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!