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Student years - grammar school, university

Student memories - humor of youth

Litovel Grammar School	Dean's Office of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics - entrance	May 5th Dormitory	UK university tent camp near Alber

In addition to professional - professional - treatises in the field of nuclear physics ("Nuclear Physics and Ionizing Radiation"), astrophysics and cosmology ("Gravity, Black Holes and the Physics of Spacetime", "The Anthropic Principle or Cosmic God"), in my literary texts I try to introduce to potential interested parties some nice or humorous events and experiences that I witnessed or participated in. Among the oldest memories were "Poetry of Country Life". In this short article I would like to take the liberty of going back a little less years, to the time of my student years.

.School years
I wrote about our teachers at the ZDŠ elementary school in Konice in the essay "Vzpominky-Zajimava mista-Lide.htm#Ucitele". From the 6th grade, in addition to students from Konice, several children from the surrounding villages - Kremence, Cunín, Štarnov, Runárov, Skrípov, Brodek, Brezek, Jesenec, Dzbele - came to our class. There were about 25 of us in the class, slightly more girls than boys. During breaks, various common pranks and mischief were played. We threw wet sponges at each other, drew humorous pictures with chalk, splashed water on a desk, etc. And often also small friendly skirmishes and fights, in which girls sometimes participated (small scratches or bruises after a fall could occur occasionally).
  As a joke, sometimes the boys were also given kicks in the crotch, usually weak and harmless. But during one such little fight during recess, I once got kicked very hard in the testicles. I writhed on the ground, moaning in pain and feeling nauseous. And the girls laughed at me for I holding my genital and lying twisted convulsively on the ground - they thought it was a funny incident. I don't blame them, they couldn't have known how stressful it was for the boys. I staggered to the desk and kept my hands pressed against my crotch. During class I was afraid I would be called to the blackboard, I had trouble walking for about half an hour. But then it passed and everything was O.K. (only a slight pain persisted until the evening) - I laughed at it too, in the end I also thought it was funny.
   But it made me a little angry that I looked like a "weakling" who couldn't stand anything. So a few other guys and I started "training" with hitting to these areas. With repeated punches, a certain adaptation occurs and the pain decreases. At first, it was a little difficult - from uncomfortable writhing on the ground, to bending at the waist, to almost complete numbness, the same as when punching any other part of the body, for example, the thigh or elbow. Then I could withstand (without "blinking an eye") even a very strong punch. However, most guys are completely paralyzed by such a strong punch, they writhe on the ground and it takes them a while to recover from it... To be honest, the pain is usually not as bad as it is often written. It's not pleasant, but if the guy isn't a "sissy", he can endure it with a little self-denial. I personally didn't have any serious problems with it (except for that first experience).
 Grammar School in Litovel
After finishing secondary school in Konice (in 1965), I started high school in Litovel. We traveled there by bus from Konice (a simple open bus station under the square is on the left in the picture) with about 6 classmates, the journey took about an hour. Several more classmates joined us at various stops. From Konice to Litovel, there were two routes :
Konice - Ochoz - Rakůvka - Bohuslavice - Vilémov - Bílsko - Cholina - Myslechovice - Haňovice - Nasobůrky - Litovel suburbs - Litovel station ;
Konice - Březsko - Hvozd - Luká - Slavětín - Nová Ves - Chudobín - Nasobůrky - Litovel suburbs - Litovel station.
      
  In Litovel, we crossed the main road from the bus station, walked past a church with several arcades, then across the square, along Opletal Street and finally along the pond to the grammar school. In the afternoon, on our way back, we often stopped at a glass-fronted buffet on the left side of the square, where we bought kofola or other lemonade, coffee, walnut salad, pancakes, kremrole, various cheeses, or other snacks.
           
