I share the same richness of experience, immigrants, DAR, DAC, Plimoth, Jamestown, Ellis Island, some steerage, and the vast family lore and traditions.
I try to explain it to some friends and get back, “Well, I knew my (whatever country) grandparents.” But it’s different when you’re truly exposed to the old world ways- language, humor, foods, particular religious concepts, even nuttiness. Or constantly hearing tales of the colonial folks.
I wouldn’t trade it for all the apple pie or baseball.
@lookingforward . No it’s not necessarily different which is why you might be getting some pushback from friends. My dad’s parents, for instance, were from Scotland. . A couple of his older sisters were born there. I was exposed to heavy Scottish accents growing up. English speakers, yes, but pride for their heritage. Kilts, bagpipes, tea and toast with Lyles Golden syrup. When my dad died, we had a bagpiper to send him on his way. I still get chills any time I hear bagpipes!
Would this mean that your mother is Canadian by descent? Seems like there may be the possibility that you could be Canadian by descent, but it would depend on the rules at the time and how they applied to your circumstances.
As in “close the door after I get in”?
I am rather low key in public. I don’t make a lot of noise .
When I am outside of US, I could usually spot Americans by their “presence.”
I do not wear “work out” attires in public. Americans love sneakers and sweat shirts/pants.
Americans tend to let their kids to be all they could be in public.
American parents like to to treat their children like adults even then they are toddlers.
@inthegarden It sounds like you felt ashamed of where you’re from - how sad! I’m over 60 and have traveled extensively, and always happy to come home to the US.
“Evidently, he doesn’t realize he is an immigrant.”
I know a very large number of legal immigrants to the US. The majority (possibly all, but I have not talked to all about it) are very highly favorable of legal immigration, but feel differently (sometimes in complex ways) regarding illegal immigration.
At least to me, being a legal immigrant to the US does not make me unusual at all. My closest neighbor is also a legal immigrant to the US. No one ever seems to care or notice whether I am an immigrant.
@Gourmetmom, It was not sad at all.
I was only twenty years old, and I am also now more than sixty years old. And yes, I was not impressed with the behavior of so many impatient, complainIng, and often obnoxious American tourists that I had run into in my travels as a teen and did not really want to identify as one of those types of tourists.
I had spent my childhood as a rather “different“ and idealistic kid who wanted to be mix of Margaret Meade and Jane Goodall. I wanted to do what they did on some scale, and to be able to understand and participate in the lives of people (and yes, animals) of different cultures. Since I was a small child I had devoured the National Geographic magazines my parents subscribed to and had always wanted to know what life was like around the globe. That was just my personality…my passion (though having a “passion” was not really a thing back then). I did not want to be a tourist. I had spent summers living with families in Segovia, Spain and a farm near Bredebro Denmark and tried to live (as closely as possible) as members of those families. I had worked hard on my Spanish and Danish skills and had dealt with culture shock. I was majoring anthropology. So, yes, it was a kind of a heady thrill when, at twenty years old, I felt I had become a global citizen at that moment.
I later became a two-tour Peace Corps volunteer on two different continents and did some other work afterwords overseas. I have traveled in around forty countries. I am not ashamed of where I’m from, but quite often I AM ashamed at the actions of some of my fellow citizens. I don’t glorify other countries either. I think we all need to work together.
Many people go out in public to do outdoor exercise.
When my oldest was in second grade they had an assignment to dress a paper doll as their immigrant ancestor. I (as an at home mom who was supposed to know these answers) called my mom, who knew maybe something about our Irish roots. Son was less than impressed with the costume we could come up with from research at local small town library. He said it was embarrassing . Everybody else was “something “
Sorry kid , we are just part of the huge wave of English speaking people who arrived in the 18th and 19 th century. Not rich enough to leave records.
Americans are definitely not homogenous but there are some clear differences with other countries. A statistician might say that the within-group variance is high but that the between-group differences are statistically significant.
Ways in which I’m not typical: Jewish, agnostic, deeply intellectual (have a PhD and was a professor at an elite university when I was young and still have a modest appointment there) whereas America has a profoundly anti-intellectual streak that rears its head from time to time, make my living creating ideas and helping people use them, have traveled (mostly as a consultant) to maybe 60 countries. Because of what I do, I try to learn about the politics and cultures of countries in which I work (or vacation) and see the pluses and minuses of different forms of social and political organization. I read the news in a number of countries and can often not totally uninformed political conversations with people about what is happening in their countries. I can probably name almost all of them on a map. (Not sure I could pick out Montenegro).
My grandparents moved to the US to escape pogroms and to give their children a better life. They invested in their kids’ educations. Three PhDs and two law degrees among five kids. I’m deeply appreciative of the opportunities I found in the US and a culture in which striving for excellence was applauded and rewarded. But, I see strengths and weaknesses in the US relative to other countries and am not an unabashed booster of everything USA.
I do follow sports though would much prefer to watch on TV than to attend a game. I prefer Mexican beer to Budweiser or Miller. I buy my coffee beans from Italy. On flights on foreign airlines, the flight attendants often guess that I am from a European country.
@sevmom I don’t think it makes me an atypical American. Many of us have our connections to the past and traditions. My comment was about my own circle.
I hate to think tv, sports or fast food is what defines typical. I think we need to scratch beyond the surface.
I have 7 kids.
I don’t like dogs. Or American football.
I know geography.
Ive never had a Facebook account
Mine is more boring. I’ve never watched a reality TV show and I don’t like Star Wars or other science fiction.
I lived and worked in four of the Former Soviet Union countries for 13 years and my wife is from one of them. We have been back in the US since 2009 and it definitely felt different when we returned.
I loved Star Trek and liked Star Wars and science fiction, Bradberry and Orson Scott Cord and so many others. I like poetry, especially Emily Dickinson ( maybe cuz I lived down the street from her home). I love mystery writers with good plots. I use to love basketball . I like cooking shows, which are reality TV.
I feel so boring compared to others.
I am Canadian by decent; my father was born in Canada to Czech parents before the 1947 Citizenship Act, but I have not claimed that citizenship. My father became a naturalized U.S. citizen at 18 and holds dual citizenship.