Monthly Archives: April 2020

Good Luck Shower at Bat Mitzvah

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Charleston, SC
Performance Date: April 26, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main piece:

The following conversation is transcribed from a phone conversation between the interviewer and the informant.

Informant: So when I was 13, is when I was Bat Mitzvah’ed. Like, coming into my womanhood or whatever. It’s a big deal that all Jewish girls go through. There’s an hour and a half long service, I read from the Torah, I chant my prayers, I wear a really pretty dress.

Interviewer: And you get to choose the dress?

Informant: Oh yes, and getting a dress you want is a big deal. I got to choose my own. Anyways, all of my family and friends are there and there’s a baller party after. But after the service, there is tradition that the congregation will “shower me with good luck and sweetness.” What that means is everyone in the synagogue throws gummy candy at me. It’s supposed to be a loving act but people usually throw to hard and it ends up hurting a little.

Interviewer: What kind of candies were thrown? And is there significance in the types of candies?

Informant: Not really, it was a random assortment of candies. I specifically remember Jolly Ranchers hurting the most, because you know, out of the gummies they’re the hardest. I got hit in between my eyes with a grape flavored Jolly Rancher, and I avoid that flavor even till this day.

Interviewer: Is there any bad intent in throwing these candies hard? Or is it strictly an act of showing blessings and kindness?

Informant: I think it comes out of good means. It’s just that anytime little kids and throwing any objects is involved, and especially when the target is your friend, they tend to get jokey and try to throw it hard. But it’s a light hearted prank, kinda like cake-facing someone at their birthday.

Background:

My informant is a 19 year old college student who comes from an Ashkenazi descent. She grew up in a family which practiced the religion, and she was exposed to the culture from a very young age. Her three siblings also practice the religion with her, and Judaism is a big part of her family tradition. She comes from a large family with plenty of Jewish relatives, so Bat Mitzvah for her was a big deal.

Context:

I was aware of the general concept of Bat Mitzvah, but I was never sure what specifically went down during the process. I had asked my informant to describe the most interesting thing that happened at her Bat Mitzvah, and this shower of good luck was her choice. The conversation happened over phone, where I was in Los Angeles (2:00 pm PST) apartment while the informant was in South Carolina (5:00 pm EDT) in her house, in her room.

Thoughts:

Learning about this tradition reminded me of how different cultures utilize candies to represent good luck. My mind went immediately to piñatas, Trick o’ Treat, and Easter egg hunts. Candies are sweet, and it’s that sweetness that makes humans associate it with good luck and a ‘sweet life’. Imagining being a 13 year old getting showered with candies by my loved ones, it definitely made me happy.

Common New York Slang: Brick

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: NY
Performance Date: 04/25/20
Primary Language: English

Y: New York is just one of those places where when it’s cold…  it’s COLD cold. But in New York, we don’t say it’s cold outside, we say it’s brick outside.

This is definitely one of those slang terms that is practically branded by the region that uses it. It’s possible that the reason New Yorkers use the word “brick” to refer to the drops in temperature is that it’s extremely telling of what city it’s from. During the development of New York, and up to this day, the vast majority of the buildings were made out of brick. If you’ve ever touched the side of a brick house during the winter months, you’d know that the material absorbs the surrounding temperature. In fact, however cold it is outside, bricks usually feel ten times colder. However, the further you get from the general city area, the more buildings you’ll see made out of brick. That being said, it’s possible that this slang term is generally used by New Yorkers who live in a more suburban area like the Bronx or Queens, for example.

Common DMV Slang: Sice

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: MD
Performance Date: 04/27/20
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic

K: Every time you can tell someone is just straight-up lying or exaggerating over a situation, they’re sicing it. Sice is just slang for excited or exaggerated. It’s almost like lying but not quite. They’re just making a bigger deal out of what’s really going on. So whenever I hear someone just being overly dramatic, I tell them to stop sicing it up.

DMV= DC, Maryland, Virginia

For the DMV area, this is a very popular slang term. According to the context given by K, it’s safe to say that the culture associated with this region definitely has strong feelings towards dramatic actions. This isn’t something that is at all tolerated which says a lot about how important full honesty is for this group. It’s a good thing to speak your truth but save yourself the embarrassment of being called out for any obvious embellishments.

USC Folklore: The Legend of Nikolay

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 04/22/20
Primary Language: English

M: There was this running joke at USC about this weird dude named Nikolay. No one knew who he really was and no one had proof that he even existed. But this became the focus of a lot of USC jokes on twitter and on this app called Herd. People would post random pictures from memes and be like “meet Nikolay”. There was this one time when Fluor Tower flooded and people on Herd would say Nikolay is to blame. I can assure you this man does NOT exist but it’s just funny to refer to him during any situation. His entire existence is just a meme.

Above is an example of a student referencing Nikolay on Herd. Herd is an anonymous social media app that was designed specifically for college students to speak their minds on any topic they choose. Many USC memes either emerged from this app or made its way onto the platform via Twitter or Facebook. The existence of Nikolay has not been proven nor disproven by any means which makes it more of a USC legend. Nikolay has been a central focus in USC meme culture. Only those who indulge in USC meme culture would be familiar with him. This is a way for USC students to pull each other’s legs. It also says something about youth culture and their humor. It’s apparent that the funniest jokes are the ones that make no sense at all.

The Story Bag

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Performance Date: April 2nd
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

This is a transcription of the story as told by the informant.

The Story Bag is about this guy who, every time he met someone new he would ask them to tell him a story and he would put that story in his bag. And then he got older and he was about to get married. And he hung it on the wall and one of his servants heard the voices on the wall. The stories had been packed together for so long that they hated this guy. The servant heard the stories talk about how they were going to turn into poison berries for the man to eat, poison water for the man to drink, and an iron skewer so that when he dismounted his horse he would step on it. They were also going to become snakes that were poisonous and hide in the man’s wedding chamber. The servant decided that he was going to stop it. So the next day when the man went to go get married he was about to eat the berries and the servant stopped him. He stopped him from looking into the water too which was poisonous. The servant pretended to fall and pushed him away from the skewer. In the bridal chamber, the servant ran in and cut up all the snakes. He told the master that he heard the stories on the wall and that he can’t keep the stories in a bag because stories are meant to be told.

Background:

This folktale was a story told to the informant by their Korean grandmother. The informant is Korean-American and was told many Korean folktales as a child. This story was told to them before they would go to bed. It reminds them of comfort and childhood.

Context:

This story was told from memory as I was discussing family traditions with the informant. The informant told me that their family would tell folktales all the time.

Thoughts:

This folktale can easily be interpreted as a fable. It is very straightforward and explains the need for stories to be told to other people. In many cultures, sharing stories is a way of staying connected to their history and ancestors. This story was able to captivate the audience of children and teach them a valuable lesson. This story helps perpetuate the tradition of telling folktales in Korean culture and passing stories down from one generation to the next.