REPRESENT! Diversity on PS!

[aprilcait]

My dad''s side:
Dad''s dad- Lithuanian
Dad''s mom- Irish and touch of German I believe

My mom''s side:
Mom''s dad- Irish
Mom''s mom- Irish and German

Even though I''m mostly Irish, people usually mistake me for Spanish or Italian. My family jokes that there must have been a milkman involved, seeing as my siblings have light hair, eyes, and skin and I''m on the darker side. Go figure!

 

[CDNinNYC]

1st generation Canadian, born to Portuguese immigrants, currently living in the US.

FI is 1st generation Canadian, born to Portuguese immigrants, currently living in the US.

How weird is that?

 

[trillionaire]

Date: 8/22/2008 10:33:44 AM
Author: aprilcait
My dad''s side:

Dad''s dad- Lithuanian

Dad''s mom- Irish and touch of German I believe


My mom''s side:

Mom''s dad- Irish

Mom''s mom- Irish and German


Even though I''m mostly Irish, people usually mistake me for Spanish or Italian. My family jokes that there must have been a milkman involved, seeing as my siblings have light hair, eyes, and skin and I''m on the darker side. Go figure!

Based on your avatar, I would have def guess Spanish!

That''s fantastic!

 

[kittybean]

Date: 8/21/2008 1:53:09 AM
Author: brooklyngirl
I''m Russian/Jewish. I was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and my family emigrated to Brooklyn when I was 7, and I live in San Jose, CA as of a month ago.


Even though I was born in Ukraine, I describe myself as ''Russian'' -- that''s how most people I know, who left before the collapse of the Soviet Union identify themselves.


My family is not particularly religious, but being Jewish is a huge part of our cultural identity. In other words, our idea of celebrating any Jewish holiday, is to gather at someone''s house and eat

. Except Yom Kippur - it''s the one time a year that my parents visit the Synagogue.

My family is Ukrainian, and we, along with all the other people in our Ukrainian-American circle/community, have always identified ourselves as Ukrainian, never as Russian. Almost all the Ukrainians I know emigrated before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and every single one refers to himself or herself as "Ukrainian." We belong to Ukrainian organizations, go to Ukrainian Catholic Church, and speak the Ukrainian language. I know many staunch Ukrainian nationalists who have worked very hard to distinguish Ukraine from Russia.

I hope that didn''t come across as too harsh--I just want to point out that there are many of us who possess a very strong Ukrainian identity and like to identify ourselves as Ukrainians. If you feel that you are more Russian than Ukrainian, that''s great too. With the major political changes and upheaval in the former Soviet Union and surrounding area, I think there was (and still is) a lot of cultural/ethnic gray area.

 

[violet02]

Date: 8/23/2008 1:38:11 AM
Author: kittybean

Date: 8/21/2008 1:53:09 AM
Author: brooklyngirl
I''m Russian/Jewish. I was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and my family emigrated to Brooklyn when I was 7, and I live in San Jose, CA as of a month ago.


Even though I was born in Ukraine, I describe myself as ''Russian'' -- that''s how most people I know, who left before the collapse of the Soviet Union identify themselves.


My family is not particularly religious, but being Jewish is a huge part of our cultural identity. In other words, our idea of celebrating any Jewish holiday, is to gather at someone''s house and eat

. Except Yom Kippur - it''s the one time a year that my parents visit the Synagogue.

My family is Ukrainian, and we, along with all the other people in our Ukrainian-American circle/community, have always identified ourselves as Ukrainian, never as Russian. Almost all the Ukrainians I know emigrated before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and every single one refers to himself or herself as ''Ukrainian.'' We belong to Ukrainian organizations, go to Ukrainian Catholic Church, and speak the Ukrainian language. I know many staunch Ukrainian nationalists who have worked very hard to distinguish Ukraine from Russia.

I hope that didn''t come across as too harsh--I just want to point out that there are many of us who possess a very strong Ukrainian identity and like to identify ourselves as Ukrainians. If you feel that you are more Russian than Ukrainian, that''s great too. With the major political changes and upheaval in the former Soviet Union and surrounding area, I think there was (and still is) a lot of cultural/ethnic gray area.

I work with a group of women that people at work refer to as Russians. I take that as sort of a ''blanket'' description since they don''t really know these women. If you talk to them though they will say they are from Ukrania and are indeed Ukranian. They are on Urkanian message boards, go to the Urkanian market etc. They definitely have a separate identity and social group.

Not to but in.. just thought I''d share my experience.

 

[lasscreative]

AUSSIE!!! Born in Sydney, Australia! And still here. Grand parents on both sides were born here and that''s as far as I know my heritage! I believe that my ancestors (is that the right word?) were convicts from England!! lol

 

[innerkitten]

Oh I''m sure you''l find everything here. I''m American and a mix. My mothers parents are both from Belarus and they were Jewish. Most of my Fathers family has been in the U.S. since before the civil war and they were of English, Irish, German and French decent.

 

[gwendolyn]

I''m a 2nd generation American, sorta, I think. My paternal grandfather was born in Poland and then his family moved to the US when he was very young (his youngest brother was born in the US himself). I''m 100% Polish on my dad''s side of the family, but a mix on my mom''s (who''s been here for a couple more generations): 25% German, 12.5% Irish, and 12.5% French (French pirates, nonetheless!). My boyfriend J is 100% English; his family tree goes back for generations and generations to the same area of North Yorkshire, even.

