Kazakhstan

We will fly to Kazakhstan in September. The research Chris will be doing will last an academic year/two semesters, so we anticipate returning to the States sometime June 2009.

We are both very excited about going to Kazakhstan. Chris' family moved there when he was 14 years old and he left Kazakhstan when he entered college. So, while it will be a foreign place for me, it won't be for Chris! Although I had a few worries and fears, once we found out that Chris' application was approved they all disappeared--it just felt right. I joked to Chris' parents that Kazakhstan was a good "starter country" for their family—they have since moved to Russia—and it should be for ours too. =) [Because Chris has an international focus we hope this will be the first of many living abroad experiences for our family.]

Briefly, Kazakhstan is south of Russia, west of China, east of the Caspian Sea, and north of the other "-Stans" (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan). All of these "-Stans" (including Kazakhstan) were a part of the Soviet Union. Russian is the official language (spoken widely), though Kazakh is the state language.