Moving Without Moving

As of last Saturday, I no longer live in Astana, Kazakhstan. I’m now in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan…and I didn’t even have to pack. This confusing development followed a couple of monumental events in this country:

1. A couple of weeks ago, President Nursultan Nazarbayev – the only president the country has known since independence in 1991 – “fired” the government when goals related to improved wages and standard of living were not being achieved (with some public outcry. The result was a shuffle of some ministers, with a couple being left without chairs when the music stopped.
2. Fast forward to last Tuesday, I wake up to a message that the President has resigned. At age 78, it was rumored to be coming, but was still unexpected. As per their processes, the head of the senate becomes president until the next election in 2020 (with the new leader of the governing “Nur-Otan” Party still unknown)
3. To honor his contributions to Kazakshtan, the capital city Astana was renamed “Nur-Sultan”, and every city’s main thoroughfare will also now named Nur-Sultan

Like everything over here, it seems to be go big or go home. You can't just name a bridge or a building or a park or a monument…had to rename an entire city and confuse the hell out of the rest of the world. All this happened while I was away, which led my IR team to tell me I’m not allowed to leave anymore.

My first trip back home to Saskatoon followed a few detours – total trip covering about 13,275 km. First stop was London for a couple of days of investor meetings, where Big Ben is still being restored...

 ...followed by a stop in New York for more of the same...

In both cities it was a whirlwind as it usually is, with little time to do anything…though we did wrap up just early enough for me to catch a show next door to the hotel in NY – “The Network”, with Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Malcolm in the Middle) and Tony Goldwyn (lots of credits, but I remembered him as the villain dude in "Ghost").

From there is was home for about 10 days and a much needed break. Kids did not know I was coming home, so it was a good shock with tears when I walked in Saturday afternoon! Dog was waiting with socks and ready to play with melting snow on the deck.

The timing of the trip home was great – hit my mom’s birthday, my own birthday, and several AAA hockey games, ending with the Saskatoon Stars sweeping Regina 3-0 to take the provincial title and move to regionals next week against Manitoba. 

 

 

Was also home for a final trip out to Table Mountain…which I had to clarify for my Kazakh colleagues: it’s just a valley…and the road out there looks like this (as opposed to winding switchbacks), which is much like Astana. Sorry, Nur-Sultan:

 

Back in Nur-Sultan, I was hoping to keep watching some Barys hockey – just before leaving, I got to see them win an exciting game 7 and move on to the semifinals against the Omsk Avant Garde (storied team where many big name Russians have played, and where Jagr played during the NHL lockout.

 

Anthems:

Now coached by Bob Hartley with Canadians including Talbot, Desharnais and Franson). Unfortunately, my hope of seeing some “Gagarin Cup” finals (KHL’s Stanley Cup, named for Yuri Gagarin, first human in space), were dashed with Barys losing the series 4-1 while I was away…maybe next year!

Much like Saskatoon...spring is coming in Nur-Sultan!

Happy International Women's Day!

Happy International Women's Day!

It's a huge event in Kazakhstan, starting on the 7th, where women are celebrated and let off work at lunch, with the 8th being a national holiday.

Entering the office on the 7th, there were balloon archways, every woman walking into work was serenaded with flowers and balloons, and cake was everywhere.

 

Whole company gathered from 11-12 for the men to put on a show (which was incredibly well done, including a Queen music video filmed in the office with "inside jokes", like the fact negative air pressure in the building is so great, it usually take 2-3 people to pull open the front door...words are related to Kazatomprom having the best female employees around that work tirelessly day and night).

 

Work
Couple of busy weeks - conference in North America, a couple days to see the family for the first time in a while...and the maiden annual results for the company were published!

Getting from Saskatoon to Miami was always painful, with tight Toronto connections and a half day affair. Yeah, well, Astana to Miami takes it up a level. Nothing like starting a 20+ hour trip at 3:30 am...for a 5:40 am economy flight, although I quickly found that "2 hours ahead for international flights" does not apply here. I was the only one in the airport up until 5 minutes before boarding. Was also interesting that I spent more time at the customs desk LEAVING the country (again, only one in airport) than I've ever spent at customs entering any country.

Touched down in Miami for a great first investor conference for the company, with lots of familiar faces and interest in Kazatomprom. Had a chance to drive the 4 hours through the Florida Keys to Key West for some snorkeling...

 



Good trip and Reece even somehow managed to find, enter, and win a 2-hour Friday night Fortnight tournament in the local Microsoft store!

And within days of returning to Astana...after pulling several all-nighters...first annual operating and financial review was published and in the books with a good conference call: http://www.kazatomprom.kz/en/news/kazatomprom-2018-annual-financial-results 

More on living
Finding good fruits and vegetables here is more than a challenges...some days it's impossible. My colleagues have let me know there are local secret spots for exotic fare, such as un-bruised apples that are not soft and left on the shelf for 15 days, and a head of lettuce that is still green. And it isn't expensive - it just isn't available. The entire fresh foods section at the nearby grocery store is about the size of a king sized bed, and usually half empty.

A cultural norm I'm having to get used to is constant interruption and people talking over each other. And because Russian sentences do not seem to end, being a polite Canadian leaves a person at quite a communications disadvantage. I'm not sure there's any punctuation, and I think speaking Russian fluently is a special talent, like playing a didgeridoo. You've able to constantly speak pushing air out, while somehow simultaneous breathing in through your nose, eliminating the need to take a breath. Basically, if you don't interrupt and just start talking, it's unlikely you'll be able to join the conversation.

Weather here has started to turn - like Sask, could still see a blast of winter, but it's been hanging around 0 to -10 for a while, so pretty nice out. You take your life in your hands walking anywhere though - no salt or sand. So while I should be walking from my flat to work, I usually still get a ride, which puts me from my 6th floor apartment door to my 19th floor office door in ~5 minutes...including elevator rides. I did walk to work on the weekend...here's the halfway point.

Office                                           Flat

Big game on tomorrow at 5 pm - Gagarin Cup eastern quarterfinals, Barys in game 7 vs. the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo. Game will determine who moves on to the eastern semi finals against the Yekaterinburg Motorists (who downed the Chelyabinsk Tractor 4-0 in their series). Figured out that Barys is the Kazakh mountain snow leopard, so I was trying to figure out proper translations for the others. Nope - just exactly what their names say - Torpedo (like the submarine weapon), Motorists (car plant in 1940's in that town) and the Tractors (tractor plant in the 1940's in that town). Guess the Blades should have been the Saskatoon Potash.

This post's "Food Feature" is the Uno Premium Basil Seed Drink. Remember Orbitz with the floating little balls of mystery gel in it? Like that, but the floating jelly things have a basil seek nucleus, apparently. Aside from some carbs, actually supposed to be pretty healthy...aside from the ounce of Gin I add.