Celebrating May, Men and Victory Days in Kazakhstan

The early days of May are full of special celebrations.  May day was, in Soviet times, a day of workers’ solidarity but today, in Kazakhstan is celebrated as a day of unity amongst nations.  The main square in front of the Pyramid Palace is closed to traffic and filled with yurts showcasing national produce and there are displays of traditional dancing and sports.

Just a few days later, on 7 May, everyone celebrates Fatherland Defender’s Day.  This day was originally instituted as, Red Army Day, a Soviet holiday commemorating the establishment of and the first mass draft into the Red Army in Petrograd and Moscow.  In Russia and many other  CIS countries it is celebrated in February. Since independence Kazakhstan has celebrated the day in May, commemorating the date when the decree forming the Kazakh armed forces was signed;  from this year it is a public holiday.

The day acts as a counterpart to International Women’s Day (8 March) and women make a particular effort to do something nice for the men in their lives - our children’s school held a party for all the male staff complete with games and competitions.  This year there was a military parade which was extensively televised, fireworks and many concerts at various venues across the city.  We visited Astana’s spectacular war memorial - Otan Korgaushylar to see families coming together – young and old, to pay their respects to the military.

Otan Korgaushylar Monument

The monument is spectacular - a central pillar supports a woman holding a bowl to symbolise peace and prosperity.  She is bracketed by two bas reliefs, one on the right shows Kazakh warriors while the one on the left shows soviet soldiers.  We celebrate the Commonwealth 11 November remembrance day at this part of the memorial.  An eternal flame sits at the front of the complex.  While there we were very privileged to have the opportunity to meet with, and talk to, a 90 year old veteran who had fought at Stalingrad as a young man.  It was humbling to talk to this man who had done so much in his youth and seen so much change in the intervening years.

People pay respects at the Otan Korgaushylar monument

Bas relief showing Kazakh warriors

Two days later we celebrate Victory day, 9 May being the day when the German’s surrendered. At the end of World War II or the Great Patriotic War as it is known here.  There are parades in cities around the country, ceremonies at the war memorials and and veterans are honoured at lunches, concerts and visits to key venues.

This spate of holidays combined with lovely spring weather lends a very festive air to the city.  In the lead up to May the city billboards are covered with photographs of veterans of World War II – 291 are registered in Astana, banners go up and the fountains are switched on.  The day has a very different feel to Remembrance Day in the UK but serves the same purpose.

Banners around the city celebrate the day of great victory.

People show their appreciation in many ways - one car sported this sticker '

Added to Amanda Mulligan's monthly Expat Life Blog Link up - a great way to read interesting blogs about expat life from a multitude of different perspectives.

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Nauruz - A traditional Kazakh New Year Celebration

Nauruz is the Kazakh name for the month of March – it is also the name of the Kazakh New Year and spring festival.  This is a traditional festival now celebrated across central Asia.  During the Soviet years Nauruz was not celebrated but, since independence, Kazakhstan has returned to celebrating with gusto. 

Spring is, of course, a time of new beginnings and the start of a 'new year' indeed.  In years gone by the UK celebrated New Year on Lady Day, 25 March, the remnants of this tradition can be seen with the end of the tax year being 5 April (due to the days added during the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar). 

We are actually able to to celebrate it this year as our snow is melting and our temperatures are above zero.  Last year it was well below freezing and blowing a blizzard which meant that celebrations were rather muted.  Over recent days the city has been gearing up for the celebrations.  All the women’s day decorations have stayed up and have been joined by even more flowers and banners.  Yurts have sprung up at parks and cross roads around the city as a base for special events and a light display is showing on and around the Baiterek. 

Nauruz displays around the city.

Traditional Yurt

Nauruz is celebrated on the equinox.  The children have time from school for Nauruz itself and the following week so the school celebrated the festival today.  They go to an English school, Haileybury Astana that runs the British Curriculum but has children of all nationalities in the classes.  They love their school, while most lessons are in English they also learn both Russian and Kazakh. Our son in particular is very proud of speaking Kazakh and practices every day; he takes it very seriously and will even correct our pronunciation, he has been looking forward to Nauruz for some time.

