Quote Originally Posted by Heming View Post
I found the word "Norwegian" here, and couldn't resist:

The "Norwegians" of the US are very often the butt of quite nasty jokes here in "the old country". They're mostly seen as ill-informed (or stupid) pretenders trying to be what they're not and preserve what's never been. One example is serving (Swedish) meatballs with (Norwegian) lefse, another saying things like "uff da" in all the wrong contexts. At least both lefse and "uff da" were and are still common here, too. Sorry to drop this on you, but we laugh at you, and we don't mean well.

But here's my personal take:

Being proud of your heritage is a good thing, and trying to preserve ancient custom is honorable. Just please, please try to do some real research and don't trust the Internet or your local heritage society if they don't give you some background sources. And I've never understood why the roots search, almost always ending up with you being the great-great...grandson of a duke or king, still makes you want to eat peasant food (lutefisk, meatballs, haggis, lefse), wearing rich men's clothing. It's a strange mix ... Maybe it's because the simple food is often the best

That said, I think x-marks is a very good place for those trying to do exactly what I suggest above! Keep up the good work!
You're not laughing at me, because I'm not of Norwegian heritage. As I explained earlier, my ancestors only lived among the Scandinavians of Northern Iowa.

And while you may laugh at them, they are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and would no doubt extend a welcome to you if you ever visited. While there are those in any diaspora community who do play up the stereotypes and and don't get the story right, the majority of the Norwegian-Americans I know are hard-working farmers whose families came to America and made a great contribution to our country. They are proud of that fact, as well as their heritage, and no one should laugh at them over that.

So -- you stand invited.

Todd