Welcome to the pond

I've been getting a lot of reading done on "Heart of Darkness". It's great to read it for a NON school-related reason, and really enjoy the whole thing at my pace. Right after I finish that, though, it's back to "Lord of the Rings." I'm sure I'll be pumped to start the third book after seeing the movie for "The Two Towers." I have done a good job of AVOIDING most of the trailers for it. I can't wait to see how this version compares with the version in my head.

And now to give YOU all something to read, here's some Topic Blog answers:

How much do you care about your heritage? Why or why not do you care?

I care about my heritage a lot! I wish I cared about EVERY heritage I have equally, but the pride doesn't seem to be there for a large portion of my family. Most of the time we just don't care, and if we do it's as in "Well this is who we are and where we come from, but this is who we are RIGHT NOW." We seem to acknowledge our background but not really think about it too much more than that. Except the Norwegian side of my family, where we DO have a lot of pride. We are planning on someday going over to Norway to visit long lost relatives, and we do keep some Norwegian traditions such as making lefse. I have done my part to enhance the knowledge of our heritage by learning the language and many other Norwegian things. Why do I care about my heritage? Well, because that makes me who I am. Even if I have nothing, I at least know where I come from. Nurturing that heritage makes me a more complete person. Sometimes I do worry that people will be concerned that I'm too much into my heritage, but have no fear I am just as proud to be an American. But nearly everyone here has roots elsewhere, and I think it's OK to try to hold on to those roots while at the same time contributing as a full American.

Does your ethnicity influence who you are? In what ways?
Yes it does. It gives me something to research, gives me an identity. I am what I am, so why should I not celebrate that? It also influences the way I look, the way my hair grows and looks, stuff like that. And I can occasionally have the Norwegian stubbornness lol. I think it also influences the foods I like to eat. I don't see how my ethnicity can NOT influence me, because being an American isn't just one thing or another. So you have to dig deeper and find out what you are all about. The past shapes the present and future.

Ok if I've pissed anyone off by my comments above, feel free to leave ME a comment about it. I'm open to other opinions.