Day
8: Finally, I slept through the night! I think I’m finally adjusting to the
time zone 11 hours ahead of Kansas City. With a recent trip to the market, I
enjoyed some fresh bread a Kahmak, which is kind of a creamy milk/butter. If I
look it up, it’s spelled Kaymak, but the label on mine says Kahmak. Either way
it is good and pretty filling.
Today I spoke to third- and fourth-year management students about evidence-based practice and searching for
literature. After my conversations with U.S. Embassy representatives about
plagiarism, I added some information about it to my talk. Both the faculty and
students acknowledged it is a problem in Kyrgyz education.
I found this group
to be very engaged and the students provided good examples and questions. The
information about searching for literature and free databases is very well
received here. Thank you Dykes librarians for the great education you’ve been
providing OT students on this topic the last several years! It has come in
handy to share with Kyrgyz students and faculty.
During lunch we had some
interesting conversation about border control and economics. Of course, border
control is a hot topic in the U.S. right now, but smaller countries with many
border countries it is an even bigger issue.
After lunch I had the opportunity
to meet with the vice rector of research. I thought we were meeting to discuss
the talks I will give to faculty in the final week, but instead got an
incredible lesson on the education system for post-communist countries. He
earned his Ph.D. just five years after the Kyrgyz Republic gained independence from
Russia and also formerly served as a deputy in the Ministry of Education, so he
has great perspective regarding education.
I’m sure some of these numbers will
be wrong, but here is what I remember. Immediately after independence, there
were very few faculty with Ph.D. or Candidate of Science (nine I think he
said). Now higher education institutions are required to have at least 40
percent of their faculty Ph.D. or Candidate of Science trained and the
requirement will soon be 45 percent. Previously there were just 10 institutions
of higher education and seven were in Bishkek, now there are over 54 spread
across the country and several are private. All of them are monitored by the Department of Ministry and the vice rector is glad there are private
universities to introduce new educational practices.
At government
universities, the top percentage of students go free, and then others pay
anywhere from $100-$500 per year. The vice rector shared that the country
highly values education, so they study to learn, not just to get jobs. Kyrgyz
Republic gives a good amount of the budget to education, but many of the schools
are in disrepair, so much of the budget must go to building renovations. Kyrgyz
educational system includes a Bachelor’s Diploma, Master’s Diploma (more years
than US Master’s), Candidate of Science (like Ph.D.) and Doctor of Science
(described like post-doc).
Post-communist countries are moving away from this
system toward the American and European system of awarding Bachelor’s, Master’s
and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Already Kazakhstan has discontinued the
Candidate of Science program, so students come to Kyrgyzstan if they want to
study that path.
He also shared their scholarly journal which they are trying
to get indexed in Web of Science. The journal publishes articles in Russian,
Turkish and English, so I could only read one article! Every meeting gives me
new perspective for modifying my talks to better serve Ala-Too.
Later in the
day I toured the library. Several students were taking advantage of the quiet
study space. Upstairs, the books are indexed by
topic/educational program. Because students rely on books for writing their
theses, there are some that cannot leave the library and some that can only be
checked out a few hours. They have a few e-books that students can download to
flash drives from the university computer. The library has very few scholarly
journal, so I think it is good I talked about finding and accessing free
journal articles today. While the library is quite different from the resources
I’m accustomed to, I was really impressed with the section of books students
can reserve by the semester for classes. Students DO NOT pay additional fees
for books. As a parent of a new university student, I appreciate that benefit!
I
was done working and back to the apartment early enough for a walk. The stray
dogs make me nervous as I’ve seen them chase people, but I really needed to get
some fresh air. As I acclimate, my reach grows beyond my street to the
neighborhood. I am struck by the amount of construction. There are many new
apartments and some hotels being built near me, but there are also buildings
that look to be in desperate need of repair. The soon to open Mercedes Benz
dealer about a mile from where these photos were taken defines “developing
country” for me.
Friday I have no scheduled talks, so I hope to take advantage
of the good weather to go hiking and do my work Sunday when snow is expected.
After
1 week in Kyrgyzstan…
Things I Miss (besides
family and friends):
Enclosed
Showers! Every day the bathroom is soaked after I shower and doesn’t dry for
hours. I’m using rags to wipe up water every morning.
Western
toilets! I am grateful for the one in my apartment and was surprised to find a
very different toileting experience at the university. Though we have tea
often, I am careful to restrict other liquids during the work day. I’m not
ready for this experience-though it makes me think of my OT colleagues (Task
Analyze this ADL!...seriously though. I’m not sure how this works).
Hi
Speed Wi-Fi! 4G (at best) means I can click to download something, have a cup
of tea, and still return to the computer to wait for the download. After
several minutes I get an error message that the download can’t be completed.
Independence!
I underestimated how challenging it would be to rely on a driver to do
ANYTHING. I miss being able to walk or drive wherever I please.
Swimming!
Lots of eating, but no physical activity so far. Though I long for a pool, I
may get to hike this weekend which will fill my need to MOVE.
Things I’m surprised I
don’t miss:
TV-I
know the season for primetime shows has started and I don’t miss it at all.
Though there is a TV in the flat, I’m sure there is not cable so I haven’t
bothered to plug it in,
My
wardrobe-I don’t need everything in my closet. A few pairs of pants, skirts,
shoes and scarves and I can mix and match for a few more weeks. It actually
makes getting ready for the day incredibly easy.
Things I’m growing
accustomed to:
Military
training-The first day I heard the Russian sounding music calling the soldiers
to training. it was startling and I thought it might be a protest. Now I hear
it every morning and evening and it is almost a comfort. I know what time of
day it is and the soldiers will soon march past my window.
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