Ronnebeck 1

Grace Ronnebeck
EDUC 300
Dr. Ubeda
November 30, 2019
Psalm 137

In the Bible, Psalm 137 asks, “how shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” This

question is referring to how you will share your faith in a place that is not accustomed to it. This

quote makes me wonder how I will sing my song for my life in a strange land. It makes me want

to think about who I am and what about me can I share with the world to bring awareness of my

roots to others around me. This makes me think about all of the things that make me, me. Who

am I? According to Ancestry.com, I am from a family that comes from the Czech Republic, I

have family from Ireland, I have family from Germany, I have family from England, and I have

family from Belgium. Before my DNA test from Ancestry.com came back, however, I only

knew about and only celebrated my Czech heritage. My great-grandma, my Babi, and her

husband were both first-generation American citizens in their families. They were very

passionate about the Czech culture, and they made sure that their kids, grandkids, and

great-grandkids knew where they came from. This was something that I took pride in. I lived for

talking about my Czech roots when I was in school, in fact, I still do. I love being of decent from

a place that not many others around me can trace their roots back to. I am proud to have had a

great-grandma who was so passionate about our heritage that it carried over to me.

When it comes to the other cultures that I am descendant from, I do not have as much

knowledge of their traditions and customs. But because I have visited London and Ireland, I feel

like I can celebrate both of those heritages more than I could with Belgium or Germany simply

because I have actually experienced both cultures. I think I could sing those songs louder
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because I fell in love with both cultures when I visited them. When I was in London, I fell in

love with the beautiful country and I lived for all traditions that I took part of, especially when I

attended the Trooping the Colour ceremony for the Queen’s birthday. It is a tradition that they

celebrate in June every year. I was fortunate enough to get to experience that while I was in

London. This was something that I absolutely loved. Everything about London was so beautiful,

and their culture and traditions would definitely be something that I can take pride in being a part

of.

When it comes to my Irish heritage, I recently was in Ireland last March for St. Patricks

Day. Even before I knew I was partially Irish, I have always loved St. Patricks Day. Getting to

celebrate it in Dublin Ireland in March of 2019 was an absolute dream come true. Not only that,

but I got to partake in traditional Irish dance lessons and learned the traditional Irish jig. This was

something that I will always carry with me. I also was able to be a part of many other Irish

traditions that I am now even more special for me knowing that I am Irish. Experiencing

Ireland’s real, authentic culture was like a dream. I fell in love with the country when I first

went, and I would love to return this time with the knowledge that I have Irish descent in my

family.

Overall, my idea of singing the song of my roots would be practicing their traditions and

practices at home and sharing all of it with my friends and the people around me. This would be

a way for me to spread awareness of my heritage with the people around me.