Arman Jamankulov (23) and Batyrzhan Turekhanov (21) are two of Kazakhstan’s brightest young students in the field of petroleum engineering. Scholarships from the oil company Dietsmann Group persuaded them to travel 5,000km from home to study in Delft.
It was an evening of firsts for me. For the first time in my life, I was going to meet a Kazakh; it was also the first time I’d ever entered the Applied Earth Sciences building. Arman Jamankulov and Batyrzhan Turekhanov, two petroleum engineering from Kazakhstan, were waiting for me there. Since my knowledge of Kazakhstan was limited to the antics of the Polish-speaking, moustachioed character in ‘Da Ali G Show’, I had no idea what to expect.
Two cheery faces welcomed me heartily, and after brief introductions, we proceed to Jamankulov’s workspace on the second floor. 18 months ago, he enrolled in the Master’s program in Delft: “I really think that I can make a contribution here; my project is quite exciting and Shell is really interested in it now.” Turekhanov, six months into his MSc degree, adds, “Education-wise, it’s a very valuable experience to come to a more developed country like Holland.”
The Dietsmann Group, a Monaco-based oil company that’s relatively new to Kazakhstan, sponsors both students. Jamankulov: “We first heard about the Dietsmann Group while at our university in Almaty, the Kazakh National Technical University. This company is new in Kazakhstan, and when you’re new , it’s good to support the Kazakh government’s civic engagement policy, which involves investing in education. It’s useful for the company because they could maybe hire me and Batyr later. For these reasons they invest in students like us to study abroad.”
Sprawling
There’s great interest among Kazakh students for foreign scholarships. “A total of about 200 graduates applied for this opportunity,” Turekhanov says. “We had an interview with our rector, Dietsmann’s director of human resources and a TU professor, and they selected only me. I couldn’t believe it when I heard. Arman was the first and now I’m the second Kazakh here in Delft, representing Kazakhstan. Jamankulov continues: “It’s a good scholarship. We don’t have any obligations to work for Dietsmann later or anything. It’s free education.”
Impressed with the exclusiveness of their scholarship, I suggest that they were surely the best students of their respective classes. Apparently modesty is a Kazakh trait, as they both burst out laughing and begin listing classmates who are also currently studying abroad in France, Austria…. As a stream of unintelligible names fly by, we do finally agree that they were indeed in their classes’ top fifth percentile.
As the conversation warms, it becomes apparent that Jamankulov and Turekhanov aren’t just modest and intelligent, they’re also friendly and articulate. I wonder if, generally, Kazakhs are friendly? Turekhanov says they are: “Kazakh people are family-oriented. We hold parents and relatives in high respect. I’d say we’re warm and hospitable.” At this point, Jamankulov promptly invites me to visit Kazakhstan sometime. I accept, but have no idea what I would find there.
They proceed to tell me that Kazakhstan is a sprawling nation – the ninth largest in the world, with a growth rate hovering around 9% for the past ten years. It’s a country with tremendous natural resources, of which oil is the most important. Large oil and gas reserves in the Caspian basin have sparked enormous foreign investments. Jamankulov: “Almost all the elements in the periodic table can be found in Kazakhstan. So it’s not just about oil, even though almost 60% of income derives from oil. Starting from 1995, the economy and infrastructure have been growing quite nicely. I must say that this is largely thanks to our government.”
Talking
Kazakhstan president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was elected in 1991 and has consistently enjoyed re-election landslide victories ever since. “Rapid changes occurred when the USSR split up. They were hard times,” Turekhanov says, “but Kazakhstan was able to implement vital economic, political and cultural changes.” Today, the economy is growing at a steady rate.
“Small businesses are subsidized and we have freedom of speech now,” Jamankulov is keen to stress. “And Almaty is a really beautiful city.” He flashes pictures of his home city on his laptop. Almaty, with its scale replica of the Eiffel Tower stemming from the Soviet era, is the cultural, financial, and business capital of Kazakhstan.
Suddenly, I realize that it must be difficult to be 5,300km from home, away from family, friends, loved-ones…and in one of the windiest, rainiest, dreariest countries in the world. “It is difficult, but the Dietsmann Group provides me with a plane ticket to Kazakhstan once a year, so it’s not so bad,” Jamankulov says, grinning.
Turekhanov hasn’t returned to Kazakhstan since he’s been here. He’s enjoying himself in Holland so far: “I’m very fond of this country. It’s like my second home. It’s a beautiful place, the people are open and direct, and they’re not afraid to criticize other people, which is a good thing.”
“The Dutch really like to talk a lot!” Jamankulov exclaims. It’s clear that he’s been here longer than Turekhanov. “In the beginning I was the only Kazakh person here, so I had no idea,” Jamankulov recalls. “The Dutch really enjoy talking about things. They really enjoy going out to pubs and can sit there all night, just talking about things. It’s part of the Dutch culture. I’m used to it now.”
At this moment, as if it were divine intervention, the tape recorder emits a few short beeps and stops. The batteries are dead. Not yet satisfied with the amount of talking we’ve done, I drag the two Kazakhs to the nearest bar, where we continue our conversation off the record, over a cold beer.
