#35 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Been a year
The lockdowns were a strange time, no matter where in the world you lived last year. Think how scared we were of corona then and how terrible a lockdown is for the economy. However, on a personal level the lockdowns produced not only losers but also winners:
Lockdown winners …
… were quick to adapt to the new situation. Some turned to books, some to gardening, sports or other hobbies. It really wasn’t all that bad, especially also for family life.
Lockdown losers …
… couldn’t do their job and failed to think of meaningful activities. They turned to computer games or social media, or just sat in their mahalla eating sunflower seeds.
See the pattern? Winners are self-motivated, they don’t need orders to get going!
🤓 P.S. Did you know Afandi English is a child of the lockdown?
---Vocab---
📍turn to sth = start doing or using sth new 📍pattern = regular way in which sth happens 📍get going = start
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
The lockdowns were a strange time, no matter where in the world you lived last year. Think how scared we were of corona then and how terrible a lockdown is for the economy. However, on a personal level the lockdowns produced not only losers but also winners:
Lockdown winners …
… were quick to adapt to the new situation. Some turned to books, some to gardening, sports or other hobbies. It really wasn’t all that bad, especially also for family life.
Lockdown losers …
… couldn’t do their job and failed to think of meaningful activities. They turned to computer games or social media, or just sat in their mahalla eating sunflower seeds.
See the pattern? Winners are self-motivated, they don’t need orders to get going!
🤓 P.S. Did you know Afandi English is a child of the lockdown?
---Vocab---
📍turn to sth = start doing or using sth new 📍pattern = regular way in which sth happens 📍get going = start
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#36 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Have you been to TikTok?
Imagine that, you go to Mars for some shopping and learn how to drive at Tesla. Sounds impossible? Well, Uzbeks make it possible by giving small businesses big names.
Foreign visitors may see just another copyright violation here but let’s dig deeper:
A good alternative
Instead of opening yet another “Mini Market” or “Book Café” here are more interesting and memorable names and themes.
Conventionalism
You can’t be too unique when choosing a name in Uzbekistan. Naming businesses after brands or famous products has become a normal thing to do.
Copying as compliment
Westerners often see copying as an attempt to get some kind of unfair advantage. But it doesn’t have to be. It may actually express admiration.
---Vocab---
📍violation = breaking a rule 📍dig deeper = think about sth more deeply 📍memorable = easy to remember 📍attempt = try 📍admiration = looking up to sth/sb
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Imagine that, you go to Mars for some shopping and learn how to drive at Tesla. Sounds impossible? Well, Uzbeks make it possible by giving small businesses big names.
Foreign visitors may see just another copyright violation here but let’s dig deeper:
A good alternative
Instead of opening yet another “Mini Market” or “Book Café” here are more interesting and memorable names and themes.
Conventionalism
You can’t be too unique when choosing a name in Uzbekistan. Naming businesses after brands or famous products has become a normal thing to do.
Copying as compliment
Westerners often see copying as an attempt to get some kind of unfair advantage. But it doesn’t have to be. It may actually express admiration.
---Vocab---
📍violation = breaking a rule 📍dig deeper = think about sth more deeply 📍memorable = easy to remember 📍attempt = try 📍admiration = looking up to sth/sb
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#37 Travelogue Uzbekistan: "Bookism"
Books are a symbol of culture, of education and of knowledge itself. Everywhere in the world. But in Uzbekistan they are so much respected that they may seem unreachably far away, like from another world that has nothing to do with our daily life. What makes this issue so awkward?
Free Libraries
That beautiful idea of providing books to the public. Sadly it doesn’t work quite so well because the idea doesn’t come from the public but seems to be some policy thing.
”I like reading books”
Ask someone what their hobby is and you’ll often hear that this someone likes “reading books” rather than just “reading”. Do you believe it?
Textbooks
Teachers often insist on using textbooks page by page. It makes their job easier and is the best way to make students hate books.
