Because Kazakhstan is a mixture of cultures, you will find yourself constantly having to make adjustments when you are building your contacts and networking. The basic requirement, however, is to know one of the local languages. And you won’t get very far in communicating with either Russian or Kazakh people unless you have at least elementary Russian in your arsenal.
Kazakhstan is a bilingual country. Russian is dominant in the larger cities such as Almaty and Astana and in the country’s northern parts, while Kazakh is prevalent in the southern and western regions and in rural areas throughout the country. Both languages are written in the Cyrillic alphabet, so you will need to learn this to be able to read signposts and shop names. Unless you are on a guided tour, you will need to know Russian to get around the country. It is Kazakhstan’s lingua franca.
Don’t assume that anyone in Kazakhstan will speak or understand English. There is very little chance of that anywhere in the country. You won’t see any signboards, menus, labels, information in museums and galleries, instructions on medicine packets, contracts, or documents written in English. So if you don’t speak Russian, you’ll need help. Some visitors go to local university cafés to find a student of English who may be willing to volunteer his or her services.
As we have seen in earlier chapters, a first-time visitor must be prepared for a different notion of personal space in Kazakhstan, as in much of the former Soviet Union. This mainly applies to standing in line. Brushing up against each other, pushing, and even giving a light punch is common behavior in long lines and on public transportation. When using an ATM machine, don’t be surprised if the person behind you stands close enough to you to be able to see your PIN and bank balance. Passersby may knock against you without a word. If, however, someone grabs your hand or puts an arm around you, this is a recogized gesture of apology.
In conversation, Kazakhstanis usually stand about an arm’s length apart. Sometimes they are closer—just a few inches—and may even be holding the hand or whispering into the ear of their companion. When an intimate subject is raised it is common to hold the companion’s elbow.
While most Kazakhstanis are physically demonstrative, better-educated people generally gesticulate less. Most of the following gestures came into the country with Russian culture.
SOME COMMON GESTURES
• Touching one’s ear. A lie. This is a nonverbal expression of a Russian saying, which translates literally as “hanging pasta on one’s ears.”
• Flicking one’s neck (vulgar). This is telling you that someone is drinking, or drunk. It may also be an invitation to have a drink.
• Crossing the arms over one’s chest. Finish, stop.
• Touching wood three times, touching one’s head instead of wood, or spitting three times. These are done to avoid the evil eye; similar to “knocking on wood” or “touching wood” in Western cultures.
• A finger to one’s temple (vulgar). This indicates “a fool” or “nonsense.”
There are impolite gestures of Russian origin that should be avoided, such as pointing your finger at a person, sticking your tongue out, or putting your thumb between your index and third finger, which is a childish or impolite expression meaning “Don’t even think about it.”
The Western “OK” sign (connecting the thumb with one’s index finger) is not widely used, but is understood. The victory sign (holding up one’s index and third finger) is generally understood as “two” rather than “victory.”
Gestures specific to Kazakh culture include putting a hand on the empty cup after drinking tea, which indicates that no more is wanted. After a meal, stroking one’s face with both hands (as after Muslim prayers) is thanking Allah for the food, but is also a signal that the person is about to leave. A respectful person avoids walking closely past an older person, as this is regarded as rude.
A smile is not considered to be necessary to politeness in Kazakhstan. It has a more intimate meaning, and is reserved for close friends and acquaintances. You won’t see smiling faces around you when you are out and about, or even when you meet a business partner for the first time, but this doesn’t mean you are not welcome. The better you know a person, the wider the smile will be.
There are clear rules about greetings between men in Kazakh culture. Men greet each other (and often say farewell) with a firm handshake. A younger person extends both hands with the palms up, and the older person holds and shakes both hands. In some parts of Kazakhstan the younger person may first put his right hand over his heart and bow slightly. A handshake followed by an embrace is common between friends and business partners. They shake right hands first and then embrace. Kazakh men don’t usually kiss each other on meeting, but Russian men do.
