Extra-curricular activities for the students center around the Komsomol--the Communist Youth Organization. This group arranges most meetings and even posts signs in the halls afterwards listing those who did not attend, "shame and dishonor." The Komsomol also inspects students' rooms and sees that each person is tidy and has cut his fingernails. It also sponsors soul-searching sessions.
Student reaction to this communist indoctrination is well-expressed in the following joke. By way of explanation, the Russian work 'mat' means very strong swearing of an obscene nature:
"What is the difference between mat and diamat? (diamat stands for dialectical materialism). The answer is that mat everyone understands but pretends he does not. Diamat no one understands but pretends he does, and both are mighty weapons in the hands of the proletariat."
While the Soviet Union still has plenty of openings available for technicians, there is a certain overproduction of intellectuals, according to Malia, especially in the non-scientific professions. It is for this reason that it is growing harder to get into these fields.
Malia was fortunate in finding out so much about Russia. Certainly the unusual length of his trip provided him with more than the average number of chance contacts. Indeed, in his case, many of these could even develop into friendship before he left. Not all visitors to Russia will be so lucky, however.
Knowing Russian Helps
One of Malia's big advantages over the average tourist was his knowledge of Russian. Then, even though Intourist does control the hotels in all principal cities and does decide where one can or cannot go, Malia had unusual freedom in moving about the country. If he wanted to go somewhere where Intourist had no facilities, he could usually talk the officials into letting him go anyway.
But for the average traveler, Intourist is indispensable. Malia found it so on numerous occasions as well. As he put it, "I didn't have eight hours to wait in the railroad station to get a ticket." So he would use Intourist. Most people would find themselves quite dependent on this organization, which in many ways is unfortunate, since it is virtually impossible to obtain anything more than a vague impression of the country and people with its help. The paradox is that without it, travel in Russia would be impossible for most foreigners. Malia was lucky he saw so much