For a start, I was a foreigner.  Nowadays there are so many of us that, although people are still interested, few really pay any attention to this fact in everyday life … Back in 1995, however, there weren’t many of us … up until Independence, the Kyrgyz SSR was basically a closed region for foreigners.

As foreigners, those of us that had found our way here to Kyrgyzstan were in quite high demand – as honoured guests for a wide variety of celebrations.  I am told that in the Soviet times, to be considered a really successful party, (a wedding or birthday party, for example), then it was important to have a General as a guest.  There was always a General and the term “Wedding General” referred to someone who was regularly received an invite to a party to fulfill such a role.  After Independence it seemed as if it was the presence of a foreigner that was used as a measure to mark the importance or success of a celebration: the “Wedding Foreigner”.

I remember how one of the consultants I knew at the time had been invited to dinner by one of his local counterparts, who told us that his mother went into a panic … apparently wandering the around the apartment in a daze saying things like …  “I am going to have a foreigner in my home … “.  A couple of years later I was guest at a birthday party and one of the other guests asked me where I was from.  When I said, “From England”, she went quite and told me to sit down next to her so that we could have a chat.  As we chatted away, she took her hand and stroked my arm, as if she couldn’t believe it.  Everyone in the room, (most of whom knew me), went into a stunned silence for about two seconds, before turning to each other and breaking into animated conversation in order to hide their embarrassment.

Then, at that point in time, I still sported a beard.  There were, and still are, very few beards evident in Kyrgyzstan.  My reason for having a beard was very simple – laziness.  I didn’t have to worry about shaving every day, all that was needed was an occasional trim to keep it neat and tide.  I have shaved the beard off on a number of occasions – once, for example, when I was a teacher, I shaved it off as part of a sponsored event to raise money for charity.  After a month, however, I grew it again.  I finally shaved it off about ten years ago because it was basically white and someone I know made a remark about how I looked like “Dyed Moroz” – Grandfather Frost, the local equivalent of Santa Clause.

Also, at the same time, I had very short hair … a crew cut.  Virtually all of the males in my family, on both my mother’s and father’s side, have thin hair, receding hair lines … or bald patches, and I am no different.  I had long ago given up wearing long, “hippy” style, hair.   Here, the only people who had similar haircuts were either convicts of small boys in the summer time.  Once I even got stopped by a policeman who asked to see my “release ticket”. To be fair, there weren’t many people (men), with long hair, either.   The fashion was for most men to have short, well trimmed, hairstyles.  Fashions change, however, and nowadays there are a large number of young men grow their hair long.

Indeed, fashions have changed considerably … instead of the conservative type, charcoal grey, suit and  classical cut dresses, (usually red or a floral print), sensible shoes and boots, people wear a wide variety of Western style clothes.

Young people, in particular, have taken to western style fashions – especially those which are seen in music clips and Hollywood films: windcheaters, “hoodies”, sagging jeans, t-shirts with a wide variety of designs imprinted on them (including many of questionable value) …  and so on.

The young people of Bishkek have adopted many different youth cultures, as well as developing their own based on traditional culture.  Some identify with Rock music, others with “rap” and there are usually a number of “Emo” to be seen standing on street corners around the city center.

As in the West, “image” is important.  It hasn’t quite reached the stage here that it has in the West, where children can be taunted and derided for wearing the “wrong” brand of trainers but the opposite is definitely true … they can be envied and admired, for example,  if they are wearing “branded” jeans, especially if they are bear a Western trade mark.  As well as the financial implications, (such as the fact that branded and imported items from the West tend to be more expensive),  this also means that , these young “dedicated followers of fashion” are often bedecked in stylish clothes instead of buying “sensible”, “serviceable”, clothing which is suitable to the climate and conditions of Central Asia.

Apart from the fashions and hairstyles that they sport, among the more striking features which young people sometimes adorn themselves with are tattoos and piercings – for example, earrings.  Now, earrings are one thing, but I was taken aback recently when I was asked a strange question by one of the “baseball kids”: “I want to get a piercing and put stud in my tongue, can I?“.

I wasn’t sure if it was a serious or a rhetorical question, and maybe I misunderstood it or at least the implications … after all, in English the word “can” can be a little ambiguous:

• can I? – as in “is it possible” … Yes,  it is possible, but it needs to be done properly by a qualified person with experience and using good, hygienic, equipment and practices …
• can I? – as in “is it permissible?” or “will you let me?” … Now, who am I to give permission for such a thing?  However, I felt that I could give an opinion.

I remembered being asked a similar question by a pupil when I was a young teacher: “Sir, if you had a fourteen year son and he wanted to get a tattoo, would you let him?“  Alarm bells immediately went off in my mind … here was a fourteen year old boy asking me such a loaded question … So I thought a little and replied, “Probably not”, and, of course, I got the response I expected … “Why not?  It’s his life, … if he wants to then why shouldn’t he get a tattoo?”.  I took a deep breath and answered: “If he was eighteen, then, yes, I agree, he can make up his own mind, take a decision and he will have to live with it.  However, he’s only fourteen … and as such, as his father, I would want to make sure he really understood the issues and the implications … and to prevent him from doing something which he might regret later on.  A tattoo tends to be life – some people have tattoos and then, later in life, come to regret the decision – what seems like a good idea today may not seem like it tomorrow – and although tattoos can be removed, it’s not simple and can be painful.”

That seemed to do the job then and I tried the same tactic this time.

The situation, however, was a bit more difficult on this occasion: some of their immediate circle of family and friends already have tattoos and piercings.  Also, pierced ears are nothing unusual, (neither here nor in the West), and unlike tattoos, piercings are not necessarily permanent – they can close up and heal.

I am not sure I was entirely successful in my efforts at persuasion, but they listened and seemed to consider what I had said.  Time will tell.

As an aside: one of the most “watched” channels on local Cable TV could well be Fashion TV … just one of several commercial channels dedicated to screening tall, thin young models walking up and down a catwalk, often in the most outrageous costumes that few, (if any?), would choose to wear in any other situation, swaying from one side to the other so that everyone in the audience has a chance to admire the designer’s creative talent.  To be honest,  I think “watched” is the wrong word … Although I do actually know someone who does, (sometimes – but not often), sit and actively watch the broadcast, noting and passing comment on either the designs or the models … in most cases, however, Fashion TV is screened in bars and cafes around the city as a “neutral” channel – a sort of “visual muzak” – and the broadcast images are usually accompanied by music from a totally different genre.   (Oddly enough, even when the bars screen music clips, the music blaring out of speakers on the sound system, bears no relation to what is displayed on the screen.)

There are even a couple of Studios here in Bishkek which provide models for advertising hoardings and the occasional fashion show and who would grace any catwalk shown on the channel.