Author Archives: acchrist

Ginger Root Cures the Fever

Nationality: American
Age: 59
Occupation: Family Therapist
Residence: Dallas, Texas
Performance Date: 3/20/16
Primary Language: English

Gale recalls a memory from her childhood when she was growing up in Houston, Texas. Her neighbors, who were from Vietnam, introduced her to folk medicine used in their culture.

 

G: “When we lived in Houston, our neighbors were from Vietnam, and the dad told us that in Vietnam they didn’t have any aspirins or medicines or anything, so if you got a fever, they would take a ginger root and cut part of it off, and then they would take the freshly cut part and rub it on the bottoms of your feet, and that would make your fever go down. When I heard that I was thinking, “Oh my gosh! What a bunch of Malarky this is, you know!”

 

“And so then later, I was reading an article. It was talking about how porous the palms of our hands are and the bottoms of our feet. It was saying that stuff will get through it, and so this article was saying that if you cut an onion and rubbed, you know, the freshly cut part on the palms of your hand, within just a little bit you’ll taste onion on your tongue. And so I was like,” Oh! that reminds me of rubbing the ginger root on your foot!” And then later, I was reading this article about natural remedies, and it was saying that ginger root would reduce your fever. Yeah, and so then I decided, well that probably wasn’t malarky after all. That was, you know, folklore that was really true.”

 

Although I had an idea that the surfaces of our feet and palms on our hands were naturally more sensitive to touch,  I actually didn’t know they were considered porous. It seems strange to me that we can rub a substance on our palms and perhaps later taste that same substance in our mouths. I thought this story was interesting because it tells of a natural, folk remedy apart of the Vietnamese culture. This idea that ginger root can cure fevers is vastly different from American solutions. In America, we don’t seem to have a many unusual remedies. Maybe this is due to our economic stability that has allowed for advanced medicine in the United States that doesn’t require Americans to find alternative therapies for illnesses. Although some certain remedies may seem bizarre or uncommon, they become popular over time, being passed down from generations on because of their effectiveness on patients. I think it is also important to note one of the reasons that many minority groups turn to “natural” remedies is because of a lack of access to health care services in their environment in the first place. For more information on ginger spice as a cure for common illnesses, see

“Ginger to Cure Many Diseases.” – SPICES VIETNAM. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

 

Rice at the Filipino Wedding

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 19
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/16
Primary Language: Tagalog
Language: English

 

The informant is a freshman at USC. She’s from the Philippines, where she was born and raised. She talks about why it’s tradition to throw rice at Philippine weddings.

 

Chelsea: “Okay so in my culture, in the Philippines, when people get married, instead of flowers, they throw rice.”

 

Me:” Like the flower girl ?”

 

Chelsea: “Yeah, like the flower girl. She throws grains of rice. Like, uncooked grains of rice. All around. And then apparently it’s supposed to give you good luck and it makes you prosperous and it’s to make the couple lucky.”

 

Me: “Okay, so who told you that?”

 

Chelsea: “My aunt told me.”

 

Me: “And what does it mean to you?”

 

Chelsea: “I love rice (laughs) and I don’t think you should waste it like that.”

 

Me: “So when your grandma got married and your mom got married, did they throw rice?”

 

Chelsea: “I don’t know but when my aunt got married, my cousin and I were the flower girls and we had to throw rice.”

 

Me: “So in your country, it’s good luck and prosperity?”

 

Chelsea: “Yes.”

 

It’s interesting that this folklore piece is an integration of symbolism and superstition with wedding rituals. In the Philippines, rice is thrown and symbolic of prosperity, while American culture uses flowers as the element of life and good fortune. I then wonder if American culture has a flower girl, would the technical term for Philippines be a ‘ rice girl’ ?…

For more folklore on Philippine Wedding customs, visit  “Philippine Wedding Customs and Superstitions.” Asian Recipes. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Watermelon Wilson

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/16
Primary Language: English

The informant is a Freshman at USC studying Biology. As a young boy, he learned many lessons from his grandfather. He tells about his experience with his grandfather trying to get him to eat watermelon at a family picnic.

 

Donovan: “Okay so my grandfather was the one who told me the story of Watermelon Wilson. My grandfather was a man of few words and everything I learned from him was from watching him and taking his example and examining his presence as the man of the house. And I remember we were at a picnic, it was just a family picnic we had at the park nearby.”

