Ellen's Blog
From Dubai to KazakhstanArchive for Kazakhstan
Astana: The Dubai of Kazakhstan???
Click here to read the complete article: Astana: The Dubai of Kazakhstan………
“Dubai’s downward spiral, while completely predictable and well-deserved, is still a great disappointment to fans of hubristic architectural spectacles like myself. The opening of the Burj Dubai/Al Khalifa is cold comfort as stocks sink faster than the artificial islands of the Palm. Abu Dhabi’s chastening bailout means that Dubai’s future, if it has one, lies in the safe, predictable gaudiness seen all over the Persian Gulf. Dubai was certainly reprehensible in many ways, and inherently doomed to fail, but it was one of the most spectacular architectural visions the world has ever seen. I hope its end will be met with regret as well as schadenfreude.”
Ellengate
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Indeed – Holland will be a perfect transition into Kazakhstan. Today the Dutch Newspaper warned the temperature in the North would feel like -17C, because of a northerly wind. January is the coldest month in Kazakhstan, with an average temperature of -5C in the south to -30C in the north. Here you go: moving there couldn’t be easier! Is it a good thing to try to prepare yourself, do research and google till your fingers are blue and the eyes watery? Hmmm ,,,let’s see? I just found a sort of official looking site which states that there is a current environment issue: “radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with its former defence industries and test ranges are found throughout the country and pose health risks for humans and animals” (http://www.cac-biodiversity.org/kaz/kaz_country.htm)
Immediately I sit up straight and I feel a little itchy excitement creeping up my spine. WHAT? Halleluja I will go to the bottom of this – CNN here is Ellen reporting for you… how come all these guys missed this important item? Ok we had Haiti, terrorists with heavy groins and what about Brad and Angelina? I check the website again and see that “current” means 2003. While scrolling through the info I also notice that Kazakhstan is so enormous that it is divided into three time zones! But the journalist in me has emerged: Ellengate is born – welcome to the world.
to be continued…….
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