Author Archives: Angela Lee

Mirrors

Nationality: Korean
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Tokyo, Japan, Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/2014
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese, Korean

Mirror Ghost

If you sleep with your head/face toward the mirror then the ghost in the mirror will come out and chop off your head. I heard this from my parents when I was in elementary school and I got my first room. I asked them by the bedframe was facing away from the mirror and not toward it and they told me this story.

The Analysis:

This was a ghost story that his parents told him to spook my friend as a child. He mentioned, however, that many of his friends also shared similar stories that were told by their respective parents as a child. The ghost would not always come out from a mirror but maybe spring out from under the bed, from the closet, or a window. It appears that parents use ghosts and scary stories as a means of keeping their children tucked into bed throughout the night, and leaving them to stay still and not clamber around the room.

Good Luck Before A Big Day

Nationality: Korean American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, ca
Performance Date: 4/18/2014
Primary Language: English

Good Luck Before A Big Day

The Superstition:

I know for exams, if you accidentally break a utensil or a plate on the day before a really big day, then you’re going to succeed. I guess it’s following the idea that you lose something then you gain something. But it has to be broken on accident, not on purpose.

The Analysis:

The idea truly follows the logic that when one loses something one also gains something else. The broken object signifies the loss. It is also similar to the idea that the storm must come before the calm, or one must get through the night before it becomes day. Nothing comes free in this world and to gain is ultimately to lose.

The Hat

Nationality: Korean American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/18/2014
Primary Language: English

The Hat

My friend was born in the U.S. He is currently a second year at USC.

The riddle goes like this:

Q: There are three people who were abducted by an alien. They are each blindfolded and put in a straight line. They are told that there are two black hats and a white hat. Each one of the abducted people is wearing either a white hat or a black hat. The last person in line can see both people’s heads in front of him, the second person can only see the first person’s head, and the first person can’t see anything. The alien then says that if they can guess the correct color of the hats, then they will be let free. Who speaks up and what answer would he give?

A: The person standing last in line would speak up only if he sees that the hats in front of him are the same color. If the colors were opposites then person in the middle would speak up. The middle guy would know that the person behind him is quiet because the hats in front of him are two different colors. By this deduction, the man in the middle knows that whichever color hat he is wearing is the opposite of the hat color he sees in front of him, and the same as the color of the hat color behind him.

The Analysis:

Me: Where did you hear this riddle?

J: My friend, Daniel Chun.

Me: When did you hear it?

J: I heard it about a month and a half ago. After sophomore accountability, we were just chilling in another friend’s room.

Me: Do you guys do this often?

J: Oh yeah, we just chill, share stories, talk, and stuff.

 

It should be noted that there was a similar riddle to this one about hats and prisoners but without aliens.

 

Tears and Laughter Together Are Bad Luck

Nationality: Korean
Age: 51
Occupation: Engineer
Residence: Cupertino, CA
Performance Date: 3/18/2014
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English (minimal)

Tears and Laughter Together Are Bad Luck

울고 웃고 그러면 똥구멍에 털이나온다.

엉덩이에 뿔난다 울다가 웃으면.

엉덩이에 뿔나는거는 나쁜의미인거야. 아빠도 잘 모르지만 그냥 나쁜거야.

친구들 도 다 그런얘기헸고 엄마한테도듯고.

사람이 아니라는거지. 짐승이 된다는거지.

If you start laughing in the midst of crying, you will grow hair out of your butt. Small horns will also grow out of your butt. When horns and hair grow out of your butt, it has a bad connotation.

 

It was spread amongst the younger generation in the 1970s in South Korea. It signifies that you have turned into an animal or are becoming a beast. Humans don’t have fur or anything coming out of their butts but some animals do.

Overall, the moral of the saying is that you should choose which mood you are in – do not be bipolar or wishy-washy. Literally it is saying that you should either cry or laugh, don’t try to do both. It transcends this literal situation to imply that one shouldn’t desire to do everything in life. Ultimately everyone has to pick and choose in life and cannot attempt to do everything or gain everything. Only bad things will come out of it if so.

Dung Dreams

Nationality: Korean
Age: 50
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Cupertino, CA
Performance Date: 3/17/2014
Primary Language: Korean

Dung Dreams

똥싸는거는, 옛잘에 소가 똥을싸잖아, 소가 길에있는것들 다 막 먹고 똥을싸. 사람들은 지나가다가 길에 많이 이것저것 잃어버리잖아. 그래서 그것들을 소가 먹고 똥을싸. 소 똥에 엽전 (coin)이 나오는거야. 소 똥을 뒤집으면 밑에 엽전있을수있는거지. 똥이 좋다는 얘기는 소 똥이야 사람 똥이 아니고. 오직 소 똥.

 Long time ago, everyone had cows, everyone who farmed. The cows would walk along side the road, the same road as humans did. When humans traveled, they naturally dropped things here and there. The cows would eat this up, whatever it was. And so when it pooped, there was a chance that yeobjeon, coins (the form of money back then) could turn up. That’s why dreams with cow dung are a sign of good luck – not human poop but only cow dung.