Women don’t normally shake hands, except in a business environment. In strictly traditional families, Kazakh women and especially daughters-in-law greet their in-laws with a bow.
Addressing a young person is very simple: use first names. In Kazakh it is also common to address a person younger than yourself as “sister” (karyndas), “brother” (baurym), or even “daughter” (kyzym) or “son” (balam). Senior people on the street and at home alike are addressed simply as “aunt” (tate, apa) or “uncle” (aga). In a friendly situation, adult Kazakh men of a similar age address each other by diminutives of first names. Russian men may also greet Kazakh friends in this way.
The formal way to address a senior Russian or Kazakh is to use the name and patronymic (the father’s name plus the suffix –ovna or –yevna for a female and –ovych or –yevich for a male). When addressing middle-aged Kazakhs, this purely Russian form of address may not be appropriate. If you are addressing an English speaker, you can use Mr. or Ms. To address a stranger, use the Russian forms of “young woman” (devushka), “young man” (paren), “woman” (jenshina), “man” (mujchina), “boy” (malchik), or “girl” (devochka).
Historically, Kazakhs had a rich verbal culture, and jokes were part of it. Kazakh humor today can range from sophisticated satire to teasing, telling jokes, and simply having a good laugh. Centuries ago the best jokes mocked ignorant fools, both rich and poor, and it is not dissimilar today. Legendary folk characters such as Aldar Kose and Hodja (Molla) Nasreddin, who are famous all across Central Asia, remain popular alongside present-day characters such as the traffic police officer Tengebay (tenge means money, and bay means lord), from the TV comedy show Nasha Kzasha, and the omnipresent Soviet-era Kazakh who is hilariously boastful, ridiculously ambitious, and yet a character you can’t help loving. The latter may sound like the English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s infamous creation Borat Sagdiyev, but Borat is the most hated comic character in Kazakhstan, for obvious reasons. The Kazakh Everyman is more like the one in the following old Soviet-era joke that still goes around. Strictly speaking, Kazakhstani humor serves two different audiences—Kazakh speakers and Russian speakers. Tamasha is the most popular comic sketch show in Kazakh, followed keenly by families all across the country. The humor is simple and straightforward, with lots of parody, but is not without its charm, tackling, at times, the most acute issues of everyday life. Baurzhan Show is another Kazakh favorite, a creation of the former Tamasha star Baurzhan Ibragimov, who established his own comedy theater in the early 1990s. From more recent TV shows there is a comic sketch called Azil-Studio, which features a light and humorous take on everyday situations.
The Kazakh Everyman
Three men—an American, a Russian, and a Kazakh—returned from a space mission on the Moon. “What was the aim of your mission?” a journalist asked. “To see whether we can build a space station there,” said the American. “To see whether we can propagate Communist ideas,” answered the Russian. “What about you?” the journalist asked the Kazakh, who looked as if he were the most important member of the crew. “Oh,” said the Kazakh, appearing suddenly humble and embarrassed, “I was sure I’d meet a relative of mine up there”.
Kazakhstani-made TV programs in Russian have the daunting task of rivaling Russian shows that are very popular with local audiences, and very few succeed. The best-known local TV program, Nasha Kzasha (a Kazakh version of the British parody show Little Britain), in its early seasons was an exception that conquered viewers’ hearts and minds with its hilarious sketches on local culture and norms.
There is a mix of private and state-owned TV and radio companies. At the nationwide level there are eleven TV and five radio stations. Forty more TV channels and more than thirty-five radio stations broadcast at the local level. There are also a number of cable TV channels.
TV is the nation’s main source of news and its favorite media form, with “made in Russia” content most popular with the masses. Turkish and South Korean soap operas bring big viewing figures to local stations. Programs made in Kazakhstan and in the Kazakh language are gradually gaining favor, supported by government funding. Current affairs and political programs rarely demonstrate exemplary journalism, due to tight state control, self-censorship, and low ethical standards, but the entertainment side of TV has taken off.
