Awakenings

It disappoints me to see how our society has become. With our increasingly busy lives and the advancement of modern technology, families are growing further and further apart. Many of the people that we spend most of our time with know little about our everyday lives. We might know even less about theirs. As I sat at the dinner table, I looked around only to realize that the people who are supposed to be closest to me are actually the farthest apart. Vladimir Berenzon, my father, was practically unknown to me. His life before marriage is all but a blur. I began to wonder who this man actually was when he was around my age. It struck my curiosity to wonder how he lived his younger years back in Ukraine, before he married my mother. The beginning of his teenage years was an appropriate time to start.
The education system in Ukraine is different from that in the United States. Before college, there is only one school with ten grades. The grading system is based on a five-point scale, with one being the lowest mark and five being the highest. The school year was from September 1st to May 28th. There were three breaks that were a week long, followed by a three-month summer recess. In 1979, at the age of thirteen, Vladimir had begun the 6th grade. The school he attended was called Intermediate School #67 (Soviet creativity at its best.) This particular school was for the athletically talented. It was here where he committed a large portion of his life to gymnastics. Aside from being athletically gifted, he also had a bright mind that would help him overcome problems both inside and outside the classroom.
Vladimir had always excelled in academics. Because of his athletic privileges, he was not required to take some of the classes that other students took. In 6th grade he took most of the basic courses – Russian, algebra, geography, and a hands-on activity class such as woodshop or electronics (some meaning is lost or misconstrued in the translations.) By the 6th grade, it was well known that he was an adept test-taker. The format of the tests varied in difficulty – from a one (easiest) to a five (hardest.) One day, Vladimir came up to the teacher to choose his test. When she saw that he had picked out a three, she gave him an automatic 100 and let him go home. Although he was bright, academics weren’t his passion.
During the year, Vladimir would spend hours practicing gymnastics. There were tournaments that he would leave school to attend (since it was an athletic school, this was allowed.) He traveled with his team to cities across Ukraine to compete with other gymnasts. He was skilled at every event but had a particular talent for the pommel horse and the rings. His team won the city championships several times, receiving hundreds of gifts from the crowds.
During the summer, Vladimir would go to a sports camp to continue his training. He lived in a manmade tent made out of stretched cloth. When it rained, the tents needed to be waterproofed and fixed into the ground. Aside from training, he would do more enjoyable activities such as eat, sleep, play, and fish with the others. Since there was also a football camp near them, they taught the players how to walk on their hands in exchange for football lessons. If the boys were feeling a little childish, they would throw toothpaste on the girls while they were asleep. These summers lasted until he graduated the 8th grade.
Vladimir completed eight grades of intermediate school before advancing. In 1981, at the age of 15, he attended a four-year technical school – the equivalent of a college in the U.S. He turned down the option of attending an institutional school, which was something more of an academic university. There was more money to be made in an applicable real world skill rather than continuing one’s education. Like universities in the U.S., good grades were rewarded with money. A student with straight 4s(out of five) would earn a stipend of 30 rubles a month. One with 4s and 5s would earn a stipend of 36 rubles a month. Just for comparison, the buying power of a one ruble back then would get you two full meals and a pack of cigarettes. He would enjoy the 36 rubles for the entire four years of his college career.
The school he attended was focused on automobiles and roads, particularly their repair and development. At the age of 17, he received his licenses for cars and trucks. He also learned to repair those vehicles, along with building and repairing roads for different types of terrains. He found the work to be a straightforward and excelled in his classes. He did almost no homework but still earned the top grades on his exams by paying attention to the lectures. Although he enjoyed learning, his most exciting years took place outside the classroom.
When he wasn’t in school, he was enjoying his favorite hobbies. One of his most favorite passions was music. He loved all kinds of music, especially the ones in the English language. He loved bands like ACDC and even had the full collection of the Beatles. During the summer, he would travel to the countryside for some rest and relaxation. He would go with his friends to collect tomatoes and apples and fool around in the fields. The first summer that he got back was when he decided to quit gymnastics. He had attained the title of “Master of Sport” at 16 and did feel the need to continue. His training partner, however, went on to the Olympics in Australia. With more free time on his hands, he was able to pursue some more exciting hobbies.
During the weekends, he would go to the disco. The style of break-dancing exploded in the 80s and he was captured by the movement. Because of his skills from gymnastics, he became an incredibly skilled dancer. He had a group of close friends that would travel to different cities showing off their skills. He was widely known as the leading break-dancer in his town. This attracted overwhelming attention from girls, a consequence that he certainly did not regret.
