Day 21: I woke up happy to have clean cloths after successfully managing the washing machine twice! I’m working until lunch at the apartment again since the office is so cold. Temperatures will be in the 60s and 70s the rest of this week, so I’m hoping tomorrow will be more comfortable.
I prepared some materials for this Fulbright Specialist project before I left Kansas City, but I’m finding I need to revise a lot now that I know the culture and research knowledge here. I ran into Jon (K-State Fulbright Scholar) and the faculty member completing his Ph.D. at University of Kentucky. Though they were finished, they were gracious to keep me company while I ate. As I’m nearing the end of my project, it is strange that I’m just getting to know people and I’m already saying goodbye.
Jon and I talked about the different Fulbright programs. For his research, it is important to be in Central Asia and he is considering trying to extend his stay. If he can’t, I encouraged him to apply for the Fulbright Specialist roster so he might come back for a short-term project in the future. He has great connections, so it would be easy for him to match to a project. He is leaving for Karakol, so I won’t see him again before I leave. He was a huge help as I adjusted, so I hope we can connect back in Kansas.
In the afternoon, I presented my third topic for the faculty workshop – grant seeking and writing. I feel challenged to make the information relevant for diverse faculty (international relations, linguistics, pedagogy, psychology, engineering, medicine, etc.). We have a lot of resources for research and writing, so I am also careful to provide information about free and easy to access information. I’m grateful to the faculty who ask questions and provide feedback. I didn’t get back to the apartment until about 6:30 and spent the rest of the evening preparing for Thursday’s student talks and the faculty workshop.
Day 22: Finally, the weather is warming! The next few days will be in the 70’s. Now that I’ve been here over three weeks, I have worn nearly everything I packed. I have one shirt I haven’t worn because it was not warm enough for the cold, and it was very wrinkled. I packed a hair straightener, though I’m not sure why since I don’t use one at home. Fortunately, it made an excellent makeshift iron! Though I’m pretty sure no one cares if my shirt is ironed, I felt better knowing it was.
Since I’m leaving soon, my next few days are busy. This morning I talked to second-, third- and a few fourth-year psychology students about scholarly writing. I wish I had taught them earlier! Because autism is familiar to them, my examples were easy for them to grasp.
Also, psychology students are swimmers! I had two students share information about competitive swimming pools near the university. After a quick lunch break, I taught scholarly writing to English pedagogy students in the afternoon.
The faculty did not know I was at Ala-Too until the faculty workshops, so I was glad we were able to schedule. The faculty appreciated not only what I shared about scholarly writing, but also that I was a native English speaker. Though their students are learning to teach English, faculty are not native English speakers. They have EXCELLENT English skills, so I’m impressed that they still want this for their students.
After class, one of the students asked the best question I’ve heard so far. She asked, “If you were a student in this class and could ask the speaker (me) any question, what would it be?” I didn’t have to think long. I had just talked about using peer-reviewed journal articles instead of just books to guide their writing. I told her I would ask how to get those articles ... which is another talk I’ve been giving.
After class, the teachers invited me to tea. It was such a kind gesture and tea breaks are one of the things I’ve come to love about the culture here. Unfortunately, it was a quick break as I needed to meet a faculty member to review a proposal.
The workshop this afternoon was about Teaching and Motivating Students to Conduct Research. This one was tough as I believe teachers have different strategies and skills for motivating students. I made this talk interactive by sharing what the evidence suggests and asking what teachers do. It was a good forum for learning from each other. They are a diverse and busy faculty, so I don’t think they have much time to share ideas.
After the workshop, I checked in with Dinara to be sure I was ready for the seminar the next day. I also asked for help contacting the pool. The one the two the students shared only offered three-month and one-year passes, so they were not options for me. However, Dinara found me a place where I could get a one-day visitor’s pass.
Mutarbek drove me to the flat to change quickly and then he drove me to the pool. When I got there, communication was a challenge. Though Dinara had called ahead, there were several options to use the gym, pool, or both. The person helping me kept pointing to a price of 3500 som (over $50) and I knew that was way too much to swim once.
Google translate was NO help. I don’t think it is very accurate from English to Kyrgyz. Fortunately, someone saw me struggling and helped. She studied in the United States and was fluent in English. Even after she helped me pay ($5.75), I was nearly turned away again. At this pool you must have a swim cap (I did) and “slippers” for walking on the deck.
I offered to buy some, but they only had children’s sizes they refused to sell to me. I was finally offered some plastic baggies to put over my shoes so I could enter the pool area. Once in the pool area, I still had to navigate signs I couldn’t read. I waited until someone came out of the locker room so I would know which was men’s and women’s. Then I had to figure out the signs at the end of the lanes.
I finally just jumped in the one with the least swimmers. After more than a month it was GREAT to be in the pool. This was a very difficult pool for swim training. The buoys on the lane lines were small, so the water was very rough. There were no T’s painted on the wall (only on the bottom) so it was hard to know where to turn. The walls were high, so competitive butterfly and breaststroke turns were impossible. But the backstroke flags were most challenging. They should be placed 5 meters from the wall so the swimmer knows when to turn. These were placed just a couple of feet from the wall, so I hit the wall several times. I also had to navigate kids and slower swimmers, but it was worth it.
When I got out of the pool and tried to walk to the locker room with plastic baggies on my feet, I about wiped out! The deck felt soapy and it was like skating instead of walking. I wish I could have taken a picture, because I’m sure I looked ridiculous. I will appreciate my swim routine when I get home!
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