The ice planet, Hoth.

The Asel building.

I'm not entirely sure that's the spelling, but the English words "Expo Tower" in the entry way don't seem to register with anyone around here. Either way, it's the building where my newly rented apartment is! (Hazah!)

I went to view the apartment on the evening of the 6th, with the two owners(husband and wife) and a very accommodating real estate agent who spoke very understandable broken English. Being that I just wanted to be done with living in camp, and the apartment building is literally adjacent to the worksite, I gave the owners a deposit of 9000 Tenge. Attempting to literally hand money to the wife, I made a huge mistake, as I soon found out that it's disrespectful to physically hand money over, and that you should always place it down on a table or in the designated dish, such as the ones at every store/cafe/market. But they were understanding, as I'm obviously the foreigner here.

The next day I had to jump through some hierarchical hoops to get a cash advance for the first months rent, due at move in, but eventually got the appropriate amount of funds needed from accounting.

Around 18:00, I met with the agent and owners again to sign the lease, which thankfully, was a side by side Russian/English document. Pretty standard, except that I am totally within my rights to vacate and break lease with at least one months notice to the owners (which I don't foresee).

The ground floor has a bonus! A little supermarket where you can buy beer, milk, bread, canned goods, TP, some meats, rice, and limited produce from two friendly Kazakhs who run the store.

I was really excited about my new place! Unpacking my clothes, opening all the cabinets and drawers three times over, thinking about what I might hang where, etc. The layout is simple: entryway with a floor to ceiling dresser/wardrobe, into a moderately sized living room/bedroom, a sizable kitchen, and spacious bathroom. It's newly constructed, and quite cozy.

You can see in the pictures, my favorite part, The coffee wallpaper! I'd like to imagine the owners at some home store looking at swatches, and upon seeing the coffee pattern exclaiming, "oh this is perfect! Everyone loves coffee!". There's even little pictures of macaroons set in the glass tiling in the kitchen.

The apartment came somewhat furnished with table, electric kettle, a pot, a pan, a cutting board, some glasses and plates, silverware, shower curtain, small TV, and a pullout sofa and blanket for a bed that is surprisingly comfortable to sleep on.

The appliances are brand new, sans the microwave, which is still very clean. And the clothes washing machine has the TINIEST drum I've ever seen.

I cooked myself a little breakfast the first morning I woke up in my new flat. Eggs, sausage, coffee, tea, biscuits, and a cheese spread called Puck. Most of which came from the little supermarket.

It donned on me the other night, that I've never lived alone. When I moved out at 17 after highschool, I was in a house with my friends. When I moved away to Tallahassee for school, I was surrounded by friends and party animals. When I wanted my own place in college, I moved in with close friends to have cheaper rent. When I lived in California, I had roommates. When I was living on Bud's couch, there was always someone around. It's pretty great to have my very own apartment, that I control the cleanliness of, the smell of, the layout, the fridge, the bathroom. But on the other side of the coin, I can see it being lonely if I didn't have work 10 hours a day 7 days a week.

The weather is turning cold today, and dropping even colder tomorrow. I've gotten my PPE issued to me from the store at work, including the crazy traffic cone orange jacket and pants that the siteworkers wear. Also boots, a hardhat, beanie cap, gloves, insulated safety boots, and a one piece cold weather coveralls suit, which is VERY warm.

I also got my ID badge finally, which is nice, as I'd been having to stop and wait for a call in by the gate guards.

Last night I went back to the Khan Shatyr shopping center to get a rice cooker and some kitchen basics, like salt and pepper. I got an Uber there (Go figure!) with a Kazah man who spoke no English at all, and was very nice.

Turns out there's a sale going on.
Turns out that the sale is for almost the whole mall.
Turns out that the sale is 70-80% off select products.
TURNS OUT that my CA state tax return was in my bank account.

So my little trip turned into a shopping spree of sorts. I did get the rice cooker, uhhh, the top of the line rice cooker that not only cooks rice, but makes bread, roasts chickens, steams dumplings, slow cooks stews, and even makes pudding and yogurt if you have the right type of leaven. So I got that going for me. Also picked up things I needed for the kitchen and house like hand towels, bath mat, strainer, Japanese steel chef knife, new boots, speakers for the home, and a fancy ass leather wallet. (Treat yo self).

I had some goulash at the food court area, and it was okay, but it's becoming apparent that most meats here are overcooked and boiled to death.

I eventually got an Uber home at around midnight, made it home, made myself mashed potatoes and passed out! So now I'm about to go to lunch at work and put on another pair of socks or two because the zeniths of the snow drifts are slowly rising, as the howling soulless wind unrelentingly brings snow to the city surrounded by steppes.