Author Archives: feldfebe

The Secret Location

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese
  1. My friend claims that there is a very specific location that he believes is among the few that know of it that actually helps with his thinking and concentration when he is there.

“There’s a place on the beach, you gotta walk along the shore a few miles away from the tourist-y parts, where I always go when I have a serious decision that I need to make in my life. I went there for the first time a few years ago, after hearing about this place from a friend, to help me think through a personal decision I had to make. As soon as I sat down in this specific spot, my mind felt like it cleared right up. The decision that I was struggling to make for months instantly became so simple. That’s how my friend described the place like too, and ever since then I’ve always come to this location when I’m dealing with similar issues.”

  1. My friend, the informant, actually learned about this location from a friend of his. Since every time they’ve visited this spot, they were able to concentrate far easier, they’ve always believed in its powers.
  2. A location that is significant to you is almost similar to having a lucky charm. It is significant to you because you believe in its worth and its power. If you do not believe in its value, then it simply will not work for you like how it works for others that do believe.
  3. My friend did not share this specific location with me, so unfortunately I was not able to test out its true powers for myself. I do believe that going to this location helped both of them make very significant life decisions, but I do attribute it to the placebo effect. If you believe in something enough, then it is true to you.

The Senior Prank Gone Wrong

Nationality: Hui
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese
  1. My friend told me about the worst senior prank to have ever been executed at his high school.

“So the seniors decided to do something REALLY big this year. They wanted to be different. To be remembered is the year that did THAT prank, what they believed to be the best prank you could ever have done. So you know what they did? They thought it’d be the greatest idea to start a food fight that involved the entire school. Only, they would be the only ones with the actual food, so really it was more like a food attack instead of a food fight. So what they did was, equip the entire senior class with gigantic water guns filled with condiments like ketchup, mustard, mayo, oil, vinegar, etc. On top of that, they had burgers, hot dogs, and other cheap foods they could make a large supply of quickly and easily stuffed into large trash bags. They went all over campus, pelting all the underclassmen with food and sauces, and even accidentally hit some of the teachers. At the end of what seemed to be hours, students were crying, getting pulled out of their classes by their parents, many were injured when trying to run away since there were huge crowds of students running in all directions attempting to avoid getting hit. It was a crazy day. The aftermath was awful too, our campus was covered in trash, and stains from all of the food. We live by the beach too so all of the seagulls came on campus and basically infested the place for weeks. It took so much time and money to clean everything up. The principal was so angry, they actually contemplated stopping the seniors from graduating that year. Senior pranks were also banned completely after this incident. It was a horrible idea.”

  1. Since he was actually there when this prank took place, he remembers it all very clearly. He still even has some photos and videos he took while all of this was happening. It was definitely a sad event for him, he was a sophomore when this happened, since he was so excited about taking part in senior pranks when he finally became a senior. But this prank ruined it for all of the future senior classes, unfortunately.
  2. This prank should never again be replicated, but the story can be shared as a warning as to what can happen when you take a joke or a prank too far. There certainly are limits to what you can do, and you should definitely keep this in mind if you’re deciding on trying a senior prank with your class.
  3. I actually was there as well when this happened, so I remember this pretty clearly. I was more upset by the fact that my friend actually broke her leg trying to run away from the people throwing food and condiments. It was a sad day for sure, and I’d hope that no other senior classes try something like this.

The Lucky Pencil

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese
  1. My friend claims that he owns a “lucky pencil”.

He says, “I can only take exams and quizzes with this specific, Ticonderoga, yellow, #2 pencil. I know it LOOKS like your average pencil, but it’s actually lucky, I swear. Whenever I take a test without this pencil, I do really badly. Like I’ll get like either a C or below. But with this pencil, I always get an A on the exam. I don’t know why that is, but it has always been this way. I remember I just found this pencil on the ground too, so maybe it was someone else’s lucky pencil before?”

  1. He found this pencil randomly one day while he was in class. (This was back in high school). It was right by his desk, and he actually forgot his school supplies at home that day so he thought that was unusually convenient. That is when he started to believe that it must be some sort of good luck charm, and continually kept track of how he would do with and without the pencil.
  2. I believe that anyone can claim something of theirs is lucky, and be convinced by this. I don’t think you can really share an object you find lucky yourself, since others may not be convinced of the same thing that you are.
  3. I personally do not believe the pencil was actually lucky, and I think that it may just be the placebo effect. My friend is so convinced by this pencil’s powers, that he coincidentally ends up doing better on exams with it, and much worse when he isn’t using it.

Chinese Superstition: Clipping Toenails at Night

Nationality: Chinese
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English
  1. My mother shared with me another Chinese superstition;

“My mom told me when I was a young girl that I should never clip my toenails when it is dark outside. Not only is it considered unlucky, but most specifically she said it would invite an evil spirit into our household. When you cut your toenails, the clippings themselves will manifest this evil spirit. I think that’s because toenails, teeth, and fingernails are considered bad omens that are related to the dead in our culture.”

  1. My mom remembered hearing this from her mother when she was a very young girl. She had wanted to cut her nails one night but her mother came in frantically stopping her from doing so. This is when she explained the superstition to her and she has believed in it ever since. Especially since she remembers how panicked her mother was about this, this superstition has always stuck with her.
  2. This was a superstition my mom’s side of the family shared amongst themselves. I believe that superstitions similar to this one vary depending on the culture they’re from, but I am sure that there are similar ones to this that are shared amongst other families.
  3. I personally do not believe in this superstition since I have cut my nails late at night before, and nothing has happened to me that I have noticed. Possibly if I was stopped before cutting my nails own nails in the evening, like my mother was, I may have been dissuaded from trying it in the future. Ever since this event my mother has not cut her nails in the evening, but she did not share this superstition with me until recently.

Star Trek Hand Signal

Nationality: Cuban-American
Occupation: Attorney
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish
  1. My father told me that the hand gesture, commonly associated with Star Trek as the Star Trek hand signal, was actually first used as a way to distinguish Jewish people from non-Jewish people. He said that if you are able to successfully make this hand signal, since some people cannot, then that was a way to tell whether or not you were Jewish. He had heard this from his cousins, who are Jewish, and who are all able to make this hand signal.
  2. He does not actually believe that this is true, but he found it funny and has remembered it since the time he heard it from his cousins, years ago. He also really likes the Star Trek series, and the fact that this hand signal was used in this series reminded him of what his cousins had told him.
  3. Most people replicate this hand signal when they are mimicking the Star Trek hand signal, because this is what it is most popularly known as. Other than that, I do not recall seeing this hand signal being used in other contexts or conversations.
  4. I find what my dad’s cousins had learned this hand signal to symbolize funny. I think that they must have heard that rumor from one of their friends, or possible a relative, that was just joking with them about this. I do not believe that this was an original meaning for this hand gesture.Live-long-and-prosper-225x300