Monthly Archives: May 2017

Bear in the Cave

Nationality: African-American
Age: 49
Occupation: Dance professor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/24/17
Primary Language: English

Background: D. Sabela Grimes is a 59-year-old man living in Los Angeles, CA. He is a dance professor at USC. Originally, he intended on going to law school, but decided to change his career path to become a dance teacher.

Original script: “so, um, there are two best friends in the woods… and one of them was like ‘yo – because that’s how people talk in the wood – do you hear that sound?” They turn around and see a, um, bear behind them. And instantly, one friend turns to the other and goes “yo, I’ll distract the bear while you book it to that cave near us. GO.” So they, um, split off and one friend, um, climbs up a tree and is waving his hands and like doing these crazy thangs to get the bear’s attention. Um, so the friend looks up and sees his friend running in and out of the cave. So he’s like “yo, what are you doing?? I said I’d distract the bear while you get to a safe place!! Why the flip are you out of the safe place?” His friend keeps running in then out then in then out and the bear’s sitting there like “What the flip?”. He just couldn’t understand what his friend was doing so he goes “yo, why aren’t you listening to what I’m saying? Get in the cave and be safe!” His friend yells back and goes, “I’m doing this because there’s a bear inside the cave!”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: His mother used this story to teach Professor Grimes about how people always have unseen situations and you must be empathetic at all times.

Thoughts about the piece: I actually really love this piece because Professor Grimes related it to one of the students in our class who hadn’t been showing up to class. The student shared that he decided to drop pre-med over spring break as a senior and pursue a job straight out of college. So, he had been missing class to go to job interviews and job fairs. Professor Grimes told the class that this was a lesson for everybody – that every person is going through something in their lives and as a professor, he doesn’t just want to be an authority figure. He wants to create real, human relationships. This really touched me because he, as a professor, truly cared for his students. I felt loved and respected in his class.

Holi

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Santa Barbara, CA
Performance Date: 4/16/17
Primary Language: English

Anshika is a sophomore at UC Santa Barbara. She went to Whitney High School in Cerritos, CA, which was a small public high school that was #1 in the nation.

Original script: “There’s a festival called Holi that we celebrate with my family. It basically translates to ‘festival of colors’ and people use the holiday to celebrate the coming of spring. We have these chalk like colors that we throw around with each other. People wear white shirts coming out to the celebration so the colors show up better. My mom told me it basically is supposed to look like a flower field of different colors all around. It’s supposed to be a family celebration but it’s grown quite popular throughout the years. Last year, I invited my friends who weren’t necessarily Indian and we just ate Indian food together and then threw colors at each other afterwards. It was awesome.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant has celebrated Holi with her family every year. It is a huge family tradition and she invites all her extended relatives as well. Family friends are also welcome to the event. It is mostly the children that participate with the throwing of colors.

Thoughts about the piece: I have actually attended a Holi before with one of my friends and I can personally attest to how fun and celebratory this festival is. It’s fun for everybody regardless of what religion or ethnicity you are.   

 

Korean rock paper scissors

Nationality: Lebanese
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/17
Primary Language: English

Background: Kayla Saikaly is a 21-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at UCSD. She was born and raised in Southern California.

Original script: “So I learned this game from my Korean friend. It’s basically another version of rock paper scissors. So two people do rock paper scissors and the person who has the winning hand will switch to another sign and the other person has the option of switching their hand or keeping the same sign. If the person who originally had the winning hand chooses the sign that is the same as the other person, then the person who originally had the winning hand wins. It’s kind of confusing but once you play it once with a friend, it makes perfect sense. It gets pretty competitive haha but it’s super convenient to play when you’re travelling with friends and don’t have any cards or something.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: My informant went to an elementary school in Cerritos, CA. It was a magnet school. Her best friend was Korean-American so she learned a lot of Korean games and words from her.

Thoughts about the piece: This game requires you to shout out Korean words while you’re playing rock paper scissors so it’s quite interesting that someone that is not Korean remembered the game so well and was able to understand the Korean words by playing the game with her friends.   

Easy comes, easy goes

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/14/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

Background: Ivana is a 19-year old student at USC, studying Public Policy and Diplomacy. She is from Ohio and moved to Los Angeles when she started USC as a freshman.

 

Original script: “Của thiên, trả địa.”

Translation: “Easy comes, easy goes.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: This phrase means that things that come easy to you can leave just as easily. You can lose or spend very easily, whereas if you work hard to get something or someone’s love, then that will not be easily lost. Ivana heard this proverb from her mother when she was younger. She forgot what context it was used in, but now this proverb is a frequently used expression in her household.

Thoughts about the piece: I think this proverb is very true. It reminds the listener to work hard to get the things they want in life. Nothing ever comes easy. Once you are an adult, nothing is spoonfed to you; you have to fight for what you want. This proverb reminds me as a student that I must work hard and tightly grasp onto the things that make me happy. Only by working hard will I ever be able to truly own or take ownership of something.

 

Taiwanese Proverb

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/17
Primary Language: English

Background: Iris Zhang is an 18-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She was born in Diamond Bar and raised in Arcadia, California.

Original script: “It takes sweat to work hard on something, but it only takes saliva to complain about things”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Her father told her this when she was much younger. She thinks she was talking about a group project and how someone wasn’t doing any work in her team. Her dad responded with this proverb and although it frustrated her, she still accepted it and considered it a valuable lesson.

Thoughts about the piece: I appreciate this proverb very much; it’s simply worded but very powerful. Also, it is very true – it creates an interesting contrast and encourages the listener to continue working hard instead of wasting time complaining.