Path to nomenclature. Studies
In Pushkinskie Gory. 1st course
On the wave of your memory. The faculty in which our group studied, oddly enough, was called "Bridges and Tunnels". There were 4 groups of bridgers (MT) and 5 groups of ASGs in the stream. What motivated such a system is not very clear. Apparently, the same basic course of disciplines.
Students
The learning process itself did not differ from other technical universities in the USSR. Lectures, seminars, course projects, tests, exams. I confess that I belonged to the type of students who in modern times are called botanists. He did not miss lectures, he handed over course projects in the forefront. In the exams, I was pushed into the front rows. Therefore, by the end of my studies, I was fourth in the distribution lists.
Despite the high level of training, LIIZhT was not popular with Leningrad students. Since the distribution was carried out throughout the country, there were not many chances to stay in Leningrad. It was easier for the girls - she married a Leningrader, and the problem was solved. Although life is more difficult.
But as for the organization of life, in addition to studying, is of particular interest.
The Institute had several dormitories, which were resettled according to the faculties. Three dormitories were located on the Petrograd side, next to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Hostel No. 2 of the Faculty of Civil Engineering was located next to the Cathedral Mosque opposite the Gorkovskaya metro station, further across the block - hostel No. 5 of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and perpendicular to it our hostel No. 7 of the Faculty of Bridges and Tunnels. And between them is our student canteen.
The second and fifth dormitories were rather modern buildings of special construction, but ours is a pre-revolutionary five-story apartment building, thoroughly rebuilt. But it had two entrances with apartments where teachers and graduate students lived. A special feature was the presence of balconies in some rooms. We, sophomores, were placed in a five-bed room on the ground floor. Access to this wing was through the second floor. There were kitchens on every floor with broken gas stoves. Pots and pans were mostly inherited from fifth-year students.
The way from the hostel to the institute took about 45 minutes. Walk to the subway 5 minutes. Three stops to Haymarket (nowadays) Square. On the way we dropped into a puffy shop. There was a machine that dispensed donuts, and they sold coffee with condensed milk (without foam). I had breakfast before work. I tried to dine in the canteen at the dormitories. The food was tastier and cheaper. They ate a bargain. The room attendant went to the store, bought potatoes, onions, bread, rolls and tea, sugar and vegetable oil, as needed. The potatoes were fried.
With a scholarship, the guys went to pubs. I was not then a beer lover, and I did not keep them company. Sometimes we went to a restaurant called "Three Bogatyrs". It was an ordinary dining room, in the evening more, if I may say so, exquisite food was prepared there. And they sold liquor with a small margin. For example - port wine "777". The canteen was closed on Sunday. We used to go to the dumpling shop at the Petrogradskaya metro station. A mug of beef broth and a double portion of dumplings guaranteed satiety until the evening.
The shower room in the hostel never worked. We went to the bathroom around the corner to wash. We tried to get into the first run. There was a group of men there. They washed the steam room, ventilated and then steamed. After them it was a good steam. All the dirt and grease was gone in no time.
I didn't do laundry. Every two months it was possible to go home to Velikiye Luki for a couple of days. The direct train ran daily at night. Late in the evening you sit down and at 9 am in Luki. From Velikie Luki he departed at about 8 pm and arrived in St. Petersburg at 5 am. I had to wait half an hour for the subway to open. I managed to get to the hostel and, leaving the bag, to classes.
Hall on the way to the Department of Architecture
My father's brother lived in Leningrad with his family. Sometimes on weekends I went to visit them. They lived in a new building on the outskirts. The area was jokingly called the GDR (Citizen beyond the Stream). The area closer to the center is Germany (the fashionable district of Grazhdanki). Brooks is a suburban train station.
Since I studied without triples, I always received a scholarship. From the third year it was 45 rubles. Approximately the same amount was added by the parents. It was quite enough, not only for food and travel, but also for going to the cinema. Take a friend to an ice cream parlor. But not all students were helped by their parents. In our group, the guys went to work on the night shift as loaders at the Krasnaya Bavaria brewery. In addition to money, there they could drink a bottle of beer for free.
Lenin audience. In 1917, Lenin spoke here
My drawing ability was quickly assessed, and from the third year I was put on the student council of the hostel. Wall newspapers for the holiday became my diocese. As a member of the student council, he was relocated to a triple. A fourth-year bridge student and a student from Mongolia lived with me. There was a small problem - they cooked their dinner from imported products. Dried meat (horse meat and lamb). Salted milk dried to a lump of sugar. Everything is fine, but the smell is killer.
In addition, the Mongol was engaged in fartsovka. He brought leather and suede products and sold them in the hostel. Students from the GDR, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria studied with us, but mostly as bridge builders.
There were students from Africa. A student from Burundi, Bonya, studied a year older. His father was a minister. For holidays he flew to Paris or Italy. When asked what he would be at the end of the institute, he proudly said: "Minister of Railways." When asked about the presence of railways in the country, he answered: "There are few."
From the fourth year there was already a room on the fifth floor with a balcony. They lived together. Avdeev Vasya from the fifth year and my classmate Borya Bogdanov. His classmate from Leningrad laid eyes on Vasily. And although Vasya slightly resisted, she married herself. But he left the bed behind him. So we lived together.
