A Year in Illinois

I split time between writing in this blog and writing in my own private journal. My journal is for me to record my thoughts, figure things out, and document my life. While this is obviously a public forum that I want people to read. I use this to tell stories I think might be entertaining and update people on my Peace Corps process. Its especially intended to help future applicants learn about the process and keep my family and friends informed of what I'm up to.

As I look back on Illinois, I find the desire to write about my experience in my journal and on this blog. There's still a lot of reflecting and sorting and figuring out to do that will hopefully occur soon in my journal. But I want to be able to tell my friends in the Midwest what my year with them meant to me. How it changed me. And how much I enjoyed it.

Even when I was leaving to go to Illinois, I was not sure if the decision was the right one. I had not wanted to continue school originally, and I really wanted to go straight into the Peace Corps. But over time, that position had weakened and I finally decided to do PCMI instead. What's a year? Even if Illinois was awful, I'd be home in less than 12 months. I'd never been away from the South for a long period of time and although Bloomington-Normal didn't sound like the most exciting place in the world, it sounded like something different. And if anyone knows me at all, they know how much I enjoy savoring new experiences.

So my parents and I loaded up two cars full of stuff and drove up to Normal, IL. I remember that first night there. We got off the interstate and asked the gas station where Main Street was (we were on it, but it wasn't labeled that.) And the first night there we helped some guy (who may have been our neighbor) get his car from Bloomington. That was the start to what would amount to a crazy year.

The first few months were settling in and trying to find my place in Normal. My roommates were friendly, and Steve (who had lived in the house before) made sure I felt included in the scene of the city. I focused on my classes and trying to make friends. I also started attended the awesome Newman Center on campus. I quickly found myself at home among my classmates, random social work friends, and the ISU frisbee team. This trio of groups of friends remained for the rest of the year. I do wish I had tried harder to befriend the international students in my classes though, as I'm sure they have awesome stories and interesting lives.

Classes went well for me. I had a strong background in economics and research methods as an undergrad at UGA. I also have been good at math all my life (so not necessary, but type in my name and math into google and see for yourself). So I never did find my econ classes
very difficult. And my non-econ classes were mainly reading intensive. I definitely had to study and do all the work. I don't want to make it sound like a cakewalk, but at the same time I didn't feel it was that much of a shift from what I had experienced before. Oddly enough, I found myself actually ahead much of the time, which was strange to such a seasoned procrastinator. (Although this changed second semester.) Second semester my classes were about the same. Somewhat interesting, not all that difficult. I even managed to squeeze in an extra class with Dr. Ram (Economic Development) so I had a total of five classes. It was lots of work, but manageable. Overall, I felt that I learned a fair amount. I definitely became better with econometrics and I can now read many economics papers if I put my mind to it. There are still many techniques or math (mainly when they start using Linear Algebra (I still wish I'd taken that class as an undergrad)) I don't understand, but I get the overall gist. I understand broad areas within community development, but I wish I had more practical experience in implementing them.

And in addition to knowledge, Illinois blessed me with winter. I'm a Southern boy. And although I don't have rebel flags, own guns, or even have an accent (thanks for everyone I ever met in Illinois for pointing that out to me), I do take pride in some things. Coke, Waffle House, grits, SEC football, and our climate. I'm about to leave for a country that borders Siberia. Had I gone from Georgia weather to Kazakh weather, I'd probably be nervous. But I've done a year in the Midwest, so I have at least some understanding of what winter actually means now.

I can't really complain about the winter though. I enjoyed it for the most part. Before leaving, that's really all I heard about. Winter this and winter that. Just wait for the snow. Over and over again. Being that I am a very stubborn person, I said, Winter, bring it on. I still walked to school every day. I walked to church on Sunday. I even biked on icy roads until I fell down three times and realized that there was still hard pavement underneath it. I quickly found out the secret of layering and had no real problems. I do remember the day I walked to my 8:00 am computer lab assignment and felt that it had been pretty cold. I was thinking it had been like 11 degrees or so. Nope, it had been like 5 degrees with a -13 wind chill or so. That day was cold. But I had also not had my good gloves or balaclava on. (Now maybe this is not comparable to the -40 temps of Kazakhstan and this false sense of conquering a winter is actually worse than fearing it, but that is yet to be seen). Overall though, winter came and seemed to last forever. There was a lot of snow, which I enjoyed 80% of the time. And then it was over, and I enjoyed seeing spring more than ever before in my life.

