Monthly Archives: November 2010

Custom – Turkish

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Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

Çok Ya?a

A lot live

Live Long

Response

Sen De Gör

(and I hope that) you see it

You too

Hep Beraber

All together

Güzel Ya?ay?n

Nice living

(may you) live beautifully

When someone sneezes in Turkey a common response is Çok Ya?a.  There are several responses you can say.  Sen De Gör is the most commonly.  Hep Beraber is also very common and considered very polite.  Güzel Ya?ay?n is used the least.

Robert’s main residence it the United States, but he has spent much of his life in Turkey.  This is also where the majority of his family resides.  These phrases are interesting because to understanding the words you only need to know the Turkish language.  But, in order to understand the actual meaning and appropriate time to use them, you must know something about the Turkish culture.  This is a way of separating the identities of those who simply know the language and those who are actually familiar with the culture.

The initial response to a sneeze it very similar to the response you would say in America, “Bless you”.  In either case you are wishing someone well.  I do not know where the concept of wishing someone well after they sneeze came from, but it is interesting that it is the same across two different cultures.  The first response is exactly the same as that is America, “You too”.  The second response is sort of odd, “all together”.  I assume by saying all together, they mean let us all live long together, which essentially is a more formal and indirect way of saying you too.  The final response is also slightly odd to me, but I think I understand it as well.  The first person is wishing you to live a long life.  So, in response, you are wishing them to live a beautiful life.

Travel Charm – Turkish

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Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

When someone is leaving on a journey, a customary tradition is to throw water on the back of the car as it is leaving or behind the car as it leaves. The reason behind this is to wish for your travels to move as smoothly as water flows. When the person is leaving the way you say bye is to say “?yi yolculuklar” which directly translates to Good Journey/Travels. The meaning though is “Have a good journey/trip/travel”

Although Robert is from America, he has spent a lot of time in Turkey because most of his family resides there.  He does not know the specific time he learned traditions such as this one, he generally acquired knowledge of them as he grew up and spent more time in Turkey.  People across Turkey still practice this tradition on a regular basis.

Iyi yolculuklar is a very universal, polite phrase.  As far as I am aware, most people wish others a good trip when they are leaving on a journey.  The odd part to me was throwing water on the back of the car.  When I talked to Robert further he did not really know the significance of this, it was something they just do.  I assume the water had some significance at some point.  My speculation would be that it was some sort of sign of good luck that you were throwing towards them as they headed off on their journey.  It could also represent something bad, since you are throwing the water behind the car, it could be symbolic of leaving the bad behind.

Traditions like this are one way a showing an identity.  If you did this some where other than Turkey, people would probably have no idea of what you were doing.  Even people who study the Turkey may not be aware of this tradition because they have not been immersed in the culture.   This is becoming less of a problem though with the internet.  People can find traditions such as these either described or videoed on the internet, so they can maintain this knowledge without ever having to experience the Turkish culture first hand.

Tradition – Turkish

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Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

The custom when eating dinner is to raise your glass and say “?erefe” at the beginning of the meal.  In the past, you raised your glass at the table and said ?erefe to say you were drinking to the honor of the table. You also should try to touch glasses together with everyone at the table or those near you.

Robert has spent much time in Turkey because that is where his family is from and many of them still live.  Several of the Turkish traditions Robert has experienced happened in Turkey.  This tradition, on the other hand, he said he has always done, even with his parents at home in America.  This is a way of identifying themselves as part of the Turkish culture, not only in Turkey, but back in America as well.  It is also a way for them to bring their Turkish culture with them to America.

Robert said that he does not know of a direct translation for the word ?erefe.  As he said it used to mean you were drinking in honor of the table, meaning everyone who was at the table.  Now it still maintains some of that meaning, but it has also become “just one of those things you do”.

