What's your ethnic background?

[lisas3575]

Forgive me this un-PC post, but I'm curious what our common and different backgrounds are. Only post if you want to-- I'm wanting to learn more about each of you and find our common grounds, not drive a wedge or make anyone uncomfortable.

I'm your basic, fairly uninteresting caucasian. :o My maternal grandfather's family came over from Germany in the early 1900's, but their region is now part of Russia since WWII. My father's side of the family is a mixed bag from the hills of N. Carolina-- there's rumor of some Native American in there along the way, but I have no proof of that.

I guess the German background is my most interesting-- it's unfortunate though, my grandfather was the first child born in the US after immigrating, and with WWII and the anti-German sentiments, he never spoke the language or passed any traditions down to his kids. He didn't want anyone to know he was German, lest they start being interred <sp?> like the Japanese Americans at the time...

[Jewel]

I'm Caucasian-American, but my parents bring a little bit of a mix to my little recipe...my father's side is very English, and my mother's side is very French. My grandmother's maiden name was 'Redwine'! (If I could have used that name as a teenager I would have...I thought it was totally cool! Still do! :cool: )

[HARRYET]

I'm a mixed bag of backgrounds.

On my mother's side I'm, Portugese and Irish.

On my father's side I'm, German and French.

I really don't have much background on my fathers' side of the family as he doesn't talk to much about it and his parents both passed away when I was quite young. On my mothers' side my great-grandparents came over to this country from Portugal, they never learned to speak english. My grandmother still speaks portugese, but unfortunately she doesn't have to many people to speak it to anymore. Growing up, my mother could understand portugese but never learned to speak it. Don't know much about my grandfather on my mothers side, as he died when I was 13. I would like to get more info on my families, mostly for my children, but there aren't to many left to ask. Oh well maybe thats a project for this coming new year!

Ann :)

[sharon]

Your average white girl here. My paternal grandfather came over from Finland when he was a young kid with his parents. Married a Finnish girl and had a bunch of kids. Like a lot of immigrants, they spoke very little Finnish to thier children so my dad doesn't really speak or understand the language except for basic phrases. However, he is very proud of his heritage and background.

My mom is basically a mixed bag, but mostly Irish, Scottish and English. We don't really know her family tree as well but her maiden name, Hurley is Irish.

Since my dad is so into heritage, it is always interesting to me to find out where peoples' families came from when they immigrated. I wish I had a more interesting background sometimes, but you play with the hand you are dealt! :rolleyes:

[BosunsWife]

I listed "other". On my father's side I'm totally Yugoslavian or I guess now it would be considered Croatian. My grandfather came to the US in or around 1903 as a child. My grandmother was born in the US to parents who immigrated here from Yugoslavia in the late 1800's.

On my mom's side a mixed bag of German, French and a little bit of Scot thrown in.

[kwormann]

ALtho I am terribly fascinated with family trees and heritage, dont know much about mine as noone else in the family is interested. I know there is some french in there, as DM's maiden name is Jolliff, other than that.....

[beejayw1]

That's the problem with lumping things together. You end up with a big blend.

There's a huge difference between a Tuareg from the deserts of Africa and a Cameroonian, or between a Sicilian and a Norwegian. Or a Japanese and a Malaysian.

So what am I? I had to figure this out once years ago, and here's what I came up with:

English: 25%
German: 37%
Italian: 25%
Irish: 6%
French: 7%

I love people-watching, and wish I'd studied more anthropology in college.

[emilycat]

Diana, how did you research to find the exact percentages? I've always been so interested in finding out, but I haven't as yet.
I know a great deal about my dad's family, since they're all into that stuff, but my mom's is a little hazy.
Here's my speculation, but it needs some backup -- I think I've given myself a new project. :)

I'm 1/4 Norweigian
about 1/2 English
a bit of Irish

[lhall]

Ok, here goes.

Scottish - Dad
Irish - Dad
French - Mom
German - Dad
English - Dad
Welsh - Mom

Don't know how much of each, except the French.
Maternal grandmother's parents were both full french so I guess that makes me 1/4 french.

Leigh

[Peggy C.]

I find this very interesting. I live in Cleveland Ohio, I grew up here. I don't know if anyone knows anything about this area, but we have a VERY diverse cultural society here. Everyone is very proud of their ancestoral roots. I have several friends who've moved here from out of state or out of the country who were very offended when someone (certainly a native Clevelander) would simply say "what are you?". Read "what is your nationality?". I can assure you this is never meant to offend, we are just very proud and curious about your background!