Even before I left for Illinois, I viewed my year there in a strange way. It would be one year. One and done. In and out quickly. Then off to the Peace Corps. I even declared it my bonus year. I didn't have to worry about it because whatever happened would happen, and then I would be gone. Although I wasn't sure if this labeling would discount or highlight my year in the Midwest. I felt like I had to do everything I could while I was there because that was it, but I also felt like it didn't really matter in the end because I would leave it so soon. There was also a freedom associated with this outlook. Most social fears could be eliminated by reminding myself that that was the bonus year, the year between college and PC that a lot of people spent finishing their studies, and I should just do it because I could.

But a funny thing happens when you get to make friends. You realize that there is no bonus year. Unless you count every moment as your bonus moment. The view that the time spent anywhere won't matter is bogus. But the idea of living for all its worth remains valid. In other words, I was only in Illinois for a year (or 11 months actually). But I created friendships and connections that will last a lifetime. I've had some of my friends there tell me that knowing me has made them a better person. And feeling that I can inspire people is awesome. But they should know in return that they've made me a better person.

I know people change all the time. As a former sociology student, I believe that societal setting has a huge impact on how a person acts, thinks, feels, is. And it's interesting to me how malleable people can be. Even being home now, I feel like a completely different person than when I was in Illinois. But part of that previous me lingers. And that part of me was formed primarily through my interactions with others. I am who I am today because of all the people in my life. And that most definitely includes the friends I made in Bloomington-Normal, IL.

So to everyone I met while in Illinois, thank you for the awesome year. I know I won't be back for at least 27 months, but I will try to make it back some time after that. The memories and times we shared have affected my life greatly. I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad you were all a part of it.

Leaving Illinois

Today was my last day in the state of Illinois. I'm going to start the long drive home tomorrow morning. I celebrated by running my first triathlon this morning. (www.evergreentri.com). I'll update this when I get back to Georgia, but I really did enjoy my year of grad school here in Normal. I met amazing people and had a tremendous time. Also, I'm leaving for Kaz in less than a month (anxiety and excitement abound!).

Beards and Crocs

This is a recent exchange I had with a volunteer over in Kazakhstan:

Me:
I usually am not one to care too much about fashion and such (which
the following questions will probably indicate), but I realize that I
need to make a good impression and represent the Peace Corps during my
service. Thus the following questions:

I remember reading in the welcome book that younger males in
Kazakhstan usually sport the clean-shaven look rather than facial
hair. I realize that the caveman beard I sometimes have would
definitely be unprofessional, but how would a neatly trimmed beard be
received in a work environment? Am I destined to re-acquire the habit
of shaving often?

Also, I am a big fan of my khaki crocs for when I run errands, go out,
pretty much whenever I am not trying to dress to impress. Have they
caught on yet in Kazakhstan? I realize they're probably the ugliest
shoe ever invented, but they are very convenient and comfortable.
Would I look completely out of place wearing them around?

Jeffrey:
While the majority of males don't wear beards here, I say do what you
want. There is even a facebook group about the strapping beards among
the kazakhstan volunteers. Beards might not be the most professional,
but they already will think you're weird, so why not help them out?

As for crocs, sure, bring them. People here wear really cheap foam/
rubber sandals around the house as well as around town. Bring them,
you'll fit right in, seriosuly. With a pair of old shorts and a plain
t-shirt, you'll look like any regular around town.

And just to make mention of something I recall reading somewhere in
either our welcome book or on the Kaz19 forum: shorts are definitely
permissable here in the summers and whoever said they weren't,
obviously wore a blindfold. Bring your shorts for the summer, all the
guys wear them.

