Ethnically, I am a mixed Slavic-German (~1/2 Ukrainian, ~1/4 German, ~1/4 Russian), with undefined Swedish, Polish, and other smaller parts mixed in. None of it matters much to me, but my ethnicity is "written" all over my face - high wide cheekbones, blue eyes, straight slightly reddish blond hair - and I am asked about it often.

On this picture my paternal aunt holds me.

Actually, I don't understand why my hair stayed blond. Both my parents were blond as children, but then their hair became chestnut brown when they were still very young, so they both had this cool dark-hair light-blue-eyes look. I waited and waited when at last I would have the same contrast, but my blond hair became only slightly darker, no significant changes till now. I thought that the blond genes were weak, like the blue eye-genes. Well, I should be able to figure it out one day.

Most of my Ukrainian "blood" comes from my father, and the rest - from my mother. Later in my life this insignificant fact played a role in a deep politics-based conflict between me and one of my parents. Ukrainians have so many beautiful songs, and I can sing many of them. Being raised in Ukraine, I used to dance in vyshyvankas (embroidered blouses) and with gorgeous wreaths with long colorful ribbons. My father used to sing his favorite love song Nese Halya Vodu (Несе Галя воду), and I can sing many other folk songs, primarily about love.

My mother's side of the family originated in Novosibirsk, but she lived in the Ukrainian Donetsk all of her childhood and youth. My father's side of the family was mostly from Huliaipole.