Monthly Archives: March 2011

Tradition – Polish

Nationality: Polish, Irish, English
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: West Hills, CA
Primary Language: English

“During Christmas on my dad’s side of the family we celebrate it Polish Christmas style, meaning we eat a ton of fried food consisting of haddock, perogi, halushki, and lots of cabbagy stuff called kaputsa.  Also, it’s the Polish tradition to break this wafer-like thingy before we all sit down to dinner and so we say grace and then everyone has to break a piece off from the other people’s wafers.  I have no idea what the significance is to this, but my best guess would be that we break the bread just like Jesus broke the bread at the last supper although Christmas is a celebration of His birth, not the last supper, so I don’t know.  My family never really explained it.  It’s just something we do.”

Annie’s celebration of a Polish Christmas seems to show the combination of different traditions within one holiday.  During Christmas, Annie said that she sang Christmas carols and watched Christmas movies like “Elf” or “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”, both of which are very mainstream holiday movies.  In addition to these activities, though, Annie and her family would experience Polish rituals during the holidays, especially in terms of food.

Annie said that her parents wanted her and her brother to be aware of their Polish heritage and actually experience it instead of hearing stories from family members.  Annie does identify herself as being part Polish, and noted that participating in a Polish Christmas helped connect her more to these origins.  However, Annie said that even though she eats Polish food during Christmas and engages in some Polish rituals like the breaking of the bread, she does not know the significance of all of these traditions.  Since she was raised Catholic and is actively involved in the Catholic Church, it makes sense that Annie would try to make sense of the Polish traditions by drawing on her Catholic upbringing.

In order to learn more about the origins and significance of the bread breaking, I researched the topic and learned that there are connections with this tradition and the Christian faith.  The wafer-like bread, called oplatek, is traditionally broken in pieces and shared with everyone at the table.  The bread is very similar to an unleavened, unconsecrated bread used during the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church, and it is often stamped with religious images.  The sharing of the bread serves as an act of good will and hope for success in the new year (Cantoski, “Treasured Polish Christmas”).  Therefore, Annie’s assumptions were correct; this Polish tradition is very similar to Jesus’ breaking of the bread during the last supper, since that too was a profound act of kinship with others.  Thus, Annie’s Catholic upbringing compliments the Polish Christmas she celebrates, since the two have many things in common.  Because the two traditions do not clash, it makes sense that Annie’s family continues to participate in both types of celebration.  It allows her family to enjoy a unique holiday that establishes a special family identity, and also allows her family to grow closer as they share this experience.  This is further emphasized through the breaking of the bread, since that specific ritual is especially designed to unite people during the onset of the new year.

Although sharing food often brings people together, I think that the specific tradition of breaking bread is especially significant because of its religious implications and the power it has to unite people.  The tradition may have a different meaning for families that actually live in Poland, since they are more directly immersed in their culture, whereas Annie’s family has been removed from some of the other Polish Christmas traditions.  Even so, the central meaning of the ritual remains the same; uniting the family during the holiday.

Annotation: Contoski, Josepha K. Treasured Polish Christmas Customs and Traditions: Carols, Decorations, and a Christmas Play. Minneapolis: Polanie Co.

Proverb – Spain

Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: West Hills, CA
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Es peor el remedio que la enfermedad.”

“Is worse the remedy than the sickness”

“Fixing things just makes them worse”

Analysis: Frank first learned this proverb from his mother when he was around the age of fourteen.  His mother, Alejandra, was born in Spain and usually speaks Spanish at home.  Frank said that she frequently uses Spanish phrases or proverbs to give Frank advice, even though she has lived in California for over half of her life.

Frank said the first time he heard his mom use this proverb was when Frank was trying to fix his cell phone.  The phone made a strange humming sound that Frank thought he could fix by taking the phone apart, but he ended up completely breaking it.  Frank’s mom used the proverb to say that even though Frank was trying to get rid of the annoying humming and fix the phone, he ultimately made things worse by completely ruining the phone.  Although the humming sound was annoying, if Frank would not have tried to fix the phone, he would still have been able to use it.

I have often heard people complain about attempting to fix a problem and instead making it worse, but I had not heard the concept expressed as a proverb before.  Frank said that his mother was strongly attached to her Spanish upbringing and tried to teach Frank and his younger siblings about Spanish culture as much as possible.  So, perhaps this proverb was another way for Frank’s mom to teach Frank about Spanish culture and sayings, and at the same time advise him that sometimes things are best left alone.

