Geography and Climate
Most of Kazakhstan is Semi-arid rolling plains that are
desolate in the late summer, frozen in the winter, and lush meadows in the
spring. There are also a great many
areas of mountains in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
When we arrived, it was the perfect temperature (at least it
was for me). There is not much humidity
there, as opposed to here in southern Ontario during the spring/summer
seasons. Therefore, the heat was mostly
off of the sun…which was deadly hot! Sure, it is humid here and that makes finding
shelter from the heat a hard task as it will follow you into the shade. But the sun there was so powerful. Unlike here, you could feel it on your skin
like you were standing a bit too close to a campfire. Luckily, that heat disappeared as soon as you
went into the shade.
It was interesting to notice how they construct their houses
to compensate for that. Even the richest
of people there don’t just the insulation we do here. They don’t have drywall. Instead, they use plaster walls and open
windows in their house designs that dramatically reduce the temperature when
you go inside. I remember one day that
must have been 34 degrees Celsius (that’s 93 Fahrenheit for you Amer’cans) and
inside it was a comfortable 24C (75F)
Rain occurred a few of the days, including the one in which
we entered the mountains. Precipitation
there occurs in a different way that where I live. Here, we have fast moving systems that are
generally large. There, the clouds move
slowly and are incredibly potent. At one
of our shows, it began raining during our setup/soundcheck and then again
during the opening band’s performance.
It was sunny out, except for isolated clouds that here in Ontario would
not produce rain, only shade. But then
there was a massive downburst of wind and rain that nearly destroyed Gino’s
guitar! (More on that later)
So overall, the countryside was beautiful and the weather
pleasant.
Kazakhstani Culture
The culture of Kazakhstan is much different than the culture
here in North America. To explain the
culture, I will refer to a book we were asked to read titled “Foreign to Familiar”
and that served as a preparatory guide to understanding cultures around the
world. The book separated cultures in
the world into “hot climate” cultures and “cold climate” cultures. It was not literally connecting physical
climate with the cultures that exist in them around the world, but instead
referring to hot cultures as “relationship-based” and cold cultures as
“task-oriented”.
Whereas our culture is colder with some small warmer spots
(not a reference to someone peeing in a pool), Kazakhstan’s culture is
hot. Here are the main differences:
-Kazakhstan is relationship-based, North America is
task-oriented. They will tend to put
people before tasks.
-North America is an individualist culture, Kazakhstan
favours group identity. The actions and
words of one person will reflect the group as opposed to here where they
reflect the individual.
-Kazakstanis are rather inclusive whereas North Americans
prefer privacy. We tend to enjoy having
time and space to ourselves, whereas they are group-oriented and do not desire
to be left alone.
-Hospitality in Kazakhstan is usually spontaneous as opposed
to North America where people tend to plan dinners and nights to go out.
-Kazakhstan is an old culture than has picked up many
traditions and “rules” for interacting with one another, whereas America and
Canada are young cultures that have not added on as many traditions.
-North Americas value time more than Kazakhstanis. Where we find that using time efficiently is
of value, they consider saving time as unimportant and value experiencing the
moment.
Etiquette
So while we were there, we learned Kazakhstani etiquette,
tradition and superstition. Here are
some:
-When entering homes, it is customary to ALWAYS take off
your shoes. They view the wearing of
shoes inside the house as very disrespectful.
Each house will usually have a small foyer with a bench or stool where
you take your shoes off.
-Crossing your legs is risky, because showing someone the
bottom of your foot is very rude.
-People will always squat instead of sitting on the ground
because they believe you can get diseases from sitting on the ground, and that
women can become infertile.
-When coming to or staying at someone’s house, it is
customary to bring a gift for the host/hostess.
-The traditional table to eat at is about a foot off of the
floor and everyone sits around it on a mat.
Walking on the mat is considered rude at restaurants so you have to
shuffle, crawl or crab-walk off of the mats.
Also, stepping on tables is not great manners either.
-It is not imperative to arrive on time, but you don’t want
to be more than half an hour late.
Hospitality
People in Kazakhstan are brought up learning hospitality
from a young age. It is part of their
culture as efficiency and scheduling has become part of ours. To be a good host in Kazakhstan generally
means that you have brought honour to yourself and your family’s name.
 |
| Paul accepting our gifts |
While we were in Kazakhstan, we stayed at the house of a
man named Paul*. He, his wife and
several volunteers from their church took care of our every need during this
trip. Over the period of two weeks, we
learned to respond to their hospitality in an appropriate manner according to
their customs. Things like:
-Tea is served several times a day. It is generally filled halfway and
continually refilled until you turn your cup over. If someone fills your cup to the top, it
signifies that you will no longer receive tea and that they wish for you to
leave.
-When you get full, you always leave food on your plate to
show that you cannot eat anymore. If you
clean your plate, expect another full portion.
They take hospitality seriously over there!
Near the end of the trip, we went into the mountains of
Kazakhstan. I came back rather muddy
(there is a story that will be told for that).
I put my cloths in the washing machine, but it didn’t really work. The next day, I put my clothes up to dry so
the mud would (for the most part) flake off.
When I took them down, Paul’s wife came to me and through hand signals
offered to wash them for me. I declined
because we were heading home the next day and I was just going to put them in
my bag. Everything was going to get a
wash when I got back anyways
I declined and she walked away rather annoyed. I later realized that I had taken away from
her a chance to serve as a hostess. She
wanted to wash my clothes because it would fulfill her position as hostess, and
me denying her that was denying her a chance to fulfill her social duty as a
hostess. I made notes to apologize if we
go back there again.
Service
 |
| Our drivers and roadies. So thankful for them! |
To end off this extended post, I want to mention the
volunteers that helped us all the way through the tour. There were at least five men who were at every
show, unloading gear, loading gear, driving gear from venue to venue. I didn’t catch their names, but I knew their
faces and appreciated their hard work.
Without them, the tour wouldn’t have happened.
Also, our translators were at each show of their own
accord. Without them, we would not have
been understood. They too were part of
the team.
I remember thinking, “Wow, if only we were so eager to serve
and host at these people are, imagine what would result". That was the power of their hospitality and service.
Their servant hearts were eager to help out. God used that not only to ensure that the
tour ran smoothly, but also I believe He used that to teach some of us
westerners a lesson in humility and service.
But we must move on…for the story of the journey has yet to
be told…
*name has been substituted
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