Author Archives: Newton Garner

Advent Calendar

So, basically every year before Christmas we have this like, uh, Advent calendar that we have that’s basically like a countdown to Christmas.

Is your family really religious? 

No. Not really religious. We celebrate Christmas and Easter pretty much. Um, and we have like this Advent calendar with 24 candles on it and this Advent calendar was passed down from my grandparents, on my mom’s side, to my family. And so we’ve kept for a long time and so like it has 24 different candles and it’s on this white board and along the way, there’s different houses and each of the houses represents a week before Christmas. And so everyday we would lite a candle and then, uh in these houses we would hide candy so whenever we would light the candle that corresponds with that house, we would get the candy inside. So it was like a fun way to countdown to Christmas.

Do you know why it’s houses or maybe it’s just because Santa comes there? 

Yeah, um, the whole scene is like supposed to represent a snow-covered landscape, so each one of these houses is basically like someone going from house to house like Santa Clause, kind of. And then the final one is a church, so it’s like on Christmas it represents, I guess, like going to Church.

Tying it all back together  to religion. 

Yeah exactly. Yeah so it’s kind of a religious, it has religious symbolism, but also cultural symbolism with like gift giving and kind of building up excitement for Christmas.

This Christmas ritual is focused more on the religious nature of the holiday through the candles and utilization of a church icon, and also is tied to the idea of legacy by having it passed from family member to family member. Chocolate and sweets are often given around Christmas, apparently, and this is something I would like to do more research on. 

Black Peter

So Black Peter isn’t something my family subscribes to – I learned it in French class in high school. So behind Santa is Black Peter. So when Santa comes around, giving out presents, he skips the bad children. And Black Peter comes when Santa has left the bad children alone, and whips them, or steals them, or gives them coal.

And I don’t know if this is important, but I’m pretty sure Black Peter rides a donkey.

 

And this is French? What does Black Peter look like?

 

Yeah, French. Well, for a start, he’s black, haha. Past that, I don’t know.

 

Racially or just like in coal?

 

Racially, I’m pretty sure.

 

Do you think that his race has anything to do with his being a foil to Santa Claus?

 

Yeah, definitely, haha.

 

My question about this being French stems from a Germanic creature called “der Krampus,” who basically functions the same way. He’s this nasty demon thing that whips all the bad, little children. I find it interesting that Black Peter is actually a person, not a monster. Perhaps this is tied to some deeper racial tension that existed in French culture around the time of his inception. 

New Jersey Devil

I hate to ask it, but do you know anything about the New Jersey Devil? Isn’t it some kind of horse monster thing?

 

Ahaha! Gosh, I wish I had my old 4th grade New Jersey book things with me – it had a whole story.

So basically, in the pine barrens of New Jersey lived this couple. And there was some argument between the couple – one wanted children and the other didn’t, something like that. But for some reason, the woman got pregnant, and for some reason – she ate something she shouldn’t, or sold her soul, or something Rosemary’s Baby-esque – the baby came out with hooves and yellow eyes or some shit like that, but the way I learned it, it wasn’t evil or anything, just deformed…

 

So what does this deformed baby do? Just run and hide? Or does it attack and scare people? Is the couple unmarried? Is it cautionary against premarital sex?

 

I’ve heard both ways. The way they taught us in school was essentially that we should feel sorry for it and not be afraid, haha – not that they taught it as a true story, it was just a myth.

No, I think they’re married… I feel bad forgetting what the issue actually is between them,  but it’s really not talked about very much anymore.

 

Why do you think that is?

 

I just don’t think people subscribe to superstitions the way they used to, and also, methods of child-rearing have changed a lot. We don’t talk about Black Peter anymore, only about Santa (perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it’s a pretty racist name). We don’t scare our kids (as much) into behaving by telling them the child-stealer or something is going to steal them in the night if they don’t behave. Instead, we tell them that Santa’s not going to come if they misbehave. Or we tell them we’re going to take away their iPad.

 

I find most interesting the informant’s admission that this folktale is no longer being told as often as it might have once been, that she doesn’t remember it as well as she should. She points towards the consequences of modernity: rewarding is more a part of culture than telling a child that bad things are just going to happen. Even though this folklore is archived, will there be a point when it is no longer told anymore? Can stories just die out? Their part of folklore assumes that they will be passed from generation down to the next, but is this assumption wholly true as generations of people less believing than the last and more concerned with the factuality of life are raised?

Bowing

Oh, every time it’s been awhile since you’ve seen your grandparents you have to do this bow.

You start standing with your hands on your forehead, palms facing out, and then go down to a kneel and bow down until your hands and forehead touch the ground.

You stay there for a couple seconds, stand back up, and then do it again.

Why do you think it’s twice?

Is it for each grandparent? Would you do it even if one wasn’t present?

 

Three times, I think.

 It’s like… the more you do it, the more respect it means.
So you could bow as many times as you think necessary?
Yeah, it’s usually three, though.
This is something I’ve experienced through my own raising, as my parents are Asian. This is definitely a widespread thing done through out most East Asian countries. It’s an act of appeasement, beseeching, and honoring all at once – a small token of gratitude paid to those who made you possible.

Black/White Day

This is more an Asian thing. But a month after Valentine’s day, there is a thing called White Day.

Valentine’s Day, it is all about the boy. The girls would typically make homemade chocolates, etc. A month later, i’s called White Day, where it’s reversed and the guys would do stuff for the girl.

OH! And when you’re single on Valentine Day, it’s called Black Day where you and your single friends, or by yourself, will go out and eat black bean noodles. That’s a big tradition too.

Why do you think it is that the males are celebrated first? Is it because Korean society is/was so patriarchal? Is there any kind of reaction to this, as it may be perceived now, gendered way of thinking? Do you think that also plays a part in the occurrence of Black Day?

Also, is Black Day more modern?

Celebrating being single seems to be a result of the seventies and eighties with women’s lib. movements.

 

But it’s not a celebration, it’s to go and be sad at yourself. HAHAHA.

It’s really sad, haha.

 

Ah, I get it now, then. It’s commiserating with other single people.


Yeah. I feel like Korean girls are more like shy and don’t mind it, because we take a step back and allow the men to be dominate cause that’s how it usually is.

Yes, the men are usually known to be more dominate. Dominant, sorry.

 They are like “men of the house,” typical housewife situation.

And I guess maybe that’s how it started, as guys were celebrated first. But I’m not positive on that.

 

This tradition exposes how patriarchal that Asian culture still remains, even though it is assumed that we as a people are more equal now than ever before. With this holiday, the importance of legacy within Asian culture is shown, the pressure exhibited on young women to get married and have kids – hopefully boys – shown. She admitted to it being sad, as well, and doesn’t agree with the agenda it has, and it seems jarring to my American perspective – though I understand how it came about.