Monthly Archives: May 2012

German Tradition: Sylvester/ New Year Celebrations

Nationality: German
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hamburg, Germany
Performance Date: April 19th, 2012
Primary Language: German
Language: English, French, Greek

Interview Extraction:

Informant: “So for Sylvester, in every major city, and pretty much all of Germany, you are allowed to shoot fireworks at the turn of midnight.  And this day is a holiday, but some shops are open like, until 6:00pm.  And then people will go to their houses, or friend’s houses, or even parties. But usually first, the evening starts with a dinner. Like, not just with your close family, but it is with your friends too.”

Interviewer: “And why do they call New Years ‘Sylvester’?”

Informant: “I have no idea, I mean I never thought of it as ‘New Years’. It is just the name we gave it.  I think it is some religious guy… Oh! And on Sylvester everyone always watches Dinner for One.  It is one of these things where you have a certain tradition, and you don’t really know where it comes from but you grow up with.  And Dinner for One is a common thing for Sylvester because the butler in the show keeps saying ‘same procedure as every year?’ So he is referring to the routine, and that some things don’t change even though the year changes.  I don’t know, it’s just one of these traditions that you don’t know where they come from, but you grew up with them so you don’t really question them.  So yeah.”

Analysis:

Much like in America, Germany celebrates New Years by partaking in special events such as the shooting of fireworks at midnight and spending time with friends and family.  On New Years it is important to spend time with friends and family because it is a way of expressing to them that you appreciate and love them, and you want them to be in your life at the start of the new year.  This indicates that you are wishing your relationship with them to extend into the new year, and many years afterwards.  The shooting off of fireworks is a sign of celebration, much like it is in America.  However a difference I noticed when I celebrated New Years with my informant was that in Germany people are allowed to fire the big fireworks, but where I am from in America only city workers are allowed to shoot off the big fireworks because it is considered too dangerous for other people to do.  Even though firework regulations change based on where you are in America, the fact that there are not as many regulations on fireworks in Germany indicates that the German government probably trusts it’s people with the explosives more than the American government does with their people.

In Germany, ‘New Years’ is referred to as Sylvester.  My informant was not sure as to why this is, which indicates that the tradition of calling ‘New Years’ ‘Sylvester’ comes from old, long forgotten beliefs. In my research I discovered that the term ‘Sylvester’ is of Isreali origin because that is what the Isreali people call the New Years celebration.  Sylvester was the name of the ‘saint’ and Roman Pope who was in charge of the Catholic church during the 4th century.  Pope Sylvester is best known for convincing Constantine to forbid Jews from living in Jerusalem.   All Catholic ‘Saints’ are awarded the day Christians celebrate and pay tribute to that Saint’s memory, and December 31 is Saint Sylvester Day.  Due to the anti-Semitic tone of this legend, perhaps one of the reasons why my informant was not aware of the true origin of Saint Sylvester Day was because Germany has been very careful to distance themselves from their negative history in WWII and the Holocaust.

The final Sylvester tradition my informant mentioned was watching Dinner for One every year.  This english film is played every hour on television during Sylvester and it is very popular in Germany because as my informant pointed out, it reflects on the idea that even though things are changing there are some things in life that will always remain.  Some people feel anxiety towards change, therefore I can understand how in this idea that there is “the same procedure every year” is reassuring to those fearful of change.  The film is especially popular among the wealthier German class because there are jokes in the film that only the wealthy would understand, such as the knowledge of serving the right kind of alcoholic drink with the food.  This comes from upper class dining beliefs that for example, port is an after dinner drink therefore it should be served with the final dish, fruit.  The film is also in English, which is a language that only educated German people would understand.

My informant was born in 1992 Hamburg, Germany.  She studied at USC from 2010-2011 before moving to Brussels, Belgium to study international policy planning for her undergraduate degree.  She lives part time in Brussels, Belgium and part time in her hometown Hamburg, Germany.

Watch Dinner for One:

 

Mom’s Mole

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

The informant’s mother would also made her a special Mexican dish for her birthday–mole (pronounced moh-ley).  In mole, chocolate is traditionally used, but the informant’s mother doesn’t use chocolate–she has her own method of preparing the dish.  The mother first roasts chipotle chilis in a pan with a little bit of oil.  Then, she takes saltine crackers and fries them with some pepper seeds.  Then, the mother combines everything together and always blesses the food as it’s simmering, making the sign of the cross over it.

The informant says that her mother’s recipe tastes just like it was prepared with chocolate, but her mother has managed to use a completely different set of ingredients.  The informant also points out that she doesn’t really like the mole, but that her mother thinks she does.

This seems to be consist with many ethnic dishes–the dish is prepared because it has always been prepared, but nobody actually likes it.

Throne of Beers

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

This is a story the informant heard from a friend she had during her freshman year of college.  This friend was rushing a Hispanic fraternity.

During the first week of Rush, one of older members of the fraternity had a  birthday.  In honor of this birthday, the six pledges had to drink enough Tecate beers to build him a giant throne–in one night.  The throne had to be big enough to sit in, and sit comfortably in.  The six pledges started drinking early, and supposedly finished over 120 beers before the throne was complete.  They presented the throne to the birthday boy, but he said–“it is not finished”–and made them drink bottles of hard alcohol to decorate the drone with.

The informant got to see throne once after that night was over.  The informant says she heard that many of the pledges got sick after they were done with this task.

I think this ritual reinforces the power structure of the fraternity.  The pledges have to complete a grueling, sickening (literally) task on their quest to gain acceptance to the fraternity.  However, this also builds a sense of community among the pledges, and shows them that they have to work to gain entrance into this society.

A Monster Lives in the Sink

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/2012
Primary Language: English

When the informant was a little boy, his parents would have a babysitter come over to take care of him and his sister.  After the informant and his sister finished dinner, they would bring their plates to the sink to wash them.  The baybsitter would say, as they approached the sink: “A monster lives in the sink, below the drain.  Be careful!”  The informant and his sister would very carefully wash their dishes, being sure to not let their hands go near the drain.

Years later, the informant now realizes the babysitter was simply protecting him and his sister from sticking their hands into the garbage disposal.  The informant thinks this was a good way to keep him and his sister out of danger.

I would add that this superstition also tapped into many children’s fear of darkness, making it an even more effective “safety-superstition.”  The scary noise the garbage disposal makes when run is the icing on the cake.

 

 

 

So that they wouldn’t put their hands down there

Good way to keep out of danger—potential harm

You’re Not a Real Programmer Until….

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/2012
Primary Language: English

“You’re not a real web programmer until you can hack an Apache server.”  The informant heard these words quite often when he was just beginning to hone his skills in computer programming and hacking.  It’s also these words that led the informant to, in fact, hack his first Apache server.

An Apache server is the type of server that most databases run on, the informant says.  The informant thinks this rite of passage is interesting, but that some people would say it’s not true.  The informant believes it ultimately depends on who you work with when computer programming.

I agree with this analysis.