Where is it?
There are six basic questions that sum up any story: Who?, Where?, When?, What?, How? and Why?
When I knew that I was coming out to Kyrgyzstan, I signed up for a weekend Russian language course which was being held in a village in Kent. It was run by a voluntary organization, not a college or educational institution, but the teachers were native Russian speakers who had an enthusiasm and interest that was probably more useful than had they been conducting the course as a commercial activity. They also claimed to run three levels of classes, which included one for absolute beginners – like me.
I was surprised at how much we actually covered in just two days. After an introduction to the alphabet and how the letters sound, we turned to some to some simple everyday words and phrases. In the end, I went home knowing these six basic questions: Kto?, Gde?, Kogda?, Shto?, Kak? and Pochemy? … although not all of the complications like Kuda? – Where to? and Ot kuda? – Where from? I had also learnt such useful phrases as “where are my keys?”, “when is breakfast?” or “what is this?” – but whether I could understand the answers was a different matter. However it made me feel just a little more confident when I actually boarded the plane at Heathrow on that July morning some fifteen years ago.
A couple of years ago I came across a discussion in an American forum called PoliceLink. They say that their mission is to bring together all members of the law enforcement community, (former, serving and potential future officers, other employees who work in law enforcement agencies, their family friends and others), to promote safety, provide the latest law enforcement and police news, training, resources, entertainment, and to serve as a social and career network.
Now, to be honest, I don’t normally go surfing such forums, but occasionally I find myself transported to one by clicking on a link on a webpage – and that is how I ended up here. The link turned up on a google search – I forget what I was looking for – but it must have been something connected with Kyrgyzstan because the discussion topic was “Kyrgyzstan” … that’s it – just “Kyrgyzstan”, nothing else.
There were just five entries in the discussion:
- Anybody ever been to Kyrgy? How is it?
- not a good place to be i haven’t been down there but troop of mine have and they hated it sorry my friend
- Are you headed there? My unit is deploying to Manas later this year…
- I have a buddy there now. I havent talked to him since he left and went there though
- where is it?
I can’t remember exactly why, but it obviously struck me as interesting because I saved it. However, I can guess.
Was it the new, off-hand, designation of the country as “Kyrgy”? It has always amazed me how the country has gathered so many different names since independence … The Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgystan, Khirghistan, Kyrgyzsistan … and so on. But, no, I don’t think that was the reason I was struck by this particular conversation. Even the Kyrgyz have some some confusion as to the name of the country – sometimes referring to it by the official name, “Kyrgyz Republic” and sometimes as Kyrgyzstan. I do remember, however, that during the news coverage of the 2005 Tulip Revolution, one of the presenters on CNN kept referring to the Kyrgyz as Kyrgy, and I found that really annoying.
Perhaps it was because of the number of spelling, grammatical and other mistakes – and the apparent lack of educational standards in the law enforcement officers that it appears to expose. No, I don’t think so. I actually that this would be an unfair comment. This was a forum discussion. They are short comments not part of an essay, or police report, that is edited and reworked before publication and, anyway, simple typing errors are commonplace even in those. These comments are typed in a hurry as part of a conversation and this is a feature of life which we inherit in the age of emails, tweets, SMS messages … and internet forums. What’s more, who am I to comment on such things – we all make simple errors and there are many occasions when I have embarrassed by errors that I have made which is slipped through the review process.
Maybe it was it the second comment: the fact that someone was prepared to comment even though they admitted that hadn’t been to Kyrgyzstan? No, he (or she) was clear about the fact that they was simply stating something about a group that had been posted to the Manas airbase. I am surprised, and disappointed, that they apparently hated the experience of being posted to Kyrgyzstan – it’s not in keeping with my experience and impressions. Of course it raises lots of questions in my mind. Going back to those six basic questions, for example:
- Who were they?, Was it the whole group, most of them, or just some of them that hated it?
- Where were they? At the airbase outside Bishkek, obviously, but did they get out of the airbase or were they one of those were apparently confined to the base?
- When were they here? Before 2008, obviously, but was it, for example, when the camp was still under construction and didn’t have “all the comforts of home” that serving there now enjoy?
- What exactly did they hate? and what did they do whilst they were here? Was it related to their service, their duties and conditions, or was it something about Kyrgyzstan – and if so what?
- Why did they hate it? It seems odd because so many visitors to Kyrgyzstan, including those who have served at the base, are taken with the place and want to either extend their stay or revisit, so what was so different in their experiences to create such a different reaction?
- How did they deal with this experience? They seem to have mentioned it to at least one of their colleagues but did they do anything else like inform their superiors so that they could do something to try and improve the situation for those who were to follow?
The third and fourth comments are frustrating … indeed the discussion as a whole is frustrating … because there is no follow up. It would be really interesting to know how the others felt about there time in Kyrgystan.
Actually, I think that the reason I saved the conversation was because of the last comment: “where is it?”
Brief and to the point: “where is it?”
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When I first came to Kyrgyzstan, most people didn’t know where Kyrgyzstan was … I often tell the story, for example, how, in 1995, my mother telephoned me after I had told her that I was coming to Kyrgyzstan.
“Where did you say you were going?”,
“Bishkek, in Kyrgyzstan”,
“Well, why can’t I find it on the map?”
The reason was simple – the fact that she was using an old edition of the Pear’s Encyclopaedia which showed the USSR on the map, and the former Soviet names of Khirghiz ASSR, (yet another name!), and Frunze.
Another example that I often cite refers is about Serkun, a mild mannered Turkish Cypriot that I used to teach in London. When the news broke that I was leaving the school, (albeit, at that time, for just a year), people were interested to know where I was going and what I was going to do. Now, Serkun was a quiet, easy going pupil. He never really exerted himself at anything, and never showed any form of emotion. Never, that is, until he heard that I was going to Kyrgyzstan. He stood up at the back of the class and astounded everyone – myself included – by shouting at me … a real tirade … “Why are you going there? … why are you going to help them? … they think that they are a separate country … but they are not … it’s a part of Turkey … they are Turkish!” The penny dropped … he thought I had said Kurdistan … they do sound similar … and he had never heard of Kyrgyzstan, anyway.
However, this internet conversation took place in 2008 – some years after the establishment of the air base – the first American military base on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and Tulip Revolution when Kyrgyzstan was front page news, even in the tabloids, and occupied the opening slot on news bulletins around the world. Still, they didn’t know where Kyrgyzstan was.
I suppose it is not that surprising … back before 1994, if I had been shown a map of the world and asked to point to Kyrgyzstan, I couldn’t have done it … and even now, I am not sure how many of the 50 states of America I could place – or how many of the 50 UN recognized countries in Europe – or the 54 countries in Africa – or … well you probably get the point … most of them I hope, but I expect that I would make a few mistakes. Anyway it’s not all that surprising that even if people have heard of Kyrgyzstan that they might still be a bit vague about exactly where it is located.
As an aside: Chaser’s War on Everything has a wonderful clip – Chaser’s War on Americans – where he tries this exercise … it’s three and half minutes into the nine minute clip … but if you watch it then watch it through to the end … it’s worth it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3RrqBqk14
As an aside: I remember going to one quiz evening and one of the marathon rounds was to write the names of all thirteen South American states on a duplicated outline map … our table did really well and was one of the few that was able to complete the task, because I had studied South America for A-Level Geography and so could roll of the countries in the matter of minutes …
Bishkek