About us
Pamela. Sean and I met in Switzerland in 2010. I was working in a finance company, and my boss was writing a book and asked me to translate it into English as he was writing it in Italian.
I did, but I said we'd still need an editor. The boss recommended a friend from New York.
Shawn. I worked as a journalist in New York. There I met an Italian from Switzerland and helped him with the editing of the website. A year and a half later, he asked me if I could come to Switzerland for a few weeks to help edit the book. I had free time and came.
Pamela. My boss is a forgetful man, so he didn't book a hotel for Sean to live when he arrived. So on the day of arrival, he settled Sean in the office. He forgot telling me about it, so on Monday, I saw in the office a guy in his pyjamas. It was fun.
What's even funnier is that I first asked Sean out on a date with my sister.
Shaun. It was more of a friendly meeting with friends. I was interested in Pamela, and luckily she was interested in me. We quickly realized this.
Pamela. Since the boss never found a place for Sean to live, ten days after our first kiss, he moved in with me. And exactly a year later we got married.
Sean. I proposed when we were in Bellagio it's a commune in Italy, near Lake Como. It's one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and I asked Pamela to marry me, and she said "Yes."
About the city
Sean. We moved to Astana a little over a year ago. When I started working in the diplomatic department, we were lucky enough to live in amazing, new places. We lived in Washington, Bangladesh and Bolivia. When it was time to move to a new place, we began to explore the country and city.
Pamela. When Sean said Astana was on the list, I was pleasantly surprised. I knew about Astana. One of my ski idols — Smirnov was born in Borovoe. I've been following him, watching his competitions. It was exciting to go to the homeland of my idol.
The first impression we were in Las Vegas, lots of lights at night
We have a wonderful apartment, the window offers an amazing view of the beautifully illuminated Pyramid, and in the park a lot of lights. The first weeks we just enjoyed the view.
Sean. I was struck by amazing weather in August and September. For a few weeks we just walked all the time, the children had fun on the playground.
Pamela. I like the feeling of security in the city. Children play on the playground, and I can watch them from the window if necessary. I grew up in a small town in Italy, and we also played in the yard, and my mother called us to dinner through the window. I never thought I could do it in the city. But in Kazakhstan, my children have the same freedom, which was in my childhood. This is a big plus.
In Kazakhstan, my children have the same freedom, which was in my childhood
Sean. Pamela cooks a lot and delicious, so we often eat at home. However, few places that we like to visit: cafe "Momo", a new place "Take eat easy", a small Korean restaurant, located in the hotel building, we love shashlik in the cafe "Real".
We like going to the Central market. Especially for berries, there the tastiest strawberries I ate.
About family
Pamela. We have two children, a boy and a girl. The eldest is a daughter, and she is seven and son is five.
Sean loves board games and passes this love to children. I love bathhouse. The love of the bathhouse is one of my great discoveries. So when I go to the bathhouse, he teaches the children board games. It has become a small tradition.
Children also love to cook, and we cook together sometimes. On weekends, for example, pancakes or toast.
Sean. In winter we all ski together. We love to travel.
Pamela. Our daughter does taekwondo, and she likes it. The son goes to preparatory school.
Sean. Children miss their grandparents, but that's the only difficulty. We often communicate on FaceTime with them, with brothers, sisters, family and friends.
The current state of mind
Pamela. Kazakhstan is a place, where I easily felt myself at home.
Sean. We will stay in Kazakhstan for three years, and it is more than we lived in previous countries.
