Monthly Archives: May 2017

Eating sticky food on days of exams

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, MA
Performance Date: 4/11/17
Primary Language: English

Background: Alan is a 19-year old student at Boston University. He grew up in Southern California but moved to Boston for school and is now in his second year of college.

Original script: “On the day of a really important test, I make sure to do a couple of things to get good luck while I’m taking the exam. First of all, I have a lucky pencil I’ve kept with me for two years now. Second, I eat lots of sticky foods like candy or sticky rice or anything that really sticks in your mouth. I heard from my mother that it helps information ‘stick’ in your brain. I don’t know if it’s true, but either way, I believe in it and try to eat some form of sticky food before I go take a test”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Apparently he had heard this superstition from his mother on the day of an exam. His mother cooked him sticky rice and gave him chocolate before he went to take his exam. Apparently, he did well and has continued believing in the superstition ever since then

Thoughts about the piece: This superstition sounds a great deal like what my parents would say to me. They would relate it to food to keep me nourished but also give me hope that I’ll have good luck when I take the test. It’s cool how every superstition has some sort of reasoning/symbolism behind it.

Dreaming of Pigs

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 58
Occupation: Self employed
Residence: Cerritos, CA
Performance Date: 4/10/17
Primary Language: English
Language: korean

Background: Simon is a 58-year-old man living in Cerritos, CA. He was born in Seoul and has lived in South Korea for the majority of her life until he moved here and went to the American military. He owns a car wash. Before that, he was a self-employed accountant. He is married and has two grown children.

Original script: “It is good luck to dream of pigs because it means you will gain great wealth in the future very soon. I don’t really know why pigs are symbols of wealth, but it may be because only rich people could eat meat back in the day so if you had the luxury of eating ham, you were very wealthy”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Apparently he had heard this from his school friends in middle school when he had a dream about pigs.

Thoughts about the piece: My parents are very superstitious when it comes to dreams, so I kind of associate them with fortune cookies; you don’t know what you’ll get but reading into them is fun and could maybe come true so why not take the chance?

 

Haunted house

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

Background: Shivani Patel is a 19-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She is currently studying Business Administration.

Original script: “Back in my neighborhood, there was this really old, abandoned house that all the neighborhood kids swore was haunted. Like, really. It was creepy even in the day, because the fence was all broken, the grass was dead, the door was open all the time because the hinges were broken… it looked terrible. People would walk past it and there were rumors that there was a girl at the window sometimes. Ugh, I can’t even think about it without getting a little spooked again. Anyways, once I got into high school, there was this whole thing where groups of friends would go to this haunted house at night and camp out there for the entire night. After one group had done, more and more groups of friends were doing it and at this point, it was almost like a ritual because groups that had done it were deemed ‘cool’ and ‘independent’ like adults, basically. We were just in high school but I remember everybody just wanted to be seen as cool adults. So, the answer is yes, I did go to the haunted house with my group of friends. I didn’t personally stay the night and none of my friends did. To be honest, I’m not sure if any group of friends actually did stay the night or if they lied and said that they did. Either way, once we had said we had done it, upperclassmen were willing to talk to us and share about their experiences when they camped out at this haunted house.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant went to a school in Georgia. She was born and raised in Atlanta with her parents and younger brother.

Thoughts about the piece: This ritual sounds absolutely terrible. I doubt that any of the kids actually stayed the night and if they did, major props to them. I don’t know how staying overnight in a haunted house makes you an adult, but I can definitely see how high school kids would see this as just another challenge/dare to prove themselves to their peers.

 

Dance Team Initiation

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/18/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Background: Anna Lim is a 21-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She is currently studying electrical engineering.

Original script: “I had an initiation for my dance team in my sophomore year of college. It was probably one of the funniest and most ridiculous things I’ve had to do during my time here at USC. They basically gave us a huge laundry list of things to do around campus – tasks to complete, basically. It included dabbing in McCarthy quad, ordering a drink at Starbucks with a fake name, finding a DPS officer’s scooter and taking a picture on top of it, etc. So they told us we had to finish all the tasks by a certain time and meet at one of the dance team member’s apartments. When we got there, we were told to get into a single file line and close our eyes. They led us into the apartment room – which was pitch black by the way – and when I opened my eyes, I could see the team members holding candles and chanting something underneath their breaths. They gave us a piece of paper that held an oath to the team on it and we had to memorize three paragraphs of this oath in 10 minutes. It was incredible nerve wracking and so much pressure because the team members were literally in the room with us looking hella intimidating with their candles and deadpan faces. Then when we completed that task, we had to kneel before the captain and swear our allegiance to our captain’s dog, Maggie. It was honestly such an otherworldly experience, but absolutely hilarious at the same time.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant was on Break Through Hip Hop at USC and this was her sophomore year of college

Thoughts about the piece: This initiation sounds hilarious and like a lot of fun. I like how they didn’t force you to drink or do things you didn’t want to; rather, the whole thing sounds pretty silly and just a great way to bond with your fellow new initiates. .

 

OK Game

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/18/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Background: Anna Lim is a 21-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She is currently studying electrical engineering.

Original script: “I remember I used to play this game in elementary school. There was no name for it. Basically, you put your index finger and thumb into an ‘O’ shape — basically the OK sign  Then you have to make your friend see it in a sneaky way. So, for example, your friend could say that they dropped something and you would look down and see the hand sign. Then, you’d have to get a flick on the forehead or a pinch on the arm as punishment. I remember that me and my friends used to take this game so seriously, we would come up with the most creative ways to trick the other person into seeing this hand sign. From lying, to tripping your friends, to plotting with other people, my friends and I came up with, honestly, probably hundreds of ways to trick each other. And I would fall for it every single time. I wasn’t a very bright kid. But yeah, this game was so fun and I don’t see anybody playing it anymore. I wonder what happened to it and what kids these days are playing.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant went to an elementary school in Cerritos, CA. It was a magnet school. She would always hang out with the girls during recess and since they didn’t want to get sweaty, she suspects that this is how the game came to be – because it is not athletic and can be done with anybody.

Thoughts about the piece: It’s crazy how games can be so simple and easy to play – no intricate rules or props or cards, just your hands and crazy schemes. It reminds me of how simple elementary school was and how easily amused we are.