---Vocab---
📍awkward = giving you a strange feeling
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Books are a symbol of culture, of education and of knowledge itself. Everywhere in the world. But in Uzbekistan they are so much respected that they may seem unreachably far away, like from another world that has nothing to do with our daily life. What makes this issue so awkward?
Free Libraries
That beautiful idea of providing books to the public. Sadly it doesn’t work quite so well because the idea doesn’t come from the public but seems to be some policy thing.
”I like reading books”
Ask someone what their hobby is and you’ll often hear that this someone likes “reading books” rather than just “reading”. Do you believe it?
Textbooks
Teachers often insist on using textbooks page by page. It makes their job easier and is the best way to make students hate books.
---Vocab---
📍awkward = giving you a strange feeling
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#38 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Wow! Here in Andijan?
“I thought I was in Europe last night”, said a friend, and I felt the same. The concert of the Uzbekistan Youth Forum was pretty high standard by any standard. One superstar after the other and all professionally organised. But hey, what wasn’t like Europe?
What’s a mask?
In Europe, such a “superspreader event” is unthinkable in corona times. People had to wear a mask at the entrance but it was more like a ticket, something you put into your pocket after you enter.
Ladies & Gentlemen
Where it got crowded there was natural gender separation. People were civilised and security wasn’t tight at all. In Europe there isn’t so much trust between people, and in America even less.
Let the others react
The hosts had a hard time moving the crowds. It felt like me talking to myself in Telegram groups. Only towards the end there was collective euphoria thanks to patriotism, confetti and fireworks.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
“I thought I was in Europe last night”, said a friend, and I felt the same. The concert of the Uzbekistan Youth Forum was pretty high standard by any standard. One superstar after the other and all professionally organised. But hey, what wasn’t like Europe?
What’s a mask?
In Europe, such a “superspreader event” is unthinkable in corona times. People had to wear a mask at the entrance but it was more like a ticket, something you put into your pocket after you enter.
Ladies & Gentlemen
Where it got crowded there was natural gender separation. People were civilised and security wasn’t tight at all. In Europe there isn’t so much trust between people, and in America even less.
Let the others react
The hosts had a hard time moving the crowds. It felt like me talking to myself in Telegram groups. Only towards the end there was collective euphoria thanks to patriotism, confetti and fireworks.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#39 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Clean Russians, dirty Uzbeks?
Have you ever seen any cleaning product made in Uzbekistan that has Uzbek written on the front? Soap, shampoo, washing-up liquid, washing powder – there’s only a list of ingredients in Uzbek on the back, everything else is written in a mixture of Russian and English. What might be the reasons for this?
Imitation
Imported products are generally trusted and thought to be of higher quality. Customers may assume high quality when it looks foreign, even when it’s not.
Convention
When other products have no Uzbek written on them, why would anyone try to be different? There are different conventions for different types of products.
History
With the exception of soap, most other types of cleaning products were introduced during Soviet times, and that was all about Russian.
❗️ If you can find a cleaning product with Uzbek writing on the front I will give you 5,000 soum paynet. Max. 5 participants. You have one week!
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Have you ever seen any cleaning product made in Uzbekistan that has Uzbek written on the front? Soap, shampoo, washing-up liquid, washing powder – there’s only a list of ingredients in Uzbek on the back, everything else is written in a mixture of Russian and English. What might be the reasons for this?
Imitation
Imported products are generally trusted and thought to be of higher quality. Customers may assume high quality when it looks foreign, even when it’s not.
Convention
When other products have no Uzbek written on them, why would anyone try to be different? There are different conventions for different types of products.
History
With the exception of soap, most other types of cleaning products were introduced during Soviet times, and that was all about Russian.
❗️ If you can find a cleaning product with Uzbek writing on the front I will give you 5,000 soum paynet. Max. 5 participants. You have one week!
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#40 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Fun Compilation
Here are four photos, choose which one is the funniest for you!
