A Chat With My Roomate

            Unites States was described as a "melting point" in a play written by Israel Zangwill in 1908, where different ethnic groups coming from different races, religions and nationalities combine into one culture. I totally agree with it. Last weekend, I had a small chat with my roommate. The main purpose was that I wanted to know more about him and his ethnic background. Getting to know more about him indeed surprised me.
            His ancestors were originally from Norway, Czech, France and Germany. I felt it was really cool to have different blood running in the family. He too was surprised to know that from his parents. He explained that the time period his ancestors immigrate to America differs accordingly. For what he remembered, his great grandma emigrated from Norway during the late ninetieth century.
            I was curious if anyone in his family speak the language of the "old country" and he proudly said yes. His grandpa speaks German language whereas his mum and he speaks French. In addition, he said his family still maintains contact with relatives in the old countries especially from Norway and Germany. He added that his family had just visited their relatives in Norway last summer. So I asked him if there is any family customs or traditions from the old country that he observed and he said that the most he observed was their food and religion. I asked if this observation had any impact in his family and he reacted macho for a split second and said it is what that distinguishes between them and his family.
            For one final question, I asked him if any of his family members done any genealogy research to learn about your family history and again he proudly answered yes. He even included that his grandfather had completed the extended family tree. That really surprised me. He said that it was kind of common for Americans to do a family tree. It was something new that I had learn from him about American culture because back in Malaysia, we don't really practice doing a family tree.
              Hence, once I go back to Malaysia, I'm definitely going to find resources and start doing a research about my family history. It will be my individual goal to complete an extended family tree!