School Children Celebrate Nauruz

This morning the children all came to school in national dress, beautifully embroidered coats and hats for the men and stunning frilly dresses and tall feathered hats for the girls.  The school’s Kazakh department put on a special assembly all about Nauruz.  There were games for the children and staff – a timed wordsearch in Kazakh, a test on the ingredients for a traditional Nauruz dish Nauruz Kozhe and a game of Kaz Kouuu.  Kaz Kouu is a traditional game played on horseback (as horses would not fit in the assembly hall it was done with pretend horses Monty Python style).  The game is a race between a man and a woman – if the man wins he gets a kiss, if the woman wins she gets to beat him!  This morning the women won.  The event finished with Bata – a blessing and Shashu – a shower of sweets which is, of course, the children’s favourite part.

Traditional Kazakh homeware

In the afternoon the school held a ‘Kazakh Princess’ competition which I was invited to judge.  I was a little apprehensive about judging a ‘beauty contest’ particularly one that involved girls only rather than a joint male/female event but it was rather fun, rather reminiscent of a may queen celebration.  The older girls of 11 and 12 competed in a number of categories including crafts (they had to make their own Kazakh Hat), music, taste tests and mental dexterity.  The girls had obviously worked hard to prepare for the day and showcase their skills in front of all the children and parents. 

One of the things we love about our expat life is being able to celebrate not just our own traditions but also enjoy learning about and celebrating the traditions of our host country.  Over the next few days we will enjoy the holiday as a family and have fun exploring all the special Nauruz events in Astana.  

Nauruz Kuttuh Bolsuhn!

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Celebrating International Women's Day in Kazakhstan

Today Kazakhstan celebrates International Women’s Day.  I had not heard of this as a celebration before we came out here but it is a huge institution here with the day a designated public holiday.  The day is a combination of mother’s day and Valentine’s day but it celebrates women of all ages.

Women’s day has been celebrated since 1909 when the idea had it’s genesis in the US and it became an International day the following year after the proposal was tabled at an International Conference of Working Women.  Russia celebrated the day since 1913 and it became a popular holiday in the Soviet Union.  Today  it is an bank holiday in many countries. While it was originally a vehicle to highlight the specific problems faced by women it has morphed into a day of celebration.

The day is now an opportunity for men to show appreciation to all the women in their lives.  Because 8 March is a day off work my children’s school celebrated on 7 March.  They had various events for the day including a very sweet concert and dance display with the smallest Nursery and Reception children.  The children brought gifts in for their female teachers, these range from small tokens to quite elaborate gifts.  My husband and I had spent some time hunting out suitable presents for our children’s teachers and for his assistants.   After school the staff had a small celebration where the men put on an entertainment for the women.  It was rather amusing to watch the video – something along the lines of a Perfect Day 97 it must have taken quite some work as all the men in the school were involved, even my Husband who rarely sings.  In the evening we went to a Women’s day party at a friend’s house. 

Flowers received by one teacher at our children's school

Across the city a lot of work is put into Women’s day.  Street decorations and special flower lights are put up in the weeks leading up to the day itself and pop up stalls appear selling flowers or providing gift wrapping services and one of the big malls, the Khan Shatyr, arranged a ‘Super Mother’ contest in the main hall.

It is probably the busiest day of the year for florists shops and you see boxes and boxes of flowers being delivered from all over the world.  My local shop seeps to have a preference for flowers from Ecuador.

Special flower lights adorn the city.
It was so cold I could not get my fingers to focus the camera!

Special displays are placed around the city.

Because flowers have to be imported they are very expensive and single flowers prove a very popular gift.  One florists I walked past was selling some beautiful basket arrangements – when I looked at the price tag they were retailing for Tg35,000 or about $220.  Plants are also expensive to buy, usually costing double the price of a similar plant in Europe but at least they last longer than flowers and so are quite popular as gifts.  I did laugh when I overheard one man, he had obviously decided that flowers were a mugs game and wanted to buy a plant.  He was not quite sure he had made the right decision, however, and was asking everybody in the shop if they thought the plant was pretty and wondering whether ‘she’ would like it.  I desperately wanted to tell him that ‘she’ would be very lucky to get the plant because so much thought had gone into it but my Russian is not up to that.  I just told him it was beautiful.

Boxes of flowers flown in from Ecuador.  There were 5 times as many round the corner.

The authorities also celebrate Women’s day.  Awards and medals are given to mothers of large families and special concerts are staged across the city.  Elderly residents are often especially celebrated.  One story that particularly stuck with me was that of a lady called Nurzhamilya Kurdybaeva who celebrated her 100^th birthday on 8 March.

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