Author Archives: Bella Karahalios

Chinese Dream Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Text: Well, ever since my mom’s brother suddenly died at the age of 62– two years ago, I think this proverb has continued to provide my mom with a sense of comfort and release. “All in life is a dream walking, and all in death is a going home.” She passes this on to anyone in need of feeling at peace with recent tragedies or deaths. I think that for her, it’s a reminder to feel grateful for the joyful parts of life and that…when death comes, one part has fulfilled their purpose.

Context: K is twenty-one years old and of Chinese, Japanese, and Jewish descent. She was raised in San Francisco, California. Her maternal grandparents are Asian immigrants whose culture she was raised with.

Analysis: K’s mother told her the quote above is a Chinese proverb. K would frequently hear proverbs from her mother while growing up, typically used and repeated as little bits of advice or reminders throughout a day. In Chinese culture it’s considered a sign of a good education to include proverbs in your writing or advice to others. Proverbs speak on a range of topics– often moral, like patience or kindness to strangers. They intend to provide wisdom to its listeners, and are meant to be respected by both the speaker and the listener even if not always successfully followed. Many proverbs are accredited to Confucius or Lao Tzu (although some are miscredited), but many don’t have distinctive roots with one speaker or author. The majority of proverbs were passed down in oral traditions among the peasant class in China, and were not written down until years, sometimes hundreds of years after their inception. Many proverbs still haven’t been translated to English. This makes sense why there isn’t much available on the proverb above other than the quote itself. However, its ruminations on the meaning of life, death, and dreams are not uncommon topics for proverbs. It’s also interesting to note that traditional Chinese medicine believes that one’s dreams are directly related to their physical health, hence the proverb’s association with dream and “life” or the living, bodily world.  

Danish Term of Endearment

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 23 Feb 2023
Primary Language: English

Text: “When I was really little my mom called me noula, which is noodle in Danish, and I was always so squiggly and squirmy, that I would just fall out of her arms.”

Context: L is 21 and originally from Colorado, but currently a student at USC. She is of British and Dutch heritage. Her grandmother immigrated from Denmark when she was nine years old, and her mother grew up speaking Danish, but no longer does. 

Analysis: L spelled the word above n-o-u-l-a, and pronounced the first syllable like the English word “new.” However, there is no dutch word available online with this spelling. There is the spelling n-u-l-a or nula, meaning zero in English. Yet, this word is pronounced nUH-lah, rather than nOO-la. The danish word available for noodle online is nudel. As well as the less frequently used, tosshoved, which directly translates to noodle, but also “crazy head.” Maybe L’s mother was combining the meaning of “tosshoved” and “nudel” to encapsulate L’s personality as a child. Or perhaps the word “noula” is a slang term for noodle in Danish. Danish terms of endearment are often shorter, and similar to English refer to “my sweet” or “my dear,” they can also be diminutive like “little one.” However there are also more playful terms like puttegøj or puttemus which refers to a small type of mouse. L’s mother’s use of noula was something that stopped as she grew older, however she says she’s always reminded of it when she eats noodles. Danish food is hearty with its cultural dishes containing lots of potatoes and meat. Noodles or pasta aren’t as common, but can be found in a number of recipes like Danish goulash.

Schoolyard Coin Trick

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Performance Date: 14 Feb 2023
Primary Language: English

Text: “One trick I did consistently throughout my childhood, it was like the only magic trick that I ever knew how to do, it was learning how to pull a coin out of your mouth. So what you would do is you would put your arms behind your back, and pretend to put the coin behind your back and then you put like a finger in your mouth and then flick and a coin was supposed to come out. But, the trick of it, like how you actually do it is its not coming from your mouth, but it’s coming from your sleeve.”

Context: K is a twenty year old student who grew up in Virginia and currently attends USC. She learned how to do this trick from a friend on the playground when she switched schools.


Analysis: The more popular version of the above trick is to pull a coin out of someone’s ear, and it’s done through a similar trick of the eye or deception. Hiding the coin and moving it outside of the person witnessing the trick’s view. However, pulling a coin out of one’s mouth also has an allegorical relation. Recorded in the Bible In Matthew 17:24-27, the coin in the fish’s mouth is one of Jesus’ miracles. When the tax collector comes to Peter the apostle, Peter turns to Jesus and asks if he does not pay taxes. Jesus replies and explains why he does not, but instructs Paul to go fishing and tells him he will find a coin in the mouth of the first fish he catches to use for his taxes. In the 2008 United States census 76% of Virginians (K’s home state) identified as Christian, so perhaps there’s a relation between children hearing Biblical stories and trying to imitate them.

Bathtime Song

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: student
Residence: San Diego, California
Primary Language: English

Text: “When I was little my grandma used to sing this song when we would get out of the bathtub ‘Jump down turn around, pick a bale of cotton, now jump down turn around, pick a bale of hay’ and she would do it while she would wrap us in a towel… it’s one of my core memories with her.’”

Context: The tune that C sings to is simple and easy to remember. C first heard the song from her grandmother, who spent the majority of her life in San Francisco, but recently passed away in San Diego, California at the age of 87

Analysis: Although C doesn’t recognize the song outside of the context of her grandmother, the following website: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-real-history-of-song-pick-bale-of.html walks through the history of the song. The original lyrics are much longer and include a chorus that rotates from person to person, beginning with ‘me and my buddy pick a bale of cotton,’ to ‘me and my papa pick a bale of cotton.’ Originally recorded as an African American work song the earliest records of the song is from 1933. The song continued to be passed down with several different versions throughout the 1930s, and eventually recordings in 1945 by Lead Belly:(https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=pd5ViH_5598&embeds_euri=http%3A%2F%2Fpancocojams.blogspot.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title). and in 1956 by Harry Belafonte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQc2hgdAqGU&t=7s are also available. The 1956 version is more similar to the tune which C sings to, and potentially how C’s grandmother first heard the song. Although it uses the words “spin around” rather than C’s “turn around” in its lyrics. C’s grandmother likely sung her the song because the lyric “spin around” relates to twirling her grandchildren in the towel after their baths. It’s interesting how a song’s context and meaning for each person can change over time.