  The school principal was Prof. S.Sládeček, who mainly taught Czech language and literature. Our class teacher was professor F.Procházka of mathematics, Prof. F.Geschwinder of physics, and Prof. R.Novotná of chemistry (she liked to do chemical experiments that made things smoke, burn, and bang). A somewhat peculiar personality was professor Z.Tincl of history and Latin, who liked to play tricks with the girls (it was clear that he liked the girls, but as part of a correct pedagogical approach, he only expressed it on a humorous level...). Professor F.David of physical education also liked humor, in which he sometimes used folk, less literary expressions...
  The professor of mathematics and physics sometimes persuaded students who were not good at these subjects, especially girls: Girls, I know that growing flowers is also beautiful and I wish you to do it successfully. But try to remember at least something from mathematics and physics, for a general overview. I usually can't give you a really nice and excellent grade in these subjects, but I want it to be at least an average grade that wouldn't spoil your report card. And he said to me: Vojta, your exceptional talent for exact sciences, mathematics and physics, makes it your direct obligation to study these fields and to devote yourself to them professionally in your profession throughout your life!
I know that it can be more complicated, many girls also have a great talent for exact sciences. And many boys who might have this talent are sloppy and prefer frivolous entertainment to demanding studies. I also had to struggle with this a lot sometimes..!..
  The professor of French and literature, Marie Kočí, who lived in the small village of Slavětín (located in the forests by the road between Konice and Litovel), was very kind and cultured. She told us, among other things, about her studies in Paris at the Sorbonne University (including the story with the bedbugs; I personally have never seen a real bedbug...). She advised students with a focus on the humanities on the possibilities of continuing their studies at university. To me, as a physics-oriented student, she recommended not only the strict study of physics, but also the philosophical aspects of our existence and life. I later agreed with her, I liked her very much, I corresponded with her for many years and even visited her a few times.
 Summer student jobs
When studying (at school, grammar school, university), the primary task is of course to obtain theoretical education in the humanities and natural sciences. However, it is also important not to lose touch with reality - with practice. One way to maintain this continuity is to work in nature or in fabrik. In some years, when there was a shortage of labor, this work also helped to maintain the necessary production capacity of factories or cooperatives.
 Potato jobs
Already at the elementary school in Konice, in the 6th - 9th grades, we used to go on potato jobs, especially for their harvest in the first half of September. With our teachers, we usually went to the field above the Bor forest, where we dug up potatoes, sorted them by size and poured them into bags, which the older boys loaded onto a cart, pulled either by horses or a tractor.
     
Once, 4 of us guys agreed and "ran away" from the potato field to the Bor forest unnoticed. We went down under the forest to Střelnice and continued on to the mill in Jílovec. I knew that about 100 meters from there there was a secret underground passage on the slope that no one knew about. We borrowed a hoe and a spade and after about an hour of digging we came across a metal door - we couldn't get any further... So we returned the tools and continued towards Křemenec to the old abandoned mill. We crawled past the half-dilapidated mill wheel into the cellar, where we found a few intact jars of plum and strawberry preserves; we opened one of them.
 Fruit processing brigades
Even as students of the grammar school in Litovl, we used to go on brigades in the summer. We often went to the Fruta - Seliko factory, which is at the end of Litovl towards Nasobůrky. Fruit and vegetables were processed there, compotes, jams, sterilized vegetables were made, .... We participated in peeling peaches, sorting strawberries, peas, ...... .... and other work. .... ....
          
 Hop brigades
We also went to hop brigades. In the spring, it was about stretching wires and introducing bushes of small hop vine seedlings into the hop garden frame. The hop garden structure is made of a large number (200 or more, depending on the size of the hop garden) of wooden posts about 10 cm thick and about 5 meters high, placed at regular intervals (about 6×8 m), embedded in the ground at the bottom and connected at the top by horizontal binding with metal wires. A large number of thinner vertical guide wires are then run between the upper frame and the lower soil, along which hop vines crawl, on which hop cones grow.
  ^{The main hop brigades were during the hop harvest in mid-September. Most of the hops were already harvested by machine at that time, we manually collected ("combed") hop cones on smaller hop fields and put them into baskets ("spindles" of about 30 liters in volume), we combed about 10-20 spindles per day. Some of us were at the combing machine and the hop dryer, to which whole hop vines were brought, torn from the wires in the hop field. Many students quite liked the hop brigades, there was often a relaxed and romantic atmosphere, fun, friendly and sometimes even erotic relationships were established there...}
        
