Kazakhs are cold-blooded. That is the only conclusion I can draw from my interactions with them regarding the weather and the way they dress.

During the winter my host mom was constantly admonishing me to wear my hat, put on my jacket, and don my warm winter boots. I endeavored to politely tell her that although I'm willfully ignorant of the aesthetics of how I dress, I am aware enough to dress comfortably for current meteorological conditions. When she insisted, I would put on my coat, walk outside, close the door, and immediately take it off again.

My host mom was not the only person trying to advise me about how cold I was. One time while walking to school in February, I took off my jacket because I was too hot. A nearby grandma promptly berated me in Russian. I don't understand Russian, but I assume she said "You are insane. You are going to catch a cold and die." Even without my jacket, I was still a bit warm.

We had an anthropology major in my training group who once mentioned a class she had taken where they study how the body develops differently depending on the culture. It was something I hadn't considered before, but makes perfect sense. Here, children cannot leave the house without a hat and thick winter jacket from early November until the end of March. Even if it's not cold outside and they are just going for a 10-second jaunt to the neighbor's. So you can imagine that never having been exposed to the cold, their bodies never learn to generate much heat. At least that's my amateur assessment of the situation, not having taken said class.

What really fascinates me though, is the response I got when I showed up at the college today to lesson plan wearing tennis shoes and a short sleeve shirt. (Sorry Peace Corps, I still wear a button-down and a tie when I'm teaching) My teachers looked me up and down and said "you came like that? You're crazy!" Since I'd had a stranger ask me on the street, "aren't you cold?" I figured they were surprised by the quantity rather than the quality of my clothes. I told them I was actually a little too hot, and wiped some sweat off my brow to prove it. At this point one bravely admitted that she was also uncomfortably hot in her winter boots. How does this happen? Is the societal pressure to conform to dressing norms so great that the people don't dress for summer until weeks after it has arrived? Is the fear of catching a cold from feeling the least bit chilly causing people to endure stifling heat? Does fashion dictate that women must always wear knee high leather boots?

Although they don't seem to generate as much heat as I do, I know that their annoying tendency to doubt my ability to dress warmly enough comes from a deep seated concern for my well-being, so I can say that although they may be cold-blooded, they are warm-hearted.