In a study by MediaCurves, Americans were asked to judge a women’s personality based on a picture. The trick was that all participants were given a picture of the same woman, but 50% of the time she was wearing a headscarf and 50% of the time she had her hair down and was wearing an open-collar shirt. Guess what?

There’s a nice nice summary on MonkeyCage:

1) The covered woman was perceived as more “traditional” and, in personality terms, less “warm.” She is also described as living a more insular life…The covered woman was perceived as wealthier…Slightly more considered the covered woman “beautiful” (27%) than did the uncovered woman (16%)…The vast majority of respondents thought the uncovered woman was “an American” (82%). The vast majority of subjects thought the covered woman was “a Middle-Eastern person” (78%) and also Muslim (87%)….While 89% said that they would like the uncovered woman as their next-door neighbor or in their neighborhood, only 62% said that about the covered woman. One-fifth (19%) actually said they wanted her to live “outside of the US.”

It amuses me because while a lot of this is predictable, and accurate for me as well–If I see a woman in a hijab I will tend to assume she is Muslim, religious, traditional, and therefore more insular–I also had the opportunity once to be in a mentoring position to some traditionally Muslim children and for several months after that, if I saw a headscarf, I became instantly nurtuing and protective. Even of total strangers on the street. Some sort of Pavlovian response, I suppose.

Walking by bus stops in Astana, particularly those near universities, you might see ads that read like the one illustrated here: “Will write research papers and dissertations (in Russian or Kazakh). Selection of texts and translations. Written to schedule, high-quality, CHEAP!” Other ads highlight that they write course papers in Kazakh, a big help to those students whose grasp of the language isn’t up to par.

In the US professors struggle with similar problems from fraternities that keep file cabinets full of essays to students who cut-and-paste from Wikipedia, to ads on Craigslist that advertise paper-writing services. A friend of mine recently brought to my attention an ad posted near my old university where a student was soliciting someone to write their paper for them. Plagiarists who copy from the Internet, or who resubmit a paper from a past class are easily caught–professors have google and long memories. Students who use paper writing services are harder to catch.

It’s sad that something like this can be advertised so freely on bus stops. One would hope that professors or administrators might see them and call them up in order to find out who they are and catch them, or at least learn their trademark styles in order to recognize the style of such services. But more than that, one might hope that the general public would be disgusted by such blatant cheating. Hiring someone to write a paper for you will teach you absolutely nothing and make your paper worthless–plagiarists at least have put in some research time! I certainly wouldn’t want a doctor who had used such a service operating on me. Or a lawyer or economist consulting my company!

But it isn’t surprising that students will find ways to cheat or that the market will find ways to help them. An informal interview with some students indicates that the average student sees term papers and dissertations as bureaucratic hoops to jump through. They are happy to use such services and some express admiration for the people who run paper-writing businesses, saying they must make a lot of money. One acquaintance even argued that it was an honorable profession because the guy was using his brain. It was the dumb students who were in the wrong.

In any case, few are surprised that a new form of cheating has come to Kazakhstan.

Crossposted on Chalkboard

English Advantage Blog has a post up linking to a story about missionaries who use ESL courses as a cover for converting people in Bosnia. I’ve heard of this sort of thing going on in Kazakhstan and other countries for that matter.

I was told one story, which might be apocryphal, about an “English lesson” to demonstrate the use of the present progressive: Mohammad is burning in hell for his blasphemy
We use present progressive is burning to show that he is still in the process of burning, like all sinners burn for eternity. The discussion then went on to discuss how Mohammad sinned against the one true Christian God by setting himself up as false prophet, denying Jesus’ divinity, etc. and how all Muslims should convert unless they too want to suffer eternal damnation. Good English lesson there.

It’s sad because besides propagating the stereotype that Westerners are here to ram ideology down people’s throats, it also gives a bad name to Christians. There are some Christian groups who come to genuinely help and their faith is a motivation for their desire to come to a strange country and do good work. But that faith doesn’t get in the way of their mission to teach English or fund raise for orphans or volunteer for a hospital.

So please evangelists, stop giving Christians a bad name. Be straightforward and if you want to convert people, invite them to Bible Study or church service, not “English lessons!”

By sheer coincidence I had another culinary adventure this weekend.