The local music industry is in the early stages of development, and thus foreign music (European, US, and Russian) dominates airtime on the radio. The most popular radio stations in Kazakhstan are Retro FM, Radio NS, and Russkoe Radio-Eurasia. There is also the recently opened Classical FM station. The younger generation prefers stations like Energy FM, specializing in electronic music.
There are a large number of print media outlets—nearly two thousand newspapers and periodicals, around 85 percent of which are privately owned. Kazakh officials mention this every now and then as a demonstration of freedom of speech in the country, but most of the publications have dismal circulation figures and are printed on an irregular basis. Newspapers and magazines that make an impact are few, and are under constant scrutiny by the authorities, if not actually directly controlled by them. The biggest newspapers (in descending order of circulation) are Karavan, Vremya, Liter, Novoe Pokolenie, Express K, and Respublika Kz.
Delivering high-quality Internet in a country the size of Kazakhstan is a major challenge, though it is gradually becoming more generally available. The Internet has given new opportunities to those critical of the authorities and has enabled many independent newspapers to go online. However, this new form of freedom of speech was tamed a little when media legislation was amended to curtail the activity of independent bloggers.
The landline telephone services in Kazakhstan are accessible, reliable, and cheap. The leading service provider is the state-owned Kazakhtelecom. In-city fixed-line calls are free to another fixed-line phone. A charge of roughly 10 tenge (7 cents) per minute is applied for intercity calls within Kazakhstan.
To make an intercity call, first dial 8, wait for the tone, and then dial the city code and the number.
To make an international call, first dial 8, then 10. International calls are more expensive, costing roughly 2 US dollars per minute, though you can also buy phone cards to make cheaper international calls.
It is almost impossible to find public telephones in Kazakhstan, so it is much easier to buy a cell phone. Cell phones have gradually become the normal means of communication. The major operators are GSM-Kazakhstan (K’Cell, Activ), KarTel (Beeline), Altel (Pathword, Dalacom), and MTS (Tele 2). Most use the GSM 900/1800 standards, though Altel uses the CDMA2000-1X standard.
Cell phone services are expensive compared to European markets. A minute of outgoing talk costs up to 22 US cents, though incoming calls are free. Another advantage of cell phone services in Kazakhstan is that you can easily buy and load your GSM phones with a “pay as you go” SIM card.
3G and GPRS connections are available, and there is free Wi-Fi in cafés and public places in Almaty and Astana. However, elsewhere both the availability and speed of Wi-Fi connections may be less satisfactory. There are plans to introduce 4G and LTE technologies in Kazakhstan by 2015. Broadband Internet is provided by many operators, including Kazakhtelecom (Megaline or IDnet), Alma TV, and Beeline.
Mail services are represented by the state KazPost and private services such as DHL and Ponyexpress. If you are sending a package to an address in Kazakhstan or abroad, DHL is a reliable though expensive option. National post is cheaper but less secure. An even cheaper, unofficial, but more reliable option is to send mail or packages to another city by train in the care of the conductors. You simply go to the train station at the time the right train is due, choose one conductor among the many who accompany the carriages, give him written instructions along with the package, and ask the price, which is likely to be 1,000 to 3,000 tenge. Then you will need to give the recipient the details so that he or she can personally collect the package from the conductor, in his wagon, at the end of the journey.
Kazakhstan is blessed with natural resources. Its economic future looks bright and the country is open for business and receptive to foreign visitors. Most of its treasures—oil, gas, mineral resources, and archeological riches—are under the surface. The great Kazakh Steppe, which dominates the landscape, although seemingly empty, has rivers, lakes, hills, forests, and interesting wildlife. But what makes the country special is its strong, open people. They have a unique history of social and political tolerance and adaptability, are heirs to a clan-based nomadic culture that cherishes ancestry and lineage, and are immediately responsive and generous toward anyone in need of help.
We hope that Culture Smart! Kazakhstan will enable you to see things through Kazakh eyes, and to enjoy your visit to its fullest. Take time to meet the people halfway, and you’ll soon join the ranks of appreciative travelers to this remarkable country.
