Crazy Winter in Astana

We had a pretty crazy winter over here this year. It had been unusually warm for Kazakhstan (only about -4 F) but very snowy and blizzardy. They would shut down public schools including the first year of college (2-year colleges, not 4-year ones) every time there was a blizzard which came down to about 2 weeks of missed school total. Then there were lots of heavy-fog days and icy-road days during which elementary schools were canceled as well. Now the schools are shut down due to coronavirus. More than ever I am happy with our decision to homeschool though we will be going back to public school system once we are back in America this summer (hopefully!).

Anyway, I thought I would show you some Astana winter scenery from this season, so you can see for yourself what we've been dealing with! Here we go...

Here are our twins with their best friend, April. My mom knitted matching hat/scarf combos for all of my kids, and April fell in love with them. So, naturally my mom made a set for her too. The pom-poms are made from my old hat (a hare fur hat) that I wore when I was 4 years old! Sophie is not wearing her scarf here because ... well, because it was a warm winter. :) 

Going to the mall across the street in their heavy winter coats.

My favorite scenery is when the trees are all dressed in white after a foggy morning, just like here!

On our evening walks on campus with Yuki, our own little "fox".

Look at all that snow!

This is what happens to sidewalks after a blizzard the day before. It takes the city a few days to clear them all (this particular one stayed like this for about 2 weeks). This is on our way home from church one Sunday.

And this is our window on the morning after a blizzard. Side note: we live on the 7th floor!

Lina by the Children's Palace where kids go to all of their extracurricular activities. After every snowstorm the snow is plowed into these big mounds and left like that for weeks until the trucks become available to take it outside of the city. 

Here is Lina by one of these mounds.

And here are the mounds by our apartment on campus. On February 1st we went to a hockey game between our National team Barys and a Russian team Avangard that was played in a big hockey arena about 2 bus stops away from our campus. We usually walk there because it only takes about 20 minutes to walk. It took us a bit longer this time because we had to do it through high snow.

Walking to the hockey arena. The snow on these sidewalks was about 2 feet high.

Nika and Lina goofing around.

We are big fans of our Barys team (the name of the team means "snow leopard")

Us, the old folks.

Every time Barys scored, the fan section would unroll that huge blue jersey. It was a tough game but we won!

Here is the walkway in front of the university. It is a giant skating rink!

And here what the roads turn to after warmer temperatures and a blizzard. Ice!

Going to church on Sundays.

Going from church on Sundays (twins being twins).

Snow drifts on campus after a blizzard.

During one of the blizzards we went to take our dog out. She did not want to be out and neither did we! We are so grateful for that skywalk you see connecting our apartment building with the university. It makes winters bearable here.

The snow and ice on the sidewalk is so high that it makes this normal bench "ground level".

Love those pine trees!

Snow level in one of our outdoor basketball courts. Now even a 5-year old can make an easy basket (if he can make it to the hoop)!

Lina and snow on campus

Lina wanted me to take a lot of pictures of the snow this winter since we are moving to Texas this summer and the only snow we will see there will be when we look at our pictures from here!

Winter Wonderland!