- Started with an east coast investor relations trip - Washington, Baltimore, New York and Toronto;
- Followed by a couple weeks at home in Saskatoon, which included a few days at Camp Kadesh for "Grade 8" camp and farewell;
- Then a week back at work in Nur-Sultan;
- Leading to a week with the family in Paris; and
- Ending with a week in Nur-Sultan with the family (including a side trip to Lake Borovoe up nearer to the Russian border).
In total, June's kilometres totaled just shy of once around the circumference of the earth - about 37,000 km in the air, 600 km by car, and 250 km by train! Adding in the family at about 26,000 km each for their round-trips, and assuming the Koses each ran a portion of a triathlon (big assumption for me after eating meat and pastries for 2 weeks), we went around the world almost 3 times. So THAT's where June went!
Be warned that this post is more of a family trip journal than "Kazakhstan life experience" - and with nearly 3,000 photos added to the family Google Photo stream this month, I'll have to be selective.
1) Work - uneventful...
2) Home - a lot more action:
Reece finished grade 8 and now moves on to high school! The year ended with a traditional grade 8 camping trip, and while they don't usually bring along parent chaperones...they made an exception for me. May have had something to do with a dad living 8,500 km from his kids, and only home for the week of the camp.
Got to have a fun couple of days with an awesome son who isn't too embarrassed to give me a hug in front of his buddies. We returned to the city for his grade 8 farewell event - and this handsome dude is going to knock em' dead in high school...
It was bittersweet to move on, happy to get out of the junior school, but sad to leave some people he's been in school with since the start!!!
Got to watch some Kokpar - a central Asian sport in which horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat carcass in a goal. Here, they stripped off their shirts and wrestled on horseback. No idea if it was related to the game in any way - I assumed there had been some whipping behind the play and it was like a hockey fight (back when the jersey pull wasn't outlawed). Might have to start up a league when I get home.
4) Paris: Paris was awesome, and it was truly special to take the kids (small payback for dad disappearing...). Mollie wanted to come, but she was undoubtedly happier at the lake with grandma and grandpa than in a cargo hold for 20+ hours.
Ended up in a great hotel with an awesome view...
We made a point of taking family selfies everywhere like a bunch of tools...
Happy times throughout - aside from the picture with Notre Dame Cathedral in the background, where everyone was visible distraught at not getting to go inside.
And what's a post without food - macrons, Steak Frites, and Reece taking on a pretty sweet Chateaubriand steak.
And of course, kids drinking wine since we were in France.
Couldn't NOT take the Paris photos everyone on Instagram has already taken...
We ended that leg of the trip with a couple days in EuroDisney since it's clear we won't make it back to Disney World anytime soon.
5) And it was off to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, to see just how hard life was for dad. If that was the goal, it was a miserable failure...arrived at the flat and started touring (as much as possible, since everyone was pretty "museumed" out), with everyone quickly appreciating that Kazakhstan is massively underrated.
And of course - food as always. Similar to my experience upon arrival, the family was fearing they wouldn't like the food, but quickly found that the diverse cuisine in Kazakhstan is much, MUCH better than our selection and flavors in Canada (or North America), at far more reasonable prices. Kim's highlight was the Ukrainian (with unbelievable lentil borscht and varenyky (Pirogies)) while Haylee was a fan of the Shashlik (12-hour marinated shishkabobs) and intricate deserts (as I knew she would be).
Reece was the hero, trying everything from a local burger (gloves always provided since there's so much hand-shaking here), and an incredibly tender horse steak. The best by far was the Georgian dishes - Khachipuri bread cheese-boat thing and the most flavourful steaks and brisket you've ever imagined. It left Reece saying "let's never go to Boston Pizza again and start trying food from other cultures in Saskatoon" Amen to that.
Interesting while riding that Ferris wheel we looked down at the go-kart track and saw:
And what's a visit to Kazakhstan without a 4 am Karaoke night with a couple of locals!
On the way out, we stopped by the original home and monument to 17th century leader Abylai khan, taking the opportunity for a close encounter with some Golden Eagle hunters!
Pretty incredible couple of weeks and a very sad parting at Nazarbayev International Airport. Back to work for mom and dad while the kids move on to the summer off and with grandparents at the lake and to Penticton.
On the bright side...Trump decided against trade actions for the US uranium market. With an unknown timeline for the next family visit, I'll have to take the positive developments where I can! Thanks Mr. Trump.
