Author Archives: Connie Mak

Family Tradition

Nationality: Irish, German, Czechoslovakian, Polish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Colorado
Primary Language: English

“The Green Stuff is a kind of dessert that’s been passed down through my family. We don’t really know the actual name for it so we just call it ‘The Green Stuff.’ As far as I remember, it includes pistachio pudding, um I think it’s a graham cracker crust…I’m not really sure of that part. Um, whipped cream, and cream cheese. Um, my sister started making it for Thanksgiving and special events but um before that like, uh, my grandmother was the one who made it the most. It’s kinda like a pie, I mean you can cut it, but it has no top. It’s like uh, it’s kinda like pudding with a crust sorta thing. I’m pretty sure you mix the pudding and the cream cheese together, and then…you lay down the crust and then after that you put it in the fridge for a while and it sits. And then you layer the pistachio stuff. It’s usually for special occasions. We usually eat it at Thanksgiving although we’ve made it at Christmas sometimes because we like it so much. This is from my father’s side, who’s Irish. I’m not really sure how many generations the Green Stuff’s been passing down…at least three I guess. Um, besides that I’m not really sure where my grandmother got it from, probably from her mom or something. And what’s most interesting now is that my sister took it with her into her convent when she became a nun and they, um, specifically asked for the recipe and all the nuns really love it so it’s now branching out. I have heard of other people with desserts called the Green Stuff but I don’t know how it compares with ingredients to ours.”

The Green Stuff seems like a fun tradition because it makes everyone the family looks forward to the holidays even more because they get to eat the delicious dessert. It seems like the recipe for making the Green Stuff is quite simple and informal (like its title suggests) and can, therefore, be easily altered based on the preferences of each generation or whoever is preparing it.

Holiday – France

Nationality: French, Swedish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Paris, France
Primary Language: French
Language: English

“So um this holiday is celebrated around Epiphany which is at the beginning of January…usually the 6th of January. What we do in France is that we make this cake which is called…well I guess the literal translation would be ‘King Cake’ and we bake it before, during, and after the 6th of January to celebrate the Epiphany. And my mom usually makes the cake and she usually makes more than one ‘cause we really enjoy eating it. And it’s also sold like everywhere in France. Like, you see it in bakeries and it’s really popular. In French it’s called ‘Galette des Rois.’ I know it’s made up of…um, I know it has like almond paste in it. And also, the special thing about it is there’s this charm in the middle of it and the point of having this cake is um when you are about to cut it, the youngest person that’s at the table goes under the table and calls out who’s gonna get the piece so that it’s like a fair way to get the charm. So, for example, like my sister usually goes ‘cause she’s the youngest and my mom says ‘Who’s this for?’ and she would say um you or my dad or me or my brother and then that person would get the fair piece and shouldn’t know where the charm was ‘cause sometimes you can see it like through the cake so that way like she doesn’t know anything and we all get it fairly…well, if we do get it. I guess the reward is you get this crown which you can buy them and they’re just made of…um, cardboard I guess. And you get to be King for the day and if you’re a girl you get to be Queen. Well you also choose your, well if you’re a king you can choose your queen and if you’re queen you can choose your king for the day. It’s just for fun mostly. I mean, it’s like really widespread ‘cause they’re available everywhere like in bakeries and I mean I’m sure most people do it or like, if they don’t make ‘em then they buy them in bakeries and it’s just like…I mean, it’s a Christian holiday but it’s become more like a tradition than a religious holiday that everyone celebrates. It’s usually my mom who prepares the cake. I think it’s usually whoever knows how to make the cake makes it. She didn’t do this when she was growing up ‘cause her family is Swedish-American so they don’t have this tradition but on my dad’s side they did it ‘cause they’re French. And if we go to there place during, um, that time of the year, we usually get it too. And they also have these cakes at schools and stuff so if you’re at school… it’s like a really widespread festivity I guess. And at school you get it, like at the office they usually have it for people and then whoever gets it is recognized as king…or queen. I don’t know where my mom got the recipe ‘cause, I mean, there’s tons of different ones. She might have gotten it from my grandma but I mean, I think mostly the recipes’ similar it’s just like knowing how to make it more puffy than others ‘cause it’s hard to do that I guess.”

Upon further research, I learned that the King Cake is to honor the Three Wise Men who visited the birth of Jesus, “the newborn king of kings in Bethlehem.” More information about the Galette des Rois can be found in the essay “Les Galettes des Rois: The Eating of Fine Art.”

Annotation: Bauman, James. “Les Galettes des Rois: The Eating of Fine Art”. The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing. Ten Speed Press: December 2002. Page 207-215.

Children’s Game – France

Nationality: French, Swedish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Paris, France
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: French
Language: English

“Well, I used to play this game when I was in primary school so basically like from first grade to about…I dunno. I mean I haven’t played ‘til like I was in fifth grade. And basically it was during recess and we would start playing with our marbles! And uh what we would do, we would have like a fanny pack of our marbles and if you wanted to play with someone you would go see someone who had marbles and you’d say ‘Hey, do you wanna play marbles?’ and if they said yes, then you’d compare each other’s marbles and you’d decide on…well, each of you would decide on one marble that you would want to play and they had to be of equal value. So…I mean, if you had one little one, you’d have to play with another little one and then if you had big ones you had to play with big ones or if you had one really nice one you could play like two for one nice one so there’s this like whole set of rules that you had to follow and basically once you decide you both throw the marbles on the floor and then the point of the game is trying to like flick the marble I guess and make it touch the other one and the person who touches the other marble first wins both marbles. I mean, they win theirs back and they win the other person’s marble. Well, there isn’t an official standard for deciding the value of marbles…I mean, I don’t even remember how I found out, it’s probably like through playing and someone’s like ‘No, that’s not worth this’…I mean there’s like, obviously the big ones are worth more than the little ones but then they have little ones that are made of lead that are really like popular and everyone, like, covets them ‘cause they’re like better for going in a straight line so if the marble is in your direction, you flick it and it probably will go in a straight line and touch the other one so those are really, like, nice marbles to have so yeah there’s not really like a rulebook…you kinda learn through other people. I think this is played in other schools too ‘cause I mean like when I get to middle school and high school I would still remember stuff  and how I would use to play with marbles in recess and I remember talking about this with other people and I’ve even seen it in the movie Amelie…the little kid plays with marbles too. Like, it’s a really popular game in France. I mean I know my brother played when he went…we went to the same school – me and my sister – we all went to the same school and we all played marbles during recess and we all had marbles and we always wanted new ones and I’m sure other kids did it in other schools as well. I know that I started wanting some ‘cause the bigger kids had them and I guess that’s how it’s kept going for a while ‘cause like the bigger kids had them and the smaller, younger kids wanted to be like them and also play and have fun.”

