If each person has their private language, then love is about learning each other’s languages
Last summer, my partner and I went on an 80-mile bicycle trip around the southern shore of mountain lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Gasping for air after cresting a murderously steep hill — the third one in a row — I asked him why on earth did he call the route “more or less flat.” “Well, that’s why I said “more or less,” he explained. It was by far not the first time I realized that asking “What do you mean?” was quintessential for building a peaceful and happy relationship.
It all started with the word “interesting.” As we began dating…
The history and hazards of smiling as a woman.
Some people smile up to 50 times a day, and I might be one of them. I was born in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, and my favorite childhood song was about how “a smile can make a gloomy day brighter,” fostering friendship and warmth all over the world.
Growing up, I genuinely believed in the power of the smile, and by my teenage years, firmly adopted smiling as a personal philosophy, a proud mark of a person determined to be happy.
I lived with this notion for 28 years, until last year, I stumbled upon a particular paragraph in Jane Goodall’s…
Three years in the life of a Dota 2 player in Kyrgyzstan: Bakyt Emilzhanov’s (Zayac) journey from a schoolboy living in computer clubs to a well-paid professional
Autumn 2015
When everyone came to the yearly potato harvesting at grandparents’ farm, the family learned that 16-year-old Bakyt dropped out of school. His father made it clear that he is not going to hide it from the family and lie to everyone that Bakyt goes to school. Questions came pouring in. While digging up potatoes, the uncle relished interrogating Bakyt: “Why did you drop out? How much can you make? And what are going to do when you turn 25?” Bakyt felt angry for being treated as a kid and resentfully thought to himself: “How can you tell me…
One day in a life of a Kyrgyz family
Part 1: The morning
The room is warm but stuffy, and the air is stale from six people breathing. Boldukan awakes to the sound of the alarm ringing: it’s 5:30 AM, time to milk the cow. Her 15-year-old son Nurbol set the ringtone to dubstep as a prank, and the frantic rhythm shatters the silence like a grenade. The song jars her awake each morning, but she keeps forgetting to change the ringtone.
Outside, the sun is rising, slowly illuminating mountain peaks a golden red. One of the hottest days of the year has just started. The birds are asleep, and the air is…
Audience growth recipe from a Latvia-based startup that innovates Russian media using games and humor
Riga-based online newspaper Meduza has launched in October of 2014. In two years, this small startup managed to become one of top 10 most visited Russian news websites, attracting more than 5 million monthly unique visitors. How? They experimented nonstop.
The outlet was created in a result of a big scandal in Russia media. In March 2014, the owner of the leading news website Lenta.ru fired the outlet’s Editor-in-Chief Galina Timchenko. The premise was an official warning from Russian state censors for publishing an interview…
How money and drama intertwine in Kyrgyzstan’s nomad horse racing
Two hundred men fiercely whistle and howl each time riders gallop past, lifting a cloud of dust into the blazing hot air. On May 8th, 2015, the mayor hosted Victory Day horseraces at the site of a former cemetery in Kara-Balta, a small city 60 kilometers west of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. A bay stallion with a white speck on his forehead gets ahead and leads all 20 kilometers of the main race of the day, Alaman Baige. His rivals are still far behind as he reaches his last lap. The crowds hoots “Chap! Chap! Chap!” as the stallion…
The story of Olga Vidisheva, CEO of Shoptiques and a member of Forbes’ 30 under 30 lists who came to the US from Kyrgyzstan as a teenager and fulfilled the American Dream
Olga Vidisheva is CEO of Shoptiques, a fashion startup that partners with more than 5,000 boutiques across the world. By 30, she made an impressive career — worked at Goldman Sachs, received an MBA degree in Harvard, went through Y-Combinator and got into Forbes’ 30 under 30 lists. …
Сегодня чертовски интересные времена для журналистики: эра перехода в онлайн. Прекрасней всего то, что никто толком не понимает, что происходит. Даже гиганты вроде New York Times далеко не сразу поняли, что создать сайт и копировать заголовки в соцсети. Интернет лишил медиа права на монолог и монополии на информацию. Он требует иного отношения к читателю и подаче информации. Что делает онлайн-медиа популярным, ещё не совсем ясно. Но у некоторых явно получается лучше, чем у остальных.
Интересно понять, что те, у кого всё получается, делают иначе и чему можно у них научиться. В отношении инноваций в сфере медиа рунет сложно назвать лидером…
Basho’s famous frog haiku consists only of seven words. However, it has several hundred translations and interpretations. This multitude of possible meanings created by omitted words is a very specific feature of the genre. It is intentional, and the intention is to unleash beholder’s imagination involving him into the creation of the personal meaning.
Rei Kawakubo likes to say that her nationality is just an accident. But, in a way, she is a very Japanese artist. She avoids explanations (which you expect to have when you see a dress with four sleeves) and seems to like to be misunderstood. She…
Повседневная жизнь в Бишкеке из сотки звуков, которые настолько привычны, что мы их не замечаем: начиная от шума траффика и гомона детей до скрипа дверей троллейбуса и зова голосистого молочника.
За сутки мы собрали более сотни аудиозаписей городских шумов и попросили звукорежиссёра Айбека Асылбекова смиксовать их в один трек. Вот что получилось:
