5 Unexpected things I learnt from being a foreigner in Almaty.
February 2016, Almaty. By a French student currently in Almaty for one semester in Kimep University ; spending five eventful months to discover and get suprised and amused by cultural differences and unusual things from a foreigner’s perspective. ONE. Kazakh Poker face Do not worry or be offended if someone keeps punctuating one’s speech with a « mmh mmh » while you are talking to him or her, it is not that he doesn’t care or that you are getting on his nerves, it is simply his own particular way of noding… Okay, I have to admit I miss smiles and joyfull faces sometimes in the streets or while doing (the) shopping, since I have been accustomed to this whole « smiling-and-overwhelmed by Marketing » western society, but actually these are just two extrem, opposite behaviours. Therefore that…