The management of the Pryazovskyi State Technical University, not only carries out high-quality organization of the educational process, but also takes care of the proper social and living conditions of foreign students. Currently, foreign students live in a comfortable hostel located at 140 Italianskaya Street.

The hostel is located in the central part of the city with convenient transport links and developed infrastructure. In a 5-minute walk there is – a supermarket, a bank, a sports complex, a hospital, cafes and a park. There is a mosque in the park. From the windows of the hostel there is a beautiful view of the Sea of Azov, which can be reached in 10-15 minutes.

Another important plus of the hostel is accommodation in close proximity to the university’s academic buildings, so students spend a minimum of time on the road.

The hostel is equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable residence: each floor is divided into 2 sections (accommodation in the section takes into account the wishes of students and their nationality), each section has a separate bathroom with a shower and a kitchen with necessary appliances.

The rooms in the hostel are designed for 1 and 2 people, each room has all the necessary furniture and a refrigerator. In winter, the hostel is warm, hot water is supplied around the clock. The hostel is constantly guarded, so students are completely safe and parents should not worry about them. The hostel is connected to the local Internet.

Living in a comfortable hostel of the State Technical University “PSTU”, foreign students actually feel at home, so they can concentrate on their studies without being distracted by everyday problems. The university administration is constantly working on modernization and updating of the material and technical base of the hostel, trying to make the living conditions of students more comfortable.

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE INFORMATION

№ п/п	Name of object of social infrastructure (indexes of norm)	Number	Area
1	Dormitories for students	2	10111,4
2	Dwelling-place that is on one student in a dormitory	–	9,5
3	Dining-rooms and buffets	5	3618,8
4	Amount of students, that is into one landing place in dining-rooms and buffets (persons)	–	4,5
5	Assembly halls	2	570
6	Sporting halls	4	1758,6
7	Swimming-baths	–	–
8	Sporting building: stadiums sporting grounds courts	2 – 1	160,0 – 800,0
9	Student palace (club)	1	1586,8
10	Other	–	–

LIFE OF PSTU INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Mariupol is a big city in Ukraine, located on the coast of the Sea of Azov. The City of Mariupol is an industrial centre of Donbass and Ukraine. In this city there are 3 big iron and steel works, a commercial sea-port and various factories.

Mariupol presents an odd mixture of different styles of architecture. Mira Avenue, the main street, is a beautiful, broad and long street. In the centre of the city there is Drama theatre.

The city has many cinemas, places of culture, musical schools, museums and beautiful monuments. Mariupol is the city of sport – here, you can find lots of sports centres, stadiums, sports sites and swimming pools. The city has a football and a basketball teams and also a water-polo team, all of them perform quite well at the national and European levels. In 2009 the city was the venue of European U-21 championship, which the team of Ukraine won.

Mariupol is a green city. It has many parks and public gardens, where colourful and musical fountains are installed, people enjoy having rest and taking walks there very much.

The city looks especially beautiful in spring, when trees and flowers are in full blossom.

The city stands on the shores of the Sea of Azov . This is a warm and very shallow (just 7-14 m) sea. In summer the city hosts lots of tourists at its holiday centres, sanatoriums and recreation facilities. They enjoy staying there and just having walks throughout the city’s streets.

Mariupol is a multi-religious city and many local residents confess Islam. At the beginning of October 2007, Islamic Cultural Centre was opened in the city mosque. The mosque was constructed to commemorate Suleiman the great, the sultan, and Roxolana, his wife. The opening ceremony of the Centre was an important event in the cultural life of Mariupol. The mosque is seen from the sea, so the Moslems coming to our city aboard vessels can come and pray there.

Pryazovskyi State Technical University (PSTU) –is one of the higher education institutions of Mariupol. It was opened in 1930. At that time it had only two departments, now, it has 8. The university is located in twelve buildings. The main building is in the centre of the city. This is a big five-storied building. The university has a sports complex, a students club, a canteen, a cafeteria, buffet- rooms, students’ dormitories and a health-care centre.

The university’s health-care centre offers the following services for students and university workers: catering, medical treatment and consultations. The health-care centre possesses massage rooms and rooms for various procedures, the canteen provides three well-balanced meals a day. The PSTU students can improve their health at the university’s health-care centre throughout the entire academic year.

