Friday, August 30, 2002
I'm not too fond of this week's Friday Five questions, so I'll answer a set from the beginning of this month that I'd wanted to post, but forgot about.
1. What is your lineage? Where are your ancestors from? From my father's side, I'm almost one-half Czech, and some percentage German. From my mother's side, I'm a smattering of all sorts -- but mostly English, according to my grandfather. He claims that our family is descended from the Kings, notorious English outlaws who fled the country to escape arrest and came to America, where they changed their family name to Weeks, and eventually settled in the wilds of east Texas.
Although no one is sure if this is true, there has been no research done to prove otherwise, and I think most of the family believes it because "Grandpa said so."
2. Of those countries, which would you most like to visit? I can't say that I've ever had a desperate pressing urge to visit the Czech Republic. Or Germany. Or even England, for that matter. But if given the opportunity, I'd visit any of them.
3. Which would you least like to visit? Why? I wouldn't dislike visiting any of those countries. I'd go practically anywhere if given the chance.
4. Do you do anything during the year to celebrate or recognize your heritage? Well, yes, on my father's side, our Czech heritage is apparent, mostly through food. In this part of Texas, you can buy "kolaches," which are Czech sweet rolls with different flavor filling -- but trust me, most of those things they sell in the donut shops aren't real kolaches. Real kolaches are one of my favorite foods in the world, especially the poppyseed-filled kind. And they're just not as good unless they're homemade from a Czech recipe. There are almost always kolaches at any family function. Lucky me. :)
My grandfather could actually speak Czech, and I suspect he used Czech swear words more often than we know. And my father has old vinyl records stashed away at our house, that include the hits of such marvellous musicians as The Bobby Jones Czech Band and the Ray Krenek Orchestra. It's polka music, folks. Texas Czech polka. I kid you not. You can even listen to some of this stuff here if you want.
5. Who were the first ancestors to move to your present country (parents, grandparents, etc)? If I recall correctly, my earliest ancestor, Josepha Krzenka, arrived in this country in 1806, but I'm not entirely sure if that's right, or how I would be related to him, except that it's probably pretty convoluted. We do have a Krenek genealogy book, but I don't exactly have it on-hand. On my mother's side... well, no one's quite sure if or when the Kings came to America... so let's just say we've been here for a while. :)
| 4:02 PM |
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