This children’s game helps demonstrate how trends work among children. The younger children would see the older children play with something and would want to be like them so they would want to do the same things the older children are doing including playing the same games. It seems like, except for the lead marbles which are prized for their function and the larger marbles which are prized for their size, the value of the marbles would generally vary from game to game because different players would probably have different aesthetic preferences. It’s interesting that although these marble games are not officially taught by adults, the children already learn to take risks and gamble their possessions.

Märchen – Japan

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palo Alto, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2008
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English, French

“It’s called…Crane Gives Back? Whatever. Anyway, so there’s this one winter in Japan like in the countryside. There’s this like single young guy and he’s like living all alone, you know? And he’s like hunting in the uh, winter forest. And then he saw a crane, and it was trapped and it was bleeding. And the crane was white, and the blood was red, and the snow was white. And then, so he set it free and it flew away. And a couple of weeks later, um, he’s like in his room or in his house and he hears a knock on the door. And he goes there, and it’s like this beautiful woman in like a white kimono and she’s like ‘Oh, I want to be your wife.’ And he’s like ‘Oh ok whatever.’ Well I’m sure he was happy but it sounds weird right now. And then so um they’re like really happy together. And then I think one day she’s like ‘Oh I wanna help you. I wanna work. Do you have a…um, like a cloth-maker you know? Oh, but you can never peek inside the room when I’m making the cloth.’ And he’s like ‘Uh, weird. Ok whatever.’ And then so uh, she’s like spending days and days inside. She spends like two days inside, right? Like straight and she’s like clockety-clock. And then, she comes out and she has this most beautiful piece of kimono cloth ever. It’s like sparkly and it’s like really cool right? And he’s like ‘Oh damn’ you know? And then so he goes to the town and he sells it for a really high price and everyone’s like ‘Oh, I want one’ but he only has that one right? So he goes back and he’s like ‘Oh, can you make some more?’ And she’s like ‘Ok ok.’ And then that happens over and over and each time it takes longer and longer like five days a week straight inside there. And then, um uh, she’s like more and more tired each time. She’s like brain-dead almost. And then one day, he’s like ‘Oh I wonder what the secret is.’ And then he like peeks inside when she’s making it. And it’s like the crane and she’s picking out her own feathers to make the cloth and she’s all bleeding and stuff. And like, she’s like sacrificing her feathers right? And then, like, the crane sees the guy. And she’s like really startled so then she flies away and then she’s never to be seen again. She said something along the lines of…like, she tells him why she came. ‘Cause she owed him her life and wanted to give her life to him. I heard this story when I was little. I think this story’s values are giving back. Oh and save lives. Oh and do what you’re told. And keep a promise. Keep it.”

I think it’s interesting that, perhaps it’s because Kazuma grew up in California, his slang made the “performance” of this fairy tale seem less touching than it should be. Nevertheless, I agree with Kazuma that this fairy tale reflects values of gratitude and keeping promises. The man had saved the crane’s life so she wanted to thank him by sacrificing her feathers to make beautiful kimonos for him to sell. The man did not keep his promise and had peeked inside the room to see how she made those beautiful kimonos, which exposed her true identity. As a result, she left him and he lost a wonderful wife.

Joke

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palo Alto, CA
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English, French

“So there’s a pirate, right? He’s fighting and he’s like a captain right? And he has all this crew and he’s like ‘Oh yeah, I’m a hero!’ And then so like one day, he’s in a battle and then he goes ‘Shipmate or whatever, bring me the red shirt!’ And then uh he wears the red shirt and he goes into battle and then after the battle they win right? ‘Cause he’s victorious. And then the shipmate person’s like ‘Oh, why did you ask for the red shirt?’ And then the pirate guy was like ‘Oh ‘cause when I get stabbed I don’t want anyone to see the blood on me’ or whatever, you know? And then he does blah blah blah. And so yeah, he does that like all the time right? Ok. So then time passes. He hears like all these kings are tryin’ to like take revenge on the pirate so they’re sending all these troops over. So one day, he’s on the open sea and then he sees all these ships. And then uh, he’s like ‘Bring me my brown pants!!!’ ‘Cause he’s gonna shit his pants! Isn’t that funny? I heard it from my friend I think it’s funny because, um, you think the story’s gonna end in a heroic moment. However, he poos…he deposits his fecal matter in his pants and tries to hide it with brown pants. I believe that is very funny. It’s one of my favorite jokes…I think it’s funny. Yeah, it talks about fecal matter.”

I agree with Kazuma that it’s probably the surprise element at the end that makes the joke successful in being funny. Based on the setup of the story, the audience is expecting a heroic story with some sort of noble or glorified ending. Instead, it brings up a taboo subject that most people don’t really talk about: feces.