What do you know now that you wish you would have known prior to living in Astana?

3 Comments

1. 

   Brett M.

   June 1, 2018 at 7.13 pm

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   Hi Steven,

   Hopefully someone with some Kazakh teaching experience is able to connect with you! In the meantime, we have a couple resources I think you might find helpful (if you haven't seen these already):

   Teacher Experience: How teaching abroad (in Kazakhstan) is helping Angela succeed in the American classroom
   https://www.teachaway.com/blog/teacher-experience-how-teaching-abroad-helping-angela-succeed-american-classroom

   Teacher Q&A: How teaching abroad (in Kazakhstan) boosted Angela’s career
   https://www.teachaway.com/blog/teacher-qa-how-teaching-abroad-boosted-angelas-career

   Teaching in Kazkhstan
   https://www.teachaway.com/teach-in-kazakhstan

   All the best,
   Brett

1. 

   Stephen H.

   June 11, 2018 at 1.35 pm

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   I taught in Astana for 5 years, at Nazarbayev University, which is right next door to the new IB school in town. I have friends at the other high schools in Astana as well. My impressions, after 5 years are that the kids are fantastic, really sharp and wonderful, and very curious about the world. The schools are run by people with a kind of Soviet-style mentality that is not open to much change or innovation. They are rule followers. That said, if you can be duck like and let the heavy-handedness and way-too-many-meetings, etc slide off your back; close your doors and enjoy your classes, life there can be pretty sweet. Life outside of school is pretty good too, especially if you get in with a good group of friends who don't drink too much. There are hiking groups and lots of cultural things to do. Five years was enough for me and my wife, but we did enjoy our time there.