ok, lucy, fine. you win!

[llcoolvad]

Wow, in the last few days I've watched about 8 hours of Netflix stuff set in the old country (my peeps are from Sweden, yo) and damn, it's beautiful there. It's odd to watch a movie set there, though. The sun just never sets, and everyone looks more and more tired and nighttime things happen and still there is this infernal sun! I understand the concept of the midnight sun, and I've watched Insomnia, but it's interesting when you see a lot of it all at once. I've finished watching "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and the first season of "Wallander". Wallander was much more visually arresting; so scenic it hurts. The ocean, farms miles wide, twisty little roads, blue blue blue sky, every shot arranged to be as slap-you-in-the-face gorgeous as possible. Super saturated, too, so the colors were just wow. Nice contrast to Kenneth Branagh's tired face.

And the interiors were all awesome, too.

Perhaps some day I'll have to visit. Do a little research first. And probably stick to the south. I think my people are from the north, but again I'd have to do some research. Swanson isn't exactly a unique name.

Definitely on the life list!

Comments

[athenais.livejournal.com]

You can try out for this!

REALITY TV SHOW SEEKS SWEDISH-AMERICANS

Swedish producers are scouring the United States for Americans with Swedish ancestry to take part in a new reality television series that will bring participants to Sweden to compete in cultural challenges.

With a nationwide casting call underway in the US, Swedish producers have put the shout out for fun, outgoing Americans with
Swedish ancestry to participate in a new reality television series “The Great Swedish Adventure.”

The series seeks to take Americans, who have even the tiniest fraction of Swedish lineage, on a journey throughout Sweden to discover the land, the culture heritage and their roots.

“It's Americans who come here and seek their origins. Their experiences and surprising encounters with our culture also will
reflect the image of Sweden", said Mathias Engstrand, Entertainment Manager for Sveriges Television.

Chosen participants will travel to Sweden and compete in extreme cultural challenges to discover their roots while trying to win the grand prize: meeting their Swedish relatives.

[p-j-cleary.livejournal.com]

So you get to go through torture, and the prize is time with relatives? Yikes!

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

You're just jealous that you don't have glamorous Swedish ancestry!

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

It is worthwhile to wonder what "extreme cultural challenges" might entail. IKEA assembling like on Amazing Race? Lingonberry consumption? Sitting around in the dark for more than 12 hours?

[athenais.livejournal.com]

I know, that cracked me up! As I have not even a drop of your glamorous Swedish ancestry, I'm looking forward to two weeks of immersion in the culture during the long days of summer.

You should do a little genealogy research, it'd be fun. At least you can. I can't, I'm adopted. I'll never know more than what the social worker put down on the non-identifying birth information: father Irish, mother American.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

"Mother American" is really specific, huh? Native American? African American? Thanks for the details, social worker. Jeez.

I really should do some research. People in my family have, I know. Not so much on Dad's side (the Swedish side); more on the French and Irish sides. I'm thinking of doing one of those DNA Ancestry Project (http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/)-type things, since our family genealogy research only goes back a few generations (except on the French side, that goes way way back). It might be cool, and it's not too expensive. Obviously if you did something like that you'd want the kind that just bases the results on your cells, not family members, but it might be interesting. I believe it gives you a genetic breakdown of your ethnic background, but I have no idea how specific it gets. Probably say "European" and you'd be all, gee, thanks, really. But who knows!

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know more than that. My mother was 19, Jewish, from New York and got pregnant by a 25-year-old Catholic who was working in the States with a wife and kids back home in Ireland. He offered to adopt me. My birth mother wisely told the social worker she didn't want that for me. There's plenty more, it goes on for a few pages, but no medical history and no identification that would allow me to do actual genealogical research. Adoptions in California were closed, end of story, in the 50s.

I think if you had questions about your background it might be fun to be part of the DNA project.