Be warned that this post is more of a family trip journal than "Kazakhstan life experience" - and with nearly 3,000 photos added to the family Google Photo stream this month, I'll have to be selective.
1) Work - uneventful...
Washington:
New York:
Toronto:
Reece finished grade 8 and now moves on to high school! The year ended with a traditional grade 8 camping trip, and while they don't usually bring along parent chaperones...they made an exception for me. May have had something to do with a dad living 8,500 km from his kids, and only home for the week of the camp.
Got to have a fun couple of days with an awesome son who isn't too embarrassed to give me a hug in front of his buddies. We returned to the city for his grade 8 farewell event - and this handsome dude is going to knock em' dead in high school...
It was bittersweet to move on, happy to get out of the junior school, but sad to leave some people he's been in school with since the start!!!
But now, on to high school with big sister (who also started learning to drive while I was away...)!
3) Week back working in Nur-Sultan was uneventful, aside from a culture fest next door to my building.
Got to watch some Kokpar - a central Asian sport in which horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat carcass in a goal. Here, they stripped off their shirts and wrestled on horseback. No idea if it was related to the game in any way - I assumed there had been some whipping behind the play and it was like a hockey fight (back when the jersey pull wasn't outlawed). Might have to start up a league when I get home.
4) Paris: Paris was awesome, and it was truly special to take the kids (small payback for dad disappearing...). Mollie wanted to come, but she was undoubtedly happier at the lake with grandma and grandpa than in a cargo hold for 20+ hours.
Ended up in a great hotel with an awesome view...
And of course toured, visited, walked and toured some more.
We made a point of taking family selfies everywhere like a bunch of tools...
Renting scooters every day was a definite highlight, and it was nice to be away from friends and video games and distractions!
And what's a post without food - macrons, Steak Frites, and Reece taking on a pretty sweet Chateaubriand steak.
And of course, kids drinking wine since we were in France.
We ended that leg of the trip with a couple days in EuroDisney since it's clear we won't make it back to Disney World anytime soon.
5) And it was off to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, to see just how hard life was for dad. If that was the goal, it was a miserable failure...arrived at the flat and started touring (as much as possible, since everyone was pretty "museumed" out), with everyone quickly appreciating that Kazakhstan is massively underrated.
And of course - food as always. Similar to my experience upon arrival, the family was fearing they wouldn't like the food, but quickly found that the diverse cuisine in Kazakhstan is much, MUCH better than our selection and flavors in Canada (or North America), at far more reasonable prices. Kim's highlight was the Ukrainian (with unbelievable lentil borscht and varenyky (Pirogies)) while Haylee was a fan of the Shashlik (12-hour marinated shishkabobs) and intricate deserts (as I knew she would be).
Reece was the hero, trying everything from a local burger (gloves always provided since there's so much hand-shaking here), and an incredibly tender horse steak. The best by far was the Georgian dishes - Khachipuri bread cheese-boat thing and the most flavourful steaks and brisket you've ever imagined. It left Reece saying "let's never go to Boston Pizza again and start trying food from other cultures in Saskatoon" Amen to that.
It was awesome to show them the city - from the Expo Death Star, to the Nur-Sultan eye, Even some mall skating so Haylee could keep up her training. They tried to offer figure skates, but she somehow communicated "no! hockey only!"
Interesting while riding that Ferris wheel we looked down at the go-kart track and saw:
- a car hit the wall and have to hop out and pull themselves out (no track person help)
- a car run out of gas
- a tire fly off a kart, requiring a three-wheel limp back to the pits
Much to mom's chagrin, 5 minutes later, the kids were off to the races (without any of those pesky waivers or safety demos). Reece kicked ass with his video game driving experience leaving an upset Kazakh driver in his wake.
And what's a visit to Kazakhstan without a 4 am Karaoke night with a couple of locals!
Since it was peak summer weather and +30C and clear every day, we took a 3-hour trip north to Borovoe to see that central and northern Kazakhstan is really just a carbon copy of Saskatchewan!
Pretty pristine - and the lake was bizarre - hundreds of people out on the water, but yet, clean and quiet. No $150,000 wakeboard boats creating chop, no seadoos or noisy toys - just paddles and peace. Kim compared it to BC back when we were kids.
On the way out, we stopped by the original home and monument to 17th century leader Abylai khan, taking the opportunity for a close encounter with some Golden Eagle hunters!
On the bright side...Trump decided against trade actions for the US uranium market. With an unknown timeline for the next family visit, I'll have to take the positive developments where I can! Thanks Mr. Trump.
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