where are all the russians?

[amberdima 6]

There's a ton of Russians in my community... but most are the older ones that immigrated 10+ yrs ago. While they seem to know the American ropes, they still tend to do stuff the "old way". We have many eastern european stores, but little talk or mingling goes on. Usually when a Russian sees another Russian or any eastern folk, they look them up & down, and compare clothes, what's in the shopping basket, etc, to see if they are the same or "better" status. Its like a freaking model show just to go grocery shopping. Then the fiasco continues in the parking lot. All the S500s park upfront, and especially take 30 min to pack their groceries, to make sure everyone has seen that they have a Mercedes. Its total competition!

On the train to work, a few Russians too. All the ladies gossip, and when they hear me on the phone and speak a little Russian, all eyes turn like "SPY!"

I also noticed a difference between orthodox Russians, and Russian Jews. They dont like to mingle. The Russian Jews actually keep more with other Jews... its some superiority factor coming into play.

Talking with one lady near by, once she heard K1, she made google eyes and said "fraud visa?" I guess they are quite well known back home.

that's crazy! i thought there would be more of a desire to make friends with fellow russians rather than enemies. oh--and the jew thing...i know about the tension between groups. thanks for sharing!

[amberdima 6]

amberdima,

Which state are you from?

I am from NY and i have to say that probably 25% of NY is russians, and the rest is the other mixed culture.

NY has Russian neighborhoods and more than one in each city and county and region. Russian stores are on every block.

i'm in vineland, nj. we have one russian store that i know of and zero restaurants...but there has been a rush of immigrants in the past few years, so i can see the potential for more businesses to appear.

I think there is a natural tendency to gravitate to people that speak your language. My wife has made more new Russian speaking friends that English speaking ones. But, I will say this about all the Russian speaking people I have met in my area. They all speak English pretty well or are working on improving it. There is no attitude that America needs to provide them with Russian speaking access like so many Spanish speakers.

I found that a good deal of the Russian community didn't know each other but gradually it has expanded as this person meets that one, etc. Having similar language and experiences helps to build the friendships that you left behind in you home country.

By all means, take your significant other to a Russian store. We have to drive 1 1/2 hours to get to one, but it is so worth it. When my wife was here about a month, we found out where there was a grocery store. If you had seen the look of relief and happiness when my wife was greeted with "Zdrastvoote" (sorry about spelling) at a store, you would have known that the trip was worth it. I have to admit, I enjoy going too with so many interesting foods to buy and different tastes. It is very refreshing after a lifetime of American stores.

And finally, yes there are still a lot of Russian speaking people around. We are just getting on with our lives now. My wife now has her permanent green card (10 year) and her son should receive his in about two months. Then we will be leaving VJ for quite a while. But the journey has been interesting and fun. And, I'm still a Happy Guy.

congrats and good luck with your future!

[Brad and Vika 129]

I think there is a natural tendency to gravitate to people that speak your language. My wife has made more new Russian speaking friends that English speaking ones. But, I will say this about all the Russian speaking people I have met in my area. They all speak English pretty well or are working on improving it. There is no attitude that America needs to provide them with Russian speaking access like so many Spanish speakers.

I found that a good deal of the Russian community didn't know each other but gradually it has expanded as this person meets that one, etc. Having similar language and experiences helps to build the friendships that you left behind in you home country.

By all means, take your significant other to a Russian store. We have to drive 1 1/2 hours to get to one, but it is so worth it. When my wife was here about a month, we found out where there was a grocery store. If you had seen the look of relief and happiness when my wife was greeted with "Zdrastvoote" (sorry about spelling) at a store, you would have known that the trip was worth it. I have to admit, I enjoy going too with so many interesting foods to buy and different tastes. It is very refreshing after a lifetime of American stores.

And finally, yes there are still a lot of Russian speaking people around. We are just getting on with our lives now. My wife now has her permanent green card (10 year) and her son should receive his in about two months. Then we will be leaving VJ for quite a while. But the journey has been interesting and fun. And, I'm still a Happy Guy.

I agree. Although with blizzard conditions here, we have met with no one for the last two days, and traveled nowhere. I have a head cold, so Vika is stuck here in the house watching me cough and try to recover. It is also tough for her to watch me head out to work, because again she is pretty much stuck.

[Brad and Vika 129]

There's a ton of Russians in my community... but most are the older ones that immigrated 10+ yrs ago. While they seem to know the American ropes, they still tend to do stuff the "old way". We have many eastern european stores, but little talk or mingling goes on. Usually when a Russian sees another Russian or any eastern folk, they look them up & down, and compare clothes, what's in the shopping basket, etc, to see if they are the same or "better" status. Its like a freaking model show just to go grocery shopping. Then the fiasco continues in the parking lot. All the S500s park upfront, and especially take 30 min to pack their groceries, to make sure everyone has seen that they have a Mercedes. Its total competition!

On the train to work, a few Russians too. All the ladies gossip, and when they hear me on the phone and speak a little Russian, all eyes turn like "SPY!"

I also noticed a difference between orthodox Russians, and Russian Jews. They dont like to mingle. The Russian Jews actually keep more with other Jews... its some superiority factor coming into play.

Talking with one lady near by, once she heard K1, she made google eyes and said "fraud visa?" I guess they are quite well known back home.

