Belek Aidarov, a Kyrgyz national, first came to Lithuania in September 2007 as part of the Erasmus student exchange programme and spent a semester studying political science at Vilnius University. He recalls that it was foggy and cloudy then. “I fell in love with Lithuania when I saw it in the summer,” he says.
Summer love
Aidarov was born in a small Kyrgyz village, but his thirst for knowledge brought him to Bishkek, where he studied International Relations and Management, and later to Lithuania.
“My first impression of Lithuania was not very pleasant. I remember it was September. In Kyrgyzstan, September is the golden season. Our country is sunny almost every day. And here I got up in the morning, and it was foggy and cold. I called home and said: ‘I don’t like it here’,” the man laughs.
But then, the Indian summer started, it got warmer, and the impression changed, he says.
Under the Erasmus programme, Belek was planning to study in Lithuania for almost a year. He studied in English and had the opportunity to attend lectures at the faculties of economics, political science, and philosophy.
“Although Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan are both post-Soviet countries, Lithuania is ahead of Kyrgyzstan in the quality of education. We listened to lectures at different faculties, and they were very interesting,” he says.
In May, when his university studies ended, Belek decided to volunteer at a language school in Vilnius.
“I came in September, but when I saw summer here, I fell in love with Lithuania,” he says.
Picked for life
In July 2008, Belek returned to his home country. However, Lithuania did not leave his mind and he decided to enrol for a master’s degree at Vilnius University.
“I came back in 2009 and completed my master’s degree within a year. I again taught English at the language school and worked on international projects. It was there, at the language school, that I met my future wife. [...] She hired me, invited me for a job interview, and now we joke that she picked me for life in that interview,” the Kyrgyz man smiles.
Belek worked at the language school until 2012, and in early 2013 he found out that a major airline was opening an office in Vilnius.
“I didn’t plan anything like that, but for some reason, I always get jobs unexpectedly. The airline told me I was a good candidate because I speak many languages. I speak Turkish, Lithuanian, Russian, and English fluently. Of course, I also speak my mother tongue, Kyrgyz, as well as other languages of Central Asia – Kazakh, Uzbek, and Azeri. I also speak some Arabic. I have been working in this company ever since,” he says.
Difficult language
Belek is now the chair of the local Kyrgyz community in Lithuania. He says that Lithuanian was one of the harder languages to learn for him.
“I learnt Lithuanian on my own, but I wouldn’t say that my family had any influence on it. My wife and I spoke English when we met. We still speak English. Our Tatar friends ask us why we speak English to each other. Maybe it is just a habit,” he shares.
“Our children also speak four languages. We have four boys. The children speak Kyrgyz, Lithuanian, English, and Russian, and now the older ones have chosen German as their second foreign language in school,” the Kyrgyz man adds.
He says he was motivated to learn Lithuanian because he wanted to communicate with people and his students.
“I taught English on weekends. Older people could understand Russian, but you cannot speak Russian with young people, so I started speaking Lithuanian. That was the beginning. I didn’t take any courses, I make mistakes when I write in Lithuanian, and I probably don’t avoid them when I speak either. I improved my Lithuanian skills while working at the airport,” Belek says.
In his opinion, foreigners living in Lithuania should learn the national language: “As the leader of the Kyrgyz diaspora, I always tell my people this. There are free courses, and the locals are very happy when you speak Lithuanian with them.”
Creating community
According to the chair of the Kyrgyz community, the first migrants from Kyrgyzstan came to Lithuania in the 1980s.
“The first member of our community arrived in 1984. He married and stayed here, and his son, Dan Azikeev, is currently the Honorary Consul of Kyrgyzstan in Lithuania,” Belek says.
He recalls that at the beginning of the 21st century, Kyrgyz used to come to Lithuania to buy cars.
“Before Kyrgyzstan joined the Eurasian Customs Union, when a freer economic zone still existed, Kyrgyz people freely imported cars from Europe, and Lithuania was a transit zone,” he notes.
At first, Belek closely interacted with five Kyrgyz families in Lithuania.
“We used to get together for informal cake and tea parties. And after a while, we asked, ‘Why don't we create a community?’ After all, the number of Kyrgyz people in Lithuania was growing and some of them needed help,” he says.
On August 31, 2020, the Kyrgyz community in Lithuania was officially established.
“We have our own culture, Lithuania has its own culture, so in some cases, Kyrgyz working here need help. But I like to represent my culture here because I have always believed that it opens the doors to intercultural relations,” Belek shares.
“Since 2022, there is a Kyrgyz House in the House of National Communities in Vilnius. We call it a cultural corner where we can invite guests,” he adds.
Kyrgyz culture in Lithuania
In general, Lithuanians know little about Kyrgyzstan, according to Belek. However, there is one element of Kyrgyz culture that Lithuanians admire – the yurt – he says.
“A yurt is a nomadic home. The Kyrgyz have been nomads since time immemorial. Our geographical position and weather conditions required original solutions – original housing. Why did people wander? They raised cattle and wandered to graze them in different places. Naturally, they did not build houses in places where they lived for two or three months. They took their houses with them. That is how the yurt came about,” he explains.
The yurt is made of three main materials – wood, felt, and rope.
“Interestingly, there are now kindergartens in Lithuania that use eco-friendly yurts. They say it is a very good construction because it is cool in summer and warm in winter. There is one kindergarten in Lithuania where children sleep in yurts even in winter,” Belek notes.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
