Home    Views    February Views

		Points of View Lis Wilson March 5, 2002 Guest Column and Photos © 2002 Lis Wison Published with Permission

Letters from Kazakhstan

Editor's Note: Lis Wilson of Houghton -- who is teaching and studying Russian in Karaganda, Kazakhstan -- wrote to members of the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club last December, when local cross-country skiers were still waiting for the Keweenaw snow to fall. Here is her December letter, followed by a second letter written to Keweenaw Now. We regret the delay in publishing these.

From December 16, 2001, letter to Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club members:

If you guys are really desperate, you can come ski here in Kazakhstan! We've got snow :)  It's not fresh snow, but it would probably beat going back and forth on the patch of snow on Mt. Ripley!  I can also offer open-air ice skating, thanks to some majorly leaking water pipes in the neighborhood. The kids have been ice skating along the roads for weeks. Us older kids without ice skates just run and slide (always intentionally of course) :)

Lis Wilson poses in front of a Russian Orthodox Church at sunset on Christmas Eve, 2001. The church is in the  the southeast (Yugovostok) section of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where Lis is living while teaching English and studying Russian. (Photo courtesy and © 2002 Lis Wilson)

The topography here lends itself naturally to the open-style technique of skate skiing. This is a really good place to hone your technique for the flat land sprints at the end of big races -- good prep for the end of the Great Bear chase :) Yep, I'm in the middle of steppe-land. There's even a Russian word for people who live in the steppe. I'm a stepnoi :) Anyhow, if you come here to ski, you would definitely not have to do laps around short loops. In fact, you could probably go for 100s of Ks without having to turn to the right or left. If you wanted to stay closer to town, you could ski on top of the water reservoir. It's frozen. The only thing you'd have to contend with there are the ice fishermen with their big saws -- and watch out for holes! 

Oh yes, another close-to-town option is the new downhill ski slope that was supposed to open this week. They've been working overtime trying to get this project up and running. It sort of  reminds me of a kid building a sandcastle in the sandbox with big oversized trucks and diggers. I walked to the top of one of the hills last week and was shocked by the view. It was very similar to the view at the top of a mountain. When you get to the top of the mountain the sky feels really big and the land below that's hilly looks like a plain -- everything in muted colors. Who would've thought a five-minute hike up this "ski hill" could replicated a mountain view that takes 12 plus hours to achieve?!

... It's fun being on the email list hearing about the UP ski scene even though I'm out of range. I do hope you all get snow soon though!

Miss you all!  Lis Wilson

(p.s. If you didn't know, I'm over here in Central Asia teaching conversational English at a university this school year. Originally I was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, but got moved/evacuated in October when things were heating up south of us. So now I'm here where it's far from hot -- in every sense of the word hot.

(p.p.s. Oh, don't forget to pack your own skis when you come visit. I haven't seen any good ski packages at the local ski shops -- Wait, I don't think there are any ski shops here...hummmm)

January update: Everyone says it's been very unusual winter. The snow had almost all melted by the end of December. New Year's Eve it was really treacherous because of the ice. The ice covered everything -- the roads, fields, trails, steps, sidewalks -- CRAZY! This past Friday evening, we got approximately three inches of snow though, so that makes it A LOT easier to get around. One of my American friends is up to eight falls on the ice so far. I'm proud (?) to say I haven't fallen since Christmas.

January 18 Letter to Keweenaw Now:

I have lived in a Russian speaking society nearly four months. Even though it's my job to speak English, most of the people around me don't understand it. I had no real formal Russian language study before coming here. When I first came to Central Asia, I was tired just adjusting to being in a new place, so didn't put effort into studying. But now that I'm rested and healthy, I've begun my studies in earnest.

Do you remember the first book you ever read? I will always remember the first book I read in Russian. Actually, it's a work in progress. I'm still perfecting the pronunciation. There are so many sounds and movements my mouth never made before this week. After one of my English classes today, some of my students asked me how my Russian was coming. They huddled around me like parents as I read my storybook in a four-year old child's halting voice. The story is of a peasant farmer who tricks a big brown bear named Misha into planting and harvesting crops. The bear always gets the bad end of the deal. Poor bear! 

I am fortunate to have more cheerleaders than most language-learners have. From the other teachers at school to the lady who sells me sugar at the corner grocery store. I sometimes even enlist the help of fellow-passengers on the city's public transportation.

On the way to work today, I was sitting next to some guys who I think were speaking Uzbek. They looked Uzbek from the quick glace I took of them. Even though one of them had his arm around me for about fifteen minutes, I never looked him in the eye. Public transportation is awkward sometimes. As I listened to these guys speaking, I had this strange feeling about how it may be here in Central Asia in another 30 years. Central Asia is only ten years old. Just like I'm re-learning to speak, they are re-learning how to be an independent people. All this to say that I had misgivings about studying my new words in Russian as I sat in the marshutka. Is Russian really becoming obsolete here? 

Yesterday, on the way to work, I sat behind a drunk woman who was ranting, raving, sobbing and laughing in Russian. As I listened to her, I was thinking about how I'm becoming more and more responsible for my actions toward people because I'm understanding more and more of what they're saying. The burden of knowledge and the bliss of ignorance. For me, ignorance is often frustration, so I will continue to study.

As I learn more about my environment and how it "works" I feel like I'm becoming less and less American each day. No doubt that I will always be branded as an American the rest of my life; but as my heart settles in more to this life, it is more and more difficult for me to picture life in the United States. I truly miss my friends and family in the U.S. and long to see them again -- but my life is changing. Just as the wrinkles are beginning to set in my forehead and around my eyes, I ponder the aging effect this life is having on my soul.

Editor's Note: Lis Wilson is teaching conversational English at a technical university in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, through Educational Services International - ESI. She will be teaching in Kazakhstan until the end of May 2002. Readers can write to her via email at lis_wilson_2000@yahoo.com. To learn more about ESI's overseas programs see the Educational Services International Web site.

Learn more about the author of this guest column, Lis Wilson.

Visit the Keweenaw Now discussion forums to comment on this article.

Note: Views expressed by our guest columnists are not necessarily the views of Keweenaw Now.