- August 24, 2022
Rising sophomore in BioEng interns for a local zoo in Kazakhstan
As a rising sophomore, Jierui Fang (Architecture Studies and Biological Engineering ’20) interned for a media agency and a local zoo in Almaty, Kazakhstan, through MISTI Eurasia. She came back with fond memories of the country and its people.
The first month, Jierui worked at a media agency called “Success K,” helping them design the “Visit Almaty” website and prepare for the International Innovation Forum “Digital Kazakhstan.” Later she transitioned to the Almaty Zoo, one of the largest zoological parks in Kazakhstan, where she worked on writing a report for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) to help her host regain its membership there.
Almaty is predominantly Kazakh and Russian speaking; however, Jierui admits she didn’t know either and still was able to succeed in her internships. Almaty Management University, who MISTI Eurasia, was partnering with on organizing the internships in Kazakhstan, “very generously provided us with buddies who were extremely helpful within the first weeks to getting accustomed to the environment and getting around the city,” Jierui explains.
She says that the part of Kazakhstan she loves the most is the friendly people she has met. For example, on a train ride, she quickly befriended a woman who, at the end of the journey, gifted Jierui a necklace and told her to take care.
“Kazakhstan is a very beautiful country. I think every weekend I am out to a different natural site. The first weekend it was Big Almaty Lake, and then we went to the Turgen Waterfall. We also went on a picnic to a winery with Arba wine, which was amazing, especially the wine tasting part,” Jierui says.