Salaam Central Asia
Intro: A Japanese Amerasian’s Journey to Central Eurasia
AmerasianWorld.com’s “Salaam Central Asia” was created in the year the year 2000 focusing on my experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan and as a Program Recruiter in the Kyrgyz Republic. Salaam Central Asia was renamed Amerasian World in 2003.
Read more about the original Salaam Central website which was the precursor for Amerasian World.
Salaam Central Asia will be updated to reflect my returning to Almaty, Kazakhstan, from Nov., 2013, to July, 2016.
Peace Corps Kazakhstan (1997-1999)
From June, 1997, until July, 1999, I served as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Peace Corps Kazakhstan. My Peace Corps site was located in Karatau, Kazakhstan, in southern Kazakhstan. I taught English as a Foreign Language and Computer Keyboarding to Kazakh and Russian students. When I am not in Karatau, you will usually find me in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Almaty, pronounced Almata in Kazakh, was where I loaded up on my chocolate chip cookies.
Accels Kyrgyzstan (1999)
After I returned to the US in July, 1999, I was immediately offered a contract as a Program Recruiter with the American Councils for International Education (ACCELS/ACTR) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Before flying to Bishkek, I spent a week conference in Moscow, Russia. After this conference, I flew with the Office Manager from the Osh office to Kyrgyzstan. During my four months in Kyrgyzstan, I visited my Peace Corps site in Karatau, Kazakhstan again to see my Kazakh host family. I also made a brief visit to Andijan, Uzbekistan. I also collected some Kyrgyz Som, the national currency of the Kyrgyz Republic, during my trip.
Turkey (1999 and 2001)
After I left Central Asia in December, 1999, I traveled to Istanbul, Turkey. I enjoyed Turkey so much that I decided to visit it a couple more times. I returned to Istanbul in 2001 and visited Antalya, Manavgat, and Alanya. The following summer, I again returned to Istanbul and volunteered with Education Volunteers Foundation of Turkey in Charshamba.
Kazakhstan (2013-2016)
I returned to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in November, 2013. I plan to update this site to include pictures from my three year work assignment there.
Visit my: SaigonNezumi.com blog to learn what I am doing now in Saigon, Vietnam.
Edited on: October 9, 2018, by Kevin Miller, Jr.