Monthly Archives: April 2018

“Thunder Fire You” (A Nigerian Phrase).

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Abuja, Nigeria.
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Michael Iluma, a senior studying International Relations and Acting at the University of Southern California, who hails from Abuja, Nigeria, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his bedroom, on West 30th Street in the outskirts of the University of Southern California campus.

Folk-Type: Folk-Speech.

Folk Performance: “Thunder Fire You” (A Nigerian Phrase).

“Because we’re both Nigerian, we understand that there is a saying for just about everything…” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: Yes…so something we say at, let’s say like we’re talking and let’s say my friend says something to, like, come at me, you know, diss me—disrespect me—I’ll be like “Thunder fire you,” which has a religious sentiment to it but also, like, you know, God strike you down and strike down what you’re saying.

Background Information: The statements religious leanings are representative of Nigeria’s mixed heritage as a nation deeply steeped in both Vudun and the Abrahamic religions of Islam and Christianity. Each religious culture places high value on the power of the spoken word, therefore, it becomes imperative to counter-act words with words.

Michael enjoys this statement because, as apart of the Nigerian Diaspora, he is currently displaced. The reenactment of statements of this sort remind him of home and provide an initial common, vernacular ground between himself and other members of the Nigerian Diaspora.

Context of performance: As aforementioned, the term is usually employed only as a reaction against disrespect.

Thoughts: The phrase, to me, has a natural link to the Abrahamic “eye for and eye, tooth for a tooth” philosophy or, in more colloquial American terms, “fight fire with fire.” It’s interesting to notice similarities within rather disparate cultures. My initial thought would be that such crossover would exist simply because we live in an increasingly globalized world but that wouldn’t make sense historically. I suppose, such similarities suggest that there’s a fundamental human attitudes that occur across cultures.

 

 

Balloon Volleyball

Nationality: American, Greek
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: April 20, 2018
Primary Language: English

“On Christmas Eve, my whole family would play balloon volleyball. We took blankets and quilts from all of the rooms in the house and make a line down the middle of the living room. The walls were like the ‘boundaries’. There was no net, so it was pretty lax, just like a line in the middle.”

 

“It was nice because the balloon took so long to fall, so it was easy for all of us to play, like the old people and the kids. It was a very inclusive game.”

 

“We were supposed to play until someone got to 21 points, but we never finished. We always ended up in a dog pile or something, some cute family stuff. My dog would run in and ruin the game sometimes and pop the balloon.”

 

“My mom’s from San Jose, in the Bay area. My dad was born in Dayton, Ohio, but then moved to Athens when he was little, so he spent most of his life there.”

 

“I think we just made up the game on the fly. There isn’t any traditional game like that, that my parents played with their families when they were little. Or not that I know of. I think we played because it wasn’t too aggressive and it was something that we could all enjoy and participate in as a family.”

 

“If you won you only got bragging rights, there was no prize or anything. Bragging rights went a long way in my family though, like I would run around yelling ‘I’m the balloon ball king’ if I ever won.”

 

My Interpretations of this story:

 

Through my research, I have noticed that a lot of childhood games stem from other games such as sporting matches, but in less intense forms. This makes a lot of sense, because those games and matches are no place for a child. It is important to teach your children health competition in a way that allows them to succeed but additionally shows them that winning is not the most important thing. It is also important to get children active and involved, so it makes sense that games like balloon volleyball are being create and played throughout the world. Personally, I have played many different versions of balloon volleyball and find that in addition to being really fun, these modified games are much more inclusive. Scheduled and planned sporting games and events with all these rules are not structured for children, at least in the beginning. It is important to establish an identity of a child before sending them into a rough competitive world, because that will affect their development and future traits that come. Also, I believe that it depends on what type of culture you stem from. More individualist societies, like over here in the United States, stress the importance of individual success and flourishment, which can change the childhood gaming experience. Some parents might not want their kids to participate in such easy going and fun games because it causes them to lose their competitive edge, drive, and grit, which are highly valued characteristics in their culture.

5 girls and a Ouija Board

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: April 16th, 2018
Primary Language: English

“It was over the summer after my senior year of high school, so June 2016. We were all sitting in my friends ’s backyard, like 5 or 6 of us, just hanging out and listening to music and stuff. I guess a couple days before that she had borrowed someone’s Ouija board and you know, we were at a sleepover and that’s the kind of stuff girls do at a sleep over. So we open the board and it’s just your classic Ouija board, probably from target or something, with all the letters lined up and a couple words like yes, no, hello, goodbye, etcetera.  We all put our hands on the moving piece thing and start asking questions. We kept asking if anyone was there and nothing happened. Then we started to ask personal questions, like about boys, friends, and life and stuff, and still nothing happened. We all promised beforehand that nobody was going to move it to make sure that it was just one of our friends messing with us. After a couple more times asking if anybody was there we gave up and all took our hands off. My friend went to grab the moving thing and as she picked it up my other friend screamed and then everybody started screaming, I think just because her scream scared them though. When my friend picked up the thing, my other friend noticed there was a glow in the dark arrow pointed to the word goodbye. I was a little freaked out but figured that was just some weird trick thing with the board. It wasn’t until like 20 minutes later when the front door randomly swung open that I started to get sketched out. Nobody was around it, we were all in the kitchen and it just swung open. We were all just like ‘did we awaken a ghost?’.

