Arriving in Zhezkazgan on the morning of November 9th, I was met at the train station by Laura, the Kaz-21 in Zhezkazgan, who on the car ride to her apartment informed me that "you have the best situation in the Peace Corps." If she meant in Kazakhstan then I think she's absolutely correct. But given how many sites are scattered around the world at latitudes closer to the equator than 47°, there must be at least one where the situation is better. Or at the very least where the sun rises earlier.

I am assigned to Zhezkazgan Humanitarian College, but since there is another college here that has the same name, most people call it the Ped (pedagogical) College. This is for the best, as there are a number of English words that aren't quite cognates with Russian that HCNs (Host Country Nationals) insist on using, and both humanitarian and college fall into this category. We don't have the equivalent of Kazakh colleges in my experience in America, although a trade school probably comes pretty close. College starts after 9th grade here, and though I have yet to fully understand who chooses to go to college, and who chooses to stay in school through 11th grade, so far my understanding is that the weaker students go on to colleges. And they're teaching languages to future teachers, not how to be Mahatma Gandhi, so perhaps Zhezkazgan Humanities and Pedagogy Trade School would be a more precise translation.

Being a pedagogical institute, in a country where many people hold the view that teaching, nursing, and administrative assisting are the only suitable jobs for women, means that 95% of the students are female. I'm not the best reader of human emotions, but I am seeing a lot of what I think social scientists call "googly eyes" among the young ladies. I'm assuming it means they're amazed at my near-native level ability to communicate in God's language: English.

The students range in age from 15-20, and naturally vary greatly in maturity and English level. Unlike at American schools, one group of students takes all of their classes together, which means there is no opportunity to place more advanced students in more advanced classes. Unfortunately, this leads to more unequal levels among the students because the local teachers rarely ask weak students to participate in class. Thus, one or two strong students will dominate the class, soak up all of the limited time that the local teachers allocate for student speaking, and leave the rest of the class in the dust. Luckily for me, I'm teaching a first year class, so I have the opportunity to nip that in the bud. Among the older students, it means that there are a few students in each class with whom I'm actually able to talk about things that interest me (meaning of life type stuff) rather than what kind of fruits they like to eat.

All in all, it's a great situation indeed. And Olessya, if you're making good on your threat to read this, thank you!