Where Are You From?

Where are you from? I would get asked this all the time when I was living abroad. That's because Europeans really have a grasp on their heritage, even if they aren't too proud of it, they are proud of their families. As an American with who knows how many generations in the U.S., I had an inkling part of me was Irish and I expected the rest was from northern Europe. 

For whatever reason, I really wanted to know where I came from (my people) so-to-speak. Perhaps it is because I'm getting older and have found I have less friends then I did. And...not have a professional life at the moment, my network has greatly decreased. So, I decided to give myself a birthday gift. I contacted Ancestry DNA. Takes a while, but is fairly easy to find out your history. This isn't a plug for Ancestry.com. However, if this is a question you'd like answered it is a fairly inexpensive and easy solution to the question.

Ancestry sends you a kit including a vial to spit into (a whole lot of spit by the way) and then wrap it up and send it in the provided box with postage to Ancestry. 

What I found out was yes, I do have Irish ancestry (31%), but only 9% Great Britain area. The rest of my heritage is what is referred to as Europe West (53%) which includes Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Italy, Czech Republic. Really? 

It may not sound like a revelation, but to me it was, and makes me want to find out more. I've decided to join Ancestry and start the "leaf" process. Perhaps it won't be anything, but it will be fun to find out.

Now at least I know what to say when people ask, "Where are you from?"