Author Archives: Michelle Wang

Haunted house

Background: Shivani Patel is a 19-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She is currently studying Business Administration.

Original script: “Back in my neighborhood, there was this really old, abandoned house that all the neighborhood kids swore was haunted. Like, really. It was creepy even in the day, because the fence was all broken, the grass was dead, the door was open all the time because the hinges were broken… it looked terrible. People would walk past it and there were rumors that there was a girl at the window sometimes. Ugh, I can’t even think about it without getting a little spooked again. Anyways, once I got into high school, there was this whole thing where groups of friends would go to this haunted house at night and camp out there for the entire night. After one group had done, more and more groups of friends were doing it and at this point, it was almost like a ritual because groups that had done it were deemed ‘cool’ and ‘independent’ like adults, basically. We were just in high school but I remember everybody just wanted to be seen as cool adults. So, the answer is yes, I did go to the haunted house with my group of friends. I didn’t personally stay the night and none of my friends did. To be honest, I’m not sure if any group of friends actually did stay the night or if they lied and said that they did. Either way, once we had said we had done it, upperclassmen were willing to talk to us and share about their experiences when they camped out at this haunted house.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant went to a school in Georgia. She was born and raised in Atlanta with her parents and younger brother.

Thoughts about the piece: This ritual sounds absolutely terrible. I doubt that any of the kids actually stayed the night and if they did, major props to them. I don’t know how staying overnight in a haunted house makes you an adult, but I can definitely see how high school kids would see this as just another challenge/dare to prove themselves to their peers.

 

Dreaming of Pigs

Background: Simon is a 58-year-old man living in Cerritos, CA. He was born in Seoul and has lived in South Korea for the majority of her life until he moved here and went to the American military. He owns a car wash. Before that, he was a self-employed accountant. He is married and has two grown children.

Original script: “It is good luck to dream of pigs because it means you will gain great wealth in the future very soon. I don’t really know why pigs are symbols of wealth, but it may be because only rich people could eat meat back in the day so if you had the luxury of eating ham, you were very wealthy”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Apparently he had heard this from his school friends in middle school when he had a dream about pigs.

Thoughts about the piece: My parents are very superstitious when it comes to dreams, so I kind of associate them with fortune cookies; you don’t know what you’ll get but reading into them is fun and could maybe come true so why not take the chance?

 

Eating sticky food on days of exams

Background: Alan is a 19-year old student at Boston University. He grew up in Southern California but moved to Boston for school and is now in his second year of college.

Original script: “On the day of a really important test, I make sure to do a couple of things to get good luck while I’m taking the exam. First of all, I have a lucky pencil I’ve kept with me for two years now. Second, I eat lots of sticky foods like candy or sticky rice or anything that really sticks in your mouth. I heard from my mother that it helps information ‘stick’ in your brain. I don’t know if it’s true, but either way, I believe in it and try to eat some form of sticky food before I go take a test”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Apparently he had heard this superstition from his mother on the day of an exam. His mother cooked him sticky rice and gave him chocolate before he went to take his exam. Apparently, he did well and has continued believing in the superstition ever since then

Thoughts about the piece: This superstition sounds a great deal like what my parents would say to me. They would relate it to food to keep me nourished but also give me hope that I’ll have good luck when I take the test. It’s cool how every superstition has some sort of reasoning/symbolism behind it.

Taiwanese Proverb

Background: Iris Zhang is an 18-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She was born in Diamond Bar and raised in Arcadia, California.

Original script: “It takes sweat to work hard on something, but it only takes saliva to complain about things”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Her father told her this when she was much younger. She thinks she was talking about a group project and how someone wasn’t doing any work in her team. Her dad responded with this proverb and although it frustrated her, she still accepted it and considered it a valuable lesson.

Thoughts about the piece: I appreciate this proverb very much; it’s simply worded but very powerful. Also, it is very true – it creates an interesting contrast and encourages the listener to continue working hard instead of wasting time complaining.

 

Holi

Anshika is a sophomore at UC Santa Barbara. She went to Whitney High School in Cerritos, CA, which was a small public high school that was #1 in the nation.

Original script: “There’s a festival called Holi that we celebrate with my family. It basically translates to ‘festival of colors’ and people use the holiday to celebrate the coming of spring. We have these chalk like colors that we throw around with each other. People wear white shirts coming out to the celebration so the colors show up better. My mom told me it basically is supposed to look like a flower field of different colors all around. It’s supposed to be a family celebration but it’s grown quite popular throughout the years. Last year, I invited my friends who weren’t necessarily Indian and we just ate Indian food together and then threw colors at each other afterwards. It was awesome.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant has celebrated Holi with her family every year. It is a huge family tradition and she invites all her extended relatives as well. Family friends are also welcome to the event. It is mostly the children that participate with the throwing of colors.

Thoughts about the piece: I have actually attended a Holi before with one of my friends and I can personally attest to how fun and celebratory this festival is. It’s fun for everybody regardless of what religion or ethnicity you are.