The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project -Tsybenko Oksana

Name: Tsybenko Oksana
Age: 18
Educational institution: College of new technologies
Knowledge of English: Average
Features of a food: There are no preferences
Hobby: To sing, dance, travel
Interests: music,dance,sport
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: help old people,new friends,practice English
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: club,park,Various trips
The contact information:tsybenkoksana@mail.ru

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project -Gershik Viktoria

Name: Gershik Viktoria
Age: 25
Educational institution: KAZGASA
Knowledge of English: Average
Features of a food: kosher stile
Hobby: music
Interests: music,dance
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: meet new people, help old people
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: club,park,Theatre
The contact information: imec,bictoriatruba@mail.ru

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project -Serovajskay Delina

Name: Serovajskay Delina
Age: 23
Educational institution: The Kazakh National Pedagogical University
Knowledge of English:I think I can talk in English well
Features of a food: There are no preferences
Hobby: Latino - American dances, books: historical novels, detectives
Interests: music,dance
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: To get acquainted with new people and to spend time with advantage
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: Campaign in mountains, excursions on a city, sports competitions, a disco
The contact information: ds601@mail.ru
That you wished to tell about yourselves?: I'm psychologist. Now I working also I study simultaneously. Very much I like to communicate, happen on the nature, to read books and to look cinema

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project -Grinberg Olga

Name: Grinberg Olga
Age: 20
Educational institution: JGTU Zhambylsky gumanitarno-technical university
Knowledge of English: With the dictionary
Features of a food: There are no features
Hobby: Foto
Interests: reading,animals
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: Outlook and circle of contacts expansion
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: Excursions on a city
The contact information: 87059028545
That you wished to tell about yourselves?: I go many years to the communal center and I am engaged in different mugs. I participate in the international festival. At present the psychologist the volunteer

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project -Becker Roman

Name: Becker Roman
Age: 20
Educational institution: finished CAMEK
Knowledge of English: Average
Features of a food: Kosher stile
Hobby: tennis, music
Interests: sport,tennis
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: Interest to the American life
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: There are no special preferences, the main thing that was cheerful
The contact information: 8705-702-40-08
That you wished to tell about yourselves?: I love Jews

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project - Fisenko Anna

Name:Fisenko Anna
Age:16
Educational institution: school № 7
Knowledge of English: intermedian level
Features of a food:no preference
Hobby: singing
Interests: It is sports - ball, classical and modern dances
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: Possibility dialogue with native speakers
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?:Excursions on a city, discos, productive leisure
The contact information: anfica92@mail.ru
That you wished to tell about yourselves?:I own musical instruments: the Guitar, a piano
Benevolent, sociable

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project - Lomega Yakov

Name: Lomega Yakov
Age: 23
Educational institution: Kazakh-Аmerican University
Knowledge of English: peprfect
Features of a food: Kosher stile
Hobby: music,to play a guitar
Interests:sport and e.t.c.
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: To help old people and to learn more about Americans
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: Observatory
The contact information: cronosdeg@rambler.ru
That you wished to tell about yourselves?: I like to joke

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project - Alexanin Vladimir

Name: Alexanin Vladimir
Age: 24
Educational institution: CSV
Knowledge of English: good
Features of a food: kosher
Hobby: vocal,tourism
Interests: music,сulture of ancient Egypt, linguistics
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: Useful dialogue, improvement possession of the English language, new acquaintances
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: Productive leisure, exhibitions, campaigns, discos, round tables
The contact information: alexaninv@gmail.com
That you wished to tell about yourselves?: Sociable, cheerful, creative.

The questionnaire of the participant of the Amerikansko-Kazakhstan project -Kozeritsky Roman

Name: Kozeritsky Roman
Age: 27
Educational institution: KazNPU
Knowledge of English: average
Features of a food:no preference,but a lot of meat
Hobby: cars
Interests:music, sport
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?: to help old people
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?: A lot of intresting meetings
The contact information: roman_ko@mail.ru

The questionnaire for Amerikansko of the Kazakhstan project, Osinina Dmitry

Name:Osinina Dmitry
Age:23
Educational institution:Аmericen University Washington D.C.
Knowledge of English:perfect
Features of a food:no preference
Hobby:rowing.parties cars.camping
Interests:music.finance
That expect from the project? What put the purposes?:meet new people
As though it would be desirable to spend a free time?:I've seen everything in Almaty. but in a free time I just want to hang out with people
The contact information:DO3981@AMERICAN.EDU
That you wished to tell about yourselves?:that's it for now

Bringing Greenwich Village (pronounced Gren-Itch) to Kazakhstan

Привет!!!

To introduce myself, my name is Alex Tepper and I am studying screenwriting at NYU. I am 20 years old and am beyond excited to get to Kazakhstan and meet you all. We have already had a meeting with Mr. Alexander Baron, who told us about your beautiful and fascinating country, which has only increased my eagerness to land in Almaty. As an aspiring filmmaker, I have decided to film the entirety of our experience to craft a documentary on our culture swap, both Jewish and American/Kazakhstani. Any and ALL stories you guys want to share with us for the documentary are very welcome.

To give you a small taste of what NYU is like, here are some videos:

1.



"Let the Beat Build" - Nyle

This song was recorded live in one single take at NYU's very own recording studio.


2.



"Time to Pretend" - MGMT

This band has become very popular out of Brookyln, a burrow of New York City where the "hipster" population lives. We'll attempt to explain that phenomenon when we arrive as it is a big part of New York and NYU's culture.


