I forgot to mention

Probably the biggest surprise I got coming back here was the gigantic red-tipped rocket-monument that now towers imposingly over the main campus building. It was erected in celebration of SibSAU's 50th anniversary, which is this year. The university's main building is 7 stories high, and this sputnik is a good story or two taller. It's got some serious girth too. The whole scene strikes a stark contrast after the stately Euro-Academic style of Tomsk, but I feel pretty satisfied with my ultra-macho-cosmonaut variant of academia.