It was an evening of firsts for me. For the first time in my life, I was going to meet a Kazakh; it was also the first time I’d ever entered the Applied Earth Sciences building. Arman Jamankulov and Batyrzhan Turekhanov, two petroleum engineering from Kazakhstan, were waiting for me there. Since my knowledge of Kazakhstan was limited to the antics of the Polish-speaking, moustachioed character in ‘Da Ali G Show’, I had no idea what to expect.
Two cheery faces welcomed me heartily, and after brief introductions, we proceed to Jamankulov’s workspace on the second floor. 18 months ago, he enrolled in the Master’s program in Delft: “I really think that I can make a contribution here; my project is quite exciting and Shell is really interested in it now.” Turekhanov, six months into his MSc degree, adds, “Education-wise, it’s a very valuable experience to come to a more developed country like Holland.”
The Dietsmann Group, a Monaco-based oil company that’s relatively new to Kazakhstan, sponsors both students. Jamankulov: “We first heard about the Dietsmann Group while at our university in Almaty, the Kazakh National Technical University. This company is new in Kazakhstan, and when you’re new , it’s good to support the Kazakh government’s civic engagement policy, which involves investing in education. It’s useful for the company because they could maybe hire me and Batyr later. For these reasons they invest in students like us to study abroad.”
Sprawling
There’s great interest among Kazakh students for foreign scholarships. “A total of about 200 graduates applied for this opportunity,” Turekhanov says. “We had an interview with our rector, Dietsmann’s director of human resources and a TU professor, and they selected only me. I couldn’t believe it when I heard. Arman was the first and now I’m the second Kazakh here in Delft, representing Kazakhstan. Jamankulov continues: “It’s a good scholarship. We don’t have any obligations to work for Dietsmann later or anything. It’s free education.”
Impressed with the exclusiveness of their scholarship, I suggest that they were surely the best students of their respective classes. Apparently modesty is a Kazakh trait, as they both burst out laughing and begin listing classmates who are also currently studying abroad in France, Austria…. As a stream of unintelligible names fly by, we do finally agree that they were indeed in their classes’ top fifth percentile.
As the conversation warms, it becomes apparent that Jamankulov and Turekhanov aren’t just modest and intelligent, they’re also friendly and articulate. I wonder if, generally, Kazakhs are friendly? Turekhanov says they are: “Kazakh people are family-oriented. We hold parents and relatives in high respect. I’d say we’re warm and hospitable.” At this point, Jamankulov promptly invites me to visit Kazakhstan sometime. I accept, but have no idea what I would find there.
They proceed to tell me that Kazakhstan is a sprawling nation – the ninth largest in the world, with a growth rate hovering around 9% for the past ten years. It’s a country with tremendous natural resources, of which oil is the most important. Large oil and gas reserves in the Caspian basin have sparked enormous foreign investments. Jamankulov: “Almost all the elements in the periodic table can be found in Kazakhstan. So it’s not just about oil, even though almost 60% of income derives from oil. Starting from 1995, the economy and infrastructure have been growing quite nicely. I must say that this is largely thanks to our government.”
Talking
Kazakhstan president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was elected in 1991 and has consistently enjoyed re-election landslide victories ever since. “Rapid changes occurred when the USSR split up. They were hard times,” Turekhanov says, “but Kazakhstan was able to implement vital economic, political and cultural changes.” Today, the economy is growing at a steady rate.
“Small businesses are subsidized and we have freedom of speech now,” Jamankulov is keen to stress. “And Almaty is a really beautiful city.” He flashes pictures of his home city on his laptop. Almaty, with its scale replica of the Eiffel Tower stemming from the Soviet era, is the cultural, financial, and business capital of Kazakhstan.
Suddenly, I realize that it must be difficult to be 5,300km from home, away from family, friends, loved-ones…and in one of the windiest, rainiest, dreariest countries in the world. “It is difficult, but the Dietsmann Group provides me with a plane ticket to Kazakhstan once a year, so it’s not so bad,” Jamankulov says, grinning.
Turekhanov hasn’t returned to Kazakhstan since he’s been here. He’s enjoying himself in Holland so far: “I’m very fond of this country. It’s like my second home. It’s a beautiful place, the people are open and direct, and they’re not afraid to criticize other people, which is a good thing.”
“The Dutch really like to talk a lot!” Jamankulov exclaims. It’s clear that he’s been here longer than Turekhanov. “In the beginning I was the only Kazakh person here, so I had no idea,” Jamankulov recalls. “The Dutch really enjoy talking about things. They really enjoy going out to pubs and can sit there all night, just talking about things. It’s part of the Dutch culture. I’m used to it now.”
At this moment, as if it were divine intervention, the tape recorder emits a few short beeps and stops. The batteries are dead. Not yet satisfied with the amount of talking we’ve done, I drag the two Kazakhs to the nearest bar, where we continue our conversation off the record, over a cold beer.
Comments are closed.