The recent headlines have painted a stereotype that we want to change, so we’re “anti-spy” but certainly in favor of having a good time with Russian music, dancing and a femme fatale themed beauty contest.

Admission is $10 at the door, and includes free valet and a free drink for the first 200 people. It’s a Sunday night, so we’re starting at 8pm. Room specials are also available for those who are driving from out of town.

This is an upscale event, so please dress to impress and plan on having a fantastic time!

Note: The Beauty Pageant is sponsored by Russian Magazine-Florida Lifestyle. The winner will receive a professional photo shoot and be featured in an upcoming issue. Contestants can register up to 30 minutes before showtime or pre-register at the Florida Russian Lifestyle Magazine website.

To RSVP for this event, please visit our scheduling portal at meetup.com/privet

The project began in April of this year, as part of a larger media project that will eventually include online dating,  radio and TV programming. “Interest in the Florida Lifestyle is an easy topic to quantify when you see 60 million tourists visit our state each year.”, said Jef Gray, director of the Orlando Russian Culture Society. ” There are three tourists for each local resident of Florida, so we clearly can capitalize on the worldwide appeal of Florida by presenting information and content in Russian, especially when the focus is on how Russian speakers live and work here.”

The media project is a new venture offered by American Experience LLC, the company that manages the Russian Culture Society. “It’s definitely a new direction for us, shifting from mostly service oriented products like interpreters and tours, to a range of media channels”, said Gray. “But we’re reaching a point where information about Russian activities and opportunities needs to be amplified so the community can grow and attract more Russians to the area.”

The Russian community in Orlando has seen a dramatic increase in organization and activity in 2010. The media project began just as the Russian-American Community Center of Florida was formed. Meanwhile, students from Former Soviet Union countries began to arrive on work and travel programs. The combination of events has been a catalyst of energy that has shifted the focus from social events to more defined purposes like language classes and a library.

Similar events occurred in the mid 1990′s in the Miami area, and in New York’s Brighton beach area before that. It will be interesting to see how the events of this year will affect future populations of Russian speakers in Florida.  ”Orlando is beginning to see Russian speaking  social groups connect with a common purpose and interest, a Russian newspaper, more restaurants opening, a community center and now an internet based  magazine to share those events with the world.” added Gray.

Florida Russian Magazine can be viewed at www.FloridaRussian.com.

Jessica and Keegan Tosser explain the story, “

We have lived in Ukraine for over a year. It has been a wonderful experience. While living here, we have fallen in love with the children at the orphanage in Krivoy Rog.

In February of 2009 we made our first trip to the orphanage. When we walked into their small art room, we were amazed at the talent many of these children possess. The walls were covered with paintings they had created from donated art supplies. Each time we returned, we felt a greater need to help these children and show others their artwork. When we asked the children if we could take their work for this website, they gave us more than we asked for. These children wanted to give their art to help the orphanage.

These children have not been given the opportunities that we had as children. They only have what has been given to them by strangers. They share the clothes they wear and the food they eat. Nothing is theirs, except for what they make. We want to help these children realize their dreams and give them opportunities that they would not have otherwise. With your help, this can be made possible.”

Visit the website to see the art and bid on the items in the gallery.

The process began 5 years ago and required extensive research and patience as demographics were compared to what other schools were using as curriculum. The school’s provider of text books stated there were no schools in Central Florida requesting material for Russian classes-Lake Howell was the first.

Today the class is comprised of less than 20 students, who’s reason for learning the language varies from curiosity and challenge, to a desire to retain what they may have learned from Russian speaking parents. Learning Russian is more complex than the other languages like Spanish, French or German because it uses a different and bigger alphabet (Cyrillic) with sounds not found in English. However, the students appear to have taken quickly to the task, according to Toomey, “They are already speaking complete sentences, writing and reading in Russian without hesitation”, she said.

As of the 2000 Census, Russian was spoken by 7% of the US population. This made it the second fastest growing language in the US at that time. It will be interesting to see the results from the 2010 census, which will hopefully incline more schools in Central Florida to follow Lake Howell’s lead. The Russian Federation has half the population of the United States (not including the other
Russian speaking countries of the FSU) but with twice the land mass-it’s obvious the future will have opportunity and value for those capable of speaking Russian both in the United States and abroad.

We applaud Lake Howell High School for bringing a long overdue element to our school system and have invited the teacher and students to be  our honored guests at any of our Society events. We also look forward to seeing more classes like this in our area.

Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

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Interested in learning Russian? We have professional interpreters and translators that can help you learn essential Russian quickly from a native speaker. Classes are available online and in person to suit your goals. To find out more please complete the form below.

Name

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