That being said it's none of your business! I'm just kidding, I am mostly Irish with some German! I Irish step danced for five years as a teenager way before Michael Flately ruined it!

I had girlfriends in HS who participated in Russian, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Croatian, Indian, and Native American clubs.

[mb]

i'm a 2nd (mom's side)/3rd (dad's side) generation american. my maternal grandparents came here in the late 1930's from germany, narrowly escaping hitler. my paternal great-grandparents came here from the ukraine. DH came here from the ukraine when he was 4 years old, so on his side, our DD is 1st generation american!

[aggie94]

Asian-American (Chinese to be exact). I'm second generation, meaning I was born in the states, but my parents were not (mom was born and raised in Korea, but is Chinese, and dad was born and raised in China) - they moved to the states in 1969. Seems the lingo we use might be a little different - first generation to us would refer to my parents, second generation to me & my brother (who was also born here). There's also a term "one and a half generation" which refers to kids who were born in their native countries but who immigrated to the US very young and were raised here, speaking primarily English.

[djoygirl]

I love reading about this sort of thing. It's so interesting.

I'm basically a mutt:D

I'm a large part German. My maternal grandmother is purely German--maiden name Heiner, and her mother's name Petzold. Also alot of German from my maternal grandfather, and a bit from both of my father's parents.

There's also Scotch-Irish-English blood, as well as American Indian from somewhere on my father's side. I know that there were two other parts as well, but I can't remember what they were. I want to say one was French, but I couldn't be sure--I'd have to ask.

I feel kind of like a recipe: 4 parts this, to 2 parts that...:p

[Jennett]

My mother's family is about 100% Irish. My father's family is a mix of Scottish and Welsh. Though there is the family myth of the Polish sailor, which is ever evolving. Interestingly, both my parents families still keep in touch with relatives in the "Old Country". I wish when they'd named me they'd used one of the traditional gaelic names, which sound so beautiful to me. But then again, I get enough grief over the pronunciation and spelling of Jennett, perhaps I should consider myself lucky.

Just curious, am I the only one who always wonders what everyone else looks like? I have these vague ideas in my head everytime I read a post, but I know I'm probably way off. This is the first BB I've really posted on, so this "virtual family" thing feels weird every now and then. But cool!:)

[Maelynn Cheung]

I have to add to this thread. I think I'm probably somehow related to all of you!

My father is from Hong Kong - moved here to finish college in the early 60s.

Mom was born & raised in the U.S.

Maternal grandmother was born & raised in Czechoslovakia.
Maternal grandfather born & raised in U.S.
Maternal great-grandmother was born & raised in Poland
Maternal great-grandfather was born & raised partly in Ireland and then in Scotland. He regularly wore a kilt from what I've been told.

Paternal grandmother and grandfather were born & raised in Hong Kong as were my 8 paternal aunts and uncles.

So I guess I'm Chinese, Czech, Polish, Irish, Scottish...

and now my son is all of those plus American Indian, German, and African American from his father.

Diana -- how do I figure these percentages??? Yikes.

The nicest part of all of this - all the food I grew up with. I remember many occasions in the kitchen with a bunch of people who didn't speak english cooking for hours and hours. And then eating.... mmmmm.

But of course, now my favorite food is Mexican. Figures.

[lisas3575]

Wow Maelynn! What a fascinating background. I bet holidays and family gatherings at your house are/were so interesting! You have your own little United Nations. Have you incorporated any Native American or African traditions in your cooking or customs?

I'm quite honored to have an editor chime in on my thread! :cool:

[beejayw1]

Maelynn said:Diana -- how do I figure these percentages??? Yikes.

Well, since I don't know your husband's makeup, except generally, here's what you have:

25% Czech
12.5% Polish
12.5% Irish with a stay in Scotland (or maybe he was a Scott born in exile??;) )
50% Chinese (The people of Hong Kong who were living in China in the early 90's told my sister they called themselves Hongkese)

It's funny how cooking changes. My family moved all over, and to this day we lean a lot toward Asian and Mexican/Tex-Mex. Interestingly, my paternal grandfather's family spent several generations in China, near Tientsin (they were caught in the Boxer Rebellion, when my grandfather was born) and my father's grandparents spent WWII in a Japanese concentration camp. Interesting folks.

