Monthly Archives: May 2016

Moldovan Gift Giving

Nationality: Moldovan
Age: 28
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English, Romanian

Main piece: So, um… we have traditions when it comes to gift giving. If someone gives you a wallet as a gift, the wallet can’t be empty. They have to put like a dollar or a coin or something. And if somebody gives you a watch, you have to give them some kind of money in return to repay the gift. The watch is not so good as a gift because it kind of signifies that the relationship is going to end, it has a time limit.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):\

I observed. My parents did it, I’ve seen other people do it in my country. Someone gave me a wallet once, and I noticed some money in it, so it’s even happened to me. My relatives definitely showed me. I was kind of part of it because I was the one who received the gift. It’s just a tradition that because I already know it, I follow it. Probably if I didn’t know about it, I wouldn’t be so strict. But since my family follows it, and I follow it, I have a kind of obligation to keep doing it.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

This would be any time that a watch or wallet is given, like an presents. Mostly during birthdays, but sometimes during Christmas if you were giving that present to someone.

 

Personal Analysis:

The concept of time in many culture is relatively sensitive. In this telling, a watch is symbolic of time- if you give a watch, you are giving away time with the person you gift it to. But, if the other person pays for it, through whatever symbolic value placed upon the gift, time is essentially bought. With a wallet, emptiness symbolizes a concept that it may never be filled, that the receiver of the gift may never have the money to fill it. In this sense, the present is practically worthless. However, I assume that placing a few bills or coins in the wallet assures that it will be filled at some point, and attract more money in the future.

Don’t wash your head!

Nationality: Moldovan
Age: 28
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English, Romanian

Main piece:

You can’t wash your head on Mondays or right before exams.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

I know it from school. I think my parents might have told me. I don’t know if it works. It’s kind of school related stuff. Something inside me says, “Oh what if it’s true.” I don’t want to risk it. But honestly, I’ve washed my hair a ton on mondays and it was fine! For exams, I feel like I’m washing all the knowledge out of my head.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

I would think about it on Mondays and before exams. I wash my hair on Sundays- if I need to wash my hair, I’ll do it on Sunday but if it’s kind of clean I leave it to Tuesday. Even if my hair is super dirty, I’ll just put it up in a bun and leave it filthy until after my exam.

 

Personal Analysis:

This hints about the importance Ana’s culture places on academics. As she mentioned in her telling, she was worried about washing the knowledge out of her brain. I work with her, and she is constantly studying or doing work for class. Perhaps that is why she’s so concerned about losing the knowledge- she’s put in too much effort to sacrifice any of it to a shower drain! As she was telling me this saying, another co-worker mentioned she had heard the same thing from her Indian parents. It seems as though this saying may not be exclusive to Moldova, but has traveled southeast through Asia and to the Indian subcontinent.

Korean Birthday Count

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean, Spanish

Main piece:

In Korean, the new year counts as a year. So I’m technically nineteen or twenty in Korea.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

My mom- when I was younger, I would ask my mom’s age. This was when I was really young. And my answer would always change. And when I realized they were always changing… I asked why. She explained that she gets mixed up about her age because America doesn’t count new years as a birthyear. It’s almost like a communal birthday for everyone. It has to do with renewal, and rebirth, um… like a new year. New year is one of the biggest holidays in Korea. It’s like Christmas and thanksgiving combined. And I think since it follows the lunar calendar, It follows the idea that we change on the same day as well. Like against our will. I don’t identify as twenty years old. To me, it doesn’t make sense, and I guess that’s my american side. I feel 18, if not younger. So, it’s not very particularly special to me other than the fact that it represents how much Korea loves new year. My mom is technically 50, but I think in Korea she’s 53 or 54, I don’t even know. I think Korean’s just love being older than people. It’s so hierarchy based. Even if you’re months older, the younger one has to respect you. If an older person hits you on the train, no one can save you. They’re allowed to because they’re old.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

This is performed every new year. When you’re born, you know how in america you’re 0 years old? You’re already a year old in Korea, they count in the womb. And you get another birthday on New years, and then another on your actual birthday. So you’re always one or two years older than your biological age. So my mom would be like “I’m forty!” “I’m forty two!” “I’m forty one!” and I’d be like mom what are you…?

Personal Analysis:

This piece was especially hard to follow- I needed the informant to explain to me time and time again how exactly the years were counted. It reflects an innate belief among Koreans that the elderly should be respected. The older a person is, the more prestige and immediate respect they receive. In American society, women strive to be younger, even going so far as to lie about their age. In Korea, there are traditions put in place to extend the age of a person meanwhile their biological age remains the same. The piece also touches upon the importance placed on the lunar New Year. It is so important that Koreans count it as a year on their own age, and everyone in the country celebrates their birthday with the moon.

