俄语者在海湾城市周围

Russian-Speakers Abound¹ in City By the Bay 俄语者在海湾城市周围

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — 

Russians often call San Francisco the most Russian city in America, even though the city's population of Russian-speaking people is smaller than that of New York City. A crew from VOA's Russian Service recently walked around San Francisco to explore its Russian connection.

Russian Hill — one of the highest points in San-Francisco — is the place where the future city was born.

"This is the center of the city," said historian Andrew Zabegaylin.

He said it was here that a small cemetery² was discovered in the mid-19th century during the Gold Rush days. The cemetery was believed to be the final resting place for sailors and traders from the Alaskan Russian American Company.

Years later it was moved to a different location.

There are many other symbolic³ places in the Paris of the West, as Russians sometimes call San Francisco — a city built on countless⁴ hills. If you look this way, you will see the The Holy Virgin⁵ Cathedral, also known as "Joy of All Who Sorrow,” the largest Russian Orthodox place of worship on the U.S. West Coast.

And here, at the Holy Trinity Church, the future Russian Patriarch Tikhon once ministered to a parish. The bells were donated by the Russian Emperor Alexander the Third himself.

"This is the first Russian church in San Francisco, founded in 1857, the year that played a critical role in the first wave of Russian immigration, and the next wave after 1917," said Zabegaylin.

The Russian immigrants who came to San Francisco Bay brought a new surge of creative energy. Many stories of these immigrants are told at the oldest Russian Center in the city.

The local director of the largest museum of Russian culture in the Western Hemisphere, Yves Frankien, said this museum reflects the history of multiple generations of Russians.

"It is a national museum, to which many Russian immigrants from around the world donated their personal and family artifacts. This is a museum which reflects Russian life before and during the Bolshevik revolution and reflects the life of San Francisco’s Russian colony since the 1920s," said Frankien.

Today, there are tens of thousands of Russian speakers in San Francisco.

“This generation is not just about the past but the future. We organize events that focus on the youth,” said Zoya Choglokova of the Russian Center San Francisco.

The Russian center also offers a kindergarten, gymnastics, folk dance and ballet classes — where not only Russian-speaking residents bring their children, but also their non-Russian speaking neighbors. This place arguably can be a true reflection of the spirit of a big American city — open to all cultures and to the ocean breeze.

1 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

2 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

5 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。