In the settlement of Yurievka, on the shore of the Sea of Azov (40 km westwards from Mariupol) there is Olymp Summer Camp, where professors and students have their summer holiday. This sports and recreation camp has been working for more than 50 years now. It can host up to 350 students and 200 university workers and guests of our university at a time, who come over to improve their health there. This is a marvelous place: warm sea, pine-trees grove, fresh air – everything you need for a good and relaxing rest. You can lie in the sun and swim in the sea.

For those, who prefer active holiday – there are games and sports training sessions offered. You can play football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton, billiards, chess and draughts In the evening you can go to a discothèque or have a rest beside the bonfire, playing a guitar. The camp organizes various sports competitions, providing memorable prizes for winners.

During the winter holidays our students can go to Lviv, Kyiv or Uzhgorod to spend time there.

I nternational students are exposed to the life of Ukrainian citizens. They can watch Ukrainian films, they listen to Ukrainian, they get acquainted with history and culture of other nations, they are taught to have respect for tradition of different countries. International students take part in all events held at the university.

The first event they usually take part in is the “Freshmen’s Debut”, which is dedicated to the International Student Day. For the students of major departments “ Initiation into students” is the first event, in which they take part. Early in September they also take part in the celebration of the City Day.

“Let’s get acquainted with each other!” international party is usually organized in December. There, students of different countries tell about their countries, culture and traditions, demonstrating their first progress in mastering Ukrainian.

On February 14^th both international and domestic students participate in the concert, held in honour of St.Valentine.

At Meotida Students’ Club a holiday party, dedicated to Kourban Beiram, a major Islamic holiday, is held. This year the imam of Mariupol mosque was invited there for the first time.

In March the Preparatory Department organizes the party, called “We already speak Ukrainian”. The students are presenters there and they sing Ukrainian songs and recite poems which they learnt themselves.

Very many events are held in May. The first event is “Students’ Spring” – a students’ festival. Every concert is dedicated to a certain subject. International students always do well on the stage, winning memorable prizes. Also meetings with the deans of all departments of the university are organized aimed at career-guidance and promoting the choice of future trade. Traditionally, “Miss University” Beauty Contest is held late in May, where international students also take part, winning the titles of “Mariupol Beauties”.

Besides, the PSTU international students participate in “Friendship Cup” mini-football tournament. They also take part in mini-football competitions between Mariupol higher education institutions, showing excellent performance.

During the academic year the department teachers and the dean’s office congratulate the students with the national and religious holidays, organize excursions around the university and its departments. The students also get to know the city they study in, visit the museums of the city and the university and theatre performances. During the winter holidays they visit the city’s skating rink, where they enjoy themselves very much.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MARIUPOL

The City of Mariupol is situated in a picturesque area on the shores of the Sea of Azov. The climate here is moderate and continental, with mild winters and dry hot summers (average temperatures are –5⁰С and + 27⁰С). The city was founded more than 230 years ago and today numbers about 500 thousand inhabitants. Mariupol is one of the largest industrial localities in Ukraine with the main focus in metallurgy and machine-building. Steel products manufactured at its two iron and steel works, AZOVSTAL and ILYICH, are in demand worldwide. A machine-building factory, AZOVMASH, which is now on the rise, contributes to building up industrial capability of the city. Other companies of national significance operating in Mariupol are Commercial Port and Azov Shipping Company. The leading industrial enterprises of our city are the venues of practical and probation training of our students.

The factories offer wide opportunities for internships to the University students.

The business life of Mariupol is boosted by implementation of projects with participation of foreign investors. Among them are companies of the USA, Austria, Great Britain, France, Poland.

There is a good foundation for developing small and medium businesses. The residents and guests of the city can enjoy the International airport, a new marine passenger terminal, high-class hotels, modern sport centers, cinemas, clubs, the City Garden and parks, a new attraction park, squares and fountains.

Mariupol is also a cultural, educational and sport center of the south-eastern region of Ukraine.

Drama theatre, cinema halls, sport facilities, swimming pools and water stations, 3 higher educational institutions, youth clubs, public libraries, city parks, entertainment and attraction grounds are offered to and frequented by Mariupol residents.