When Frank has used this proverb, he often shortens the phrase to “Es peor el remedio” (the remedy is worse).  This is more informal than using the full proverb, but still means the same thing- fixing things can make problems worse.  It is possible that age is an influential factor in determining how the proverb is said; since Alejandra is an adult, she is more likely to use a traditional, formal proverb, while Frank, a teenager, is more comfortable using a shorter version.

Tradition – Irish

Nationality: Irish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ventura County, CA
Primary Language: English

“Every Saint Patrick’s Day my parents would go all out to celebrate.  For most people, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t that big of a deal, and most people don’t really do anything.  But my parents would always make it a huge event.  They would dye the milk green, they would dye my dog green, and my mom would always spray my dad’s hair green with temporary hair dye.  And when we would wake up, our rooms would always be really messy because leprechauns are supposed to make a mess of everything.  So every St. Patrick’s Day we did that until I got a lot older and it was really fun.  I don’t know anyone else who celebrated like my family did.”

Kelsey said that her parents liked to celebrate every holiday, including St. Patrick’s Day.  I asked if her parents celebrated the holiday like this when they were little kids, and she said that she was not sure but it was likely that her parents invented the idea when her and her sisters were born.  Kelsey said she really enjoyed celebrating St. Patrick’s Day because it was so different than other holidays, and because she did not know any other families that were as enthusiastic about celebrating it.  She felt that it helped set her family apart from other families, and she appreciated the effort her parents exerted in order to give her and her sisters a unique and special holiday tradition.  I also asked Kelsey if her parents are Irish and she said that her dad is fully Irish, and she is half Irish.  She said that this may have been part of the reason her dad wanted to make the day such a fun celebration, but she said that even if her family was not Irish her parents still would have celebrated the holiday.

Kelsey also said that when she got older, her parents stopped dying everything green and messing up her room.  Because Kelsey enjoyed celebrating the holiday so much, though, she dyed the milk green herself.  She said that messing up her room was kind of a hassle to clean up later, but dying milk and wearing green was an important part of the holiday that she did not want to miss out on.

It seems like as Kelsey grew up, the context of the holiday changed.  When she was little, her parents’ creativity allowed her and her sisters to participate in a unique holiday tradition that set themselves apart from other families.  However, as Kelsey and her sisters grew up, some aspects of the tradition became a nuisance and no longer appreciated as much (i.e.- messing up Kelsey’s room).  As a result, her family changed how they celebrated the holiday in order to correspond with the age level of the children.  Kelsey did not want to stop celebrating completely since she had so many positive memories of the holiday, which explains why she would try to continue some of the traditions by herself.

Although I also have Irish heritage, my family has been less active in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.  We wear green and might go to a small party at night, but I have never heard of a family celebrating St. Patrick’s Day to the extent that Kelsey’s family did.  Although Kelsey’s family has Irish roots, it seems like Kelsey’s parents were more concerned with creating unique and memorable traditions for her and her sisters to enjoy, regardless of their heritage.

Proverb – Sarcoxie, Missouri

Nationality: Italian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Simi Valley, CA
Primary Language: English

Proverb- “Don’t buy the cow when you can get the milk for free”

Andrea said that she heard this proverb from her mother when she first started dating in high school as a sophomore, which is roughly around the age of fifteen.  She said that her mother learned this proverb when she was growing up in Sarcoxie, Missouri, which is a very small Protestant farming town.  This is made clear by the references to farming in the proverb.  Someone who grew up in the city is probably not likely to refer to a cow when giving advice to their children, since it would have less significance to them.

Andrea’s mother used the proverb to warn her of one of the dangers of being too promiscuous.  Essentially, the proverb says “Why get married to a girl when she will give you sex without any strings attached?”  Andrea’s mom wanted to teach her daughter that by being too promiscuous, men will think that they can always come to her for sex without having to worry about “paying for it” by being in a relationship.  Especially since Andrea’s mother grew up in a very religious area, teaching her daughter to abstain from sexual activity until marriage was an essential part of Andrea’s upbringing.  This proverb is just one example of how cultural values were transmitted from one generation to the next.

I heard Andrea use this proverb when she was giving her friend relationship advice.  Her friend was conflicted because she did not know whether to become more intimate with her boyfriend of a few months.  Basically, Andrea used the proverb to tell her friend that until she  is in a committed relationship with her boyfriend, it is very risky to be sexually active because her boyfriend may not choose to follow through with their relationship once he has had sex.  For Andrea, the proverb is just one of many reasons why it is dangerous to be too intimate with someone other than a spouse, in addition to the risk of getting pregnant or contracting an STD.

