About Astana
Firstly I came to Astana in the middle of the 2000s. Then I was here several times on work, and at the end of 2015 I came here as an ambassador. I had a feeling that I was in some kind of computer game, like SimCity, where a gamer clicked a button and the buildings grew. Now I see a completely different city.
My government appointed me as an Ambassador in Kazakhstan. This was a great responsibility, since Kazakhstan is a very important country for Israel. Moreover, I have a great sympathy for Kazakhstan, which is constantly improving.
Besides Astana, I often go to Almaty, once was in Shymkent. While in Astana it was -20, in Shymkent was +20. Amazing! I was there only for a day, but I will definitely go back there again.
I like restaurants of Kazakh cuisine in Astana. I’ve tried many dishes such as beshbarmak, bauyrsaks, kazy, manty, dessert, koumiss, shubat. Restaurants combine Kazakh cuisine with European or Asian one. That’s great!
Before coming here I tried to learn more about your culture. I really like Ermek Tursunov's films. I recently watched "Kelin", which is a very beautiful movie shot on a professional level. Films, in my opinion, reflect the national character, traditions. Also, the "Old Man" ("Shal") is a very good movie.
Previously, I worked in Moscow and London. In such huge cities there are many difficulties, which aren’t met in Astana: large number of people, giant traffic jams in particular. We can get stuck in traffic jams here too, but they are minute compared to those taking place in large cities. Everything is in a close distance, which is very convenient. It is possible to walk everywhere, especially now. Spring has come and we’d better try to be out more. Astana can be walked around, it’s not big. I don’t see reasons not to do so.
I remember an interesting incident that occurred on the first days of my stay in Astana. I went to the cinema and standing in the line to buy a ticket I came across the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan who was standing in that line too. On the one hand, nothing special happened, on the other hand, in Astana you can meet anyone. There is no such great distance as, for example, in multi-million cities, where all are separated and there is a great distance between people.
I often go to my hometown to see my family. Later I plan to move them here. The eldest son will remain in Israel with his grandparents to finish his school education. The two younger sons will come and study here. It will definitely be one of the international schools, since they studied in London, and English is their mother tongue. In addition, they know Hebrew, Russian and a little Spanish. Here, I hope, they will be able to make the Russian language fluent. I know four languages: Russian, English, Hebrew and German. I hope that I will learn Kazakh. I’m trying to learn some words, I read signs in streets.
Recently we took part in "Day of Good Deeds". This day is celebrated all over the world. In Astana there is a Youth House, where the orphans of 16-17 years old live. They have a large territory where they grow cucumbers, tomatoes. There together with the Netafim Company we installed an irrigation system. After they have ripened fruit, we’ll definitely go and try it.
There is no national discord here, at least I do not feel it. People don’t notice if you’re Kazakh, Russian or Jewish. Boundaries are completely blurred. The Jews came here in different centuries, but thousands were evacuated to Central Asia during the war. They were hosted well, and many decided to stay here. This multinational and benevolent atmosphere has been preserved in Kazakhstan. I can feel it.
I like quoting our former President Shimon Peres: "It's much easier to create something on the place where there was nothing." So here, on a territory where nothing was you’ve built a beautiful city aiming at success and future. That is the main feature of Astana. There are many good places, nice restaurants and bars here. All that is necessary is in Astana. Yesterday I returned from Almaty, where we participated in the Jazz Festival. I brought a Jazz musician. In Astana, there aren’t enough good jazz clubs. At least I haven’t found such. That's the only minus, though in general Astana is wonderful.