Reflection on a Heritage from the Former Soviet Union

JCHS celebrates Russian Heritage Month with a combination of opportunities to try Slavik foods, hear from individuals who grew up in the Soviet Union, and celebrate Slavik languages and culture in many other forms! See below for 10th grader Ari Nemenman’s reflections on his Soviet identity.

I was born here in San Francisco. However, my dad was from Minsk, Belarus and my mom was born in Moscow, Russia. Both places were part of the former Soviet Union.

For me, a key part of my Soviet identity was the language we spoke in my family. I am proud to admit that Russian was my first language and growing up, we spoke a great amount of Russian at home, especially whenever my grandparents came over. Even outside my family, Russian was an important part of our life. I always spoke it with my friends, in case we needed a secret way to communicate with each other. Hearing others do the same at JCHS made me feel a great sense of community.

Sometimes it feels like my family either knows all the Russian-speakers of the Bay Area or at least knows someone that does. For example, one time, I was driving with my sister, her Russian-speaking best friend, and her friend’s mom. During our conversation, we discovered that my sister went to same Russian-speaking daycare as her current best friend, I went to the same Russian-speaking daycare as her friend’s older sister (whom I had met without knowing she was the sister of my sister’s friend) and that someone in my school went to my daycare without me realizing it. This casual conversation was one of many that perfectly represent how the Russian-speaking community is small and big at the same time.