Lazzat, Almaty, Kazakhstan

“ At 20 you are maximalist, but at 30 you already have experience and you are smart.”

Name :  Lazzat Trochshinskaya

Gender :  Female

DoB :  20.02.1984

City of Birth : Kokshetau (Akmola region)

Status :  Married

Family :  1 Son, 2yo & 1 Daughter 5yo

Hometown :  Almaty, Kazakhstan

Education : Kazakh National Technical University

Job :  Design & Process engineer

Religion :  Agnostic

Politics :  –

As a child… How would you picture yourself at 30?

JOB – How did you decide to do this job?

Architect! And I wanted to enter an architectural school, but I was not very lucky… I did not have all information about the schedule of the exams and I was too late to pass the creative exam… Therefore I tried to find a job quite close to architecture because I have always liked to design, to project, to draw.

I remember our first TV! When my parents brought it home it was a real revolution! But no remote at the time, just buttons which were always broken and we would always use matches to fix them. 

HOME / PLACE OF LIVING – Where you thought we would be living by now?

I thought I would live in Kazakhstan but in Astana because I am from North and the climate in Almaty is too warm for me. I was born in a vert small town 400 km away from Astana, so small that you could walk from one side to another just by foot. In 1998 my parents moved to Astana because they lost their job in our town. It was a year of great opportunities because in 1998 the capital of Kazakhstan was moved from Almaty to Astana.

Lazzat lives in this house in the suburb of Almaty.

Lazzat and her 5yo daughter at home.

Striking and memorable events…

IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE – What are the most memorable event of your personal life?

Oh, I have a lot! ))) My grand parents lived in a small remote village and every evening we would go to meet our cow coming back from the pasture. One evening, I was about 10yo, my aunt and I could not find our cow among the herd… so we had to look for it! We went quite far away from our place, in the steppe and suddenly an heavy rain started, the sky became immediately dark and scary. We did not know what to do and my aunt panicked… She was loosing her mind and I tried to reinsure her and tell her “look I am a child and I am not afraid”… Eventually we were able to find a tiny village made of 8 houses and one of them welcomed us. They did not have any way of communication so we could not warn our families… But our hosts were so welcoming, friendly and helpful! Thanks god we eventually could contact our family, who were so much worried and looked for us all night long and my grand father and my uncle came to get us the next morning.

 

 

IN THE WORLD – What are the main events that stroke the world you are living in?

Kazakhstan : I do not really know… I think that our country is very conservative and things do not change very fast. But I was born in USSR and when I was around 10 years, the union fell. I think it was the major change that occurred over the past 30 years. I remember my childhood and can compare it with childhood of my children… It is totally different… We used to grow in the street…Communication was not developed (TV, Internet of course). I remember our first TV! When my parents brought it home it was a real revolution! But no remote at the time, just buttons which were always broken and we would always use matches to fix them.

World : The fall of the Soviet Union was a huge event. From one day to another new countries with new borders were created… Before we could travel freely within the USSR but today we have passports and can only stay limited time in some countries. I think that another main event that happened in the world is the invention of Internet that created a real revolution. But there are also a few drawbacks because I think that nowadays people spend less time talking to each other, our children don’t play outside anymore with their friends and just play with their smartphones… Its funny to see some young couples in a park, they don’t talk to each other, but text and surf on Internet!

 

BEST MEMORY – What is your best memory? When my first child was born… It was such an amazing moment for me. Giving birth for first time is just a miracle. You take pictures of him/her every second, but with second child it happens just for important dates. And third child… sometimes you just forget to take pics! ☺

 

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT – I’m proud of my life and what I achieved so far. I am only 30 yo but I have family, 2 children, we have our own house and car, which we were able to get without loan! I have good and well paid job. I know a lot of people who are much older, like 40-45 and still did not achieve something like this.

Looking back / Reviewing expectations

10 YEARS AGO, I did not think I would be married because I was not that popular among guys, they just accepted me as a friend. But I always dreamt about children so I was sure that I would have one in my 30’s. I thought I would live in Astana with my parents, working in the oil and gas industry.

TODAY, I live happily with my husband in Almaty… I have 2 lovely children and I work in the oil and gas industry.

Lazzat having lunch with her husband and daughter.

Lazzat in her garden.

30 years old, a turning point?

WHAT’S NEW? – Did you notice some changes since you are 30 YO?

I think this age has a great advantage: you are still young, but you can draw conclusions. I still feel very young but I am mush wiser, can predict the results of my actions and can draw conclusions about my past. I also think that at this age, you can still change something you do not like in your life! At 20 you are maximalist, but at 30 you already have experience and you are smart.

I still feel very young but I am mush wiser, can predict the results of my actions and can draw conclusions about my past.

OLD OR YOUNG? – Do you feel « old » or « still young »?

I feel very young. Sometimes I am surprised when younger people call me Madam! I still feel like I am 20 yo inside me… For instance I decided to go to Europe soon for a few weekd holiday was an absolutely spontaneous decision. Once I made this funny test on Facebook: what is your “real age”, it said I was 17!

 

CHANGES OR REGRETS? What are the things you would like to change?

I cannot say I have regrets. And I think that I took the right decision at a turning point of my life. I just graduated from University and was about to join Schlumberger but at the same time I got engaged and my fiancé tried to convince me to move to Almaty. It was a very hard choice… but I followed my heart and chose my relationship. First times were quite hard but like I said before we managed it pretty well.

My Values

My Typical day

And tomorrow?

YOUR STORY IN 10 YEARS – What is the story you want to tell within 10 years?

I think I will still live in Kazakhstan because I like this country, I like this city and my husband does too. Even if there are some fears about the rise of radical Muslim, I think it is a great place to live in. On a professional ground I want to start my own business… I am sure it will happen an that I will be successful, because I am a lucky person ☺ I also dream about getting a third child, but we have to think about their future, education and so on. I hope that in future, if everything goes well, we will have more children.

 

THE WORLD IN 10 YEARS – How do you imagine the world you will be living in within 10 years?

Kazakhstan: Our country changes so slowly… Maybe we will be closer to Russia in the matter of economy and business. Russia was always our big brother. I think that we are currently witnessing a lot of happening that give hope: boarders opening, establishment of the Custom Union establishment, Single Economic Space… I also put a lot of hope into the World Expo 2017 which will take place in Astana. Maybe other countries will know more about Kazakhstan and change their mind. Because today Kazakhstan is just famous because of oil and gas and Borat ☺

World: I hope that people will become friendlier, nicer to each other and I wish we could avoid all these wars… Unfortunately, current situation between Russia and Europe is a clear example. I hope people will understand each other better and get along better.

Fears and Dreams…

FEARS – What are you afraid of? War. I think it is the most awful and scary thing that can happen. You can survive after everything: economical crisis, personal problems… hardly after war.

 

ACHIEVEMENTS – What are the things you want to achieve? To write a book ☺ I used to write a lot of novels when I was student. My friends would read my stories and really liked them, they said they were good. In my family we had few gifted people. For instance my grandma wrote poems and all the family was very proud of her.

 

DREAMS – What is your craziest dreams? I want to make a round the world trip in a challenging way! Cycling maybe… And I also want to make it to South Pole… I love snow so much!

More pictures…