I hear the "fraud visa" comment all the time. Most older Russian speakers here simply will not believe that any one from Eastern Europe can do this without an alterior motive. Another reason the groups don't mix well. There also seems to be a tendency to delite in the failure of relationships generally (not just visa based ones).

[K1researcher 0]

I have seen that especially in Russia itself. But most of my friends are either Headbanging metalheads or Uni grads! I did notice that status things seemed far more prevalent in the "mainstream" areas. At concerts everyone is super nice, friendly, talkative, and cool. I am sure that has alot to do with cultural differences. I Moscow I had several guys and girls actually come up and talk, give a high five or whatever in the Metro .... because i was wearing a Metal band shirt. It never ceases to amaze me the difference in mentalities.

I did have someone ask what car i drive ... I also say that i have a Lada Niva ... I imported it because i am cheap. Gets excellent reactions from Mercedes owners hahaha

[Ilya R. 0]

I am in NJ but im more towards philly, you are really in deep south jersey!!

If you want more russian of everything, try going to Northeast Philly, it is a big russian community with russian restaraunts (6 or 7) and couple of big russian supermarkets (Bell's market) (Netcost)

Give it a shot, you wont regret it!

[anka 1]

There's a large Russian community here in DC - and Maryland and Virginia, as well.

The Russian Embassy and Russian Cultural Center and all that stuff is stationed here in DC, which probably gives some reason to their population. In the summer, the Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia beaches are flooded with eastern Europeans, but those are mostly high school kids on work/study visas...

[PJB 0]

In So Cal it's hard to find a place that doesn't have Russians! When we lived in Russia I kept telling my husband not to worry about his English because nobody in California speaks perfect English. Since he's been here he's spoken more German and Russian than English. We have German and Russian neighbors and we run into Russians everywhere we go. Even got waited on by a Russian salesgirl in a San Diego souvenir shop!

[Neonred 3,562]

I am also surprised how many Russians are in my area of Florida, and we have become a part of the Russian community here.

This past weekend we were in Key West with another couple (his wife is also Russian) and while the girls were shopping he and I were outside people watching. Heard a guy next to us tell his buddy "hey, you gotta check out the strip club. They're all Russian women in there"

[joshnmil 0]

Interesting topic...

My wife does not have any feelings of being in contact with Russian people here in the US. So, we have never really even tried to look. When she first arrived a few years ago we tried comminicating with some Russian people but it never works out. She is quite content with going to college and communicating with her girlfriends in her hometown. She told me she would not even want her g'friends coming here to visit. Go figure..

[Brad and Vika 129]

Interesting topic...

My wife does not have any feelings of being in contact with Russian people here in the US. So, we have never really even tried to look. When she first arrived a few years ago we tried comminicating with some Russian people but it never works out. She is quite content with going to college and communicating with her girlfriends in her hometown. She told me she would not even want her g'friends coming here to visit. Go figure..

Interesting.... I would be curious to hear why communicating with the local Russians doesn't work for her.

[K1researcher 0]

This is not uncommon ... I know many reasons as to why ... not sure about his but I have seen this on many different occasions. Sociologically this is not a bad thing as the reasons to why can often mean positive things towards their relationship. I dont like negativity so I dont want to explain the issues further. Just letting it be known that this is not unique.

Interesting topic...

My wife does not have any feelings of being in contact with Russian people here in the US. So, we have never really even tried to look. When she first arrived a few years ago we tried comminicating with some Russian people but it never works out. She is quite content with going to college and communicating with her girlfriends in her hometown. She told me she would not even want her g'friends coming here to visit. Go figure..

Interesting.... I would be curious to hear why communicating with the local Russians doesn't work for her.

[Brad and Vika 129]

This is not uncommon ... I know many reasons as to why ... not sure about his but I have seen this on many different occasions. Sociologically this is not a bad thing as the reasons to why can often mean positive things towards their relationship. I dont like negativity so I dont want to explain the issues further. Just letting it be known that this is not unique.

Interesting topic...

My wife does not have any feelings of being in contact with Russian people here in the US. So, we have never really even tried to look. When she first arrived a few years ago we tried comminicating with some Russian people but it never works out. She is quite content with going to college and communicating with her girlfriends in her hometown. She told me she would not even want her g'friends coming here to visit. Go figure..

Interesting.... I would be curious to hear why communicating with the local Russians doesn't work for her.

I ask because I want to have some clue if Vika has that trouble. And I dont get the part of your post above either. Please explain.

[Corey-Mariya 14]

where are all the russians, belarusians, ukrainians, etc....??? i'm engaged to a belarusian. before i met him, i noticed many eastern european immigrants in my area, as i am a teacher. i had many students from the ukraine, met guys at social events and the gym from this region, and even see them at my pool club. now, i can spot a russian from a mile away. today i substituted in a middle school and had 3 girls from ukraine, russia, and kazakstan (forgive my spelling, i don't feel like googling it). does anyone else see this kind of immigrant influx in their hometowns? have any recent immigrants found fellow russians, etc. where they live? just curious...

In my area there are some Russian! About 20 miles from my house there is a Russian Food Store! I am american born but on an average day there are probably at least 100 different Russians in the store on an average day! there are always forign people you jsut have to look in the right areas. Now during Summer time that is a whole different story! I always make lots of new friends either from Russia or Ukraine that came to America for the Summer! This is how I originally met my wife! I never really truely realized how many forign people are everywhere! After living in Russia with my wife it is really easy to notice when a person is not U.S born!