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!

Spring, dentists, basketball and what not.

Here is what March 15 looked like outside of our west window. It is exactly how it looked like every year in the 4 years that we've been here, and I have a feeling that it will continue to look like it for the next ... zillion years. And we even had the temperatures to match the looks: -19 C (-2 F). It is also the day when I feel absolutely justified in picking our Spring Break destination! This year we are going to Vietnam!

Here is our campus on March 15 - a beautiful Winter Wonderland!

This year is a very good year for our dentist here. We are bringing them a lot of business! Dentistry here is very advanced and it is much cheaper than in America, so we are taking advantage of it. I had some implants put in last month, and this month Nika is getting her braces, and Lina and Lexa are getting the plates to help them correct their bite.  

Here is Lina and Lexa walking on the cold morning of our favorite March 15 to the dentist clinic.

In front of the building where our clinic is. One thing that I love about Astana is that it is a city of sunshine!

Lexa getting ready for her mold

Last week we had a kind of unique opportunity to watch semi-professional teams play in the tournament right in our backyard - at the NU Sports Center. We just had to walk 100 yards from our apartment building and watch! And amazing thing happened that their games started a whole hour earlier than it was announced! Things never start on time here but I have never seen anything start early!

BC Astana vs. Barsy Atyrau

Watching the game! Some of the NU Basketball girls are behind us.

Getting Around Campus in the Winter

Something that has been in the works since we've gotten here has been a system of above-ground walkways that move between the buildings.  They were on the plans the first year here, begun during our first summer, but unavailable for the first two winters we were here.  This year they opened them up in November for the walkways between the living areas for faculty and the university.  The walkways for the students were opened up in early January when the semester began.

 These walkways are still not complete, but they are done enough to be functional, and it has been a nice thing for getting to and from work this winter.

The winter.  This is why having the walkways is nice.

A view of the tunnel from our building.

Looking from our building into the new administration building.  The walkway leads there, and then there is an atrium connecting the rest of the university buildings.

Looking out at what I'm missing...or not missing!

Is it spring yet?

Today is 20^th of March. A lot of our family and friends in America are well on their way into spring and in some places into summer but this is how 20^th of March looks here in Astana, the second coldest capital in the world! 

NU Campus on March 20th

 Awesome! I have to say though that during the day it warms up to about -5C (23F), so it feels like spring! And tomorrow we are heading straight into summer… we are going to Thailand for the spring break! Tropical weather sounds pretty good to me right now. We all love snow, and this winter has been pretty mild (or that is what we were told) but we think we are ready for some really warm weather now.

They are ready to put on swimsuits instead of winter coats!

This morning I took the girls to Khan Shatyr  (the big shopping mall that looks like a huge tent) to get some swimming gear for our trip, and right across from Khan Shatyr they were setting up the yurts for the celebration that starts tomorrow – Nauryz – Kazakh New Year. 

Tired of winter!

Setting up the yurts for Nauryz celebration.

Because we are leaving for our awesome vacation tomorrow, we’ll miss most of the celebration but we’ll probably see some of the festivities before we leave tomorrow. However it will be another post.

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!