Pine-needle in the Rice Cake

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean, Spanish

Main piece:

On Korean thanksgiving, it’s called Chuseok, and this is the holiday where families will meet up at the oldest relative’s house- like oldest one alive. And one of the most important dishes served at Chuseok are called songpyeon, which are rice cakes. They’re filled with pine nuts, and some brown sugar, they’re like dessert rice cakes, and really good. You can generally get rice cakes any time, but these rice cakes are special for this time. It’s kind of like a yule log, you wouldn’t make a yule log in the middle of the summer. When you make these rice cakes, you will get a pine needle- oh, by the way, when you’re making these rice cakes, they’re steamed on a bed of pine needles- so you’ll put a pine needle in one or a couple of the rice cakes and if you pick a rice cake and eat it and find a pine needle in it, it means you’re either going to get pregnant or married. Like, soon.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

A long time ago, my mom made these with me and she told me about it. But I was also taught about it in Korean school, when the holiday came around. They made us make them too. I think it’s every Korean child’s rite of passage to learn how to make rice cakes. That and dumplings. I’ve gotten the needle but it’s because I wanted a needle. I made my mom find one for me, which meant she ripped some open until she found one. But like not enough that like the whole thing is ripped apart. Just enough so that she could peek inside it… and I could have the pleasure of ripping it open!

The rice cakes are so good, they’re so yummy. Korean’s love predicting things, and like family values. The faster you get married, the faster you have grandchildren, the better. I didn’t get pregnant. I know it’s a pine needle- if I had chosen it on my own, I wouldn’t be scared of getting pregnant. What, the pine needle is going to impregnate me? (I wish.)

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

You’d only eat the rice cakes on Korean thanksgiving. I don’t actually celebrate it as much as I used to, but i think it’s in september or november. Oh— just kidding, it’s august on the lunar calendar, which means it’s in september! The day changes depending on the lunar new year.

 

Personal Analysis:

This piece reflects the importance the Korean culture places on family. The pine needle is representative of two predictions, marriage and pregnancy. After the interview, the informant revealed that men who chose a rice cake with a needle in it would only retain the prediction for marriage, while women held both predictions. Besides the obvious, men cannot get pregnant, the prediction does not extend to the man in the sense that he will get someone pregnant. If a woman chooses a needle and is single, her prediction would be marriage before pregnancy. This comments on the taboo of children out of wedlock in the Korean culture, as well.

Bury the Broken Glass

Nationality: Irish
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Andover, Massachusetts
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main piece:

I did theater growing up, all through elementary, middle, and high school, and my theater teacher was a character. She basically spoke exclusively in proverbial terms, or in, I don’t know, sayings and quotes, and very very superstitious as well. And so, this one time we… we were a part of a competition play where different high schools from my state would travel to one high school to perform and we’d be judged based on how we performed. And, we did not do that well, we- well, our performance was really, really good. I think it was one of the best performances I’ve ever been in; it was an absurdist play. But, it didn’t make it through. And earlier that day, a cast member had broken a mirror in the dressing room. She found out about it later, and she was livid. She was really, really upset that we didn’t tell her about it, and I guess she went back to the dressing room and grabbed the mirror, and took it with her home, and brought it back later, maybe a week later or something to bury it at the high school where we broke the mirror because I guess she heard somewhere that you need to bury the shards of the mirror to reverse the curse of the seven years, uhm….. So she’s pretty crazy, she’s awesome, I love her, but definitely… pretty wacky.

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

Oh, she told us, yeah. She told us, like, the next day, “I went back and I buried the mirror… in the ground of the high school. It just reminds me of her character, and uh… I think, I don’t believe in superstitions, and this is kind of out there, but… yeah. It doesn’t mean anything to me especially, I don’t think there was a curse and that’s why we lost, I just think that they either didn’t understand the play, or didn’t like it for whatever reason, and I don’t think it was reversed once she buried it or anything like that. I wouldn’t bury a mirror… definitely not.

 

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

You bury shards of a mirror… when you break it. Whenever you break it- it’s not exclusive to performances or anything.

 

Personal Analysis:

This superstition is not directly linked to theater, though the informant refers to it as if it were specific to the stage because that was the only time he had heard of it performed. Mirrors are often the source of folk belief, thought of to posses magical powers. Breaking a mirror in many cultures is considered bad luck, though I had never before heard a remedy to this curse. The informant also mentions a 7-year curse. I assume that to be associated with the breaking of the mirror itself- if it shatters, the curse –whatever it may be– lasts for 7 years.