Astana, Kazakhstan

Today is a day off. We had planned two days off, but it didn't work out. So, today we head out to бурабай (Burabai), a natural park about 200 km north of the capital. The road is a smooth six-lanes and the speed limit is 140 km/hour! The President also has a house out here.

So in the car and in nature we philosophise a bit, the work being done. We talk about how culture and language is so closely related that you can't understand one without the other. That is why I love to travel here, entering a different culture and being able to understand everything around me, except when the speak in Kazak, but that isn't so often.

Also, there are some left-over's from the communist times in how people think. For instance, in Europe or America, we don't have police posts at the entry/exit points to the city. But here, they consider this absolutely normal. I was also asked if I had "registered" at the hotel or with the police when I arrived. Again, many think this is absolutely normal and unquestionable. I don't think that rule even exists anymore because I haven't expressly done it on the past few trips here.

Next discussion is about the political system in Kazakhstan. I have been able to meet President Nazarbaev a number of times and personally have a good opinion of him. Of course I don't live here, so can't really judge how things work from day to day. I just see a lot of progress and that many people seem happy and full of energy... at least in the capital. Nazerbaev has been leader for decades and that isn't usually a good sign. On the other hand, an argument can be made that a young country needs a firm hand to get things done. I am sure that corruption and worse were just as present when the United States was expanding, building railroads, heading West, killing indigenous peoples, etc.

Kazakhstan is an up and coming new frontier. The young people we met seem happy and very eager to learn and get ahead, even if they might hesitate to criticise the president. But democracy must be learned (we are still learning, correcting). Maybe it is the Chinese model of economic freedoms with political limits. I also hope the Chinese model is just part of an evolution towards greater freedoms. As people get richer, they automatically want more freedom. If you can't eat or take your children to a hospital, you don't have much time to think about democracy.

Anyway, those were the thoughts of the day.