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Here are four photos, choose which one is the funniest for you!
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#41 Travelogue Uzbekistan: The Grieving Mother
Before the last war gets totally forgotten, let’s talk about war memorials in Uzbekistan. Apart from a few Soviet-style flames for unknown soldiers and name lists of fallen soldiers the memorials seem to be all about grieving mothers. Let me offer some thoughts:
What did the soldiers die for?
The fighting was far away from Uzbekistan. Uzbek soldiers died defending the Soviet Union, not their Uzbek motherland. That’s why, unlike in Russia, heroism cannot be the central theme.
Mother-ism
Women may not hold much power in public life, but as mothers they hold families together. Uzbeks have written countless sentimental songs and poems about mothers.
Family collectivism
Losing a family member, especially an unmarried one, is a real tragedy. It’s not so much about individual suffering and losing one’s life but what the war did to Uzbek families.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Before the last war gets totally forgotten, let’s talk about war memorials in Uzbekistan. Apart from a few Soviet-style flames for unknown soldiers and name lists of fallen soldiers the memorials seem to be all about grieving mothers. Let me offer some thoughts:
What did the soldiers die for?
The fighting was far away from Uzbekistan. Uzbek soldiers died defending the Soviet Union, not their Uzbek motherland. That’s why, unlike in Russia, heroism cannot be the central theme.
Mother-ism
Women may not hold much power in public life, but as mothers they hold families together. Uzbeks have written countless sentimental songs and poems about mothers.
Family collectivism
Losing a family member, especially an unmarried one, is a real tragedy. It’s not so much about individual suffering and losing one’s life but what the war did to Uzbek families.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#42 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Copybook vs Notebook 4:1
The snappy word daftar is translated in two ways apparently – copybook sounds quite odd in English but is a good description of how this thing is often used, unlike what the word notebook suggests. What’s the difference?
Copybook
You copy random texts from the screen of your phone or your classmate’s daftar into your own daftar. You have no idea about what you write, nor do you care. Your teacher collects it and calls that “education”.
Notebook
You write what you need to remember in your own style and for your own use. No one checks it and no one collects it. Perhaps you won’t look at it again but when you took your notes you really thought about it all.
Daftars exist in the exact same format in Russia and also have exciting designs. But I doubt they can they match these ones here. 😜
---Vocab---
📍snappy = short and clear 📍apparently = it seems 📍odd = strange
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
The snappy word daftar is translated in two ways apparently – copybook sounds quite odd in English but is a good description of how this thing is often used, unlike what the word notebook suggests. What’s the difference?
Copybook
You copy random texts from the screen of your phone or your classmate’s daftar into your own daftar. You have no idea about what you write, nor do you care. Your teacher collects it and calls that “education”.
Notebook
You write what you need to remember in your own style and for your own use. No one checks it and no one collects it. Perhaps you won’t look at it again but when you took your notes you really thought about it all.
Daftars exist in the exact same format in Russia and also have exciting designs. But I doubt they can they match these ones here. 😜
---Vocab---
📍snappy = short and clear 📍apparently = it seems 📍odd = strange
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#43 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Bygone Uzbekistan
There’s something strangely attractive about relics of the past found in Uzbekistan. Why is that?
Globalisation
There are many things you can find anywhere in the world and hey, that’s super boring. When they take the trouble to come to Uzbekistan, foreigners want to discover something unique, even if that something is shabby.
East & West
We all have our ideas of other people and places and we’re always happy when we find some truth in them. Westerners may love to find shabbiness in the East as it tells them they won the Cold War.
”Ruinenlust”
This German word translates as “taking pleasure in ruins” and is a fascination with lost empires. Ruins let us imagine what life was like in the past and show us that nothing lasts forever.
---Vocab---
📍bygone = of the past 📍relic = sth left from the past 📍shabby / shabbiness = of low quality, in a bad condition📍ruins = leftovers of destroyed buildings
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
There’s something strangely attractive about relics of the past found in Uzbekistan. Why is that?
