Bye Bye Baku

My time here in Baku is nearly up, and as I write this post I have just over 24 hours left in Azerbaijan. That is of course unless the Icelandic volcano starts playing up again.

The past four weeks have taught me a lot about learning, teaching, culture and myself. I hope too that my students have learnt enough about IELTS to get them through their exam on Saturday. It hasn’t all been smiles, as you can see in my previous post, but I would say that overall I’ve had a lot of fun, met some really interesting people and made some good friends.

A lot of people here have asked me what I will miss about Baku and Azerbaijan, so here is my top five:

1. The people – very friendly, hospitable and inquisitive.
2. The city at night – all the old buildings are illuminated, making Baku one of the most beautiful places you could ever visit in the evenings.
3. Icherisheher – a fascinating glimpse into the past. You can see photos here.
4. The service in restaurants – efficient but unobtrusive.
5. The tea – the Azerbaijani people drink much more tea than us Brits, and the accompanying sweets are delicious.

So, if you ever get the chance to visit Azerbaijan and you would like some advice, let me know and I can give you a few pointers. In the meantime, I look forward to blogging again when I’m back in London. Thanks for reading.

time up to have run out of time
to play up phrasal verb meaning to cause problems
to get through to be able to complete something difficult
to not be all smiles an expression used to describe an experience which was not always positive
inquisitive showing curiosity
illuminated provided with artificial light
glimpse an indication of what something is/was like
unobtrusive not noticeable, in a positive way
pointers pieces of advice or tips, informal
in the meantime during the intervening time, or the time between two events

Baku in time

Hello again everybody from Baku. I’m now into my second week of teaching IELTS out here and things are going very well. As promised in my previous blog post, I’m going to fill you in on a bit of the history of Baku and Azerbaijan. Did you know that although Baku has existed in some form since the 12th century (Icherisheher, the Old City, can be seen in the photo to the right), Azerbaijan has only been an independent state since 1991? Recently Azerbaijan celebrated the birth of its nine-millionth citizen, yet there is another Azerbaijan with over 20 million inhabitants – in Iran. Strange as that may sound, in1828 Azerbaijan (as it used to be) was divided between the Russian empire and Persia (now Iran). The province in Iran is still known by the same name as its European neighbour and both areas share cultural and linguistic ties.

The republic of Azerbaijan was first declared in 1918 and lasted for two years before the Red Army invaded and the republic fell under Soviet control for the next 70-odd years. Baku today is an fascinating mix of Islamic, Soviet and modern architecture, the latter being driven by the abundant oil and gas in the surrounding areas. The region has always been oil-rich, so much so that the Nobel brothers set up an oil company in the town back in the 1870s. The money they made in the city funded the Nobel prizes for many years.

Azerbaijan strikes me as a nation still finding its feet, still growing up, and the pace of change is phenomenal. While certain parts of the infrastructure are seriously underfunded, many parts of the city are shrouded in cranes as high-rise hotels and luxury apartments go up. A number of people have told me to come back in five years time “when the country will be finished”, though I get the impression that as long as there is oil in the area, the cranes will remain.

to fill you in to give you some information about something
an independent state a self-governing, unoccupied country
strange as that may sound discourse marker often used after some unusual or surprising information
ties links, connections or similarities, especially between families, cultures or countries
to fall under control to become under the rule or responsibility of a person or government
70-odd approximately 70
the latter the last thing mentioned in the previous sentence, in this case modern architecture
abundant available in many places

so much so that another discourse marker used to emphasize the result of a situation
to strike you to give you the impression, to make you think
to find your feet to become confident or established in your surroundings
phenomenal amazing
infrastructure the basic facilities needed for a country to function such as roads, water and electricity

shrouded covered
high-rise a building with many floors (like a skyscraper)
to go up to be built

Come in London - Azerbaijain calling

Hello everyone from chilly Baku. If you’re not sure where Baku is, it’s the capital of Azerbaijan. If you’re not sure where that is, perhaps it’s time you bought an atlas! To be honest, before I came here, I wasn’t quite sure where Baku was either, but for the record, it’s about as far east in Europe as you can go, sharing borders with Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Iran.

It’s a fascinating place, and I’ll write more about why in future posts, but for the time being perhaps it’s best if I explain why I’m here. As some of you may know, I’ve been teaching at the London School of English for nearly three years and in that time I’ve taught several IELTS courses. About a month ago, our courses director, Pete, asked me if I’d like to teach another IELTS course. "Of course" I said. "In Azerbaijan" said Pete. "Oh" I said, "let me think about it". After I’d slept on it (and hit the internet) I agreed to go, feeling that it was a great opportunity to visit somewhere well off the beaten track.

So here I am. I’ve been here for five days and taught for four of them. It’s been fascinating so far, and a real eye-opener. I’m teaching three IELTS groups a day for one month, in preparation for their exam on May 8th. The students are really switched on and keen to learn about the exam and Britain in general. I haven’t had much of a chance to explore the city yet, but I plan to have a good look around this weekend. I’ll let you know how I get on.

chilly quite cold, often after rainfall
for the record officially
for the time being until something happens at a later time
to sleep on something to wait a day or two before making an important decision
to hit the internet to use the internet a lot in a short period of time. You can also hit the books (revise a lot in a short time) or hit the shops (do a lot of shopping)
off the beaten track an unusual or uncommon place for tourists to visit
eye-opener a very interesting or educational experience
to be switched on to be intelligent and able to learn things quickly

to get on to make progress

Image taken from acus.org