[Vanessa]

I consider myself latin but in reality I have some of Irish & German via grandparents, then Latin via other grandparents...guess somewhere if I go back Spaniard then I was born in PR and raised there. My dad is from USA mom from PR. I always think I have a little bit of many cultures....:)

[Jewel]

Wow Maelynn!! You put us all to shame!! I think it would be so fascinating to have that kind of culture and history in my background. Nothing against what I've got though!! :eek:

I just imagined the kitchen scenes with a family that didn't speak English, but spoke with the food instead. (sigh!) Sounds incredibly romantic! I'll bet you're holding out on us with some fabulous family recipes!! ;)

[MrsReber]

Interesting. For some reason, I figured I'd see more Italians on here! My maternal great grandparents were 100% Italian from Italy. My grandmother spoke fluent Italian as her parents didn't speak English. However, unfortunately, it wasn't considered good to stand out so my grandmother changed her name from Caterina to the Americanized Catherine (her other siblings did the same with their respective names). None of them taught their children to speak Italian. My maternal grandfather was 100% Czech.

My paternal grandfather was German and my paternal Grandmother is Italian (I LOVE my Italian grandmas, though my mom's mom passed away a year ago today).

DH is a mix, but I'm pretty sure he's mostly German. I'm partial to my Italian side :)

[Gail]

I was all ready to write out nice, neat little percentages, then I thought: hmmm... am I SURE my great-grandparents didn't have some other mix I never knew about... Nobody to ask now, so I believe I'm 50% Cuban (my mom), 25% Russian (paternal grandfather) and 25% Polish (paternal grandmother).

[JHolcomb]

Ok, I'm a mutt. Dad's side is German, Dutch, and "Black Dutch" which probably means Native American, but we're not 100% sure. Mom's side is English and lots of Native American. I believe her grandma was full-blooded, and lots of other family members were part Cherokee, too. Jeannete, I want to know what everyone looks like too! My mom looks pretty exotic, with bright slightly almond shaped green eyes and dark, stick straight hair and skin that tans almost black. I must have gotten a lot of Dutch, because I'm fair skinned with really curly dark brown hair. Oh, I got my dad's fam's forehead, which DH describes as "high and regal". I also have green eyes.. I've always thought that there was a litte african american in us too, but I can't prove anything one way or another. It seems unlikely because of where we're from, but maybe. It's funny, because I'm sitting here looking at an old pic of my grandma, uncles, aunt and dad, and I can't figure out what they are, which drives me nuts because I've always wanted to look like something. If people have to guess, they always guess Jewish. Anyway, I'm a total mutt. And this thread is really interesting.

[SueK]

I'm English and German. My mom's side of the family all came from England. Her parents were born there. My dad's side was German and a little Irish.

When I was growing up and would be stubborn, my mom would say "That's your father's German side coming out in you!"

DH's family is mostly German, too. For anyone familiar with Saint Maximillian (sp) Kolbe, that is one of his ancestors. God knows I've heard the story 50 times by now, but there was actually a special on TV about him last year, and I was finally impressed!

[christinew]

German-Swiss and Dutch. Although I am not sure if that's Dutch Swiss or Dutch German. For all the German blood I have.....I am brunette...no blonde hairs on my head :(

[Jodi]

I'm almost completely Irish, with a dash of English thrown in. I'm fascsinated by geneology and have been working on my family tree over the last couple years.

I just got married in April to a Chinese-American, so our kids will have an interesting mix!
Jodi

[KValley]

Good call, Lisa- I love learning about everyone's ethnic heritage!

I'm 50 percent German- paternal grandparents came from Moldova, but were German (Prussia);

25 percent Italian- maternal grandfather emigrated from Nervesa- a small town in Northern Italy;

the other 25 percent, from my maternal grandmother, is Norwegian, English.

I'm a fair-skinned, freckled, redhead- thought for certain this was the German in me, until I befriended a redhead, freckled girl from Northern Italy. No other redheads with freckles on either side of the family- when I was little I was certain I was adopted! Also, at 5'6, I am one of the SHORT cousins- most of the women are at least 5'8; men well over 6'0.

[kirkbyky]

I'm mostly English with a bit of French, this is from my mom's family, I don't know any of my dad's. My mom can trace her maternal line back to Edward Howe of Lynn, MA (b. 1575, dd. 4/1639). DH can trace through his mom to John Warner of Farmington, CT (b. 1615, dd. 1679) and dad to Willyam Kirkby probably English (b. 1658, dd. 6/5/1694). On my side, most of it was done by my GUncle in 1981. On DH's, his brother is a geneology NUT! and has done almost all the work himself. Currently, DH's dad has gotten all the old family pictures etc & is scanning and saving them on photo software.

