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inulroI'm aware it's Monday now - I've been busy, OK?
1 . What is your lineage? Where are your ancestors from?
My dad is Scots/Irish. His Scottish ancestors are from the Outer Hebrides. My mother is Volgadeutsch - the Germans who settled in Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great. Later persecuted and ended up in large numbers in Western Canada and the US, and Argentina.
2. Of those countries, which would you most like to visit?
Well, I've been to the Outer Hebrides, though not the island(s) that my grandmother's family are from. Would quite like to visit the area in Russia that my mother's family are from (Black Sea area near Odessa), though there's probably nothing left to indicate they ever lived there.
Oddly enough I've had plenty of opportunity to visit Ireland (I don't know what part we're from) but have never really got around to it. Not helped that my partner grew up in and dislikes Dublin, so he won't go with me!
3. Which would you least like to visit? Why?
Least like to visit isn't really an expression in my vocabulary - I can find interesting things to do anywhere.
I'd have to vote for "where they ended up" rather than "where they came from"
4. Do you do anything during the year to celebrate or recognize your heritage?
Not really. It's a Volgadeutsch thing, we have no heritage. My grandparents' first language is German, but no one in my mother's generation speaks German, unless you count my mother, who learned it at university. They got to Canada and assimilated as quickly as possible. We have *no* heirlooms or stories from the Old Country(TM). One of my great uncles was persuaded to write down his memoirs, but the rest of them wouldn't talk about it. OTOH, there wasn't a lot to celebrate - typical middle European peasants with the 600 word vocabulary and all. They can do more things with potatoes than the Irish though.
I thought this was just my family, but upon meeting other people from a similar background I discovered it's not.
As for the Scots/Irish thing, that's just too much of a cliche! (Unless you count that Jason and I grow our own potatoes)
5. Who were the first ancestors to move to your present country (parents, grandparents, etc)?
Me. As in I live in England and moved here when I was in my early 20s.
But before that, on my mother's side, my grandfather was born in Russia and my grandmother was born in Canada (just - the next oldest sibling was born on the boat!). My dad's family on both sides have been in Canada for many generations. My grandmother has the landing documents from her ancestors, but I forget how far back it is. My paternal grandfather's family is more problematic (looong story), but they were in the US for generations before moving up to Canada, and as far as I can tell were amongst the Irish who got out before the famine (see Keneally, _The Great Shame_).
Interestingly, my mother has been doing research into where her family came from in Germany, and since things have opened up in the former Soviet Union, a lot of research has been done into the German settlements, and she has traced where some of her ancestors came from in Germany (one in the former East Germany and one near Frankfurt). This is something we never would have thought possible when I was younger.
1 . What is your lineage? Where are your ancestors from?
My dad is Scots/Irish. His Scottish ancestors are from the Outer Hebrides. My mother is Volgadeutsch - the Germans who settled in Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great. Later persecuted and ended up in large numbers in Western Canada and the US, and Argentina.
2. Of those countries, which would you most like to visit?
Well, I've been to the Outer Hebrides, though not the island(s) that my grandmother's family are from. Would quite like to visit the area in Russia that my mother's family are from (Black Sea area near Odessa), though there's probably nothing left to indicate they ever lived there.
Oddly enough I've had plenty of opportunity to visit Ireland (I don't know what part we're from) but have never really got around to it. Not helped that my partner grew up in and dislikes Dublin, so he won't go with me!
3. Which would you least like to visit? Why?
Least like to visit isn't really an expression in my vocabulary - I can find interesting things to do anywhere.
I'd have to vote for "where they ended up" rather than "where they came from"
4. Do you do anything during the year to celebrate or recognize your heritage?
Not really. It's a Volgadeutsch thing, we have no heritage. My grandparents' first language is German, but no one in my mother's generation speaks German, unless you count my mother, who learned it at university. They got to Canada and assimilated as quickly as possible. We have *no* heirlooms or stories from the Old Country(TM). One of my great uncles was persuaded to write down his memoirs, but the rest of them wouldn't talk about it. OTOH, there wasn't a lot to celebrate - typical middle European peasants with the 600 word vocabulary and all. They can do more things with potatoes than the Irish though.
I thought this was just my family, but upon meeting other people from a similar background I discovered it's not.
As for the Scots/Irish thing, that's just too much of a cliche! (Unless you count that Jason and I grow our own potatoes)
5. Who were the first ancestors to move to your present country (parents, grandparents, etc)?
Me. As in I live in England and moved here when I was in my early 20s.
But before that, on my mother's side, my grandfather was born in Russia and my grandmother was born in Canada (just - the next oldest sibling was born on the boat!). My dad's family on both sides have been in Canada for many generations. My grandmother has the landing documents from her ancestors, but I forget how far back it is. My paternal grandfather's family is more problematic (looong story), but they were in the US for generations before moving up to Canada, and as far as I can tell were amongst the Irish who got out before the famine (see Keneally, _The Great Shame_).
Interestingly, my mother has been doing research into where her family came from in Germany, and since things have opened up in the former Soviet Union, a lot of research has been done into the German settlements, and she has traced where some of her ancestors came from in Germany (one in the former East Germany and one near Frankfurt). This is something we never would have thought possible when I was younger.
