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Published: December 30th 2013
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The Collection
Soviet cough medicine The feeling is back...I started packing my bag 6 days before I was due to depart by land from Tashkent to the Kazakhstan border up to Shymkent. My roommate and fellow teacher here is the the type to get excited at the very last moment and looks at me strange when I tell him 6 days ahead of our departure that I'm 75% packed and 100% ready. He's been to over 130 countries and maybe has lost the travel feeling, but I on the other hand have only 15 on my resume and still get extremely excited to pack my bag well ahead of time!
I have been working as an English teacher in the neighboring "stan" since September and...well...it's .....not "my cup of tea". The students are good students, but the school is poorly managed and teachers are overworked (6 days per week and all day and night hours and national holidays in particular teachers day, you will be working) for virtually peanuts in pay which are in local currency of course and getting "hard" currency is basically "illegal" due to government regulations, but there's ways to get it..as I said the students are "good". I initially took the
job because it was a free airline ticket to "Asia" and should have known by the type of ticket that was purchased for me that it was a baaaaad sign of things to come ( 64 hours of flights and layovers from Honduras to Uzbekistan). Before I arrived I was told that my entry visa was all taken care of and simply had to pick it up inside the airport on arrival, I arrived and there was no visa waiting for me so I asked a cab driver who was lurking around if I could use his cell and call the "boss" who was waiting for me outside, so he said ok and I called and explained the situation and he told me "ohhhhhhh I sent you an email asking if you could pay the initial visa and as soon as you come out I will give the money back to you"....I was already en route and don't check emails randomly as I am in transit....One of my coworkers (we share a lovely Soviet block style apartment in the illustrious "civic center" area) and I have daily bitch-fests about the job and the REALLY ridiculous issues here which keeps us
ALL the rage...
Yup..it is what it looks like.. sane a bit, but when you sit and think about it..it's a truly bad situation to be in.
Another issue I was unaware of because of the lack of information online about this place is when you go to change the local currency back to "hard" currency you lose A LOT of value doing that because it's underground, which in-turn = peanuts. I decided to get out and get to where I originally wanted to go in Asia which is Vietnam, I got a job there so I booked my flight there from Almaty and will begin the new year in a fresh place! I am posting this information for people who are or will in the future consider coming here to either travel or teach. Information is tightly controlled to the outside and I think this "inside" information can be extremely helpful for you so use it wisely!! The blatant corruption is all around and encompasses all aspects of life, as a worker here you must get your passport stamped by the local police registering you at a physical address and the bossman took my passport for a routine stamp, which was to take 2 days max it
turned into 10 days because of the police extorting him to do their job where they got a new computer monitor and printer for their efforts of stamping and writing. It was only because of me, on the 9th day of the bullshit excuses threatening to get the US embassy involved that my passport mysteriously was given back to me the next morning. It's a crazy place that is full of great people, but VERY naive in the fact when for example bossman told me and another teacher of the computer equipment extortion I replied with a simple statement to the effect of "how do people who have businesses here make any kind of living" which he replied angrily "Business works here exactly like in the states or in Europe" LMAO!! Oh young man please don't allow yourself to appear more foolish than you already sound and look. The "boss" is a young guy mid 20's and constantly on a power trip. All of the materials for classes are locked up in his office with no access so in between the 30 minute breaks after the 30 students and walk-ins he HAS to talk with we have to go ask
for materials for our next class. He has no secretary claiming "I can't trust them" when we really know it's all about money and the no per-examination of the potential students he literally opens your door in the middle of your class and throws in more people to fill the class because the first class is free of charge in an attempt to get that free class out of the way. He will put in people to IELTS classes that have no grammar, no knowledge of English language expecting them to be intrigued enough to come back. I can go on and on believe me........
Getting on with the plan for new year!!! I first spent 2 days at the Kazak embassy trying to get my passport in to get my 5 day transit visa, I first spent about a month or so trying to find information on costs for a simple transit visa for US passport holders and got like 10 different costs from various places $30, $25, $160 etc etc....well to my horror as I finally got into the embassy with all my documents it is indeed $160 FOR A TRANSIT VISA!!! I was told for US
passport holders all visa categories are the same price tourist, business, transit etc etc $160. That was a kick in the nuts, but I was told to come back a week later and pick it up. So just FYI anyone researching this information and happen to come across my blog feel free to message me or comment and I can give you the specifics. So, I will hopefully get through the border to Kazak easier than the horror stories posted online about this border crossing and head to Shymkent until the evening and see what the ACTUAL times and costs of train tickets and bus tickets are. I would like to get a "platzkart" train ticket and enjoy an old soviet rail experience to Almaty, but we will have to see what's what when I get to shymkent. After getting to Almaty I'll try to get a bunk in one of the 3 hostels in Almaty for a night or 2 depending on the transportation to Almaty and spend New Year having a few beers and maybe some horse..Nah just kidding. Hopefully I'll get some good pics and see if mustaches are REALLY the rage!
Bye Uzbekistan..Never
returning, but thanks for the great bread! (They DO make great bread here) :-D
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A Small Swede in the Big World
Per-Olof Persson
Interesting
Was interesting to read this blog, not often you see something coming out of Uzbekistan. Very interesting indeed! Good luck on your future travels in Asia. Me and a buddy of mine will hit Moscow sometime next year, if your paths have taken you there perhaps a glass of local beer might sound right. =)