I had heard of the tradition of cutting бас, a sheep’s head on major occasions. On large holidays such as a wedding or a major job promotion or even on Nauryz, a family may choose to slaughter a sheep. While the meat is taken for beshbarmak, the head is boiled and served to the oldest member of the party. He must then carve and distribute the parts of the head. The ears are traditionally the most delicious part and thus reserved for the guest of honor. The eyeballs, brain, mouth and nostrils are also distributed, often with some kind of meaning. For example, the eyes may be given to a wise person because he can see into the heart of a situation. The brain may be given to a student who is studying for exams, and so on. The rest of the meat is then distributed among all the guests.

I knew about this tradition. Once I had come late and missed my chance to see it done. Once I had been at a wedding party and seen the head go by my table on its way to the head table. Upon seeing my interest, the waiter kindly reserved me a piece of meat–which was pretty good. Tasted like sheep, surprisingly enough.

But this Sunday, I got to see the sheep head cut up close. The occasion was a very traditional Kazakh feast. We sat on the floor on cushions. Most of the women ate separately from the men, since they first served us and then would eat only when we were done. Besides the beshbarmak, the food was mostly nuts and dried fruits, as befits a traditional southern Kazakh diet. There were forks but most people ate with their hands.

Feeling slightly out of place and desperately scared that I would do something wrong–I needn’t have worried because the company was kind and understanding–it took me a minute to realize that the old man next to me was carving away at a sheep head.* I was quite shocked when the ear landed on my plate and despite everyone’s assurances that I didn’t have to eat it, I decided I would at least take a bite. I did quickly whisper to my wife, “Should I gobble it up right away, or should I wait? What’s the etiquette here?” I guess the timing of eating it was not important.

It wasn’t bad tasting, but it was extremely soft and felt a bit strange. Like someone else had already chewed it so I swallowed my bite down before letting that train of thought develop. By the time I had gotten that down, I was handed a big chunk of fat on a bone (курдук) and was told that it was for a son-in-law (ку бала). And that the bone should be picked clean! This was later retracted as I was eyeing the last big chunk of fat and trying to figure out how to get the meat from between the bones, I was told, “Thank you, that’s enough.” I took another bite to make the point and gladly got down to meat and noodles!

So believe it or not, sheep ear and sheep fat is not as horrible as it might sound. It’s not something you would want everyday of course. But once in a while it can be done. And I am as ever amazed at the hospitality and kindness of Kazakhs who honor foreigners without making you feel uncomfortable or out of place.

* One of the interesting things I have noticed about “rituals” or “ceremonies” here is that they are rarely accompanied by some kind of announcement–as in a church the taking of Communion is announced by certain hymns. Nor are things met with ‘Ooohs’ and ‘Aaahs’ as a Christmas pudding might be. So one doesn’t always catch what is going on.

My wife recently returned from a business trip to Ust-Kammengorsk, in the East of Kazakhstan. This region is famous for its elixir made from pantocrine—extract of reindeer antler. She brought home a variety of tonics. One made just from the antlers extracted in alcohol. Another also contains honey and berries. Another has blood from the antlers in it!

In general pantocrine is a health tonic to make you strong, help you heal, and give you energy. Traditionally it’s very good for male potency (nudge nudge wink wink), a widely held belief about horns.

The bottle recommended a teaspoon in your tea and my wife thought that because it makes you energetic, it was a good think to have in the morning. So the other morning I opened up the bottle. The first thing that hit me was the clear scent of vodka. I took a small sip and thought, “Well, the alcohol content doesn’t seem very strong; none of that throat burning associated with vodka.” I went to make some coffee and suddenly realized that my head was buzzing a bit! After a small teaspoon in my coffee and the passage of an hour or so, my head is still buzzing.

So pantocrine has something in it! One does wonder if this is how henpecked husbands get their vodka doses:

“Where have you been all night? Is that vodka I smell?”

“Oh no, no..that’s pantocrine. It’s medicine!”

“Oh, well that’s all right then.”

I did decide that whether it’s the alcohol or the power of reindeer horn, being drunk at 9 in the morning is a bit much! I’m taking my dose at night when I can enjoy it! For today, I think I’ll just sit around the house and take my medicine!

The BBC is reporting on falcon hunting in Kazakhstan, specifically problems with finding funding to keep the birds. So now they are catering to the elite, selling hunting trips which subsidizes falcon preserves.
Check out the video here

And if anyone knows a good place I can go falcon hunting near Astana, let me know. It’s one of the things I really want to see.

On Sept. 22nd, Mongol, the historical epic about Chinghis Khan (Genghis Khan) opened in Astana. The film has been anticipated since Sergei Bodrov began filming it right after the release of Nomad. Bodrov is well-known as the director of Nomad, as well as co-writer on Schizo and East-West, among his other extensive producing, directing and writing credits.

