Last week was particularly busy for me giving talks at two different English Clubs about Thanksgiving or as this photo shows, I presented a ppt to an Academic Listening class where I talked about my research about my family five generations back. I asked the 12 students how far they can go back in their ancestry, typically a Kazakh is supposed to know seven generations back. Four raised their hands that they knew. I not only showed up to date photos of my family but also talked about S.A. Olsness and how he had provided much information about my great grandpa Aslakson who immigrated from Norway to North Dakota in 1883. These students perhaps have gripping stories of who their great, great, great, great grandparents were on the steppes of Kazakhstan as nomadic people. I am eager to learn more about this Central Asian culture and how they survived the cold winters and maintained the Silk Road that connected commerce from East to West. Tomorrow I will start teaching some very beginner classes at World Exchange which will meet every day. Nice to get the added income for Christmas presents (and perhaps a new Olympus camera) but also to hopefully find out more from my students about the culture I’m currently living in. I can say with conviction as Father Abraham is quoted in Gen. 23:4 “I am a foreigner and a sojourner among you…”
Academic Listening class