Andrea’s interpretation of the proverb comes from a more feminine viewpoint. For instance, my mother has also told me this proverb, and both she and I interpreted it in the same way as Andrea. However it can also be used to advise a man as well.  It is possible that a man might use the proverb to tell a friend that he does not need to marry a girl who is willing to have sex before marriage.  In this case, the proverb is being used to encourage a man to engage in premarital sex since he can get away with it.  When comparing the two different ways the proverb can be used, it seems that for most women, the proverb is used to prevent other women from being promiscuous, whereas men use the proverb to encourage that behavior in other men.

Rite of Passage

Nationality: Irish, English
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, MA
Primary Language: English

“Since it was our senior year we decided that we had to do a really memorable senior prank.  We knew that we could get in big trouble, but some of my friends were going to community college and didn’t care if they got caught.  So, we decided to prank the deans because we wanted to get revenge against them for all the detentions we had gotten over the past four years, and decided to glue the door to their office shut and trap them inside.  We picked a day when we knew the deans were going to be going through a lot of paper work and would be in the back of the office, and we had people stand guard to distract any teachers that might walk by.  Then, three people in the group wore sunglasses and put their hoods on (so they couldn’t be recognized) and really quietly opened the door and started putting glue around the entire frame.  Then they shut it and put more glue to seal the crack between the door and the wall.  We brought a blow dryer so we could try and make the glue dry faster, but we put it on a lower setting so it wouldn’t make so much noise.  Then we waited a couple hours for the deans to try to leave for the day, and when they tried to open the door it was completely stuck shut.  They had to call a repair company to come and saw the door off so they could get out!”

Analysis: Laura was one of many high school seniors that tried to play a senior prank before graduation.  It is a rite of passage traditionally done by seniors during their last days at school, and it is often a chance to one-up the seniors of the previous year. Many seniors are discouraged from playing a prank because they might be prevented from receiving their diploma or walking on graduation day if they are caught.  For Laura and her friends, however, the risk of getting caught was not as big because many in the group were going to community colleges that would not revoke their acceptances if the students got in trouble.

Usually senior pranks are aimed at teachers or at underclassmen and are a way for seniors to demonstrate their superiority as a graduating class.  Laura said that after the school found out about the prank, everyone said it was probably the best prank done in the history of the school.  She and her friends became small celebrities among the people that knew the identity of the pranksters.  Unfortunately, that news spread quickly and Laura said that within a few days she and her friends were called into the deans’ office.  They confessed but offered to pay for any damages.  Although the deans threatened to prevent them from participating in the graduation ceremony, Laura said she and her friends only had to help clean up the lockers at the end of the year.  She said that the risk of getting in trouble was worth it because they had such a legendary prank.

When I talked with Laura about the primary influences on her decision to participate in the senior prank, I thought that she would mention her two older brothers.  Both of them were involved in senior pranks, and it seemed likely that Laura would want to follow in their footsteps.  However, Laura said that she did not think about her brothers so much as the senior class that graduated before her.  She said that they their prank was pretty good so she wanted to try and top theirs.  This seems to show that rites of passage, such as a senior prank, are more connected to institutions they are associated with than with family members.  Regardless of whether her brothers would have done a senior prank, Laura knew she wanted to be involved because it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.

The context in which the prank takes place also helps explain why it is such a significant event. For instance, on a normal day, pulling a prank may get a few laughs but is probably looked down upon by others as stupid and a waste of time.  However, in the context of the situation, the prank is not only accepted by the student body, but expected and looked forward to.  It is a rare occasion when the seniors are united together for the goal of common mischief before everyone leaves for college.  Thus, even though Laura was not known as a trouble-maker, the senior prank was a rite of passage worth getting in trouble for because the chance would not happen again.

The senior prank is a rite of passage that has become so popular that it has even had movies and television shows depicting it.  For instance, MTV ran a special countdown of the “Top Ten Best High School Senior Pranks” and conducted interviews with administrators and students from each school to hear their opinions of the success of the pranks.  Though the pranks ranged from the silly, (releasing 1000 bouncy balls down a flight of stairs), to the incredible, (using a crane to hide the principal’s car on the auditorium roof), almost all the students agreed that the senior prank was an essential part of graduating from high school, and was almost as important as receiving their diploma.  Despite the seemingly immature nature of a prank, the senior prank serves as a transition between the childish realm of high school and the more mature world of college.  Therefore, the senior prank is also one last time for the seniors to be foolish before it is no longer acceptable.

At my high school, my senior class was not unified enough to create a good senior prank.  A few different groups tried to prank the freshmen, but nothing was very successful.  The senior class before us did not do a good prank either, which may explain why our class was unable to perform very well.  It was disappointing because I have heard from friends at other schools about their senior pranks, and I feel like I missed out on a special part of the graduation experience.