Our study took place under the banner of the books of L. I. Brezhnev and the construction of the BAM. We must pay tribute - the section on construction in the permafrost zone was quickly introduced into the course "Technology of Construction" and the section on construction in earthquake-prone areas was expanded.
Our hostel
Notable events
Let me tell you about some notable events during my studies.
Our curator took the group to historical library of the Institute, where admission was mainly for teachers. He showed drawings with color hillshade, made by the first rector of the Corps of Railways A. Betoncourt. Tablet 2x2 m with the facade of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the design of the mechanism for lifting the Alexandria Pillar. All this was done with goose feathers with the drawing of all the details of the entablature. The thickness of the lines is less than a millimeter.
In my second year, before the New Year, I had to pass a test in architecture. However, Professor Igor Georgievich Yavein (a Russified Swede) left for Europe for a conference on the architecture of railway stations. He arrived on the 30th in the morning. I arrived at the institute at 6 pm. At first he tried to ask questions, but the crowd raised a howl. The last day of tests - you need to miss almost 100 people. In general, the last students barely managed to catch the last subway train.
From the third year on, "Strength of Materials" was read to us by Professor Axelrod (alas, I don't remember his name). Read very interesting and intelligibly. At the age of 35, he defended his doctoral thesis and received the title of professor. And then, in the second semester, the news came. His mother's cousin died in Canada and left him an inheritance of several million dollars, a homestead and God knows what else. He did not have time to make a decision, as he was already offered a professorship at the University of Toronto. Most felt sorry for the head of the department - he would receive a reprimand on the party line.
In the 4th year, our English teacher went on maternity leave. An elderly lady was invited to replace her, who worked for 20 years as a typist at the embassy in the UK, in my opinion. Even at school, an English teacher taught us pronunciation. Rosa Benitsianovna liked my pronunciation, and she suggested that instead of articles about reinforced concrete, I read and translate a couple of chapters from Agatha Christie's book "The Moving Finger".
I was delighted, but the book turned out to be difficult to translate - a lot of jargon and specifics. Helped uncle - dad's brother. He served at the Rzhevka training ground and dealt with English documentation. But Roza Benetsianovna fell ill when she passed the test. A young teacher has arrived. What I read in English, she did not seem to understand very much, but she listened to the detective with pleasure. I got an A for the first time. At school, we were taught to translate by meaning, and at the institute - literally. Literally, I didn't do very well.
And further. In the summer, during exams, my parents bought a ticket to the Zhivoi Ruchei rest house near Luga. They bought me a kursovka, put a cot. I lived in a rest home, prepared and traveled only to take exams. At the weekend, we went on an excursion to Luga and, when visiting the fraternal cemetery, found the grave of my father's cousin, who went missing near Leningrad in 1941.
Facade overlooking the Fontanka
My classmate, Borya Bogdanov, in the spring of his 4th year, met a girl at his brother's wedding. She worked at the Lenizdat factory. A stormy romance led Borya to the desire to marry. In November, I was going to go to Siverskaya, to get acquainted with the parents of the bride, who worked there at the state farm.
The whole group dressed up Borya (tie, jacket), instructed how an intelligent person should behave in society. Dispatched on Friday evening. On Sunday evening, Borya appears in a strong yield (he and his future father-in-law persuaded a decent share of alcohol) and drags a kraft paper bag full of smoked pork ribs. While she and her father-in-law were fighting with Bakhus, the mother-in-law rushed to the director of the state farm. The son-in-law is starving - you need help. Then for more than two months (almost until the winter holidays) we cooked pea soup-puree on the bones - it turned out very satisfying.
In the 4th year, the rector's office decided, in addition to basic education, to prepare a young engineer for social work. The Faculty of Public Professions was created. Each student had to choose one of several directions. I signed up for an art group. It was led by the Leningrad artist Zakharov. I, unfortunately, did not remember the name and patronymic.
He spent several classes in his studio. Large room on two levels with mezzanines. Hung and lined with his paintings, bast shoes with harp and other entourage. They painted still lifes. But basically, using the certificate of the Union of Artists of the USSR, he dragged us to the Hermitage and the Russian Museum for free and without a queue. Our tour guide was an amazing storyteller. Compared to museums, they are much more interesting.
Yusupov Palace. In it, Rasputin was killed, by the way ...
I remember the visit to his friend, the famous artist Pimenov. The first thing that caught my eye was a large canvas with a naked model lying by a stack of straw on a mowed field. Even more struck by the reaction of the girls from our team: "How can she lie on the stubble - it hurts." Pimenov lost the power of speech - he did not know what to say.
Pimenov showed a chic album published in Japan. The point is this. After the Ministry of Culture selected paintings for museums and other cultural objects, the remaining paintings were selected by the Japanese owner of an art gallery in Tokyo, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture. I paid for everything in foreign currency. Part of the fee, quite decent, went to the budget, but the artists also received something. This something meant a decent amount by the standards of the USSR.
In addition, she sent each author a gorgeous album with copies of all the works acquired that year. Thick paper repeated the texture of the canvas. Each sheet was covered with transparent rice paper. The print quality is amazing. And leather binding. But the entourage of the workshop was the same as that of Zakharov. He gave us tea and biscuits to drink and told a bunch of stories from the life of the St. Petersburg beau monde.
Next time I’ll tell you about the practices that future civil engineers went through every summer. Well, about cultural recreation, of course ...
To be continued ...
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