Author Archives: yaejinch

Red Pen Death

“Ohhh, I remember another one. When I was a kid, my friends told me that if I wrote my name with a red colored pen, it’s bad luck for me because I would die, or something like that.”

This is a superstition that Timothy heard about, not from his parents, but from his friends at school. He told me that he was in elementary, in the United States, and when his friend saw him write his name with a red coloring pencil, his friend right away told him that this was bad luck and that Tim needed to change the color of his name. This was the first time Tim had heard this, but ever since then, he believed in it. This is another superstition that I have heard of before also. When Tim told me this, I thought it was interesting that even as a student in the United States, these Korean superstitions are still present.

Timothy Chong is a 22 year old, senior in college, studying psychology. He is a friend I met through a club on campus. When I asked him to share some type of folklore or story he had heard growing up in a Korean household, he told me several beliefs. These can also be called superstitions. The sayings that he shared with me were told to him mostly by his parents because they are first generation parents that immigrated to the United States from Korea.

Tim told me this piece during break at work. We work together and it was a casual setting when he told me all his stories from his Korean culture.

Hanbok

“Every New Years, as a child, I remember being so excited to wear my pretty dress. My mom would take down the white box from our closet and when she opened it, my dress was there, waiting for me to put it on. My dress was bright red with hints of green and gold. My mom would help me put it on; I needed her to help me because I didn’t know how to tie the bow on the front of the dress. It had to be tied a certain way, not your ordinary ribbon. She would then braid my hair and put it up in a bun. I always felt like a princess with the silk dress rubbing against my skin. My sister and I would spin and spin, watching the dress puff up, creating a really pretty circular shape. There was a flap on the front of my dress where I can fold and hide my hands behind, to show respect to the elders. If I could, I would have worn this dress everyday, but Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress that my family only wore during New Years.”

When Irene started telling me about this tradition that she practiced as a child, I couldn’t help but smile because this was exactly what I did as a kid with my family. I grew up in the United States most of my life as well, but my family still celebrated Korean New Years and I wore Hanbok like Irene did. I never really thought of all this as a tradition, but now that I’ve grown up and I’ve stopped wearing Hanbok, I treasure this Korean ritual even more. Talking about this with someone who’s done the same thing was fun, especially exchanging stories we both identify with.

Irene Choi is a 21 year old, junior, studying Theatre Set Design. She is a friend that I have always heard about, but got close to because we took a class together. All the stories that she told me are from the Korean culture. She grew up living in the United States most of her life, so the folktales are whatever she heard and learned from her parents. She identifies herself as a second generation Korean, but tries her best to keep her identity as a Korean.

Irene told me her folklores in a casual setting. We were spending time together and I just randomly asked her to share any folklore she had.

El Dia de la Rosca

El Dia de la Rosca

“January 6. Instead of getting the present on the 25th of December, we get it on this day. We get a shoebox under your bed and give it on the 6th. There’s a bread that we make and there’s a baby in the bread. If you get the bread with the baby inside, then you have to throw a party on February 2nd. We have no Santa Claus. The party is like a feast with tamales, and the person has to cook everything. In Mexico, we don’t celebrate the 25th but on January 6th instead.”

This is a huge part of Vanessa’s life. When I was listening to this, I was confused at first because she had not specified that this was her version of Christmas. I thought it was a completely different holiday, but no. In Mexico, instead of Christmas, they celebrate El Dia de la Rosca. As long as she can remember, Vanessa had celebrated this with her family even after moving to the United States. I think this new type of Christmas holiday is very fun and excited to hear about. Hearing about what they do instead of the traditional Christmas exposed me to a whole new culture. Especially the bread part that determines who plans the party is different for me and it makes me want to try this too.

Vanessa Marquez is another co-worker of mine. She is a married 27 year old. She was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a child. These folk stories were shared to me during break at work in a casual setting.

Dia de Los Muertos

Dia de Los Muertos

“My family set up altars and decorated skulls of the people we want.. pretty much we’re inviting the good spirits into our house, kinda like having dinner with them! November 1st is for the children and November 2nd for adults.”

“Why do you guys have separate days for children and adults?”

“Why? uhh I’m not exactly sure. Oh November 1st is all saints day, so you now how children are innocent so it’s a religious holiday. The children celebrate with the innocent saints. And the adults.. they’re not innocent. They get their own day.”

This specific holiday/festival is pretty well known in Southern California. Residents here celebrate this day of the dead as well. However, what made this time different was what Griselda told me about there being separate days for children and adults. I have never heard of that before about Dia de Los Muertos, especially about the part about children being innocent so they celebrate during the first day when it is a religious holiday while the adults celebrate the next day because they are not so innocent. This is a tradition that Griselda had practiced her entire life; it is her life, so it meant a lot sharing this to me.

Griselda Vega is a 41 year old mother of two sons. She also works in the office with me. She was exceptionally excited to share with me her culture’s stories and traditions which made it exciting for me to interview her. Griselda was born in Mexico and lived there until the age of 20, when she moved to the United States. At the age of 21, she was employed, and she works at the same office since then.

Pigs and Dragons

“If you dream of pigs, it means you’re going to get a lot of money.

If you dream of dragons, it means you’re going to get good luck.”

Despite being Korean, I have never heard of this before, but it makes sense to me because I know that in Asian countries, animals play a big role on our culture. In my opinion, pig means money because of piggy banks! I have no idea how pigs became the representation of money, but it does. Dragons, on the other hand, have always been a sign of power and luck in Asian countries, thus why this folk belief states that dreaming about dragons will bring luck. Irene does not really believe in this superstition, but she told me that her grandparents actually believe this to be true.

Irene Choi is a 21 year old, junior, studying Theatre Set Design. She is a friend that I have always heard about, but got close to because we took a class together. All the stories that she told me are from the Korean culture. She grew up living in the United States most of her life, so the folktales are whatever she heard and learned from her parents. She identifies herself as a second generation Korean, but tries her best to keep her identity as a Korean.