Hmm... My father's father's side, well, we've been American since before there was America. From the Mayflower and all that good shit, most of my family on that side still lives within 15-20 miles of Plymouth, except for me, my brother, and two of my uncles. But the other 300 or so of us (that share the Bates name, anyway) haven't moved much in the past 380 years
My father's mother's mother was from Scotland, and for some reason, that seems to run strong. (I've been told I look very Scottish by my wife's Scottish family, and I look a lot like my father and his half-brother... they look like twins, except for the age difference, but only share the same mother. But they're also both short
).
My mother's side, well, Omi (which is the best I could do when I tried to say Omah as a little kid, and it stuck) is German. Very German looking, blonde and tall (She's 81 and still about 5'10" or so) and all. Still speaks better German then English, since her, my grandfather, and aunt moved here when she was in her late 20s. My grandfather is a bit harder to track down. We know he came from Latvia about the time of the Soviet occupation, and joined the Kriegsmarine. He changed his name when he got to Germany, and, to the best of my knowledge, never talked much about his homeland to my mother or grandmother. No one knows what his birth name was, and the last name he assumed was only ever used by him, so it's pretty much a dead end. For all I really know, he could not even be Latvian, but he did speak fluent Latvian.
And, honestly, most of this could be bullshit. My father's family is known for having lots of children, and reusing a lot of the same names, so you can't always tell which way you're going when you try and trace the tree.
). There is so much to the concept/figure that it would be best just to research it yourself.
