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Janet Givens

Author

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    • JANET
      • At Home on the Kazakh Steppe
      • LEAPFROG
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      • MOLP
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  • LEARN MORE
  • SUBSTACK
  • WELCOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • BOOKS & EVENTS
    • JANET
      • At Home on the Kazakh Steppe
      • LEAPFROG
      • Events
    • WOODY
      • MOLP
      • Kmedjzik
      • The Woonboot
      • Cargo
  • LEARN MORE
  • SUBSTACK

friendship

16 Jan 2024

Choosing Our Friends

A few years back, I did a post on “The Four Stages of Friendship” and promised I’d add another post about when Friendships end. Not through death or moving far away. The other kind of ending — the worst in … Read More

Birds of a feather flock together, Choosing our friends, friendship, Growing, Hunkering, Janet Givens, Janet Givens author, The challenges to friendship
2 Aug 2017

He’s My Brother

This is the story of how I got a new baby brother, 50 years late. Ever meet someone and immediately you know you’ve made a connection?  There’s chemistry, some say.  Others claim it’s finding something in common that binds you. … Read More

artificial barriers to friendship, Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales quote, friendship, Gary Grimes, James Boswell quote, Janet Givens author, Ogontz Music Camp
14 Oct 2015

Friendship

  “Why did you do all this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.”   “You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing.” ― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web … Read More

Andrew Gold, At Home on the Kazakh Steppe, friendship, Janet Givens author, Thank you for being a friend
9 Oct 2015

Meeting Gulzhahan

  For the next few weeks (or months) I’ll be popping in on Fridays with a Deleted Scene from my memoir, At Home on the Kazakh Steppe. Let’s call them the “lost deleted scenes.” As I put together my new ebook … Read More

At Home on the Kazakh Steppe, cultural differences, friendship, Janet Givens author, Kazakhstan
11 Sep 2013

Gift Giving

  Here’s another of my many Deleted Scenes (they are growing weekly, as I continue to fine tune my manuscript).  This one features two of my colleagues, Gulzhahan and Gulzhan.  Their names are so similar, my readers often get confused. … Read More

friendship, gift giving, Janet Givens author, Kazakhstan
7 Aug 2013

Disappointment

“Wherever we go,” I’d declared to Woody at the start of our Peace Corps application process, “I want a nice beach, friendly bugs, and a good mattress.” I figured I could make friends for America without having to suffer.   … Read More

Differences, friendship, Janet Givens author, Kazakhstan, Mistakes
5 Jun 2013

Conquering Homophobia Through Vegetarianism

    This deleted scene is one of my favorites. It highlights the lighthearted relationship I had with my four closest colleagues and friends: Gulzhahan, Assem, Gulzhan, and Tolganay. Here we are at Tolganay’s apartment for dinner in early June. … Read More

friendship, homophobia, homosexuality, Janet Givens author, Kazakhstan, laughter, vegetarianism

Post Archives


Books

LEAPFROG: How to hold a civil conversation in an uncivil era

“Janet’s LEAPFROG describes— in an accessible and fun way— the nuts and bolts of how to have a civil conversation…”

Click here for more on LEAPFROG

At Home on the Kazakh Steppe:A Peace Corps Memoir

Praise from Kirkus Review

“…she writes engagingly … a sharp-eyed journalist. A worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in humanitarian work.”

At Home on the Kazakh Steppe, A Peace Corps Memoir, by Janet Givens
Buy the book

© 2025 Janet Givens