Kyle

[Terri-Lynn2]

My parents were both born in Canada with their parents all being born in England. Growing up I had friends from every part of the world and felt that I was the only one that didnt speak another language and have some really cool culture.

Then I met and married a wonderful Chinese man and have loved every bit of sharing in his culture and especially the food. Life would not be the same without Dim Sum. I have learned quite a bit of the language and culture and I am now teaching our 2 children about the language and culture. People are always amazed that I know so much, I just smile and say "I'm not Chinese by birth I'm Chinese by choice".


My husbands brother and sister have all married caucasian spouses and we have begun our treck into parenthood. It has been really exciting seeing the mixes come out in the kids.

Terri

[Julia1Pin]

I was born in Kiev, Ukraine, which make me Russian. Both my parents are also Russian. The same goes for my DH. So, my kids will be 100% Russian, with 75% Jewish and 25% christian (DH's mom is Jewish, his dad isn't).

[Grace]

Fun thread. I am mostly German, 1/4 Ukrainian, and the rest "mutt" (from my mother's side - she's German, French, and supposedly American Indian, but all from way, way back). My Dad came here in 1951 from Germany, and his mother is the one that is Ukrainian (100% - and Julia, she is still very much alive - she comes from Lutsk - not sure of the spelling?? Her name is Anastasia Kosiuk - she's the only one here - her whole family is still in the Ukraine).

Just as an FYI, most Germans/Swiss etc. are NOT blonde haired and blue eyed. They are mostly dark haired, actually. My husband is 100% German (from Berlin), and his whole family, and all my relatives too (on my father's side) are dark haired and dark eyed. My first husband was 100% German too, and he and his family were all dark haired/dark eyed people too. I think it's more like the Swedes and Norwegians that are blonde haired. But not the Krauts! I am naturally dishwater blonde (but I highlight my hair to be blonde), and I have green eyes. But my husband has a lot of red tinge to his hair, and especially to his beard (when he doesn't shave for a few days, you can really, really see it!). I tease him about his red hair, because you wouldn't think it typically German.

Just one thing to think about though - as individual cultures continue to fade away (languages, physical traits, cultures, etc.), I believe there will come a time when there won't be such a thing as "nationalities" anymore. Everyone will be a mixed up conglomeration of everything, and asking someone their nationality will be a thing of the past. I find that sad, in a way, because I love and celebrate all the "differences". It's particularly noticeable in Europe. English is being phased in as the international language, they're moving to the Euro for their common form of money (no more changing to different currencies when you go into the neighboring country), and while I understand the changes, I lament very much the (admittedly slow) loss of the individual cultures and characteristics and charms that each country is so rich in.

My guess is in 100 years, the question "What nationality are you?" will be nonexistent. Here's to hoping I'm wrong! And here's to all the beautiful differences among us!:D

[Lynn B]

Susan,

Another Italian checking in!!! I am 50% Italian (father born here, but both grandparents were born and raised in northern Italy). My mom is a mix of English, German and Scottish. I am fair-skinned, brunette, with very green eyes (hey! just like you, Grace! :) ) .

Lynn

[crlykat]

I find ancestry so interesting! I just started helping my mom with our geneaology. Here's me:

My mother's family is from County Kerry in Ireland. Although she was born here, when she was small, she remembers getting mail from her uncles who were priests back there. My dad is a mix of English, German, and maybe some French.
My DH is Hungarian, from Transylvania.

[sharonf]

Another Italian here! Although, when we were young, my Dad had us "trained" to tell people that we weren't really "Italian", we were Sicilian "because it's an island off of Italy y'know..." ;) Paternal grandfather came here when he was 10. Maternal grandmother--born in the USofA, but her family is from northern Italy. Maternal grandfather--Italian. Maternal grandmother--Italian, Irish, and German (not too sure what her breakdown is though).

[beejayw1]

Medium height, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, high cheekbones. I take after the German(Hessian)/French part of the family. My younger brother has the same features as me, but with fair hair, blue eyes and red hair. My sister takes after the Italian, and my older brother looks like the other German part of the family.

[Nirak]

OK. I guess I always considered myself American. Some would say WASP. My fathers family came here from holland in the mid 1600's and my mothers family came from England a little later than that. On my mother's side we are part English part Welch. When DD asked me what nationality she was, I had to give it some thought because I needed to incorporate my husband's side (German, English, and a few other things. I said, "Well, honey, I guess you could say European." She said, A PEON! Who are you calling a peon?" This went back and forth longer than Abbot & Costello. I finally gave up. I think she went to school and told everyone she was a peon.