 

“I know that my friend had recently redone her house, so I feel like that means there can’t be a haunted spirit or anything from the people that lived there before. Maybe it doesn’t work like that though and it’s more based on the people rather than the place”

 

“I honestly have no explanation or thoughts as to why the door swung open. I don’t really get how that could happen. Like, it’s a shut door.”

 

“I’ve never seen her door swing open like that and I don’t remember her saying anything about it happening before.”

 

“I don’t necessarily think that it was a ghost, if it was that easy to call upon a spirit or something it would happen a lot more. The door thing was super weird, but I guess something could’ve just happened to the lock or something.”

 

My interpretation of the story:

 

Personally, Ouija boards to me that are sold at Target or Toys R Us are just a child’s game. I’ve seen in movies more intricate Ouija boards that involve a lot of aspects that seem as though they could work. Based on this story, I think the two events were unrelated. The door opening could simply be because it wasn’t shut all of the way and the wind opened it up. The interesting part is that over the summer in Florida, where the story takes place, it’s not very windy. With that in mind, I still do not believe that it was a ghost that was called upon by the Ouija board by the storyteller and her friends. With no known haunted background of the house or the general area and the fact that the house was redone makes me believe that it was simply just a Ouija board trick and so faulty door hinges.

Is it a sign?

Nationality: European, Asian
Age: 24
Occupation: Sales Associate
Performance Date: April 13, 2018
Primary Language: English

“I was sitting at a sales convention in Orlando and nobody was stopping at my booth. It was a tough year for business and I found myself thinking about the existence of God, you know, just something to think about in my boredom. I remember thinking exactly ‘I just need a sign or something to know’ you know? Not even a minute after that I get a call from my wife telling me that she and my two daughters have gotten into a car accident with a Faith Farms Ministries truck. It was a minor accident and nobody ended up being hurt, but it was clearly no coincidence.”

 

“It was 2010 around the time of Rosh Hashanah, I think probably mid-September. I wasn’t planning on going to the convention because of the holiday, but business was not doing well that year and we needed all the help we could get. We decided it would be fine since I was going to Yom Kippur services.  Just the whole thing, the religious holiday and everything, it was all too much to be coincidental.”

 

My Interpretation of the story:

 

When I first heard this story I felt that it was too much to be just a coincidence. The storyteller asked a question to God and it seemed as though God answered. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this story, to me, seems like an instance of wanting something to be true. I recently have watched a video online that described how the human brain can put so much energy into wanting something that to them it happens. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are making it up in their head, rather using what happens around them to support their desires. I believe that this is the case in the story with the storyteller. As it seems in the beginning, the storyteller is questioning the existence of God, but I believe they are just looking for more assurance. People have the need to reassure themselves, it’s a natural human instinct. Personally, I do not believe this was a sign from God, but at the same time, I do not believe it wasn’t. I think it is possible especially because nobody knows for sure how or why we are here and if there are higher powers. I would need a more than this “sign” to confirm my beliefs.

Proverb: Love is like a Tomato

Nationality: Former Soviet Union/Ukranian/Russian
Age: 46
Occupation: Interior Designer
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/9/18
Primary Language: Russian
Language: Ukranian, English

Main Piece: Proverb

Original:

Прошла любовь, завяли помидоры.

Phonetic:

Proshla lyubov’, zavyali pomidory.

Literal translation:

Love has passed, tomatoes have withered.

Actual translation:

The love was a crush and it passed quickly.

Background Information:

  • Why does informant know this piece?

This was told to her by her friends.

  • Where did they learn this piece?

The Soviet Union.

  • What does it mean to them?

If she hears it, it means she had a silly crush and has quickly moved on.

Context:

This proverb is told to young people, usually young girls but can be boys, when they have a crush and quickly move on either from liking the person to hating them, or to another person.

Personal Thoughts:

I find this proverb to be very amusing, comparing a person’s feelings to a tomato that has withered, especially since tomatoes are not a food that is commonly associated with anything romantic. Usually when young people hear this proverb, they are insulted at first, because it seems to diminish the value of their feelings, but they find it funnier as they get older and realize those feelings were not nearly as important or significant as they seemed.