Traditional Kazakh Children's Games

One of the biggest challenges of Expat life is finding enough reading material.  As a family we can easily get through at least 100 books a year each and I suspect many families will get through more.  When I was a child we traveled around the world with a travelling library of about 3,000 books, dropping some off at our European base and refreshing the collection each time we had a European posting.  We were the bane of the packing companies who used to refuse to pack them, it was my particular job, each move, to pack and unpack the books in their proper order.

When we moved to Kazakhstan we had a limited allowance so we only took a small library of about 400 books, mostly academic texts for work but luckily the kindle means that we are never stuck for reading.  I do sometimes visit the bookshops here though, usually to buy Russian easy readers for the children.  I rarely look at the English section of the bookshop because the imports are expensive compare to the kindle but this time I did browse and was lucky enough to find a translation of a guide to Kazakh traditions and ways.  It was written with the aim of introducing the younger generation to the traditions of their country and makes interesting reading.

During the time of the Soviet Union many Kazakh traditions were lost.  Forced collectivisation meant that the traditional way of life ended and many cultural and religious practices were banned.  The Kazakh language was also sidelined – so much so that many people have to take special lessons to learn Kazakh.  The younger generation is more fluent and there is a growing interest in reviving ancient customs.  It is for this reason that Nauruz has become such a popular festival.  The bookshops are filled with guides to ancient traditions and ‘teach yourself Kazakh’ courses but finding one translated into English is a rare treat. 

I started to read up on some traditional Kazakh games, I was amazed to read about some games that are almost identical to games played in England and Europe.  It shows how similar children are the world over. 

When I first came to England as a young child I learned a game that my friends called ‘Red Rover’.  Children form two teams and line up, holding hands in a row.  The first team calls a specific rhyme asking the other team to send a competitor over.  The player must run as fast as they can and try to break the line.  If they succeed they return with a member of the loosing team, if they fail they have to join the other team.  This game can go on for hours and is great fun.  I was amazed, on reading my new book, to find that ‘Red Rover is also a traditional Kazakh game although here it goes by the name ‘Ai Kerek’ meaning by moonlight as it was often played in the evenings.  Here in Kazakhstan it was, apparently, notable for being a game that bestowed nicknames because children would often be called to run, not by their own name, but by reference to some remarkable attribute.  The nicknames given in these games would then often stay with the children for life.

Hide and seek and blind man’s bluff are also played in Kazakhstan.  Hide and seek is called zhasyrynbak.  Here if one of the ‘hidees’ get to the goal post without being ‘found’ the seeker will lose the game.  The game was, apparently, much praised for encouraging logical thinking. Blind man’s bluff goes by the colourful name of sokyrteke meaning blind wild goat and was praised for teaching children to be careful and escape difficult situations.

Click on the picture for more posts on life in Kazakhstan.

Visit to Moscow

All too often, expats seem to feel they must return to the ‘home country’ whenever time for leave is available.  This seems to us to miss the point of living this type of life, and so we have tried, as much as possible, to avoid this trap and use our time in Kazakhstan as a springboard for travel in this and surrounding countries. 

St Basil's in the snow.

We have just returned from spending five days in Moscow.  Living as we do in an ex-soviet culture, it has been a fascinating experience to witness the similarities and differences between modern Russia and Kazakhstan.  Moscow is a very interesting city and a great place for a city break as there is so much to see. We also have some friends there that we have not seen since University so it was a good chance to catch up. Surprisingly for such a highly populated city (12 million) is also quite easy to get around once you master the (quite frankly stunning) metro; my husband found it a great opportunity to hone his understanding of Cyrillic script in a hurry and even our son enjoyed reading the names of all the stations we went through.  

The Kremlin walls looking towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

We ended up in Moscow because I had to renew my passport.  This is easier said than done because Ireland has no embassy in Kazakhstan.  Luckily the Embassy staff in Moscow were happy to witness my application and send off a photocopy for renewal, letting me have my passport back so I could return to Kazakhstan while I wait for the new one.  Terrific service and much appreciated.

GUM, a high end shopping experience

Sadly when we arrived the weather was terrible, very cold and blowing a blizzard, but thanks to our experience of central Asian winters, we came equipped to handle this.  It was highly atmospheric to view Red Square and St Basil’s in the blowing snow.  We walked through the VVTs park to look at the remains of the Soviet exhibition pavilions (now filled with tiny kiosks selling seeds and gardening equipment) and the Vostok rocket on display there.  We had to duck into a café to warm up, as even with all the cold weather gear we were finding it tough.  

The Cosmonautics Museum looming against a gray spring sky

Towards the end of the week the weather warmed up and we were able to enjoy the sunshine in Gorky Park and the superb Moscow Zoo.  The zoo is old and limited in size because of its location but for all that it does a good job.  It seems to have an impressive breeding programme, as well as the young polar bears we saw young Orangs and a baby Gorilla in evidence.  Of course many of the animals were in their indoor enclosures, eschewing the cold snow for the warmth but for some the cold weather was heaven sent and we enjoyed seeing Polar Bear cubs swimming in their pool and the Bengal and Siberian tigers padding through the snow.  

Tiger padding through the snow, Moscow Zoo

I had been to Moscow before, in 1990, and it was quite something to see how things had changed.  GUM was a dull, dreary, empty space, today it is transformed into a high end shopper’s paradise with sumptuous decorations.  I had been very disappointed, on my earlier trip, not to be able to swim in the ‘Moscow’ swimming pool, there is no chance of that now as the sumptuous Church of Christ the Saviour has been rebuilt as faithful copy of the original built to commemorate the Patriotic War of 1812.  The cathedral had been blown up in the 1930s and was to be replaced with the Palace of the Soviets.  When that did not pan out the grounds were turned into the famous swimming pool. I was also surprised at the profusion of souvenir shops and stalls, they are, however, hideously overpriced, so we went to Ismailov Market as it is not only much better value but also  very friendly and picturesque to boot.  

Ismailov Market Moscow

Many people were surprised that we had some Russian, and we got the impression most tourists struggle with this.  What really hit home was the reaction of the locals to hearing the children speak and interact with them confidently in Russian.  Even after less than two years, the fact that the kids study Russian and Kazakh at school and speak both languages regularly while out and about in Astana has led to a fluency which cannot be compared to a few hours of languages at a school in the UK.  They are not shy at all, which delighted most of the people the kids met, we have learned to reign in our traditional northern European reserve and let the kids talk away.  One woman we ran into was from Uzbekistan and was so overjoyed to hear the children speak Kazakh that she called all her colleagues over and encouraged the children to recite songs and poems and showered them with little gifts.  The warmth that most Muscovites show to children is quite heart-warming; from leaping up to give them a seat on a rush-hour metro to sharing chocolates and food on trains, the connection garnered from travelling with children cannot be overestimated.