Globalisation
There are many things you can find anywhere in the world and hey, that’s super boring. When they take the trouble to come to Uzbekistan, foreigners want to discover something unique, even if that something is shabby.
East & West
We all have our ideas of other people and places and we’re always happy when we find some truth in them. Westerners may love to find shabbiness in the East as it tells them they won the Cold War.
”Ruinenlust”
This German word translates as “taking pleasure in ruins” and is a fascination with lost empires. Ruins let us imagine what life was like in the past and show us that nothing lasts forever.
---Vocab---
📍bygone = of the past 📍relic = sth left from the past 📍shabby / shabbiness = of low quality, in a bad condition📍ruins = leftovers of destroyed buildings
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#44 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Mini markets
Here’s a good example for glocalisation: Uzbekistan’s countless mini markets. It’s become normal to replace the local oziq-ovqat do’koni with the cooler sounding mini market. Why glocalisation, you ask?
Globalisation
“Mini market” is English, the global language, and the same word is used in many countries, although not really in English-speaking countries. The idea of a mini market is also quite uniform – small in size but clean, modern, brightly lighted, well-stocked and with good service.
Localisation
Mini markets usually belong to chains, the biggest of which is probably 7-Eleven from Japan. In Uzbekistan, however, mini markets are simple small shops run by families.
---Vocab---
📍glocalisation = mix of globalisation and localisation 📍countless = very many 📍uniform (adj) = same-looking 📍well-stocked = having a lot of products 📍chain = company with many branches
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Here’s a good example for glocalisation: Uzbekistan’s countless mini markets. It’s become normal to replace the local oziq-ovqat do’koni with the cooler sounding mini market. Why glocalisation, you ask?
Globalisation
“Mini market” is English, the global language, and the same word is used in many countries, although not really in English-speaking countries. The idea of a mini market is also quite uniform – small in size but clean, modern, brightly lighted, well-stocked and with good service.
Localisation
Mini markets usually belong to chains, the biggest of which is probably 7-Eleven from Japan. In Uzbekistan, however, mini markets are simple small shops run by families.
---Vocab---
📍glocalisation = mix of globalisation and localisation 📍countless = very many 📍uniform (adj) = same-looking 📍well-stocked = having a lot of products 📍chain = company with many branches
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#45 Travelogue Uzbekistan: Uzbekistan Airways
Most Uzbeks aren’t that proud of their national airline. I do agree that the logo sucks but I was pleasantly surprised by two things:
Pricing
To become more competitive, the government has lowered either airport fees or taxes, or both, I don’t know, but ticket prices have come down a bit. Flying to and from Tashkent used to be much more expensive than Bishkek or Almaty. In the future Tashkent airport could become a hub.
Safety Video
It is international standard to play a video that explains passengers how to stay safe. These videos can be really boring but not the one on Uzbekistan Airways flights. They shot a Silk-Road-themed video with people in historic outfits dealing with stuff like seat belts and oxygen masks. Definitely worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7s17LVn1JE
---Vocab---
📍sth sucks = sth is really bad 📍hub = central point 📍outfit = a set of clothes
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Most Uzbeks aren’t that proud of their national airline. I do agree that the logo sucks but I was pleasantly surprised by two things:
Pricing
To become more competitive, the government has lowered either airport fees or taxes, or both, I don’t know, but ticket prices have come down a bit. Flying to and from Tashkent used to be much more expensive than Bishkek or Almaty. In the future Tashkent airport could become a hub.
Safety Video
It is international standard to play a video that explains passengers how to stay safe. These videos can be really boring but not the one on Uzbekistan Airways flights. They shot a Silk-Road-themed video with people in historic outfits dealing with stuff like seat belts and oxygen masks. Definitely worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7s17LVn1JE
---Vocab---
📍sth sucks = sth is really bad 📍hub = central point 📍outfit = a set of clothes
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan