Let's celebrate!
Post categories: Student blog
| 20:19 UK time, Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Hi everybody! I'm so pleased with all your comments! Thank you! That's also so unexpected to meet my countrymen here! More excited was to hear from Vadim from St.-Petersburg, who's Zhezkazgan-born like me!! Actually I'm trying to be in touch with all my friends from Zhezkazgan who live in different countries now.
I'm going to tell about feasts we normally celebrate in my family in a nutshell. At first, I must say that it's really complicated question what nationality I more belong to as everything became quite "mixed" - traditions, cuisines, the way of living etc. I'm just trying to take all the best things from every culture. As to celebrating, we have three New Years in a year :). On 31 December we celebrate European New Year like most of people around the world, in the middle of February - Korean, and on 22 March - Kazakh "Nauryz" as we live in Kazakhstan and really love the way it is held.
Girls are dressed in national outfits, Zhezkazgan
After celebration, Zhezkazgan
Actually, people in our country adore different sorts of events - national holidays, wedding and birthday parties. In short, as many nationalities you have in your family as many feasts you can celebrate. (If your family contained all 150 nationalities living in Kazakhstan, the celebration would never stop :))). And that's very funny, I must say!
Back to my family, we celebrate Christian Easter as my mum is half-Ukrainian. As Korean we allowed to celebrate birthday only twice in our lives: when we turn one and sixty years old. BUT! Don't worry; we do it every year like common people, though my grandfather never did. The dishes we serve during the celebration are also "mixed". For example, my dad, who as you already know is half-Korean, cooks Kazakh national dish "beshbarmack" with some alterations, he adds a lot of Korean spices and red onion.
Normal Kazakh "Beshbarmack" :) 
And vice versa my mum adds potato to Korean soup which is quite unusual, I must confess.
I promise to give more description to "Nauryz" as it's a really important and fascinating event. And I'd love to cook one of our family "mixed" dishes in my kitchen and publish a "photo-report" for you, my friends :) Oops! Have to go now as its 2 am in Almaty.
Enjoy yourself!
Yours, Marina the Pocahontas :)
Comment number 1.
At 4th Aug 2010, Shenglin wrote:Hello Marina
It's really beautiful night and girls in pictures you posed. So amazing that there are three "new year"s in your country, and you celebrate them with the same enthusiasm? I don't know the way you celebrate, and in china, we always set off fireworks, peopel clothe themselves warmly and watch the fireworks in a circle, then after that, they will go bake home to eat "JiaoZi" at about midnight, of course, i mean the lunar new year.
The dish looks very delicious, thank you for sharing such good cuisine, it remind me the food of muslem, the beef and a bowl of soup, hehe, very nice and clear.
All the best
ShengLin from China.
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Comment number 2.
At 4th Aug 2010, Ashish wrote:Hello Marina,
How lucky you are! You can celebrate New Year festival three times per year. We, in Bangladesh, celebrate it two times a year. One is on January 01, as most others do in the world. Most importantly we celebrate the one is on April 14, which we call 鈥楶ohela Boishakh鈥. It鈥檚 Bengali New Year. We have 12 moths in the year and the first one is termed 鈥楤oishakh鈥. 鈥楶ohela鈥 means the 1st. So, I think you can guess what 鈥楶ohela Boishakh鈥 means. It鈥檚 almost similar to 鈥1st January鈥. We, all over the country, have lots of fun on this occasion. As there are people from multi-religions here with different indigenous community, we celebrate the moment in different way. Honestly, celebration by the indigenous community always is full of variety. But, in most cases, the cultural events and special foods are the most common features.
It鈥檚 quite curious that you, as Korean, celebrate birthday only twice in your life. I鈥檝e never heard about such custom. Could you share why it is? Is there anything behind it?
Hope to hear from you about "Nauryz". Bye for now.
Ashish, Bangladesh.
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Comment number 3.
At 4th Aug 2010, echo wrote:I'm a Chinese. The dishes is like Chinese dish. I'd like know more about your holiday.
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Comment number 4.
At 5th Aug 2010, 蜜芽传媒_fan wrote:Hello, Pocahontas from Kazahstan!
Wow! Three celebration of New Year is more than enough! What is your favorite one? :-)
I would be so happy if I could celebrate New Year three times a year. Taking into account that I did not celebrate any New Years for a last three years it would be a good compensation. Definitly, it is a brilliant idea to celebrate New year three times!
Best regards,
蜜芽传媒_fan
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Comment number 5.
At 7th Aug 2010, Emat from Kazakhstan wrote:Hi Dear Marina,
thanks, it's great what you are writing about, I find it very interesting, especially the little fragment about Korean birthdays, but not only (though for me will be interesting any news from you). I very understand you when you write about celebrations you prefer 'feasts' to 'fests': in Kazakhstan any great celebration resembles feasts than fests because main part of the ones is exactly a special and large meal on the tables, with lots of people , even there is an expression '锌懈褉 薪邪 胁械褋褜 屑懈褉' what means 'the feast of universe' (it's not an accurate translation).
Ok, write a little more often if you can, alternate different themes, not continue same ones. Look, do you read Enayat's blogs? Do it like him: one blog - one new idea for conversation, you see, and all will be fine, don't be afraid.
Best wishes,
your brother, Emat
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Comment number 6.
At 7th Aug 2010, Krypan11 wrote:Hi Marina,
Three times in one year that's just amazing :) I'd never heard about that before. In Poland we celebrate New Year only once a year. This mean on the beginning of the year. During this event you may meet with your friends, you may take part in dance and in bigger towns are organising shows for people who wonts to listen music and after that they may admire fireworks. Generaly people are very happy and they enjoy till down.
best regards
Krzysztof
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Comment number 7.
At 20th Aug 2010, Hohhot wrote:Hey Marina! it's really a nice blog, thank you for sharing so many fascinating things. What I want to emphasize here is that I've noticed there are some YURTS in the streets in your second picture. I'm from Inner Mongolia which is a province of China, in my hometown there are also such kind of houses,but they only can be found on the areas of grassland, in the cities, all the yurts are designed for the use of restaurants and most of the time they only have the similar shape. So I would like to ask you if you have yurts in the streets? Are there people living inside? hope you could read my comments, all the best!
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Comment number 8.
At 30th Aug 2010, toleslawek wrote:hey Pocahontas
It is amazing. You must have so experience life! You are so mixed and it is great. I am really glad that you want to share your life with us. I think that if you want you would write the most true book about culture in Kazakhstan.
best wishes
toleslawek
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Comment number 9.
At 31st Aug 2010, Marina wrote:Hey guys!
Thanks a lot for commenting my blog! It's a real pleasure to read them!
Take care,
Marina
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Comment number 10.
At 17th Nov 2010, Tereza Otcova wrote:Hello Marina,
It is very interesting, that you celebrate New year three times a year. In Czech republic we celebrate New year one time and it is on 1st January as you. I were in many countries and I never heard something about celebrate New year too much , :) I think that it is really amazing. In our country we celebrate Birthday, weddings, national holidays, Christmas, Easter, saint's day and many other. You have very interesting life, if you spend so many time for celebrating, I think that this is great and I like celebrating, too. It is good blog and good photos. :) So thank you, bye bye :)
Tereza
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