Orlando Russian Culture Society Celebrates 5th Anniversary

Where can you go in Orlando to meet Russian speaking people? That was the question Jef Gray asked back in 2004. After months of searching he decided to start a group where people could meet and practice their Russian. “I had several people tell me it wasn’t going to work and that I was wasting my time.” said Gray, who has directed the Orlando Russian Culture Society for the past 5 years.

Jef took the advice of a friend and joined meetup.com, a website for groups who have meetings and events. There he found listings for several languages including Russian but only a few people had joined the mailing list. “Back then the meetup software scheduled events and locations automatically, so I went to the first meeting and realized why the group was small—no one showed up!” said Gray. “When I asked to change the location of the next meeting, Meetup.com suggested I become the organizer for the group. I accepted and have been directing the group ever since.”

One month later, in September 2004 the next meeting was scheduled for a more enjoyable location–the Cheesecake Factory at Millennia Mall in Orlando, 7 people attended. Each meeting afterward attracted more members and interests. Some were native Russian speakers; others had adopted a Russian child or were marrying a woman from a former Soviet Union country.

The idea of meeting Russian speakers quickly grew and established a Russian Speaking Community in Central Florida with hundreds of families in its membership. The intrigue continued with the addition of OrlandoRussians.com, the Society’s official website. The site averages 100 views per day with over half the visits coming from other countries.

Search results show that foreign visitors are planning upcoming trips to Orlando or simply exploring the Russian speaking community in Central Florida.

“To those unfamiliar with Orlando there is a perception that the Russian community is a place where Russian people live, work and shop–similar to Brighton Beach in New York. But the reality is we’re a community that meets in various locations with members who live throughout Central Florida.” Said Gray.

The meetings are upbeat and extremely social in nature, each month the location and venue is different than the last. Guests are greeted as they arrive and given a name tag to help others learn their name. Occupations of the members include professionals, artists, authors, retirees and students making it easy to find something in common within minutes of arriving.

New Years Eve is the biggest celebration of the year and carries many traditions similar to how American’s celebrate Christmas. Other monthly venues include bowling parties, ice skating, restaurant dinners, museum exhibits and picnics at local parks. “Our most requested and popular event is “Shashlik” (Russian for Shish-ka-bob) in the park. Everyone brings food for a potluck style picnic and we all share the grill which gets loaded from edge to edge with kabobs!” said Gray.

Members are not required to speak Russian and some of the American members state they are still learning the language. During the meetings there are several conversations going at once, some in Russian and some in English. The most impressive is the children who can talk to their parents in Russian then turn around and speak fluently in English to others. Natalya Illarionova, the Society’s official interpreter explained, “This is one of the benefits many parents seek in trying to keep their home language alive for their children. Obviously if the children hear Russian in a group setting they are more likely to apply and understand it.” Illarionova is also co-owner of the Society’s corporate sponsor, American Experience.

Meeting and membership information can be found on the groups scheduling site http://meetup.com/privet