https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi By: Matthew Gervais en-us 2019-05-24 23:57:40 UTC 2019-05-25 01:17:41 UTC hello@padlet.com mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363404855 My mother was born in Hollywood and grew up in La Mirada California. She was raised in a Mormon family and is still practicing. My father was born in Montreal Canada and grew up partly in Lachine Quebec and partly in Bogota Colombia. When he was 14 his family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in a Los Angeles suburb. He was raised in a Irish Protestant household due to my grandma being from Belfast Ireland.      ]]> 2019-05-25 00:00:49 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363404855 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363405883 I was born in Salem Oregon and grew up in a small farming town south of Portland. ]]> 2019-05-25 00:13:47 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363405883 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363405994 My cultural makeup is Irish, Scottish, English, and French. Our last name is a pretty common French name and there is even a town close to Paris with the same name. Being that my mothers family is Mormon they have done a tone of research into their family heritage. My aunts and mother have gone all the way back to the early 1500's and have a family tree completed. Well as complete as they can. This is where all of my English and some of my Scottish heritage comes from. My fathers side of the family is very fractured because when my grandma and grandpa got married their families disowned them. You see my grandpa was French Catholic and my grandma was Irish Protestant. There was a deep hate between these two religions. That hate is what lead to my grandma's family fleeing from Northern Ireland in the first place. On my own and using Ancestry.com, I have done a good amount of digging for my dads side of the family. I located family still living in Quebec and other parts of Canada. My father is were all the Irish, French and the rest of the Scottish comes from. ]]> 2019-05-25 00:16:08 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363405994 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363406659 In my family we don't really have any carry over from any of these cultures. We are American and thus have American culture. When my father immigrated to the U.S. he spoke three languages fluently. Sadly he stopped speaking French and Spanish after that. I personally only speak English and always make jabs at my dad for not retaining or teaching us French and Spanish. I do though have a personal goal to learn at least my cultural languages. I've chosen to start with Irish and have all 4 levels of Rosetta Stone for it. After that Scottish Gaelic should be easier and then on to French. ]]> 2019-05-25 00:27:47 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363406659 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363407482 I like to travel and did a good amount of it while in the Military. I've been to mainly Mexico and Central/South America. Personally, I tend to pick destinations based on food! I love food and will try just about anything. My favorites are Japanese and African. I would love to go to Ireland and Scotland some day and also Japan. My son and I are trying to plan a trip to Tokyo and other parts of Japan for when he is finished with high school.]]> 2019-05-25 00:39:51 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363407482 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363408074 I grew up in the Mormon church but am not practicing now. I don't really claim a religion. I love talking about it though. I believe that religion or spirituality should be a personal path, something that you find for yourself. I like a lot of Druidic, Alchemical, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist teachings. As well as scientific research regarding the nature of reality. ]]> 2019-05-25 00:46:07 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363408074 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363408978 I love to draw, write, cook, read, listen to pod cast on various subjects, oil paint,PC game, and come up with ideas for anything and everything. I love politics and debating ideas on government on society. I'm a little shy at first but once I feel comfortable I'll open up. I like to camp and hike, I need to do more of it! I love the ocean and miss it terribly and I'm kind of over being land-locked. After my son graduates high school, I plan on moving to Washington state. Two year left until I can do that though. ]]> 2019-05-25 00:55:42 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363408978 mgervai1 https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363410007 Even though my cultural heritage didn't carry over into family life. I like being part of these different and unique cultures. I feel like they are ingrained into me. I love Celtic music and art. I wear a kilt from time to time. Through research I've learned a great deal about my heritage. I have a diverse friend group and really like learning about other cultures as well. I enjoy many different types of cultural music and art.  ]]> 2019-05-25 01:06:57 UTC https://padlet.com/mgervai1/ny59fu8fcpi/wish/363410007