Friday Five:
My answers are going to suck this week, as I know jack squat about genealogy.
1. What is your lineage? Where are your ancestors from?
Well, one-quarter is Korean. That’s my maternal grandmother. The other three grandparents are all American. I really haven’t done any research, but I’m pretty sure that the “Howard” side of the family is British. (Sidenote: There’s a Castle Howard in England! I bet I’m in line for the throne.) The “Manns” and “Harter” sides probably lean towards German. When the Snook and I visited last year, my grandma showed us all these old scrapbooks she had and pointed out a picture of a Native American woman. Apparently that was, like, my great-great-grandmother or something. I had no idea. So throw in a little Cherokee too.
2. Of those countries, which would you most like to visit?
Definitely Korea. Ideally I’d like to take my mom and grandmother along on a big trip, if I could afford it. It’s so close to Australia (relatively speaking), though, I may end up taking a mini-trip with the Snook if we can swing it.
3. Which would you least like to visit? Why?
Well, it’s not really a country, but quite frankly, the “American Indian” bit is the least interesting to me. I’ve never really romanticized that culture and I don’t think this familial revelation is going to change that. I’m scared of horses. I’m not a big outdoorsy person. (I did see Pocahontas, like, five times though.) So that’s the part I’d probably least like to “revisit”.
4. Do you do anything during the year to celebrate or recognize your heritage?
Nope. We eat Korean food every now and then, but not on any specific occasion.
5. Who were the first ancestors to move to your present country (parents, grandparents, etc)?
Wait. My “present” country? That’s Australia, which would make it… ME. Yep, I’m my first ancestor to move here. (In terms of America, I have no clue. Man, I wish somebody in my family would research this stuff.)
Claire
August 3, 2002 — 3:34 pm
You’re a settler!
Jann
August 3, 2002 — 6:33 pm
…there’s a voice, keeps on callin’ me.
Down the road, that’s where I’ll always be…etc…
Castle Howard has a website (http://www.castlehoward.co.uk) and it looks like you need to do some serious research/fabrication of your lineage to get yourself a piece of it ’cause it’s a fabulous stately ‘ome…
Kris
August 3, 2002 — 8:59 pm
Dude! You found my ancestral home! I like this bit: “Castle Howard is one of Britain’s finest stately homes, located in the beautiful Howardian Hills…” The Howardian Hills???? I got hills named after me too!
Amy
August 6, 2002 — 1:13 am
hey dude – i *almost* started to do all this genealogy stuff one time, since our library here is like, one of the best resources in the country for it…but it’s really hard and involved. (plus that section of the library is scary and intimidating, and nobody came up to see if i needed help! i tried to check out a book, and you’re totally not allowed to even take them from that section! oops.) you either have to be hardcore or a wussy about it, and i don’t want to be a wussy, but don’t have the time to get hardcore. my boss’s wife is hardcore; she’s taking a year’s sabbatical to write a book on genealogy! huh. too bad i’m so lazy.
Kris
August 8, 2002 — 1:13 am
I’m lazy too. I just want to hand somebody, like, $99.50 and have them give me a printout of my family tree.
TD
August 8, 2002 — 2:44 am
This may be way too easy, but have you guys gone to EllisIsland.com? My Italian side, at least, found our peops in the roster (and, a pic of the boat they rode in on!) – so, just a thought.
Kris
August 8, 2002 — 8:15 am
But did you know who they were first? Or did you just enter your last name? I’m worried it wouldn’t work that well for us, since we have such common last names in our family.