He loved playing soccer almost as much as he loved women. He would often gather a team to play with students from Africa – who were actually fluent in Russian! Like in all parts of the world, racism existed and often caused problems. One night, after a loss at the stadium, two Russian men came up to a black man and stabbed him in the stomach. Amazingly, the bleeding man chased after the attackers for a good 20 minutes, caught them, dealt some justice, and still lived!
Vladimir graduated technical school in 1985, at the age of 18. He finished with a 4th degree in auto-mechanics. With the sixth degree being the highest, he earned a large amount of prestige and recognition. This mastery also gave him an unexpected teaching degree, which had a mandatory one-year job placement. The location was very distant from home so he avoided the offer and chose the army instead.
In Russia, it is law to be drafted into the army at the age of 18. After Vladimir finished technical school, he was immediately chosen to serve. After asking around, he discovered that he was supposed to be drafted to fight in Afghanistan. Because draft dodging was an illegal and punishable offense, he decided take another route out of the predicament. Instead of leaving, he returned to school to study electro-mechanics. This bought him enough time to be drafted closer to home, which turned out to be 70km from Novgorod. He began his two-year service at the age of 19, on October of 1986.
His division was in the Russian Air Force, particularly aviation support. He served mostly as a dispatcher for incoming and outgoing airplanes. Because of the licenses he received in technical school, he was permitted to operate vehicles that carried supplies and technical machinery. One of the most prominent had an enormous diesel engine, which was connected to a compressor that generated very high pressures (up to 400kg/sqlb.)
The everyday life of a Russian soldier was difficult. There were no breaks or vacations while serving. There would be an extensive morning exercise right after waking up, no matter what temperature was outside. During the winter it would get as cold as -40 degrees C. In the summer, temperatures would reach a scorching 30 degrees C. The soldiers would soak their blankets in cold water in order to cool off. The mosquitoes were large enough to bite through jeans and shirts. Because the drinking water lacked iron, most of the soldiers developed sick teeth. If that weren’t enough, for breakfast there would be rationed bread with a small piece of butter. If they were feeling kind on the weekends than there would be some eggs.
Since there was no time off, there were other ways to stay entertained. The soldiers would either box or shave each other’s heads bald. After a bloody nose and only a few months of baldness, Vladimir had moved up to the rank of Sergeant and was given slightly more freedom. This was when the drinking had picked up. Him and his team would steal vodka and drink when the higher-ranking officials were asleep. This was rare, however, because vodka was scarce and expensive. They developed the bright idea of drinking spirits (160 proof) instead. This went on as a tradition until he got caught and was demoted back to the rank of soldier.
He saw some fascinating things while he was serving. One night, as he was walking around, he saw an airplane explode and crash into a swamp. The plane had 4 bombs and about 1500lb of ammunition so the impact shook the earth. He also witnessed one of his closest friends die in front of his eyes. There was a driver going in reverse and the man was standing behind the car. The driver didn’t see the man so he kept reversing until the body was smashed into two pieces against another truck. Most bizarre part about the story was that the parents of the dead man adopted the driver as their son!
Leaving the army was not a simple task. In order to leave, one needed to get letters from about 10 officers from different divisions saying it was acceptable to leave. Each person also had to complete a certain labor task. Right as Vladimir was planning to leave, his commander would not let him go (due to a fight that erupted earlier.) He decided to go to a higher authority to ask permission to leave and was granted a final task. His task was to replace each piece of glass in a stadium-sized greenhouse. After a week of non-stop labor, the high-ranking officer commended him on his work and let him have his papers signed. All were signed except one – the commander. He then thought up a clever plan to get another ranking commander to sign the paper. All the required documentation was complete and he had finally completed his service. As he walked out of the barracks, the previous commander saw him and screamed at the top of his lungs in objection! He had officially completed his service in the army on December 30th, 1988.
Vladimir’s train ride home was one to remember. Every soldier was excited to return home for the holidays. They had bottles of vodka that were quickly vanishing and hormones that were quickly rising. He found a young woman on the train and did not hesitate to spend a little quality time with her. As she got off the train, her parents noticed him and had a similar reaction to his first commander. His army days were now over and he came home just in time to spend New Years with the family. A few weeks into January was when he was introduced to a lovely woman named Zoya. The rest, as they say, is history.
That man at the dinner table is no longer unknown to be. His name is Vladimir Berenzon, and he is my father. I had never taken the time out of my life to actually learn something about his past. In our busy society, we are so preoccupied with the present that we sometimes forget about the past. Learning about my father’s younger years has made me develop a new level of respect and appreciation for family values. It was fascinating to hear how he lived his life when he was exactly my age. Hearing him speak so passionately about his past made me not only value his life, but has also made me treasure mine. One day, when my son will asks me the same question, I will speak just as passionately about my past as my father did about his.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 5:30 pm and is filed under