Who are we, really?

[PeteC]

This could be in Health or even Education I guess. I quote Norseman from another thread:

Maybe norseman your ancestors were fishermen so you haven't inherited the Viking ways

Ha ha!! No Sir. No fishermen as far as I know.
My ancestors came from a part in Norway named Troendelag and that was the real viking-country in the good old days.
However, if your ancestors came from the south or western parts of England, I guess we're all kinda brothers?
Cheers to all my distant relatives out there!!

I find this subject very interesting but I haven't yet sent away a DNA sample for testing concerning genealogy, primarily because it's inconvenient from here. I guess this link is as good as any concerning the testing organizations:
http://www.familytreedna.com/Default.aspx?c=1

Has anyone had it done and can share results? I would imagine each and every test gives surprises about distant ancestors and countries of origin. Pete

[richard]

Funny

Just had a PM conversation and very similar

I have a niece who spent effort and money in tracing back our family links

Amazing results and an eye opener

should be mandatory for those who think they are pure bred

[Jaime]

I noted Norseman's comment too - I wondered about the Viking connection to the west & south west of England. Whilst there were Viking settlements all around British Coasts (E.g. Swansea - Sven's Sey), I had always thought the biggest Viking influence was in the North East, beyond the old Danelaw boundary. The West & South west of England have strong Celtic links/heritage (whether they like it or not!).

Anyway, without doing any research other than what I already know, I would have to agree with Richard. As an example, my son has a Thai mother, a Half Welsh/Half Spanish father, both Greek and English great, great grandfathers and an Irish great, great, great grandfather. And those are just the ones we know of!

[Norseman]

Thank you Jaime for the Celtic clarification.
I do agree with Pete that this really is a very interesting question.
Especially for the people in the new world, I.E. USA and Canada, but also for Europeans, South Americans and Australians.
Most of us heard that we origin from Africa, and that's maybe the case.
But what happened after that?
Maybe we really became white because of the cold climate?
Maybe a kind of a camouflage uniform?
Yes, the New Yorkers are made up of Irish and Italians immigrants and the mid-west is made up of Scandinavians and the west coast of German immigrants?
But before that, what about Europe?
Where do the polite and original Englishman come from?
Is he French, German or Scandinavian?
Remember that Britain do have Bath, Stonehenge, Madame Tussauds and John Lennon, but were do you come from?
Are you, after all ,Italians or maybe French?
Not to say; maybe Scandinavians because of our ability to multiply?

[Bamboo Grove]

Norseman wrote:

maybe Scandinavians because of our ability to multiply?

combined with the incapability to queue? (as mentioned in the other thread)

[Norseman]

Don't know BG.
I'm used to queuing because of the London Tube, Tower and the M1 but I have no other experiences.
Sorry but I can't be more specific than that.

[Bamboo Grove]

Norseman, I was joking about the queuing because someone in the other thread said that the Scandis don't know how to queue.

[Norseman]

I know and that's why I said I only did the queuing in the London area because they are so clever queuers.

[poosmate]

clever queuers

Mind your language please
Go stand at the back of the line

[poosmate]

A must read For all foreigners who wish to understand us English:

Queueing is the national passion of an otherwise dispassionate race. The English are rather shy about it, and deny that they adore it.

On the Continent, if people are waiting at a bus-stop they loiter around in a seemingly vague fashion. When the bus arrives, they make a dash for it; most of them leave by the bus and a lucky minority is taken away by an elegant black ambulance car. An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.

The biggest and most attractive advertisements in from of cinemas tell people: Queue here for 4/6; Queue here for 9/3; Queue here for 16/8 (inclusive of tax). Those cinemas which do not put out these queueing signs do not do good business at all.

At week-ends an Englishman queues up at the bus-stop, travels out to Richmond, queues up for a boat, then queues up for tea, then queues up for ice-cream, the joins a few more odd queues just for the sake of the fun of it, then queues up at the bus-stop and has the time of his life.

Many English families spend lovely evenings at home just by queueing up for a few hours, and the parents are very sad when the children leave them and queue up for going to bed.


Taken from the very old but funny:

http://f2.org/humour/howalien.html

[STEVE G]

Queing for a bus on the continent isn't much use anymore because here in Luxembourg we have these things that have four sets of doors on them!