[Terri-Lynn2]

Grace,

You would get along well with my dad if he is asked what nationality he is he always answers "Canadian" they say but what nationality are you and he replies the same "Canadian". The rest doesnt matter to him.

Terri

[JanetB]

Well, I am 100% Irish and first generation American to boot.

My parents came over in the 1960s. We were raised in the Irish Catholic traditions. Sadly, I know more of the old music and dance traditions than my many Irish born cousins. I too was always upset that my parents didn't name me something more ethnic. When I was 16 - I threatened for a year to call myself by the Irish-Gaelic version of my name. Now I am thrilled that I didn't rename myself Sinead. I would not have enjoyed being compared to the strange bald Irish singer by the same name!!

My parents always hoped that I would marry a guy with the exactly the same background as me. I came close - my fiance is mostly of Scots-Irish background - - but his "people' came over many generations ago.

[Mamasue]

Full blooded Italian here! Maternal grandmother came from Northern area, Piacenza; maternal grandfather from the Abruzze area. Paternal grandparents were from the Abruzze area as well. My grandparents spoke italian and their children (my parents may have understood some of it but not taught to speak it as their first language so therefore I and siblings do not speak Italian. I had the opportunity to visit Italy in 1992 and want to return sometime in my lifetime. Ciao!

[beejayw1]

Originally posted by Terri-Lynn
if he is asked what nationality he is he always answers "Canadian" they say but what nationality are you and he replies the same "Canadian". The rest doesnt matter to him.


I never had the trouble differentiating between nationality and ethnic background. When I was in 6th grade, our teacher talked about 'nationality'. He asked us what our 'nationality' was, and each of us said whatever it was.

"No," he said. "You are all wrong. Your nationality is American or U.S. That is the country where you have your citizenship, and that is what 'nationality' means. For all of you, your nationality is American. But you are of (British, Polynesian, Japanese, etc.) descent." Knowing this teacher, he most likely continued to speak of the 'melting pot', but I don't remember that part.

[MrsReber]

Lynn, my beloved grandmother who passed away had pretty green eyes, a fair complexion and dark hair! My neice inherited the green eyes, fortunately.

My ancestors are from Calabria (on my dad's side) and from a town near Naples (on my mom's side).

Sharon, my grandmothers were both taught that Sicily isn't part of Italy. That old mob connection thing! Still gotta love the food, though! ;)

[sneezles]

When referring to ethnicicity I would not use the word caucasian as an ethnic group since people that fall under that political term usually have heritages that aren't the same (as shown above).
That said, I am 100% Irish, third generation on my dad's side (I found my grandmother's name on the lists at Ellis Island-site was very slow so didn't look for my grandfather). Still have many relatives in Ireland and one aunts house has the family tree on the dining room wall (not a picture, mind you, but it is written on the wall!).

[Wendy w]

This is a fun thread! I’m quite the Heinz 57, so where do I begin?

Dad: brown hair, blue eyes as were both parents
Grandfather was born in Austria, raised in Germany
Grandmother of German ancestry, raised in USA

Mom: blonde hair, green eyes
Grandfather was born and raised in Macedonia, Yugoslavia (I understand that he was of medium complexion and green eyed).
Grandmother: born and raised in the midwest and was the Heinz 57. She was English, Dutch, Scotch, and a little Sioux. (she was a pale blonde with pale blue eyes, quite the knockout!)

Everyone was short! My oldest sister is 5’7 being the tallest of the women. My nephews are 6’ and over.

My 2 sisters and I are blonde and they both have blue eyes. One of my eyes is green and the other is brown. Go figure.

[Mandy]

I was just talking to my parents the other day about this. I'm so many things mixed together, I can never remember! I always have to ask my mom. :o Here's what I can remember right now:

German
Dutch
Irish
Danish
French
English
Scottish

Actually I have a cousin that did some research, and I'm related to Robert E. Lee.

I have blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm short (5'2"), actually I'm the tallest girl in the family. We're a "petite" family.

[csmcnamara]

I'm easy! My mother was born in Mexico. She came to the states when she was 6 months old. My father was born in Malta and came here in the early 50's.