We students from the Litovel grammar school mostly went to the hop brigades in the areas between Litovlí, Přerov, Prostějov and Olomouc (the surroundings of Tršice, Kokor, Velký Týnec, Žeravice, ....), where there were several relatively large hop farms.
 Skiing on the Paprsek
The Litovel area is a flat and lowland region (approx. 230 m above sea level), with relatively mild winters, there is not much snow and it often melts quickly. Even on the Drahanská vrchovina (approx. 730 m above sea level) or on the Kopeček (approx. 400 m above sea level) there are not optimal conditions for winter sports.
          
For winter skiing, we with some of our professors at the gymnasium in Litovel went to Jeseník to the Paprsek chalet. It stands on the Výhledy hill (1022 m) below Kralický snežník (1423 m), near Petríkov. The connoisseur of Jeseníky in Litovel was our Mr. Prof. Frýdl. In addition to the amount of snow (it usually lasted until the end of April) and nice ski tracks, there used to be a lot of fun. At night we slept on top on simple bunk beds. We often told each other "spicy" anecdotes late into the evening, and older classmates sometimes told their erotic stories, which we younger ones had not yet had personal experience with...
  The picture shows the graduation table of our class from 1967 (there are only cantors who taught us that year, not some others who only had us in the 1st and 2nd year) :
                
We had our graduation party at the Jeskynka tourist cottage (Vzpominky-Zajimava mista-Lide.htm#JavorickoJeskyne) on the hill above the Javorícko Caves. It lasted almost 3 days and was very lively..!.. I tasted the sparkling wine "Champagne" there for the first time, which I didn't know until then. But I liked the classic "dry" unsweetened wine better, in a reasonable amount (but the reasonable amount is not always maintained..?!..).
          

In the following years, we had several meetings of classmates at the shipyard in Litovel (about 250 m from the bus and train stations). In the main building of the shipyard there is a large room ("hangar"), where there were two large tables with about 20 chairs and several other tables with 4 chairs. There were shelves along all the walls, stacked with kayaks, canoes, punts and other boats that water sports enthusiasts could rent. When we celebrated a reunion of classmates there, some of us went swimming in a branch of the Morava River later that night.

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
After graduating from high school in 1967, I started studying physics (on the advice of my teacher Jáchym) at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Charles University in Prague. At the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, we went to four buildings. First of all, it was the two neighboring buildings at Ke Karlovu 3 and 5, where the dean's office, the study department, the Department of Physics and the Institute of Physics were located. The large lecture halls were M1 and M2, F1 and F2. Between these two buildings, the Albertov Stairs (116 steps) lead down, where we as students sometimes had "races". Down on Albertov, you then go past the Botanical Garden, which is on the left..
      
                                                                                 MFF buildings Ke Karlovu 3, 5 and Albert stairs
We also went to the building on Malostranské námestí and in Karlín (from the 5.května dormitory down through Žižkov, then 300 m through a tunnel under the Vítkov hill and further along Thámova Street) for mathematics lectures. The Troja campus in Holešovicky had just begun to be built.
             
   At the Faculty of Mathematics, Charles University, I also experienced the legendary mathematics professor Vojtech Jarník at some lectures (he dealt mainly with differential and integral calculus). And also Prof. V.Korínek, whose main fields were algebra and sets, especially group theory. However, he was mainly known for his absent-mindedness.
I remember, for example, that we once attended his lecture in the large M1 auditorium, which had two entrance doors at the back. During the lecture, the white chalk ran out and Prof. Korínek went out through one door to borrow chalk in the next lecture room. Immediately, the other door opened and the professor asked for chalk, with a negative result. Then he returned through the original door and said that there was no white chalk next door either, so it had to be finished with blue chalk... Prof. Korínek also liked the mountains, his hobby was skiing.
  From physics lectures, I can name, for example, Quantum Physics with Prof. J.Kvasnica (his curious hobby was collecting a large number of ties and "bow ties"). From Nuclear Physics, I mainly remember Prof. Václav Petržílka, who was also the chairman of our State Commission.

Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Research Institute ÚJV Řež
Those of us who specialized in nuclear physics starting from the 3rd year also went to the Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering FJFI in Brehová Street and went to Rež to the Nuclear Research Institute ÚJV. We usually went there by train on the railway line [Prague-Kralupy nad Vltavou-Decín], train stop Rež. From there, you can walk to the ÚJV across the river on a narrow swinging footbridge. On the opposite side, above the train line, there are steep cliffs on which many beautiful plants grow and bloom.
The road access from Prague to Rež is via Kobylisy, Zdiby, Klecany, from where you turn off towards the river to Husinac-Rež. It is from the opposite side to the picture on the left.
 
^{I did my diploma thesis on the topic of "X-ray fluorescence spectrometry" at the ÚJV Rež in the Department of Nuclear Spectrometry. Etalon samples were irradiated in a nuclear reactor (by neutrons) or in a cyclotron (by protons or deuterons), I then measured them on a semiconductor Ge(Li) spectrometer (https://www.astronuklfyzika.cz/DetekceSpektrometrie.htm#5) with a multi-channel analyzer (pictured on the left) and then manually - analogically - I evaluated them. The spectrum was continuously displayed on the oscilloscope screen on the main panel of the instrument (it was light green in color). The data output was then a long paper tape with the number of measured pulses printed. These values ere then plotted on graph paper, plotted graphically, and the positions of the peaks (gamma energies) and the areas under the photopeaks (gamma intensities, after correction for the energy efficiency of the detector) were evaluated. This created objective gamma-spectra of the measured radionuclides or characteristic X-rays, enabling nuclear and material analysis. Interestingly, among the measured samples were also historical exhibits of beautiful glass vessels, which I borrowed from the National Museum and measured the representation of heavier elements in them.} 

The multichannel analyzer was later replaced by direct acquisition of pulses into a designated part of the computer memory, with analysis and display using computer graphics.
  The spectrometric Ge(Li) detector had to be permanently cooled with liquid nitrogen. Dewar vessels for liquid nitrogen were manufactured in the mechanical workshops of the ÚJV (they were often painted yellow at the time). When refilling liquid nitrogen, it was sometimes a bit of fun when the Dewar vessel overflowed. The liquid nitrogen then leaked onto the floor, where it sprayed into many balls that, with "smoking" (condensed steam), ran throughout the laboratory and along the corridor.
  A very erudite and collegial expert in nuclear physics and spectrometry, O. Dragoun, also introduced us to magnetic and electrostatic spectrometers and showed us the precise measurement of electron, proton and gamma radiation spectra on them. A number of other information about ongoing and planned research projects at the ÚJV was also provided to us students by another senior colleague, V.Brabec. Later, I also dealt in detail with radionuclides at the nuclear medicine department, and I managed to measure the gamma spectra of most important radioisotopes (JadRadFyzika4.htm, section "Radionuclides").
   During lengthy spectrometric measurements during my diploma thesis, I stayed overnight several times at the ÚJV Nuclear Spectrometry Department in Rež. It was strange that sometimes, on an otherwise quiet night, a cricket would chirp very loudly. It was hidden somewhere behind the cabinets in the corridor, and I was unable to find it...
  I also dealt with theoretical physics, especially the general theory of relativity, astrophysics and cosmology (later this resulted in the book "Gravity, Black Holes and the Physics of Spacetime" and the essay "The Anthropic Principle or the Cosmic God").
  There are certainly many nice and interesting places and decent and correct people in Prague and its surroundings. However, during my stay in Prague, I was quite bothered by the "super-smart", conceited and elitist Praguers and the confrontational interpersonal relationships, even between colleagues at work, universities, and in science. I was more drawn to Moravia... After completing my studies at MatPhys, I started as a physicist at the newly built radioisotope laboratory - the Department of Nuclear Medicine in Ostrava-Poruba (for about 1/2 year I still commuted to a temporary laboratory in Paskov). At that time, it was the largest and most modernly equipped laboratory in this field in Central and Eastern Europe.
  Tent camp in nature
The Charles University UK had (and still has) a tent camp set up in South Bohemia near the village of Alber, near Nová Bystrice (Jindrich Hradec district). There is a narrow-gauge railway line from Jindrich Hradec to Nová Bystrice, Alber is the penultimate stop before Nová Bystrice. The camp with two rows of tents was in the forest above the Osika pond. Our instructor was Doc. R.Rejšek from the Department of Physical Education and Sports of Charles University (whose offices were located in Opletal Street). He was very friendly and shared with us various games, pranks and pranks - campfires, jumping into the water together and swimming of boys and girls without swimsuits (in Prague we used to go rowing in kayaks and canoes on the Vltava River with him, with a stop at Císarská louka).
  On the shore of the Osika pond, near a small forest, there was a spot with a bridge made of wide wooden boards from which you could jump into the water (it reached quite far into the pond, but even so, when jumping "with an arrow", we sometimes touched the bottom...). We usually stayed there at the end of May, we went swimming in the pond, often "nudistly". At the camp, we sometimes went without clothes even in front of the girls, we had no serious inhibitions about it, we did not even reflect on it from an erotic point of view (but as the biological nature of various parts of our body). And they did not pay much attention to it either, they sometimes went to the pond even in "Eve's robe". This "naturism" was very suitable for staying in nature.
        