3.



This is a random video I found from Washington Square Park which is our campus. Washington Square holds a very important place in the culture of Greenwich Village and New York City as people constantly gather and play music, rally for causes, or just enjoy the scenery. In the 1960's, it was a cornerstone for the budding bohemia culture responding to an unwanted war with Vietnam. Most all classes and NYU buildings surround the park.


I look forward to sharing more with you over the next few months and then of course when we arrive. My greatest hope is that while we bring some Greenwich Village to Kazakhstan, we can bring some Kazakhstan back with us to NYU.

Some questions:

1. What's your favorite type of music?
2. What do you want to do for a living when you grow up?
3. Do you have any interest in one day visiting New York and the United States?

До встречи!!!,

Alex

Oh and if you are interested in seeing some of what I do, I have some music posted at www.myspace.com/tepper. The music is a bit old, but gets the point across of what I like to do here.

New School, New Crew: Meet the Kids of NYU

As summertime is soon to make its long-over due appearance once again, so too will a new group of students make their way to Kazakhstan this August. However, this summer students from New York University will be following in the footsteps of the Tufts University students before them. We hope to build upon the friendships and initiatives begun by Tufts and further expand these relations into a greater web of learning, engagement and appreciation.

With that being said, I’d like to introduce myself and the other NYU students who are about to “rock” Kazakhstan! My name’s Lindsay Firestone and I will be the NYU/JDC student coordinator for the trip. As a student studying Politics and Comparative Literature, I could not be more thrilled to be participating in this experience as I know this trip will afford us the opportunity to understand a country and its people beyond what the world news and media has to say. We have a wonderfully diverse group of NYU students—writers, sternies (as we call our business students), science buffs, and of course many artists and musicians (‘cause if we didn’t, we would hardly be giving you a taste of how eclectic NYU students really are!). Furthermore, we come from all over the country, have a wide range of Jewish backgrounds, and speak a variety of languages—you’ll have to forgive us though, our Russian is quite limited—and we cannot wait to meet all of you!

To our summer in Kazakhstan!

PS. Over the coming weeks a few NYU students will be sharing their stories with you and describing what led them to their decision to join us in this exciting experience. So keep checking in!

Our Connections Continue

Greetings from Tufts Hillel!

Even though our Kazakhstan group has been back in the United States for over 4 months our connections with our peers and the Jewish community in Kazakhstan continues.

We just compiled 25 Chanukah Kits for the Jewish community in Kazakhstan and will be sending them to our peers in Almaty. And the Tufts Hillel group also curated a photo exhibit called, "BEYOND BORAT: A Photographic Experience Through Jewish Kazakhstan." This exhibit was on view at Hillel during Kazakhstan Shabbat and for Family weekend at Tufts. Our photo gallery can now be seen online at www.tuftshillel.org/jewishkazakhstan.htm.

We just wanted to update you on some of the follow up activities that we were doing.

All the best,

The KZ Crew

Some photos from our time in KZ

Hiking with our KZ Comrades in the Mountains of Almaty The Tufts Hillel Group in KZTouring the Hesed Center
Working at the home of a Hesed Client in KZ

Getting briefed on JDC work in Kazakhstan and other countries in Central Asia

Anna's Reflections

I'm Anna and I am a 20 year-old Kazakhstani student. For me, like for most students from Kazakhstan, this is the first time in my life I have met Americans. The first experience with native speakers, with people who have a very different way of thinking and a different perspective on life has been very interesting. There was a language barrier and at times it was difficult to communicate, but it wasn't important. We still understood each other. Celebrating Shabbat together, playing games, and working side by side to help the elderly was really interesting and very uncommon. The highlight of the meeting was not only that we could do important and necessary work, but that we could learn the culture of peace and understanding of each other. Almaty students and American students became friends and they learned to understand each other and themselves better.

I belive this event is very important for both us Kazakhstanis and the Americans. We both learned about a new culture and about the Jewish community. Everyone got something useful out of the week. I hope that this event has initiated strong friendships and that volunteer work will become a tradition in both communities. We Kazakhstanis are a very hospitable people and of course would be happy to see Americans return many times.

Для меня, как и для большинства студентов из Казахстана, эта встреча с Американскими свестниками первая в жизни. Первый опыт общения с носителями языка, c людьми абсолютно иными по образу мышления, по образу жизни. Тем интереснее эта встреча.
Не могу сказать, что языкового барьера не возникло. Лично я испытала некоторые трудности в общении, но это ни в коем случае не портило и не омрачало встречи.
Совместное празднование Шаббата, игры, работа, помощь старым и одиноким людям – все это было интересно а главное необычно. Изюминка этой встречи в том, что мы не только делаем важное и нужное дело - помогаем старикам, но и познаем культуру и внутринний мир друг друга. Алмаатинцы подружились не только с американскими студентами-волонтерами, они передружились и между собой? Стали более сплоченнее.
Я считаю, что эта встреча очень важна для обеих сторон. Учились иной культуре не только студенты, учились и руководители обеих сторон. Каждый принявший участие в этом мероприятии вынес что - то полезное для себя.
Я надеюсь что эта встречa положила начало крепкой дружбе, а волонтерская работа рябят станет доброй традицией.
Мы, казахстанацы - очень гостеприимный народ, и конечно, мы будем рады видеть американских ребят у нас в городе еще и не раз.