that we had a lot of fun!

--Post written by Spencer--

December in Astana

The month of December in Astana was a month of preparing for the biggest holiday of the year  – New Years! The streets were decorated with Christmas lights (here they are called New Year lights), “Happy New Year” signs in Kazakh went up on the buildings, and huge Christmas Trees (again, here they are called New Year Trees) appeared everywhere in town. All of it gave a festive mood all throughout December.

Here is one of the beautiful city New Years Trees in front of the Ice Arena where we take our girls for skating.

This one is the presidential New Years Tree in front of the Opera and Ballet Theater.

In the malls they would have some random performances for the kids – usually scenes from famous fairy tales or performances by children’s dance groups.

Here is a little skit for the kids from "Little Red Riding Hood" that took place in the food court of one of the malls.

Inside of the biggest mall in Astana called "Khan Shatyr" (King's Tent). The high school kids on the bottom floor are practicing for some sort of performance. 

Here is another mall and yet another performance (see the next picture). I took this picture because I thought it was kind of funny to see some Christmas Trees right next to a palm tree. Not that it would be anything weird somewhere in California or Las Vegas, but in the second coldest capital in the world ... yes, it is a bit weird! 

Dance recital at the mall. The little girls were dressed in the "Snegurochka" (Snow Maiden) costumes, and they were really fun to watch.

The only thing we didn't see was the Ice Village. We were told that every year in Astana they build  Ice Village with beautiful ice sculptures and ice sleds. For some unknown to us reason this year they didn't do it. May be next year.

Happy 2015!

Children's New Year Celebrations

In Kazakhstan, just as in Russia, the biggest holiday of the year is the New Year. I'll do a different post about all the things people do here to get ready for the New Year but today I wanted to tell about Novogodny Utrennik (New Year's Celebration for the kids) they do around here. This is something I did as a kid growing up in Russia, so I was excited for our girls to have a similar experience.

At the end of December each of our girls’ classes went to a New Year’s Show.  Parents buy a ticket which cost about $10-25 and which gets you in to participate in a show and at the end you get a present from Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost). Kids can come dressed as different fairy tale characters, they sing songs, dance, and play games. Each show is different but they follow the same scenario. Usually some bad characters would try to stop Ded Moroz and his granddaughter Snegurocka (Snow Maiden) from delivering the presents to the kids by kidnapping them or stealing the presents. And then some good heroes try to save the day with the kids’ help.  It is a lot of fun for the kids!

 

Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden)

 Often these shows are done at the school but our kids’ school director (principal) decided that each class should go to performances that were taking place at different entertainment centers around the town.  Sophia and Lexa’s 1^st grade class and Polina’s 3^rd grade class decided to go to a New Year’s Celebration Show to the Children’s Palace on December 20^th and Veronika’s 4^th grade class decided to go to a big entertainment center with an indoor aquarium called “Duman” on December 24^th. Besides that Nazarbayev University had a show as well, so our girls had a lot of fun.

First Lina and the twins went to their show.

Alexandra (dressed up as Night Fairy), Polina (dressed up as Snegurocka or Snow Maiden), and Sophia (dressed up as a gypsy girl) are ready for their show to start.

All the kids dressed in costumes at the Children's Palace. You can see the parents watching from the balcony.

Sophia and Alexandra's classmates and their parents.

After that show was over we went home to have a quick snack and go to Nazarbayev University to see their show that they were doing for the kids of all of the professors and administrative staff. Most of the foreign professors flew home to their various destinations that same morning, so there was just a handful of expat families and a lot of local families.

Our girls running to the place where they had the show at NU

The show began with the appearance of some Disney characters. The kids and their parents made a big circle for them.

Some interesting selection of characters.

Then the villains showed up who tried to ruin New Year for the kids

But no matter how hard the villains tried to stop Ded Moroz and Snegurochka, they still made it to the kids and the fun had begun.

Ded Moroz and Snegurochka started their show

Sophia and Lexa

The kids solved riddles, sang songs and danced.

Kids dancing

With Ded Moroz

The last of the shows was Veronika's a few days later. Their teacher let them out of school a few hours early, so the kids could get ready. My mom made it here from Krasnoyarsk, Russia the day before. She brought with her Veronika's costume which she sewed herself. Our other girls' costumes we bought at the bazaar at the beginning of December. 

Veronika dressed up as Snegurochka (Snow Maiden)

The kids were first greeted by a magical talking stump.

Then they had a visit by this cool looking Dinosaur.

Then Ded Moroz came with his Granddaughter Snegurochka

When I was a kid they would arrive on a horse sleigh. Nowadays I guess they use trains!

Again, they played games and sang songs with the kids. Then the kids could go up and recite a poem about New Years for which they would get a little present.

Then they said some magical words and lit up the big Christmas Tree (here it is called New Year's Tree) and danced some more around it.

Here is Veronika with her friend and classmate Kate after the show with their presents. 

Our kids had a lot of fun at these shows, and I am glad they experienced a little piece of my childhood.