Once I went for a swim by myself in the afternoon, I left my swimsuit and sneakers hidden under a bush, I swam about 300 m to the opposite shore. When I got there, two young girls were sunbathing on a blanket on the shore. We said "hi" and they invited me to come out of the water to them for a while to dry off and warm up in the sun. I said I couldn't, I left my swimsuit on the shore by the camp. They said it didn't matter, that they won't "bite" me, to just come out of the water and join them. After a moment of hesitation I did it (pictured right), they applied sunscreen to me, I lay down on the blanket next to them. We talked for a while, I told them that I grew up in Moravia near ponds and forests, I told them something about the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics where I study and about the local tent camp near Albera.
  They said they were going to the Faculty of Education in České Budějovice. They are still here now, but they will be leaving for vacation in the early evening today. So we won't see each other again. But now I have to leave them something "as a souvenir". I would like to, but I don't have anything here, I left everything on the other bank. But you do have something here - and they gently tapped me on the testicles. But how do you want to get it out of here (I asked naively)? Easy! - they knew how and in a moment I sprayed them with sperm. We laughed about it (what did I leave them?), they called out to say goodbye "hello - you're a nice boy"! And I swam back to the camp happily...
        
We made a fire pit near the forest, surrounded by larger stones. I went into the denser forest with an axe and a saw and cut down several smaller dry trees there. We then roasted various sausages or bacon over the fire and cooked goulash with vegetables and mushrooms or various sauces in cauldrons. And later in the evening we sometimes lit a larger campfire, where we told humorous stories, played the guitar and sang tramp songs until late into the night.
  One year, perhaps 1969 or 70, when we were camping there during the week around May 10, there was a sudden cold snap and about 3 cm of snow fell. In the morning around 7 o'clock, the 4 of us boys ran out of our tents and, completely naked, ran down to the pond in the snow to have a "hardy" swim. The water in the pond seemed to be reasonably warmer that winter. When we were returning, the girls were already outside the tents and were laughingly watching us. "Guys, where did you forget your birds? - you can't see the penises or bullets!". In that winter we were so cold that our skin shrank a lot and our genitals almost completely sank into our stomachs (indicated in the picture in the middle; sometimes they were not visible at all)... In the tent, we warmed them up a little by rubbing them with a dry towel and feeling them. Then we got dressed and went to breakfast.
                
During the sunny day, this temporary snow quickly melted, the grass turned green, and we were already engaged in spring activities in nature.
  I also liked the Alber tent camp because I grew up in the beautiful countryside of Konice near ponds and the forest since childhood "Rybník-plavání".

