Does your Heritage matter to you?

[Sportsdude]

 This is a question that I guess has been driven in me my entire life. Some of you know the story some don't but here's the summary: Family got split up after world war 2, half stayed in hungary/germany while two brothers went to America.  There's only 13 of us and the rest are in Europe.  Anyway does your cultural heritage matter to you? It does to me because its something I've been able to hold on to in my life because I've had this need to connect to something.

Anybody feel this way?
   

[Gopher]

Yes, it certainly does, I've spent hours tracing back my family tree and have found that one branch has had at least one person living in the same place since the 12th century. I've been back to look at it, it's a very small place with only about 200 people.

[purelife]

Nope.

[Sportsdude]

lol purelife! my sister would say the samething.  

[purelife]

I'm more interested in my past/future life that I have/will live(d).  .

[Lil Me]

I think it's interesting, that's all.  

[tenkani]

 My father has a framed family tree showing our line going back to Charlemagne.
He wanted me to be excited by that and I suppose I was amped about it as a teenager (when I was into dungeons and dragons). Now it really doesn't mean much to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm fascinated by history, but whether it's my family's history or the history of the Ainu in Hokkaido, I guess I feel about the same. I take neither pride nor shame from the actions of my forebears.
   

[P.C.]

I'm more interested in the simple day to day existance of my family.....as in what life was like for them......what games did they play, what books did they read, how did they celebrate various occasions.  This fascinates me more than their cultural place in history.  Unless of course it was learned that they invented the wheel.

[james h.]

I agree with P.C.

I love looking at old photgraphs and even though my family went through tough times, (30s etc.), I am envious because the people of the world actually seem to care about the world. Not just buying a big screen and stopping their lives to watch Survivor.  The modern world is pathetic!

[Sportsdude]

 lol invented the wheel. good one.

Well for me it was always grandpa would tell us a story or something.  Its something I can't ignore really, I mean somebody wrote a news article/bio on my grandma. lol.

I mean I don't feel hungarian like the country, I just hate the fact that half of my family doesn't know I exist.  Plus my name could die with me so I feel like I'm in the movie "The Last of the Mochians" with Daniel Day Lewis.

Basically I'm afraid of assimilation and when my grandma goes I'll be completely assimilated into society.
   

[P.C.]

....and you think you are not a part of society because your grandmother is hungarian...and when she's gone, that it will change who you are?
I don't get it.

[Moolah!]

Racial and cultural heritage don't interest me at all. I actually get annoyed when people pester me about it with endless questions, or they keep yapping about their own (most often implying how "superior" they are).



I think nowadays those racial/cultural boundaries serve to separate us, rather than unite us.



However, I'm interested in personal family history (without patriotic, nationalistic connections) and have engaged in lengthy discussions with my Mom on who was who, and who did what.



Perhaps due to my academic background what interests me even more are the psychological patterns that were passed on from generation to generation.



That's where I see the potential for discovery and personal growth.







   

[Sportsdude]

 okay basically I'm saying when my grandma goes that link to the past is gone.  Nobody in my family for example cooks the things she does, none of us speak german or hungarian.  

I don't know what people do in Canada but here everyone trumps up their heritage.  The irish folks always talk about what county in ireland they came from, the french still speak french at home.  Then you've got the huge hispanic populations of mexicans, puetro ricans, cubans etc.

Basically I feel like Quebec feels about the french language.  Its there last link to the past and they are afraid of losing it.  Thats how I feel anyway.
   

[P.C.]

okay basically I'm saying when my grandma goes that link to the past is gone.  Nobody in my family for example cooks the things she does, none of us speak german or hungarian.  

  The link may be gone, but it doesn't change the history.  If it matters to you, try learning to cook the things she does to pass down some history to the future little SD's.   I don't know how learning the language of your ancestors connects you to your heritage.  It just makes you know another language.  I wouldn't feel any more connected to my grandmother if I learned to speak french.  I feel MORE connected when I do things she used to do.  When I'm in the garden, or enjoying nature is when I feel MOST connected, and it has nothing to do with cultural background and everything to do with WHO she was.


Basically I feel like Quebec feels about the french language.  Its there last link to the past and they are afraid of losing it.  Thats how I feel anyway.

  There's nothing wrong with having respect for ones past, but clinging to it, unwilling to move forward because of it seems pointless to me.  

[purelife]

Racial and cultural heritage don't interest me at all. I actually get annoyed when people pester me about it with endless questions, [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]or they keep yapping about their own (most often implying how "superior" they are[/FONT]).

  I completely agree and couldn't word it better than you.