About us
Luzia. I was born in Vienna, Austria. I moved to Switzerland after I finished my study. I worked in the hospital as a nurse there. Urs also came to Zurich to study. So we met in this city in 1980 when we both were 21.
In the hospital where I worked, I had my own group of friends I often went out for a walk with. One evening we went to a bar, where Urs was with his friends. Since there were no vacant seats in the bar, we joined their company and got acquainted. Later Urs and I exchanged phone numbers. After a while, I called him and invited him to the party that I organized with my friends.
Urs. When we met, I was a student, and she was a nurse. I moved to Zurich from the village. At that time, she rented a room in the dormitory, while I rented an apartment with my cousin, who was also a student. After six months we met, we started dating. But we got married when we were 29 years old.
I proposed to Luzia, when we both were looking for a job abroad. Once the plans began to come true, I made a marriage proposal. It was easier for us to move to another country when we were married.
Luzia. We both wanted to live abroad. My job as a nurse was not as highly paid as his one. A year after the marriage, he got a job at the UN in Mexico. So we moved there as a Swiss couple.
Urs. When you leave for another country as a married couple, you do not have any special problems with the visa. While being unmarried, you are two separate individuals who will find it more difficult to obtain a work permit or a visa. Mexico was the first country where we went as the spouses, after that we lived in Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, and the UK. In between the missions to different countries we had been living in Switzerland for a long time, and now we are here.
About Astana
Urs. Prior to coming to Astana, Budapest was the most eastern city where I had been. I had never been to Asia and in the countries of the post-Soviet space before. I was ready for surprises. I am glad that I came here.
Luzia. This part of the world was something new for us. When we found out that Urs got a job in Kazakhstan, we started looking for the information about the country in Wikipedia. We arrived in Astana at six in the morning, and it was dark. I was impressed by the lights of the city. We saw that the city was huge and looked like a city of the future designed on a computer. All these new buildings seemed unusual to us.
Urs. I think that everyone who sees the city for the first time is impressed by it. The city grew up in the steppe. It is modern and will not leave anyone indifferent. Any person has a ready picture in his head of what the cities of Central Asia or the former USSR look like. Nobody expects to see such an unusual city. I like it here. It is rare to have a chance to live in a city that is being built in front of your eyes. The city is in the process of forming its image, and it is exciting to observe.
Luzia. Our main problem here is the language barrier. We understand some phrases, but people tend to speak fast. I can go out to the city and call a taxi myself or ask for the directions from passers-by. In any country, it seems to be the biggest challenge, as it was in Hungary for example.
Urs. However, in the problems with language we ourselves are to blame. We moved here without knowing the language. The study of Russian or Kazakh in the free time has its own limits. The difficulty is that you need to know two languages while living in Kazakhstan. I'm learning languages. I have an amazing teacher, but I'm not the best student.
Nevertheless, people in Kazakhstan are kind. While being a foreigner, we feel that people are happy to have us here. It helps to cope with problems. Kazakhs are hospitable, they are ready to invite you home at any time. In contrast to that, the Swiss should know you at least for a year in order to bring you home. They also must be confident that everything is perfect at home, while the Kazakh can just open the door and invite you inside. We were in Karkaralinsk where we met many kind people. One Kazakh family invited us home. It is a pity that because of the language barrier we could not talk to them more.
Switzerland is similar to Kazakhstan in the sense that we also have several official languages. I am from the part of the country where people mostly speak German, but I know English as well. My native language is German, but we also have three other official languages. In Kazakhstan, the knowledge of those languages with the exception of English turned out to be useless.
Sometimes we meet English-speaking people in unexpected places. Once I was out of the town, where there was girl in the farmer’s family who spoke English brilliantly. However, in Astana, not all young people can speak English. Sometimes the ignorance of English among the workers is surprising. For example, only few taxi managers know English.
Luzia. In the restaurants and shops, few people know English. But now it's not a problem. We have adapted. In the menu, we recognize if it is written “shashlyk” or “baursak.”
If we talk about favorite places in Astana, then my favorite one is the park next to our house. I love going there and admire the sunsets. I like to see people walking around the city and enjoying the summer.
Urs. It is important to me to have a rest from the official events. That’s why, I like to go out of town and be closer to nature. I often go to Kosshy and swim in the river Nura. This is how I rest from work.
For any person who came from Europe, the steppe seems to be something special, because it's interesting to observe this empty infinite space and the blue sky. When my parents came there, I took them to the steppe in the winter. I think that having more entertainment in the steppe would be a very successful decision. For instance, in the winter, it would be possible to organize sleigh rides with huskies. And during breaks, guests could have warmed themselves in the yurt with the hot tea.
During the EXPO in Astana, there were many Swiss working in the pavilion. Their favorite pastime was traveling to the village 60 kilometers from Astana to a family that has put a yurt. There was no special entertainment, but spending the night in a yurt was a wonderful time.
Luzia. We went to that village for a picnic. We tried kumys. But it did not become my favorite drink, I prefer shubat. It is not so sour.
We always try to eat something that the locals order. We understand that schnitzel will not be as delicious as it is in Vienna. We like to go to Georgian, Italian and Japanese restaurants. It all depends on our mood. At the same time, we prefer to have dinner at home, we cook together.
Urs. I usually make salads, my wife does the rest.
About the family
Luzia. We have three children — two boys and a girl. The eldest son is 26, he works at the Nazarbayev University. When we arrived in Kazakhstan, he worked in Switzerland, and after a while he went on some trip. During the trip, he spent some time in Russia. At that moment, we found out about Nazarbayev University, that it is a good one and they conduct interesting research there. So we told our son about it. After Russia, he came to Astana to visit us. Then we introduced him to a representative of the university, who showed him the laboratory. And he applied for a job in the biological laboratory to be a part of the research team. Now he works at the university and he likes it. For us, this is a great opportunity to see him more often.
Urs. Our second son is 25. If the eldest one likes science, then the second one follows my steps. Currently he is graduating with a Master's degree in International Relations in Geneva.
The youngest daughter is 21. She also follows my steps and studies social anthropology, I also studied this science. She is also interested in international relations. Now she is completing a Bachelor's degree in Germany at the university of the small town of Marburg, where she lives in an apartment with other students.
Luzia. Our children try to visit us. They all love to travel. Our daughter will come to us in the fall, while the youngest son came last year to the EXPO and worked there. Since the eldest son lives in Astana, we meet with him regularly. And with younger children we talk by skype about once a week.
We always celebrate Christmas together. This is important to us. While living in England, we invited the entire family of Urs for a Christmas dinner. His family consists of parents, three sisters, their husbands and children.
Urs. Once our children were born, we began to celebrate Christmas Eve with children, and the next day we go to my parents.
Luzia. Last Christmas we invited the whole family to Kazakhstan. One of his sisters with her husband and his parents as well as our children could make it. This year we are going to Switzerland to the younger sister of Urs to celebrate this holiday.