[Little Bit]

Guess I'm just another Caucasian American Mutt.
One of my great-grandfathers is said by family legend to have left County Cork a jump and a skip ahead of the High Sheriff, but I have my doubts. He was also said to have traveled in steerage, on a sailing ship, arriving near Savannah, GA.
Is any of it true? Who knows? Why spoil a good story?
The only thing I know to be true is that my grandmother had such fair skin that she was practically allergic to the sun and had to always wear long sleeves, hats, etc. to keep from getting bad sunburns. My dad isn't quite so fair, and has less trouble, though has minor skin lesions removed from time to time, just to be on the safe side. I've stayed out of the sun since my teens, just on principle.

The rest of my family tree is a general Scottish, Irish, English hybrid, with one great grandmother of Hispanic descent, so that I have brown eyes, not blue like my sister and father. (Whether or not she was Mexican or Spanish is yet another question lost in the mists of time.)

[Carrie W]

But really my heritage is pretty simple. Both grandfathers emigrated from Europe (Germany and Sweden) and married nice mid-western farmers daughters who ended up in the Pacific Northwest. So I guess I'm your run of the mill fair-haired, fair-skinned Northwesterner. Nick-name = shorty.

On the more interesting side, hubby was born in Taiwan (moved here when he was 9), and I took his name. Makes it fun to mess with my students on the first day of class when they're expecting an asian-looking TA! ;)

[JHolcomb]

My husband's, who is of almost exclusively English ancestry, grandfather has traced their ancestry to Oliver Cromwell! Kind of ironic since I'm such a big Hibernophile.

[LGBurns]

Sharon, your dad and my mom have pretty much the same story. My grandparents came from Finland, met here, married and had my mom and my uncle. My mom does speak a little Finnish but all I know is piiva, kiitos, and hauska jolua (I'm sure I'm butchering the spelling, especially since I don't know how to use accented letters in this format). Anyway, my dad is Welsh, Scottish, British and Swiss (I call it Anglo-Swiss usually). So I guess I'm 50% Finnish, 33.3% British Isles, and 33.3% Swiss. Or something like that.

[vbak]

My mom was Slovak and my father was Czech, so I guess you could say that I am 100% Czechoslovakian. A few words were different in the languages, but the food knew no barriers. I remember my grandmother's pugachki{?} which were flaky rolls made with lard and stuffed with cracklings{rendered pork or ham fat}. Yum.My mom made lots of Slovak food, but she also loved to try Julia Child , Bon Appetit, or Gourmet recipes, too. Good memories. Vicky:)

[KristaMB]

Just another run of the mill American of European descent here. My paternal grandmother is half French, half Italian. I know my paternal grandfather is part Scottish, and I think there is English and Irish in his background, too. I don't know much about my mom's side.

[akairo]

I also am mutt, but a pretty one at that;) .
One set of great-grands (maternal) are from Poland and Germany, another set are from Sweden and Ireland.
Unfortunately I don't know much about my paternal ancestors because of the racism of the days gone by. My grandfather was English, and my grandmother Cherokee Indian. My aunts have spent their lives denying the Indian part even to the point that one of them burned all of the documents. She died when my Dad was 12 years old. He is the youngest of 8. So he didn't know her as well as his siblings, but no one will talk about her. I have asked my aunts many, many times. My mom painted her portrait years ago and she was beautiful. Long, thick blue-black hair all the way down her back like Crystal Gail. I wish that I could have known her. She really doted on my dad when he was a baby.

Oh well.
Now to all of this my children are 1/2 Japanese. Sigh----and beautiful.:) :) :)


Tamara

[heide]

My maternal grandfather was Norwegian but as for the rest, I don't know. My family has been in the US too long. I guess we're mostly German but much diluted. I've got blue eyes and brown hair and rosy skin. My dad has dark hair and ice-blue eyes and both my mom and my brother have hazel eyes. Actually I have a friend who is full Norwegian and he and I have exactly the same coloring. weird.

My husband is full English Australian. Nothing else mixed in, so he's got fair skin and dark hair.

[lsdesign]

No one has mentioned that the poll choices are really racial and not ethnic the way everyone has posted thus far. My two cents.

I am 100% American/Polish ancestry. In the days when my folks went looking for a mate it had to be Polish Catholic or nothing at all. Not Catholic anything else just Polish Catholic. My Dad could speak Polish, my Mom just understood it. We grew up on Polish food and my Dad was very proud of being of his ancestry.My Busia (paternal grandmother) never really learned English very well and was funny because of this. All my grandparents were born in Poland and came through Ellis Island. Busia has a brick with her name on it there. Now I guess you could say that my kidlets are all American and half Polish and half Welsh/German.