This is what they meant by the term, cosmopolitan.

Well people, when I can find the time or the source to get online here in Kazakhstan, this is what my homepage looks like when I do.

This is The Assembly of Kazakhstan's Nationalities and Ethnic Groups, or The Assembly of the People's of Kazakhstan. For some reason I have two names in the notes I took, so I figure I will add them both.  When we visited places I usually used my iPhone to take notes to help me remember things.  We saw  so much in a day, and it was all so new and overwhelming at times, it helped me keep my facts straight.

 I believe organizations like this are one of the keys to having a harmonious society and helps Kazakhstan's citizens strengthen national identity while preserving traditional and ethnic diversity at the same time.

This is a recreation of a wheat stalk with the flags of nationalities that make up Kazakhstan's population.  It reached from floor to ceiling. 

Above is the seal of Kazakhstan which can be found somewhere in all public buildings.

There are two dominant ethnic groups in Kazakhstan.  Ethnic Kazakhs which make up the majority of the population, and Russian.  Other groups found here include Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Germans, Chechens, Koreans and Uyghurs.  All of these groups were under Russian influence during their history at some point.  This diverse demography is in part due to Kazakhstan's central location in Asia and partly because Russia used it to send dissidents, colonists, and minority groups from its other frontiers.  From the 1930s to the 1950s, Stalin would often send people like Germans, Poles, Russian opposition or people accused of opposition, Ukrainians, and Tartars to work in Soviet labor camps in Kazakhstan.  This makes Kazakhstan one of the few places on earth where normally-disparate peoples and Germanic, Iranian, Koreans, Chechen, and Turkic groups live together in a rural setting and not as a result of modern immigration. 

Most of the population speaks Russian; only half of ethnic Kazakhs speak Kazakh fluently, although it is enjoying a renaissance. Both Kazakh and Russian languages have official status. Kazakh is now taught in all schools in Kazakhstan.  However, some schools specialize in the Kazakh language and all instruction for all subjects are spoken using it.   English is spoken minimally, but is taught in all schools to students starting at the age of 10.  Most people here are familiar with terms and phrases and those who are fluent speak impeccable English.  I noticed that even though they get instruction on a regular basis, few of Kostanay's students or adults are provided opportunities to practice English as many people we met here had never met an American before in person.   Most of the English instruction is based on British English. 

These were our lovely representatives at the Azerbaijani Representative Office.  They were a ton of fun and spoke to us at length about their culture.  Each country represented in the Assembly have close links with embassies in the home country.  Embassies send many materials to strengthen language instruction in the home country's language.  These ladies and other country offices often organize holiday festivities and invite members of the community to join them to celebrate their traditional heritage.

This young wing of the Azerbaijan Assembly was organized only a year ago thanks to the push of the President, Nursultan Nazerbayev in promoting cultural unity through celebration of cultural diversity and traditions. 

As always, we were treated well and had tea or chai as it is known here.  You can drink it with or without milk.  Kazakh tea fills your cup only halfway up as the tea is stronger, and Russian tea is a bit weaker and fills the cup to the top.  Both can be served with sugar or sometimes honey.  I have become so accustomed to drinking tea everyday that I brought a Kazakh tea set and am bringing it back with me.  I love the time they take out of their day to sit for a few moments, chat, and have tea.  My life is so full of rushing around from place to place and trying to fit everything in that the lesson in slowing down momentarily to reflect, laugh or simply sit is good for the brain and soul.

Chocolate in this country is fabulous.  I am bringing back all kinds for my son, family, friends and students to try. 

Tea in Azerbaijan is served in a cup like the one above.  This is the national shape of teacups in Azerbaijan.  It has somewhat of an hourglass shape to it.  This is for ease when holding the glass and keeps the heat of the tea.  There is a legend that says that Azerbaijan was the first to cultivate tea over 4,000 years ago.

There are over 3,000 Azerbaijani citizens of Kostanay.  We found out that mixed marriages between Azerbaijanis and Russians or Kazakhs are common.  Azerbaijan is translated as "Land of Fire" and possesses much oil.  Its capital city, Baku was referred to as "Paris of the East."  During World War II, Hitler tried to take Baku but was unsuccessful. 

This is a clay pot that is traditionally used for meat and potato dishes.

Beautiful silver works adorned this cup along with onyx. 

This is the current President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.  He was elected to office in 2003.  He was educated in Moscow, speaks English & Russian and holds a Ph.D. in history.  Before he became President, he was a college professor.  His election was refuted by many in the international community and he has been accused of human rights violations, and is largely regarded as a dictator by political analysts.  His presidency is a bit controversial to say the least and has proven to be one of the most corrupt in the world.

Here are some national Azerbaijani instruments.  Any of you that have ever had me as a teacher know how much I love a drum.  Or an accordian, or kazoo, chimes, bells, fife, or anything that makes noise.  We had some fun banging on these for a bit.

As always we posed for the official photos.  Let me say this about photographs here.  I have never in my life posed for so many.  There are thousands of photos out there in Kazakhstan of us now.  Students took a ton and everyone always took two for good measure.  Yelena always took at least two if not three.  And it made us laugh.  She was very careful to get the perfect picture.

This is the President, Nursultan Nazerbayev wtih schoolchildren dressed in traditional costumes of the countries that make up the population of Kazakhstan.

We visited the Greek delegation.

I found this in the Ukrainian office.

In many offices there were foreign language classes being held.  In the South Korean office we found Russian and Kazakh youth studying Korean on their only day off, Sunday.

This was the head of the Tartar Assembly Office.  She was a friendly woman who taught us a bit about the history of Tartars in this area.  They brought education and literacy along with Islam.  Her office is 18 years old.  She referred to her people as highly intellectual.  She finds it increasingly difficult to preserve her language due to intermarriage of younger Tartars.  Like everyone here, they are very tolerant.  Their homeland Tartarstan is in Russia but she said many people do not go there.  Life there is more expensive and they live in Kazakhstan.  There are 19,000 Tartars in Kostanay and another 35,000 spread out all over Kazakhstan.  This office helps to sponsor 18 Tartar language schools around Kazakhstan.  The government fully pays for people to be schooled in the language. 

We were introduced at the beginning of our course for Teachers for Global Classrooms Program with the term, cosmopolitan.  We were asked to define it.  The word ‘cosmopolitan’, which derives from the Greek word kosmopolitês (‘citizen of the world’), is used to describe a wide variety of important views in moral, social and political ideas. The core shared by all cosmopolitan views is the idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation, do (or at least can) belong to a single community, and that this community should be cultivated.

It dawned upon me in this office that this country was chosen by this program as the perfect example of a cosmopolitan society within its borders.  The next step for Kazakhstan as well as the rest of us I would hope would be to expand that to the original Greek meaning & translation, leading all of us to view ourselves as citizens of the world.  I think Kazakhstan is one of the leading countries in this regard based on what I have seen here.