AMERIKANSKA

Ancestry

I’ve been thinking more and more about the idea of where my family is from and why they decided to immigrate. Today I have been totally absorbed in reading history about the places where I believe my great great grandparents are from.

I’ve always know that their background was Russian, given that my dad grew up celebrating Russian Orthodox holidays and his grandmother baked them Paska Bread on Easter. The other thing that I knew is that they were chased out of Russia due to religious beliefs and they settled somewhere in the mountains. I have always heard that they lived in Czechoslovakia, so in that case it means they were most likely in Slovakia. While i was reading I also found out that a number of religious groups moved from Russia to Romania as well, which also has a vast area of mountains.

So I have been reading about Russian, Slovakian, Romanian, and Czech history this morning. Depending on where they settled, it could have been for any number of reasons. They could have been members of a cult(!) that was severely looked down upon in Russia (the group that settled in Romania), or they could have been part of the old Religion that differed slightly from Orthodox in values.

What seems to make sense is that yes, they settled in Slovakia owing to a belief in the older religion. They then were scared by the build-up of revolutions in all of the countries surrounding Slovakia, and decided to move since war was imminent. This makes sense since my great grandfather was born in 1906 in New York state.

What I am wondering now is how they felt about being Russian. Were they proud of their old country, were they ashamed of it, were they disappointed in it? Did they speak English with the Slovaks? Did they adopt the local language? Was Russian close enough so they didn’t have to switch at all? What would they think about my emigration to Sweden— especially since Sweden has always been at odds against Russia. Would they think that it is just a continuation of the pattern that they started? Did the pattern start only with them? Have we always moved around to where the grass seems greener or safer?

I am beginning to wonder how knowing snippets of their stories have impacted my life. Great grandfather spoke Russian and English and his wife that he met and married in the US spoke English and Gaelic. Is this why I don’t mind learning Swedish? Is it programmed in my heritage that one must learn another language— especially of the person you settle down with? It seems so. And it is also practical as well.

Im going to start doing some more research to find out exactly why they moved from Russia and from whereabouts. In the meantime, I started thinking about my last name (which is British in origin). I’ve always heard that it means “Where the deer play”. Now this definitely could be true, but if one looks at it from a Swedish and Old Norse perspective, it means ‘Deer Village’. Which makes me laugh, but I still like it :)

Diving into the Öresund

It was my friend’s birthday and to celebrate she wanted to go to Ribersborg Kallbadhuset in Malmö. What is a kallbadhuset you ask? A kallbadhuset is a bathhouse (badhuset) where one dives into the open water. Kall in Swedish means….yes you guessed it!….cold! After that one can warm back up again in the sauna.

I had sort of an idea of what to expect. Every summer Mats, his cousin, (and sometimes P-dareet) and I jump into the COLDASS lake in Värmland called Fryken. It’s always a shock, but its a shock that one can handle. Could I deal with jumping into the freezing cold ocean….in WINTER?

Also its pretty typical that people are naked when they do this. Why? Well, Swedish bathing culture revolves around the shower and the sauna, both of which people are usually naked during. The bathhouse is divided into the womens’ side and the mens’ side just so people are naked around their own gender, and therefore feel more comfortable. I never went to a highschool or middle school where it was okay to be completely naked in front of other people, but in college I got used to the gym locker rooms where it was typical for people to strut around. From going to the gym several times here by myself and with friends in Sweden I have become more comfortable with sauna-ing naked (and sauna-ing naked with people I know!), but at times it does strike me as strange. I just view it as a way to get to know people better or to trust each other a little more.

So the way the kallbadhuset works is that you shower off and then go to the sauna to warm up. After about 10-20 minutes you start to sweat and feel really hot. It almost sounds inviting to go dip in that freezing cold water. I took a long time to work up my nerve. Finally I looked over at my friend and said that I was ready. We took our towels and went outside. The dock was cold under my feet. We decided to go into the enclosed pool first rather than the open water. What that means is that there is a dock that surrounds the water and breaks the waves. The water in the pool is still saltwater. We left our towels up on the wooden benches, and looked towards the two staircases that descended into the pool. I said, “Ok, I’m ready for this!” and on we went. As I got closer to the water, I started freaking out. “Oh my god, I’m really doing this!” My foot hit the water and I kept going. I kept going until half my torso was covered in the water then I said “Enough! I have to go back!”

My friend laughed at me and said that it was okay and that she was proud of me of going in— but next time I had to go up to my neck in the open water! She said if I could stand it to just sit there a minute on the bench and feel the sensations. It was completely unreal. It felt like I could feel just underneath my skin, as if I could feel that it was only a barrier for the first time. The cold air on one side, the blood churning around on the other.  It’s true that I never felt more alive in my life.

We went in, showered off, and saunaed in order to warm back up. The feeling of utter peace washed over me. The view towards Malmö and the ocean beyond felt soothing, lulling, and the colors of the sun reflecting the seawater against the rocks somehow matched the feeling of being in the warm sauna.

We ended up repeating the process of bathing in the ocean, washing, and saunaing for two hours more. It was a beautiful day, one that I will never forget.