My DNA......is it worth it?

I ordered a DNA test from Ancestry.com. Since I was an Ancestry member, it cost me $100 plus some processing. Ancestry DNA test is autosomal, meaning that you can find all members of your family tree not just maternal or paternal. Autosomal DNA includes all 23 chromosomes; that DNA has been passed down from generations. I signed up, a few weeks later they sent me a kit. I spit in the tube, sealed it up, and sent it off. They received it within a few days (on August 14) and I received my results yesterday (August 27). So the whole process took less than a month for me.

Okay so my results:

As you can see it came out I am 61% Scandinavian and 38% British Isles with 1% unknown.

Was this what I expected? Well no. That seems too high in Scandinavian for me. Scandinavian includes the current countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (Finland is something else). My maiden name is Jorgensen, a Danish name so I expected some Scandinavian. My father was 50% Danish as I trace the lines, so that would leave me as 25% Danish.
British Isles includes England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I know I have some ancestors from England (including 9 Mayflower passengers), and some Irish ancestors. So this number could be close to correct.
But where are my German and French ancestors? I should be over 50% German, and that doesn't seem to show up at all.

Well going to Ancestry DNA FAQ might help us figure this out.
1. First of all some northern Germans and northern French migrated to England. This includes Angles and Saxons from Germany, and the Jutes from Denmark. So the genetic influence may not be from the country they were from.
2. My DNA may go back further than my family tree. This could especially true in my Danish and Irish lines, where I haven't traced back very far, just to my immigrant ancestors who came in the 1800's.
3. I may not share DNA with ALL of my ancestors.

So as someone asked me last night "is it worth it?" I think so. In addition to finding this out, you receive a list of possible cousins. I can click on their code name, and see their tree (if it's public). Then it lists the surnames we have in common. So far I looked at about a dozen of my possible distant cousins, and can figure out one of them how we're related. We have the same Mayflower ancestor (but remember, I have 9 Mayflower ancestors so this is not surprising).

All in all, it was very interesting, and I hope to continue to find more matches as more people take the DNA test. I will probably look into my matches more. It may motivate me to trace certain lines back a bit further, if I can.

Disclaimer: I am not an employee of Ancestry.com or in any way affiliated with them. I paid for my test, just as any Ancestry.com member can. Please do not credit or blame me if you choose to go with them or another DNA service.