Almaty
I’ll give you a quick rundown on the pros and cons of Almaty.
Pros: The mountains are stunningly beautiful. You will have 15,000 ft mountains right our your back door. The school is probably the best secondary in all of QSI. A truly international group of students. Only about 30% local and some of the locals are fantastic students. You can save money because most material goods are so expensive that you won’t buy anything while you’re there. Lots of good foreign restaurants (see below for local food). It is easy to get a car (cars are 2-3 times what they would be in North America) and get around so you don’t have to deal with shoddy local transport. Some friends that are there said they just opened a metro, which would be nice.
Cons: The people are the least friendly, most aggressive and unwelcoming humans I have ever run into (you may be able to break through this exterior with your Russian but I gave up trying). I fear that I will permanently dislike both Russians and Kazakhs as a result of my time in Central Asia. The pollution is awful (see link below). Most people have bronchial infections for much of the winter. If you have any sort of breathing problems, DO NOT GOES. Many people go there thinking that they can handle it or their asthma won’t be too bad and then end up having to leave during their first year. Some days you can taste the coal dust in the air. The pollution isn’t caused by tons of industry but instead from the central water heating plants, lots of cars and terrible inversions especially in winter. The mountains, although amazing, are not easily accessible and are littered with trash. The ski resort that will be touted as a great asset is a joke. Any sort of material good is ridiculously expensive. For example, a basic pair of leather shoes that would cost $80 in the states will easily go for $400 in Almaty (same exact brand and model). It is really isolated and not cheap to get out. There are very few flights out to decent locations and they always leave and return in the middle of the night. The local food is disgusting.
http://sofiaecho.com/2011/02/11/1041556 ... -expanding (main photo is of Almaty; many winter days look like this)
Would I take a position in Almaty? Knowing what I know now, absolutely not. Would I take a position there if I were desperate to get into the international scene? Absolutely.
Pros: The mountains are stunningly beautiful. You will have 15,000 ft mountains right our your back door. The school is probably the best secondary in all of QSI. A truly international group of students. Only about 30% local and some of the locals are fantastic students. You can save money because most material goods are so expensive that you won’t buy anything while you’re there. Lots of good foreign restaurants (see below for local food). It is easy to get a car (cars are 2-3 times what they would be in North America) and get around so you don’t have to deal with shoddy local transport. Some friends that are there said they just opened a metro, which would be nice.
Cons: The people are the least friendly, most aggressive and unwelcoming humans I have ever run into (you may be able to break through this exterior with your Russian but I gave up trying). I fear that I will permanently dislike both Russians and Kazakhs as a result of my time in Central Asia. The pollution is awful (see link below). Most people have bronchial infections for much of the winter. If you have any sort of breathing problems, DO NOT GOES. Many people go there thinking that they can handle it or their asthma won’t be too bad and then end up having to leave during their first year. Some days you can taste the coal dust in the air. The pollution isn’t caused by tons of industry but instead from the central water heating plants, lots of cars and terrible inversions especially in winter. The mountains, although amazing, are not easily accessible and are littered with trash. The ski resort that will be touted as a great asset is a joke. Any sort of material good is ridiculously expensive. For example, a basic pair of leather shoes that would cost $80 in the states will easily go for $400 in Almaty (same exact brand and model). It is really isolated and not cheap to get out. There are very few flights out to decent locations and they always leave and return in the middle of the night. The local food is disgusting.
http://sofiaecho.com/2011/02/11/1041556 ... -expanding (main photo is of Almaty; many winter days look like this)
Would I take a position in Almaty? Knowing what I know now, absolutely not. Would I take a position there if I were desperate to get into the international scene? Absolutely.
We like Almaty. I would describe the local people as resolute and careful, but friendly when they have come to trust you. You get stared at when you speak English, but usually just ignored. Recent developments like the metro, a few more malls, restaurants and grocery stores has made the place seem more and more European. The local cuisine is meat based, we like the doner, pflat and blini. Hardees, Noodles and Pizza Hut are now part of the mix. The pollution is pollution for some people it is the only thing they see for others it is what it is. I think that if you are not a city person, or a winter person, this is a tough place to live. Travel can be tough, the US is costly, but Thailand, Turkey, India, Dubai are not bad. We would definitely return.
I forgot to add that as a pro. The housing for the most part was amazing in Almaty. The only problem seems to be that there is no rhyme or reason as to who gets what housing for their first year. I know of a case where a first year elementary teacher got a super swanky palatial place in the nicest building around and a teaching couple with one veteran chem teacher and a newish health/tech teacher got put up in a tiny place in the ghetto. I think at that time the office just overlooked who got what and just crammed people wherever they would fit. However, that seemed to improve greatly the second year I was there and more and more people were put up in nice places. One issue with housing is play areas for children in most of the complexes are pretty sparse. Sometimes consisting of only a few rusted out slides and other things. However, if you can get a place right next to the school, they have great playgrounds there. Usually, only returning teachers get places there though as they get snatched up pretty quickly at the end of the year as people move out.
Redster obviously has a much more moderate view of the place but I wouldn’t disagree with anything he has said about it. We just have different perspectives. I would encourage you to not underestimate the pollution there. Make sure you read up on it. As a gross generalization, it seemed that the more active people (runners, cyclists, hikers) seemed more bothered by it than those less inclined to get outside. That generalization is not true of everyone though. (please don’t take this the wrong way Redster)
Biggest Pro: You will make amazing friendships in a place like Kazakhstan because there isn’t much else other than hanging out with friends, watching movies, going out to eat, talking, cooking together, etc… That is the greatest benefit of living somewhere where there isn’t a whole lot else to do. I now live in China where there are a million things going on all over the place and it is hard to get people together sometimes. My friends from the Kaz are still some of the best friends I have.
Redster obviously has a much more moderate view of the place but I wouldn’t disagree with anything he has said about it. We just have different perspectives. I would encourage you to not underestimate the pollution there. Make sure you read up on it. As a gross generalization, it seemed that the more active people (runners, cyclists, hikers) seemed more bothered by it than those less inclined to get outside. That generalization is not true of everyone though. (please don’t take this the wrong way Redster)
Biggest Pro: You will make amazing friendships in a place like Kazakhstan because there isn’t much else other than hanging out with friends, watching movies, going out to eat, talking, cooking together, etc… That is the greatest benefit of living somewhere where there isn’t a whole lot else to do. I now live in China where there are a million things going on all over the place and it is hard to get people together sometimes. My friends from the Kaz are still some of the best friends I have.