Mongol is an impressionistic film covering Chinghis Khan’s earlier years. It is not a plot-driven adventure film nor is it a historical epic that tells the story of how the poor fatherless slave Temuzhin became Chinghis Khan, ruling over one of the largest empires in the world. The film does show battles and portray the young Temuzhin as a great and brave warrior. It also shows that even at a young age, he had innovative thoughts about rewarding loyalty and banning the cruelties of slavery and arbitrary tyranny that tended to rule the steppes. Lip service is paid to the way that Chingis Khan organized his empire and his army and instilled a sense of responsibility to others.

However at the heart of this film is Chinghis Khan’s own psychic life. In one scene, the young Temuzhin escapes from slavery and runs to a religious shrine. While he is praying to Tengri, the sky god, a wolf is shown walking above him, looking down upon him. Then we see the boy running across the snowy steppes only to fall through an icy river. In the next scene, about 15 years have passed and we have no idea how he survived. The film is not as concerned with plot as with giving a mood to the audience.

Central to the film are the relationship he had with two people: His first wife, Borte and his blood-brother Jamuke. In reality, it is believed that these two people in fact had a huge influence on him. So we see how Chinghis Khan risks everything to rescue his wife, taken as a slave by the Kerekeidi. Later we see his wife rescue him from slavery at an even greater price. While the film does play fast and loose with the facts, it leaves you with the impression that for all his tyranny and bloodthirstiness, Chinghis Khan was a man very in love with his wife.

We also see how Jamuke helps him become a great leader and eventually his greatest rival. Again, while the relationship is historically accurate, most of the events depicted are fictional or changed slightly. Again, plot is not always the central concern of the film as it sometimes seems that the characters suddenly change their minds for no reason other than to set up the next scene. However the relationship is what comes through. That here are two men who love each other and yet are drawn to conflict. It is probably no coincidence that the actor who plays Jamuke, the Chinese star Honglei Sun, puts in the best performance in the film. Borte, played by the unknown Mongol college student Khulan Chuluun, puts in the second best.

Unfortunately, Tadanobu Asano who is one of the most popular actors in Japan, apparently, portrays Chinghis Khan with little emotion. Except for a few moments with his wife, Chinghis Khan spends the film stone-faced, almost a victim of fate, doing whatever is presented to him. He doesn’t particularly grab the audience’s attention especially when playing next to Jamuke and there doesn’t seem to be much reflection going on in his head, particularly during an entirely fictional scene in which Chinghis Khan is imprisoned in the city of Tangut.

If you are looking for a historically accurate telling of Temuzhin’s life, this is not the film for you. If you are looking for an epic like Braveheart or Nomad with lots of battles and witty words of bravery, don’t bother with this film. But the film is well worth your time, bringing a mood to the life of the great Asian emperor and portraying a human side in the person of two people who influenced the young Khan.

Another review can be found here and much thanks to News from the Caravan for that link and for reminding me to review this flick.

I also wanted to note that one of the most interesting reactions to this film I heard was from a Kazakh friend of mine who said that it was a pity that the film only showed the early years when Chinghis Khan was fighting other Mongols, and it would have been good to show him fighting more foreigners in case people got the impression that Mongols were hateful to each other.

The Library of Congress has put up four albums of photographs of Turkestan commissioned by the first Russian governor of Turkestan, Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman, which were taken from 1850 to 1860. The Archeological Album focuses on Islamic architecture, mainly in Samarqand. The Ethnographic part includes individual portraits of different ethnic groups (c.f. the Kara-Kazakh girl pictured on the left) and notable people, including the Khan of Kokand and his sons. The Trade Album shows occupations and the Historical Part depicts Russian soldiers and battle maps.

It is fascinating for the casual observer and no doubt an incredible resource for the scholar. All descriptions of photos are presented in the original Russian and translated into English.

As someone who does want to learn Kazakh partially for fun, partially because I do run into situations where it would make life easier, and partially because it would give me great standing with my wife’s family and with colleagues, I have been searching for a decent textbook for a long time. I started with Kazakh Language Made Easy by Iraida Kubayeva, which is notable for having been written in English and Russian. However, like many textbooks produced in the CIS, it isn’t well organized. You can pick up some useful words quite quickly and get a good sense of the grammar system but there doesn’t seem to be a system to learning. After a grammar explanation they give you an exercise that has exceptions which weren’t covered in the explanation. You are given 15 words to memorize and then a dialogue with 20 different new words and then an exercise with another 10 brand new words meaning 1) you have to have your dictionary close and 2) you never really practice with any of the vocabulary. Nor is there any visibly logical progression. You do verb tenses for the third person and then the next chapter is on how to say Hello. You don’t encounter verb tenses again for several chapters.

