Komsomolsk-mon-AmurMapApril, 2002 “For members of the komsomol” (that’s the Communist Youth League).  The trip to Komsomolsk-on-Amur turned out to be pleasant in every sense of the word. First of all, it was absolutely vital to get a feel for just how wide the motherland is (8-hour flight). Second, I was curious to try out the time machine: you see, Komsomolsk lives in different temporal zones: the 30s, the 50s, and the 80s.  The other zones haven’t influenced the city much.  A decorated city City payphone.  Square model.  You used to only see such trams in pictures (just look at the shape of the current collector).  You don’t see monuments like these going up anymore.  These typefaces were discontinued in the middle of last century. 
Payment required Nor do you get many shops like this in today’s day and age.  Grocery store This is what the future looks like.  To the future with pagers This is what a school looks like.  You see signs like these all over the city. 
The house where you live is your home. Take good care of it. Strive to have the best house in the city These are the sorts of signs still visible on factories. 
Glory to the Soviet people This is what one of the parks in the city centre looks like.  Park This is what all of the courtyards look like.  This is what the streets look like.  This is the everyday reality of today’s youth (the contest in question took place today, 20 April 2002): 
The trade union and I It’s worthy noting that this trip set a new record for the number of unsmoked cigarettes. First, airplanes are now non-smoking. Second, you weren’t allowed to smoke at either the exhibition nor the theatre, where we spent part of the trip. But what struck me the most was that in Komsomolsk there are cafés and restaurants with dedicated smoking areas (although, more often than not, there aren’t any, so you have to stand out in the street to smoke). The smoking lounge in restaurants is a separate room reminiscent of a prison cell with what looks like a prison toilet for the cigarette buts. I came across this warning sign in one of the places I visited:  We don’t smoke here Despite all that, the people in Russia’s Far East are exceptionally lovely. They don’t have an accent, nor a local subdialect, none. That’s understandable though — back in the day, they were very careful about who they sent into exile. They make Sukhoi military planes here, as well as submarines on the quiet.  The shift is over. Rivers of people flow out of the plant and head home. Next to the plant there’s a market, bus stops, the daily grind. All of a sudden a fighter jet whizzes past just overhead with a deafening roar. But no one pays it any attention, except us.  When you’re in Komsomolsk it’s hard to fully grasp what Moscow is. But Moscow is everywhere. Nothing is being done to solve the issues thrown up by the sheer number time zones. For instance, the times on all railway tickets in Russia are written in Moscow time. So if you’re taking the train from Komsomolsk to Khabarovsk you’ve got to add seven hours to the stated time. Shameless effrontery.  |
