Author Archives: Gage Masterson

Proverb “Birds of a Feather, Flock Together”

Main Piece: “The birds of a feather flock together. This is big in Korea, because there were a lot of celebrities who had drug problems and would be seen with bad people. Koreans are judging them, and saying that nasty low class people who just got rich still hang out with low class people, but all the smart people hang out together. Family from good background will tend to hang out with similar background family.”

 

Background: MP grew up in South Korea, and he said that he recalls hearing this proverb the most frequently of any other proverb. He also mentioned that when he got into the United States, he heard this very saying from other people in his friend group and he found it interesting that this saying was as meaningful in our culture as his. He recalls that his parents would tell him this to remind him of the importance of you who surround yourself with. In Korea he said it was very important to make sure that not only you were honorable and did good deeds, but that the people who you spent time with had similar motivations and character traits. He saw this proverb as a way to remind him that he needed to choose his friends wisely, so that he don’t get roped into bad deeds. He also mentions that the idea of “friends” is very selective in Korea, so there are far more close knit groups of friends in Korea than what he found in America. Additionally he said that when choosing his friends at USC, he was very cautious about who he trusted and who he wanted to be friends with as a result of that proverb’s meaning.

 

Context of Performance: MP told me this proverb while we were at my apartment discussing the different cultural stories and proverbs we remember when we were kids. As I grew up in America, it was interesting to hear a proverb that I too was familiar with and had seemingly no different elements to it. MP was also interested when hearing that I was familiar with it, and he seemed to really enjoy the fact that there was a level of connection between us, even though we are from two very different parts of the world.

 

Analysis: Hearing this proverb form MP was super interesting to me because I was expecting to hear stories and proverbs that were entirely different from my culture. However, I remember hearing this very same proverb, verbatim, when I was a child as well. I too believe that this proverb is stressing the value of choosing your friends wisely and making sure that you do not sacrifice your own values for the sake of making friends. It is very interesting to see that while South Korea and America are two very distinct cultures, this one proverb seems to have been able to cross that cultural barrier seemingly unscathed. I believe that it is a testament to the fact that both cultures have a very heavy emphasis on the importance of the image you present to people, and the company you choose to keep is a direct reflection of that image. Similar to the proverb “Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are,” this one seems to emphasis that no matter how good of an image you put out, your friends and your company speak far louder than you do.

Korean Thanksgiving Traditions

Main Piece: “In Korean thanksgiving we gather all the family and sit down and make own rice cakes, Songpyun, and translated in English, it is a half mooned shaped rice cake. In the middle of the rice cake there is something sweet… I can’t remember exactly what, but it is sweet. We make them and steam them, and then play game called Go Stop. It’s a gambling game that is like poker, where you pair the images and the card, and you bet on the game. One point is considered a dollar, and they get doubled and tripled very easily. One thanksgiving I earned 400 dollars from my uncle. Sometimes it can get a bit hot, because people lose a lot of money… but its all in good fun so we like it. The holiday lasts three days and everyone stays with family for the entirety of the holiday. It is a great chance to reconnect with cousins cause they live in different cities and different social positions. Because of this, we don’t get to see each other that much so it is a good chance to see everyone for at least a few days in the year. There are a lot of very diverse professions in the family, so it makes it even harder to see each other which is why it is good to reconnect with each other.”

 

Background: MP said that Korean families have become more nuclear recently, so there are less big families, and it is more or less smaller tight knit familial groups. MP also mentioned that Korean culture can be very individualistic when it comes to everyday things, and that because Korean people are very ambitious, they can be very judgmental. MP mentioned that a lot of his cousins were very jealous that he was able to study in the United States because it is viewed as a very prestigious opportunity, and they don’t have the money to be able to have that experience. MP mentioned that things of that nature can sometimes create more jealousy during the thanksgiving season, and as a result sometimes families would decide not to gather during the family holidays. When asked whether or not he thought this more of a contained thing with his family, MP responded that it is extremely common in South Korea to have this issue of jealousy, and as such sometimes it was seen as more of a pain to meet for Holidays.

 

Context of Performance: MP told me about his typical Thanksgiving while we were at my apartment discussing typical traditions and holidays in our respective cultures. He was very excited to talk about it, especially after hearing how it differed from my general experience with Thanksgiving and holidays in general.

 

Analysis: I found WP’s thanksgiving traditions to be extremely interesting, especially because while at first it seemed to mirror typical American thanksgivings, it quickly became apparent that there are some striking differences. The gathering of the family is obviously very similar to American Culture, and it would appear that in both cases there is an emphasis on making time for your family, and being thankful for the fact that you all have each other. However I do find it interesting that MP mentions how judgmental it can get during thanksgiving especially in regard to people’s school and work opportunities. I also found it very interesting that some years they would decide not to meet as a family because it is seen as more of a headache, than a fun time of the year. This must tie in to what MP was talking about with Korean culture being somewhat individualistic, and how even though familial bonds are important to an extent, the main thing is to do what is best for you. In America, we are definitely an individualistic culture, but those ideals almost always seem to take a backseat during holidays. In some ways it seems that in America we are trying to make up for a year’s worth of being selfish, by spending one or two holidays with families.