 

[Miranda]

What an interesting thread. I''m American, but, have family on my mother''s side from England. My father''s side of the famly is from Germany and Norway.

 

[VMal]

Born & raised in Sicily, Italy.

Not an American Citizen YET....

But I''m legal

 

[IluvEmeralds]

2nd generation Canadian (parents are a mix of Scottish, Irish, and Hungarian...how weird is that?) curently living in N. FL though I have dual ctzshp and still visit Canada often.

Great thread btw!!

 

[IloveAsschers13]

I am like 80 percent Irish, and my mom has Irish, Polish, French Canadian. My grandparents moved here from Ireland in the early 60''s, and they both had like 10 and 11 brothers and sisters, so I have a ton of family in Ireland still. I joke about being related to like half a the town they are from. Some of them moved to UK and it''s awesome because we all stay in touch on FACEBOOK!

My boyfriend is from Russian, so I LOVE that our kids will be Russian/Irish and he is also fluent in Russian, so I def. need to learn!

 

[IloveAsschers13]

I ment London, not the UK.

 

[Linda W]

I am also an American Mutt, living in California.

Mom''s side, German, French and Irish

Dad''s side: German and I am not sure what else.

Both of my grandfather''s were born in Germany and came to America when they were little boys.


Linda

 

[AdiS]

100% Bulgarian on both sides of the family back to my grand-grandparents. Born and raised in the capital Sofia, still living here.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Date: 8/23/2008 7:05:17 AM
Author: violet02

Date: 8/23/2008 1:38:11 AM
Author: kittybean

Date: 8/21/2008 1:53:09 AM
Author: brooklyngirl
I'm Russian/Jewish. I was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and my family emigrated to Brooklyn when I was 7, and I live in San Jose, CA as of a month ago.


Even though I was born in Ukraine, I describe myself as 'Russian' -- that's how most people I know, who left before the collapse of the Soviet Union identify themselves.


My family is not particularly religious, but being Jewish is a huge part of our cultural identity. In other words, our idea of celebrating any Jewish holiday, is to gather at someone's house and eat

. Except Yom Kippur - it's the one time a year that my parents visit the Synagogue.

My family is Ukrainian, and we, along with all the other people in our Ukrainian-American circle/community, have always identified ourselves as Ukrainian, never as Russian. Almost all the Ukrainians I know emigrated before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and every single one refers to himself or herself as 'Ukrainian.' We belong to Ukrainian organizations, go to Ukrainian Catholic Church, and speak the Ukrainian language. I know many staunch Ukrainian nationalists who have worked very hard to distinguish Ukraine from Russia.

I hope that didn't come across as too harsh--I just want to point out that there are many of us who possess a very strong Ukrainian identity and like to identify ourselves as Ukrainians. If you feel that you are more Russian than Ukrainian, that's great too. With the major political changes and upheaval in the former Soviet Union and surrounding area, I think there was (and still is) a lot of cultural/ethnic gray area.

I work with a group of women that people at work refer to as Russians. I take that as sort of a 'blanket' description since they don't really know these women. If you talk to them though they will say they are from Ukrania and are indeed Ukranian. They are on Urkanian message boards, go to the Urkanian market etc. They definitely have a separate identity and social group.

Not to but in.. just thought I'd share my experience.

Kittybean, I know very well that there are people who identify themselves as Ukrainian, and people who don't like to be lumped together with Russia

I was just sharing something about my familiy, specifically, and not at all saying that every person of Ukrainian descent identifes themselves as Russian.

Violet02 hit the nail on the head -- it is a blanket statement. In my circle of family/friends it's used as a reference to the Soviet Union, as opposed to Russia, specifically. I know it's technically incorrect.

 

[PawnShopHustler]

I''m Black American in the US (Alabama

)

 

[supergirl10]

im australian and live in queensland
my background is german, english and italian!

 

[gladyskristen]

I'm Chinese, born in Hong Kong. My grandparents moved from China to Hong Kong after World War II. Migrated to Singapore when I was 6 yrs old, currently in Sydney for 1 year to complete my Bachelor's.

 

[Diva0413]

I''m American, but am Carribean and Native American. Right now, I live in NYC where I was born and raised.

 

[AprilBaby]

I am 1/2 German Irish and half Irish German hahahahaha! And all American!

 

[ladypirate]

Date: 8/22/2008 10:33:44 AM
Author: aprilcait
My dad's side:

Dad's dad- Lithuanian

Dad's mom- Irish and touch of German I believe


My mom's side:

Mom's dad- Irish

Mom's mom- Irish and German


Even though I'm mostly Irish, people usually mistake me for Spanish or Italian. My family jokes that there must have been a milkman involved, seeing as my siblings have light hair, eyes, and skin and I'm on the darker side. Go figure!

AprilCait, we are almost the exact same!!!

My mom's mom was Lithuanian, her dad was Irish with a touch of German, and my dad's dad was half Irish/half German and his mom was Irish. WEIRD.

I definitely take after the Irish side of the family, though--no one would ever mistake me for Italian. I have very pale skin, green eyes, and strawberry blonde hair.

ETA: Where did your dad's dad grow up? My grandmother's parents immigrated to Nebraska with her when she was a little girl, and I guess there was a large Lithuanian population there.