Adiya Urazbaeva, 25, from Pavlodar
I came to Cardiff in 2010 to study at Cardiff University, as I’d heard of the School of medicine. It has competitive educational environment and excellent teachers.
The nature’s breathtaking here. You always can come across different ancient historical castles and beaches, which are considered to be the best in Europe, e.g. Cardiff Castle. It’s the oldest building in Wales; nowadays there you can find a beautiful museum with a picturesque garden established around.
Cardiff is really cozy, its citizens are friendly and open. One of my favorite places is Bute Park, which is a nice picnic spot, where locals usually gather.
Interestingly, rugby is a national game here. Local children learn to play rugby since childhood.
This country reminds me of Kazakhstan. Two languages are regularly used in both countries: Welsh and English in Wales, while Russian and Kazakh in Kazakhstan. One language is more popular than the other in some regions.
We’ve got friends Manarbek and Arailym, they come from Kazakhstan and got married in Cardiff, as the city played a crucial role in their love story. Living in Kazakhstan, they were friends. While doing MA in our university, their friendship turned into love. So, they organized a wedding ceremony at the graduation.
Having started studying in Wales, students from Kazakhstan felt the urgent need to create a Kazakh community in Cardiff, since everyone was homesick being far from homeland. Initially, we also needed advice and support. Therefore, our guys decided to create a community where Kazakhstani could meet and communicate, feel themselves like in Kazakhstan. So, the Cardiff Kazakh Society was created in 2011. In social networks we’re known as KazAlliance in Wales. I’ve been the president of the community since last year.
The goal of our community is to support Kazakhstani students and consult them when necessary. I think hanging out together and supporting each other 24/7 is a brilliant idea.
There’re about 30 participants in the community. All participants always take part in events’ arrangement and that’s great! Each year the number of participants varies due to the study periods. Kazakhstanis or anyone who’s interested in Kazakhstan can get to us.
In Wales we mostly meet in places, which cuisine is quite close to ours. We adore a Turkish restaurant, where we’re always given warm welcome.
We’ve got a tradition to gather at the beginning of an academic year to support the Kazakhstani students who were just enrolled in Cardiff. Besides, we always celebrate the main Kazakhstani holidays.
In 2012 we held a cultural festival, which was a part of the Kazakh culture promotion abroad. Our students sang in Kazakhs, performed folk dances, played various games. The fest went down a storm, and the locals shared their positive emotions with us. Hopefully, next year we’ll be supported by the Embassy and invite a wider audience for the same event.
We always give each other lovely gifts on International Women's Day and Defender of the Fatherland Day. Also, KazAlliance never ignores Kurban Eid and the festive table’s main dish beshbarmak.
Conducting Kazakhstan holidays connects us with home, since it’s vital to get in touch with your compatriots while studying and living away from the Motherland.