Student dormitory 5.may
In Prague, I lived in the 5.may dormitory (also called Švehla's dormitory, because its construction in the 1920s was initiated by the then Prime Minister A. Švehla), on the border of Vinohrady and Žižkov (Slavíkova Street 22), a short walk from Jirí z Podebrad Square. It is also not far on foot from the Main Station, you go uphill along Vozová Street. It was the best dormitory in Prague, with perfect architecture, a cinema, a theater hall, a canteen, a café.
        
We were given a room on the top - attic - 5th floor, small but quite cozy, with a vaulted ceiling. We lived there with our friends Josef Hlavica and Pavel Jerábek (who studied mathematics), and in some years also with Jarda Schrötter.
        
  In addition to studying, as young boys, we started going to the pub from time to time and we also got into various pranks and "mischiefs" :
 Flammables, explosives, firecrackers
Sometimes, various flammables, firecrackers and fireworks were lit for fun. As a student, I was interested not only in theoretical physics, astrophysics and cosmology, but also in chemistry. I liked to make the explosive acetone peroxide: acetone was mixed with hydrogen peroxide in a beaker and hydrochloric or sulfuric acid was added. Acetone peroxide precipitated and sank to the bottom, the liquid was slowly poured out, the white powder was rinsed with water and then dried on filter paper (during drying, a gas irritating to the eyes evaporates). Sometimes I also made nitrogen iodide (it was spread on the floor and exploded when stepped on). And as a "firework" I used a mixture of aluminum powder and potassium permanganate. At that time, no "fun pyrotechnics" were sold, everything was made at home and launched by hand. It had to be done carefully to avoid fire or injury.
 Can explosion
In the dormitory on May 5th during our student days, a curious explosion once occurred: Our classmate Zdeněk Kašlík went to the kitchen to heat up a can of luncheon meat for dinner. He put it on the gas stove and lit a flame under it. However, he forgot to open it at least partially and went back to his room. About a quarter of an hour later, a loud bang was heard. I was doing experiments with explosives at the time, so my classmates thought I did it. We went to look in the kitchen and saw a torn can and the walls and ceiling of the room were "smeared" with yellow-brown slime, small pieces of luncheon meat were still falling from the ceiling...
  Condom anabasis, humorous recessional contests
Sometimes in the dormitory, the so-called "condom anabasis" was done in the evening. A condom was filled with about 4 liters of water (pictured left) and, singing funny songs, it was carried around the dormitory corridors. At the door of a friend who had a girl visiting his room, with the exclamation "Eh, condom passé!", the condom was pierced with a pin, burst and the water rolled up to the door and flowed under it and into the room...
      
Or sometimes we would compete for fun to see who among us could reach the longest distance R of sperm during ejaculation. Something still remained in us from the funny puberty years. There was a lot of laughter, especially when girls were present. I was only a weak average (R about 1.6 meters), but some friends reached up to 3 meters (it also depended on the current constitution - density - of the sperm). It was just for fun, this circumstance has no effect on reproductive or sexual activity.
  During my studies, sports activities, in the student dormitory, I met many classmates of the same age, younger or older, with different personalities, hobbies and opinions. What is interesting is that I never encountered one anomaly that is often written about - homosexuality. Maybe it's because I was never very interested in sex. But still, I conclude that this deviation is less common than is generally believed..?..
Author's apology: I apologize if some of the readers (who are influenced by religious or other "moral" prejudices of earlier times) are negatively offended by some of the pictures. There is no reason for this, it is meant here in complete decency. As a physicist, I am used to reflecting all phenomena in nature objectively, as they really occur. This also applies to more hidden biological structures and activities that are sometimes considered ridiculous...
  These "humorous allotries" were usually not performed in our room, but we met in some others (e.g. at Vrati Langer's, Pepa Sysl's, Jarda Plášek's, Zdenek Kašlík's, etc.), where we brought a few bottles of beer and possibly even stronger drinks...
  All this was done very rarely, for the sake of relaxation, variety and in a friendly atmosphere - "we don't mind, we can handle it, it's good to have some fun sometimes!".

Vojtěch Ullmann