_____________________________________________________________

So while I will still have to judge my specific work environment for beard-acceptance, it's reassuring that some current PCVs get along just fine with them. This brings up a good point of how much we should try to adapt. No matter what we do, we as PCVs will always be the outsider. I think more important than trying to meet the impossible task of fully assimilating is to understand and respect of the host country's values and norms.

I'm also excited about the cheap, foam/rubber sandals of Kazakhstan. Or rather, my crocs not being too out of place. Even if I get the same amount of crap for wearing them over there as I do here, I would be happy.

What is the Steppe?

So a few weeks back I finally watched Nomad: The Warrior. This is a movie set in Kazakhstan telling the story of how the Kazakh tribes united against the evil guy from somewhere else. Overall, it was not the best movie. It is billed as an action flick, but the battle and fight scenes are all pretty mundane. It was entertaining to watch in Kazakh though. And I may watch it again in order to learn some useful dialogue (e.g. "Surround them.")

One thing I did notice from the movie was the complete lack of trees in the Kazakh landscape. Honestly, there was one tree in the whole movie, and it was of course a sacred tree. This lone arbol was the place where our hero gathered to collect his thoughts and such. This began to worry me. Because I love trees. Love them. I love to look at them, walk under them, rest against them, etc. I'm surprised my favorite book as a child wasn't The Giving Tree. But in order to cope with this new fear that my future home would only have one tree, I began joking with people about the fact that there were no trees in Kazakhstan. But of course, I knew there would be. There had to be.

And then I finally googled "steppe." The steppe is what the climate/vegetation zone is for most of the country. In my mind, it was this grassy plain area with vast expanse and rolling hills. Sort of like the Midwest or something. The first result was Wikipedia and so I followed that link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppe). The first sentence says, "In physical geography, a steppe is a grassland plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes)." Without trees. It's in the definition.

Now, I have also learned that there are wild apple trees in Kazakhstan and the country is literally huge. So, yes, there will be trees there. But over the next two months, I'm going to be appreciating all of the trees around here so much more.

Coursework Complete

I officially turned in my Capstone paper and presented it last Friday. That is everything I had to do as a student here in Illinois. Now, I just have reports to send home during my service, but tests and academic papers and the like have come to an end. Because I'm going to be here for a month, then home for a month, I'm going to forego getting a job and try to coast on my savings. That also means that I am pretty much free for the next two months before leaving for the Peace Corps in mid-August. Luckily I have a foreign language to try to learn and a triathlon to train for. I don't imagine I'll have trouble keeping myself busy.

In Peace Corps news, some former volunteers have set up a Yahoo group where we can ask them questions and introduce ourselves. It's exciting to read the introductions of my fellow PCVs. I know that I probably won't be stationed near them during service, but these are the people who will be great support and friends during training and then onward for life most likely. Some of the current volunteers are also the ones whose blogs I have been following for a few months now, so it's interesting to have some form on interaction with them.

Finally, my blog was posted on the peacecorpsjournals site. I set up a counter (because I'm a big web geek) and I noticed a lot of traffic from there. So thanks for stopping by. Feel free to comment. Sorry I am not actually on any adventures yet, but I hope my reflections on some aspects of the PCMI program are helpful.

Меня зовут Michael.

I will officially be learning Russian as my language in Kazakhstan. All OCAP (which stands for Organizational and Community Assistance Program) volunteers learn Russian. And about 1/3 to 1/2 of English-teaching volunteers learn Kazakh. I am excited to know that I will be learning the more useful of the two languages in terms of possible career advancement, but sad in the sense that it would be a lot cooler to be able to speak Kazakh. Меня зовут Michael.

Hope

I just found this after typing ultimate frisbee kazakhstan into google:


Ultimate frisbeeTime: Sunday at 3:00 PM. Place: Agricultural Institute field. The field is off Furmanova between Abay and Satpaeva, across from the Fransooski Dom and the Line Brew Pub. The field cannot be seen from the street. You must walk between two apartment buildings and up a cement block stairway. Please contact James Martin, 91-32-43, or Karina, 91-65-37 for more information.