What it is strong on is, as I said, getting an overall sense of what the cases are and how endings work plus good useful vocabulary. Plus it has great explanations of why the months are named the way they are, and a lot of really interesting cultural notes and readings from history.

Then I bought Kazakh Language for All by A. Bekturova and Sh. Bektuorv which is considered to be a classic text. It’s in Russian which limited me because I don’t know a lot of grammatical terms in Russian but it wasn’t too hard. Unfortunately, while the lesson plans are much more logical and it goes very slowly, it also has a tendency to throw 50 words at you to memorize, words that have no relation to each other and then give you an exercise with 10 new words. It also comes with a small dictionary, but not all the words in the exercises are in the dictionary. Some of the lessons looked pretty good with pictures and diagrams, but a lot of the lessons are also very dry “memorize” and “repeat”. So that didn’t last too long, though I now have a pretty solid grasp on the past tense.

I was given a copy of Kazakhstan: Kingdom of Three Languages part of a new series to try to teach kids Kazakh, Russian and English. It is miles a head of a lot of previous books for kids in that it has lots of big pretty pictures and a fun story about 6 friends from Kazakhstan, Russia, and the UK who try to learn to talk to each other. It even has songs in all three languages and some games! Really good for basic vocab like parts of the body, colors, and every day speech ‘How are you?’ ‘I am going to school’ and so on. Unfortunately, once again, badly organized. There are about 4 exercises throughout the first chapter where you make dialogues of the “Hi, my name is Azamat, what is yours?” variety. But it introduces “Good morning” “Good evening” and other phrases without any exercises to reinforce them.

I had pretty much given up on self-study, and was hunting for a tutor who at least spoke some English to make it easier, when I found a really good textbook, Kazakh Tili by Kanat Ibragimov (Almaty:KAZakparat, 2004 ISBN 9965-643-54-7). It goes slow, it has logical explanations and the exercises actually cover the material in the explanations and they cover all of it. When you learn new vocab, you are expected to use that vocab and they don’t throw tons of new words at you. Finally I know when to use “min”, “bin” and “pin” for first person predicates! Before I knew that there were these three options and it had something to do with the letters but this book actually explains in a nice easy to use chart, rather than just asking you to memorize example after example. Unfortunately, these books were donated to my friend so I have no idea where to buy them.

So just a product recommendation for anyone interested in learning Kazakh, although since one man’s trash is another man’s treasure maybe the other books I mentioned will work well for you. Also, if any readers have recommendations let me know. You can also check out some of Amazon.com’s offerings and if you pick them up by clicking on the link below, I get some bucks out of it (None of the books I list here are on Amazon).

English Advantage has an interesting post up about an article that appeared recently in Businesswomen.kz. There’s a discussion on whether or not Kazakhstan should adopt the “student-as-consumer” model of education that is gaining popularity in the West, but not among professors and teaching staff! It leads to the question of whether Kazakhstan should adopt everything and anything from the West or pick and choose.

Among reforms that are in place or being implemented now, obviously the move to the 12-year system was quite logical (Students in Kazakhstan currently study for 11 years in basic school, whereas in the US and Europe they study for 12 years) to make it easier for foreign universities to accept Kazakhstan students. Realigning higher education degrees to the bachelors-masters-doctorate division also allows for more international acceptance of students, scholars and professionals. Kazakhstan, like Russia, has additional degrees like specialist (5-year undergraduate study) and there is a difference between a doctorate and an aspirant or candidate of science that I have never been able to grasp.

Moving to the credit system is also not a bad idea for the same reason, namely international acceptance, although it was implemented in some places by just copying the West. For example, in the US professors have set office hours where students can come if they have a problem or a question. In the UK, students meet individually with professors to work on a project for the class. In Kazakhstan some universities seem to have forced students to basically spend the whole day at school, meeting with professors. As opposed to voluntarily letting those students come if they need extra help. Nonetheless, hopefully once the habit of consulting with professors and working independently is instilled, maybe universities will no longer feel the need to make them mandatory.

So, gentle readers, how do you feel about adopting Western models in Kazakhstan? Any reforms you see as useless? Any reforms you would like to see happen?