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Roots

5/13/2011

1 Comment

 
I took a sociology class in college, which means that I am an expert on the subject. There are several different levels of immigration generations and no one can seem to agree on any of them. The people who immigrated, are they the first generation? Or does the first generation refer to those born in the new country?

What I remember from this course was that the people who immigrated had a really hard time adjusting to life here. They, most often, forsook their old life and language and did their best to blend in with their new country’s culture. For those that immigrated to the U.S., their children would most likely speak English as a first language. Though some traditions were passed on, a lot of it was lost. The generation after the children… so the grandchildren were the generation that would research and desire to learn about their roots, their grandparent’s language and traditions.

I may not be in this third generation, but I have realized that my interest in my roots has continued to grow. Let me be frank and just say that there is a bit of Scandahoovian in my background. Norwegian mostly. I love learning about Norse mythology and trolls, language and culture. It’s all super interesting.

Don’t judge me, but I just went to see “Thor”. It amplified my interest in Norse mythology. Let me explain, the movie didn’t do a very good job of introducing or explaining Thor’s 4 BFF’s. I wanted to know more about them. I also am a little curious about where Baldr was. I really enjoyed the movie “Thor”; it also spurred my interest in learning about these gods and myths. Super glad Odin’s horse had 8 legs. Made me happy.  I’m considering making a Norse God Family Tree…. I’ll let you know if I actually accomplish it!

In the meantime, thanks for tuning in, and please vote for which book I should read next!

1 Comment
[UHL]TUSSAUD
5/23/2011 06:37:53 pm

I have always thought that "first generation" referred to the first generation that is born in a new place.

Immigration is a fairly heated topic for the US in recent years. Like most things, it is not what it used to be. Sure, you still get the people who come here wanting “The American Dream,” however, also in the mix are the welfare state pursuers.

The former are the ones that you refer to as “forsook their old life and language and did their best to blend in with their new country’s culture.” The second group is becoming more and more prevalent and is the cause of a lot of social problems for the US. In the past, if you were not supposed to be here, you were sent away. Now it is not “politically correct” to do so, and they get to stay by default and then wreak havoc on our social structures.

Getting off that topic a bit (I can go on for a quite a while on that tirade,) I think it is important to learn about your culture and heritage. Myself, I come from a mostly Hungarian lineage with some German and Cherokee Indian thrown in there for good measure. While my research has been limited I do enjoy learning about the history of the places that my family came from. I am third generation, the great grandchild of the original migrants.

So, with that I leave with this parting wisdom:

“A Swede was in a pub in Finland and a regular customer suggested to him:
- "I'll give you $200, if you let me smash ten beer bottles on your head." The Swede thought for a while and finally agreed, partly because of the peer pressure. The Finn smashed the first bottle on the Swede's head, then the second and so on, but he stopped after smashing nine bottles.
- "So, when are you going to smash the tenth bottle?," asked the Swede.
- "I am not a total idiot," the Finn replied, "then I would have to give you that $200."”

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