“La Llorona”

Main Piece: “The story of La Llorona, was one that my mom used to tell me a lot when I was a kid. The story goes that there was this lady who would go to the river and cry… and she would always be crying… every day. She would go to the river because one day years ago, when she went out to the river, she took her children with her and just drowned them cause she was possessed. So she felt horrible and ever since that day she would go down to the river every day and cry. My mom used to say that if I was bad, La Llorona would come and get me, and then take me to the river and drown me. My mom even said that one time she saw her when she was a child, and she was convinced that she existed. La Llorona would always be described as wearing a veil. One day when my mom was younger and she was home, she went outside and sine she grew up on a ranch there were a bunch of corn fields that lined the property. And while she was outside, she looked over and standing at the edge of the cornfield there was a lady with a veil standing in-front of the corn field.”

 

Background: UV knows this myth from his mother from when he was growing up in Mexico. His mother would tell him this story along with his other siblings, and he said that it always scared him. He mentioned that this was a very common myth that was told in Mexico, and that almost everybody he knew had been told some variation of this story. It was something that was very prevalent in UV’s life. UV also discussed that when he heard this story, that the themes and the message he got out of it was that, La Llorona represented the consequences if you do bad. Probably not a demon, but if you disobey your parents and if you do bad things then bad things will happen to you. Specifically in this case since he was told this as a child, he said that it further reinforced his obedience because he didn’t want anything to happen to him so he made sure to be kind and follow the rules so that La Llorona wouldn’t come get him.

 

Context of Performance: UV told me this story while we were hanging out at my apartment and talking about the different stories and myths that our parents used to tell us when we were kids. We were also talking about how the story of La Llorona was being made into a live action film, and he wanted to tell me the story that he had heard when he was a child so that we could see how it compared to the new movie.

 

Analysis: Being from America, I was vaguely familiar with this story but only from a very surface level. It was certainly interesting to hear how dark this story was and especially the consequences that come from it. Given that this was mainly a story to be told to children, it was just surprising to me to hear about a specter figure who would seek children who were bad and then drown them if she got a hold of them. But this story may simply seem dark to me because American myths for children are generally more lighthearted, and my own cultural bias may be playing into this. Based on the conversation I had with UV, I find that this story is a pretty effective tool for parents to use to ensure their children do not disobey them or act out. UV mentioned that Mexico is very big on respect and especially obeying your family, so this story certainly reinforces that idea for young kids. I think in some ways, this story could also even remind parents to keep an eye on their children so that they aren’t getting into trouble. La Llorona may be a scary specter for children, but it may also even represent a looming danger around children, one that parents must always make sure they are aware of so that they can keep their children safe.

 

For another version of this legend, see:

The Curse of La Llorona. Directed Michael Chaves. Warner Bros. Entertainment, 2019.

“El Cucuy” Mexican Legend

Main Piece: “El Cucuy is a myth that was basically a tall, furry, red-eyed creature, that had a large red ear which he would use to hear children that were misbehaving. He would live in the hills or the mountains in Mexico, and by using his larger ear he would listen for children that were misbehaving. He would then come down from his cave in the mountains, and would kidnap any kids that he heard misbehaving… he would take them back to his cave… and then he would eat them.”

 

Background: UV said that he lived in an area that was very mountainous, and so this story circulated around from his family and from people that he knew from school. There was always this fear of the unknown in the mountains, and UV said that because kids liked to play in the mountains, this story was another way to scare kids into not messing around in the dangerous area. Additionally, UV said that El Cucuy was often seen as a boogie man, and that essentially this was another way to remind kids to not only stay away from the mountains, but also to be good.

 

Context of Performance: UV told me this story at my apartment while we were discussing the classic stories and myths we were told as a kid. UV mentioned that many of the myths he was told as a kid had some kind of ghoulish element to them, or some cautionary aspect to it. There were also a couple other people in the room during the story, and one of them had also heard this story but he grew up in Arizona, so it was interesting to see that this crossed country lines.

 

Analysis: This story is very interesting to me for a number of reasons. Much like the story of La Llorona that UV told me earlier, this story also functions as a cautionary tale for children. It seeks to remind them that acting out of line or misbehaving, can have serious and drastic consequences. The other thing that sticks out to me is that it would appear that while similar in nature, they differ in their setting. So it would appear that regionally a story such as La Llorona may not work as well for people who live near the mountains or in dryer areas. But setting the ghoulish presence in the mysterious settings of the mountains would certainly draw more fear and believability out of the folk in the area. I find that this story is very much concerned with reinforcing the themes of obedience amongst children, and ensuring that they are fearful of disobeying their parents or other authority figures. And it also functions as a way to keep the children safe, as it discourages them from exploring the mountains where there could be any assortment of dangers rooted in them.