Me: “How long ago was this?”

Donovan: “I was about 7 years old. We had annual picnics. So for some reason, I didn’t trust the watermelon they were serving. Somebody ate it and said it wasn’t good so I was not trying to try it. And my grandpa picked out some good pieces for me because he wanted me to eat it, and I was refusing. So he sat me down and asked if I like watermelon, and I said “I don’t know if I like watermelon” and he said, “all black people like watermelon”. Then he tells me this story. The story is about this guy named Watermelon Wilson, and Watermelon Wilson was the first person to ever carry around a lot of watermelons. He carried them around with him and tried to get people to try them. So one day he comes to this community of black people and there’s this little house that everyone was scared to go in. So he’s passing out the watermelon: some people are trying it, and some people aren’t. So there’s this teenager. This little black teenager. He goes up to Watermelon Wilson and he says “I’ve never had a watermelon and I don’t plan on trying one.” Watermelon Wilson says “Okay, I’ll make you a bet. If you spend the night in the haunted shack, I will never try to give you watermelon ever again”. So the kid goes to the shack at night, falls asleep, and wakes up to a demon staring at him. The demon says, “If you don’t eat your watermelon, you’re coming with me.” So the teenager gets up and runs all the way back, straight to Watermelon Wilson and says “I want every watermelon you have, right now.” So he and Watermelon Wilson go spread the word about how good watermelon is.”

Me: “To the black community?”

Donovan: “Yeah, so that black community got it, and then they spread the word to the other communities, and now all black people supposedly like watermelon.”

Me: “So when your grandpa told you about the story, you started eating watermelon?”

Donovan: “Yup.”

Me: “So why is that story significant to you?”

Donovan: “Because I love watermelon to this day. But most importantly, that was the first time my grandfather sat me down and told me a story. Ya know, most grandparents want to give you those stories, and that was the first one I got from him.”

I personally find this story really random but interesting. I too, am half African American, but I’ve never heard the story of Watermelon Wilson. I’d be curious to know if there are other versions of this narrative within the African american community. It’s also interesting that the story implies that black culture embraces the stereotype that all African Americans like watermelon. It gives them a unique identity of their own. Although I don’t know that I would’ve believed the story or understood the associations of demons with watermelon, the story was a fun listen. I also admired the informant’s significance of associating Watermelon Wilson as an important bonding moment for him and his grandfather.

Ghost at ‘4-H’ Camp

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/16
Primary Language: English

The informant is a Freshman at USC studying Biology. He used to attend a camp every year from the time he started elementary school up until the end of middle school. He shares a ghost story he heard one evening at a campfire meeting at ‘4-H Camp’.

 

Donovan: “I was 13 years old at 4-H camp and every night we always came together for campfire stories, that’s how we ended the day. And it was the night before the last night of camp and it was the counselors’ turn to come up with a story, so they gave us all this ghost story. And the story was about this boy named Timothy. Timothy was in 4-H camp all his life and his favorite part about camp was the campfires at the end of the day so one night, instead of leaving the campfire after everyone had left, he asked if he could stay and reminisce for a minute so the counselors let him do that.”

Me: “Was this at the camp?”

Donovan: “Yeah, same campsite, same everything. SO Timothy was alone and, the thing is, he gets so into watching the fire that he can’t blink. So he’s staring at the fire and doesn’t put it out. So the entire night, he’s sitting at the fire, thinking about his life, and then when everyone wakes up to come back to the campsite, he’s gone. They have these little meetings in the morning at the campsite and when they came in that morning, Timothy was gone and the fire is still burning. So, like, the from that day on, no one ever saw Timothy again. So the story is that if you stay out too late after curfew, then, if you look out towards the campsite, you can see Timothy’s red eyes staring back at you – Basically saying “Look, you better go to bed when they tell you too because I didn’t and look at me.” And another thing is, they say that if you stand near the ice cooler, then you’ll see his handprint on the window.”

Me: “So what happened to poor Timothy?”

Donovan: “They say that a bear got him because he stayed out too late and the bear was drawn to the fire.”

Me: “So was Timothy was real kid?”

Donovan: “Yes, Timothy was a real kid.”