Although Robert did not know an exactly translation, he said it is basically the same thing as saying “Cheers”.  The entire tradition, in fact, is very similar to that which we do here n America.  Many people in America, including my family, raise our glasses and touch them with everyone at the table or those near you.  I have never really understood this part of the tradition, but I suppose it could be a way of “honoring” each person at the table individually.  Many people also include the word “cheers” when they do so.  These traditions are basically identical, just with the use of a different word.  I have also seen the exact same tradition in other cultures, except they use the word “Salut”.  I do not know the origin of this tradition, if there even is one.  It may have been passed though cultures, and adapted to fit each culture.  Or, it is quite possible that the same tradition happen to develop in several cultures.

Remedy – Mexican

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Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ventura, California
Performance Date: April 19, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Menudo Mornings

Each holiday my family gets together and drinks too much tequila. According to Mexican tradition, menudo is the best hangover cure. Each holiday it is a different sibling’s turn to make the pot of menudo for the rest of the family.

Julie’s family is of Mexican decent, and many of them only recently came to America.  Since much of her family grew up in Mexico, they like to incorporate Mexican tradition into their American traditions.  Menudo Mornings occur the morning after each major holiday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc. The holiday it’s self is usually celebrated in an American fashion, but Menudo Mornings is Julie’s family’s way of incorporating their Mexican heritage.

Menudo Mornings itself is not a Mexican tradition, but involves many aspects of Mexican culture, and has become a tradition of Julie’s family.  By bringing Mexican culture into American traditions, it is a ways to establish and preserve their identity as Mexican.  The tradition begins with drinking tequila for each holiday.  Many people drink on holidays, but tequila is a Mexican drink, so they are only drinking from their culture.  The second half of the tradition is eating menudo the next morning.  Menudo is a Mexican dish and it is Mexican tradition to eat menudo to cure a hang over.

They involve the whole family in this tradition.  The children who are not hung over because they are too young to drink still get involved the next morning.  The children help whoever has the duty of making the menudo.  They also take part in eating it even though they are not hung over.  This allows every member of the family to take part in the Mexican tradition and establish their identity as a Mexican.

Tradition – San Francisco

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Nationality: English
Age: 60
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Long Beach, California
Performance Date: April 22, 2008
Primary Language: English

Every Sunday Charlene’s immediate family would go for a Sunday drive.

Charlene grew up in the city of San Francisco.  She had a mother and father and one older sister.  Every Sunday they would all go to church then go for a Sunday drive.  They had this tradition as far back as she can remember and it lasted until she and her sister were in their early teens.   They would go to different places like visiting their father’s office, going to Fisherman’s Warf, or even just driving around the city.

Taking a Sunday drive is a very common tradition, whether it is with family or friends.  Sunday has often been thought of as a day to relax, stemming from the bible when god took the seventh day off.  Driving around can often be a very relaxing activity, especially in a beautiful place like San Francisco. By making the Sunday drive a family activity, Charlene’s family was actually combining two traditions, Sunday driving and family time.  Many families have a specific time when they spend time together and share about their lives.  They would drive around the city and talk, go on adventures, or even visit their father’s office so they could see what was going on first hand.

Driving was an activity it’s self because not many people drove places of even had cars in San Francisco.  Charlene’s family had a car but they often took public transportation, as did most people in the city.  Charlene did not even get her license until she was 18 and moved away because the public transportation was so good in San Francisco.

Taking a Sunday drive is a common tradition and can be very relaxing.  When I first got my license, my friends and I would often just drive around, especially down the coast of California.  This often happened on Sundays because we did not have school.  We would go to church, then get in my car, put the top down, and drive down Pacific Coast Highway, sometimes stopping at the beach.  This became a tradition between my friends and I long before I knew my mother had the same tradition with her family.

The Sunday drive has taken on a negative connotation over the years.  People going for a Sunday drive often take their time.  In today’s world people are often rushing to get places, even on Sundays.  This creates a problem when one person is trying to rush somewhere and the car in front of them is taking their time.  I have even heard my dad say on several occasions, “Oh great, we’re stuck behind a Sunday driver,” implying that the person driving was taking their time.