You’ve likely seen those videos on YouTube where the person talks about what they understand their ancestry to be then take a DNA test and invariably, there is a surprise. Sometimes a really big surprise and sometimes small, but always a surprise. At least by the member of the melting pot known as the United States! I’ve seen those videos but didn’t pay them much attention until a good friend of mine, Leila told me about the results of her 23andMe test and she had a delightful surprise. She learned what I wanted to learn about myself, that she had a substantial amount of Italian ancestry! That was it, I was sold!
I got online and ordered my kit. It arrived about a week later with instructions to spit in this little vial. The spitting needed to be completed in 30 minutes. Geez, how much spit do they need anyway? This is not a flattering exercise. Spitting in a tiny vial and not missing and spitting on yourself. I will neither confirm nor deny that may have happened to me, or maybe not! 😉 Once my vile was full, I emptied the little DNA preservation fluid into the vile, locked it up, packaged it and shipped it off.
I was like a love-struck teenager checking my emails every single day waiting for the results to come in and he took his sweet ol time. Ironically, they arrived on Christmas Day while I was traveling and it was the best “present” I opened this year. Learning about myself.
What had I known before the test? That I was Swedish, Norwegian and German. Likely equally dispersed across these three nationalities with, as my dad use to say, “a wee wee touch of French”.
What did I learn? That it’s true, I am Swedish and Norwegian in a large proportion but that my next highest nationality was NOT German, it is British and Irish. Enter the surprise!! British and Irish…Whaaat?? At the risk of stereotyping, this explains my love of the coffee shop by day that turns into a pub by night! I now have a legitimate right to wear green on St Patty’s day and I can’t wait to do so where I live now. It’s a hub of Irish and Italian Americans so St Patty’s is a big deal here! And as it turns out, Dad was right, a wee wee touch of French but that “wee wee” includes German. That was really surprising to me. Remember the envy, I mean inspiration, over my friend’s surprise Italian ancestry? Seems I have .5 Italian, it’s not much, but I certainly look forward to celebrating it in the near future!
The really fascinating part being how this process can connect you with members of your DNA family (who have also completed the same test) around the world who are likely 4th or 5th cousins. The bulk of my DNA family is in the United States but there are 20 in Norway. It also gives you a view into their ancestry and the US based group is all over the place from a nationality perspective. #MeltingPot
I thoroughly enjoyed this process and will be connecting with my DNA family through the 23andMe application. Who knows what else I will learn. These findings will also certainly shape some of my future travel plans to get a better sense of where I come from.
My questions to you being, who do you think you are? Are you really sure?