Me: “How long ago did the story take place?”

Donovan: “Let’s see.. I was at camp when I was 13, so 6 years ago, and they said the story took place 10 years before that. So 16 years ago.”

Me: “Okay so how did that affect your experience at camp?”

Donovan: “So from that point on, I stayed inside my room after curfew. And it created a mystery at camp among the campers, so some of us made bets to see who would stay up the longest and see if we saw the eyes in the distance, and some people say they saw the eyes and some people say the saw the handprint. I was not one of those people, but still. It made camp a lot more fun.”

The story is a little creepy but, nevertheless, sparks my interest. I think the informant was smart to stay indoors past curfew. I’m not sure if the story is true, but this narrative can be an example of how some legends are meant to scare children into conforming to the rules, so that they are more obedient and less resistant.

Harvest Moon Festival

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/27/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

The informant is a junior at USC. She is of Chinese origin, but was born and raised in America. Kim talks about the Harvest Moon Festival and elaborates on what the festival means to her and the Chinese culture.

 

Kim: “It falls on, like, August 15th on the Lunar calendar, and that’s usually around September on our calendar, and it’s actually my chinese birthday because I was born on that holiday”

 

Me: “Are you gonna go home and see your family and stuff?”

 

Kim: “Well we’ll be in school, but I’ll go home on the weekend. The moon is, like, really important to the chinese culture and lunar calendar. And also, like, back when people were farm raised in agriculture, they relied on the moon and they would know, like, if these crops were good…Harvest moon, I think, is, like, the biggest harvest of the year or something, and it’s also the biggest full moon. So if you look in the sky, it’ll be the brightest and the biggest.”

 

Me: “So is it, like, a celebration of like agriculture?”

 

Kim: “Yeah, it used to be, but right now it’s just another holiday where we get together and stuff.”

 

Me: “So you get together and you, like, cook?”

 

Kim: “Yeah, we eat together and then the biggest things that you eat are mooncakes, which is…”

 

Me:”… symbolic of the moon?”

 

Kim: “Yeah, like, one thing that’s interesting is that, ya know, in America, the moon is, like, a dark story thing?”

 

Me: “Yeah, it’s more like a spooky, like werewolfs…”

 

Kim: “Yeah, but in Chinese culture, it’s a very good thing, like, it’s bright and warm.”

 

Me: “ Is there anything else specifically to this holiday that’s specific to celebrating it?”

 

Kim: “Usually we’ll go to like the temple.”

 

Me: “Is it like the Chinese temple?”

 

Kim: “Buddhist. I don’t know if that it’s only because my family is buddhist that we go to temple.”

 

Me: “That’s just what YOU do?”

 

Kim: “I’m not sure, because I know a lot of Chinese people are Christian, like more so than buddhist and they may go to temple also. But yeah, the temples have big celebrations too and have dragon dances for the holiday too.”

 

Me: “Oh dragon dances? Cool! So why is this holiday significant or not significant? Like, what does it mean to you and your family?”

 

Kim: “Just another reason for us to come together, because we don’t usually celebrate Christmas and other things. Like they aren’t big for us, but this is big for us. And then mooncakes are always a big deal. Like, you’ll go to your relatives houses just to bring them mooncakes and we’ll have so many.”

 

Me: “So does your mom bake mooncakes every year?”

 

Kim: “I think some people do, but we just buy them.”

 

Me: “That’s so interesting because I wonder what it tastes like. Is it like vanilla?”

 

Kim: “No, it has its own taste.”

 

Me: “Is it, like, hard to describe?”

 

Kim: “I mean, I don’t like it”

 

Me: “What would you compare the taste to?”

 

Kim: “like, oreo?”

 

Me: “So does it even taste like cake?”

 

Kim: “No not like our cake, like spongy, bread cake. It’s like a paste.Sometimes they stuff it with red bean, which is sweet. It’s like a desert, kind of.”

The moon seems to be another important symbol in Chinese culture. In fact, Many different cultures have different meanings and affiliations associated with the moon, but the lunar cycle is something worth celebrating for Chinese families. Unlike Chinese culture,  agriculture and the Harvest season are not greatly emphasized in American society. This could be due to modern America being both urbanized and industrialized where farming and agriculture aren’t common practices.