I: Before you graduate, you’re supposed to like streak through some part of the Yard, have sex in the library– the library sex– and pee on the Harvard statue’s foot. And then I heard there’s a fourth where you’re supposed to jump in the river, but like I don’t know…
Me: What’s the statue?
I: Pee on the statue’s foot– like it’s so gross because the statue’s foot looks a little different… and like, tourists touch it? It’s supposed to be like a lucky thing, but they don’t know that people are peeing on it! It’s so gross (laughing).
Me: What’s the statue called?
I: Oh John Harvard statue. And it’s like yellow…like it’s a different color than the rest of the statue and like people touch it (shuddering).
Me: Do you have to do all of these things right before you graduate?
I: I think just at some point during college, like you could knock them all out freshmen year if you wanted to.
Background:
My informant is a good friend from high school. She’s a freshman at Harvard University, where she was able to attend in-person during the pandemic. She learned about this tradition through her roommate, whose brother graduated from Harvard in 2020. She says that her roommate’s brother peed on the statue and went streaking, but didn’t complete the other activities. Because of the pandemic, she has still been pretty isolated, so she hasn’t met many seniors and wouldn’t know people who performed this ritual. She tells me that she would not do this tradition.
Context:
This is a transcript of a conversation between my friend and me over the phone. We were talking about ethnic traditions before his conversation until I asked her if she knew any folklore from her school, which reminded her of this tradition.
Thoughts:
This tradition, or ritual, of university seniors performing a series of rebellious or profane acts (from the institution’s point of view), is indicative of the liminal period. In this period of liminality, university seniors are straddling two different identities, and are close to a state of being identity-less. They are not quite university students anymore, yet they may not have acquired an “adult” job in the “real world” yet either. This liminal period can thus be filled with feelings of freedom, but also tension from being identity-less. Pranks and rebellious acts can then be a way to resolve and alleviate this stress. Streaking in public on campus, peeing on the statue of an authority figure, and having sex in a taboo place on campus can be both freeing, as students are disregarding university rules and methods of alleviating tension.
G: Bà Âu Cơ, nghe nói là đẻ ra một bọc. Trong bọc nó nở một trăm cái trứng. Ông Lạc Long Quân lấy bà Âu Cơ, get ready với bà Âu cơ. Đẻ ra một trăm trứng. Một trăm trứng đó nó ra một trăm người con. Những người con đó, sau lớn lên, mỗi người… lớn lên thì mỗi người ngự trị một vùng… giống người ở bắc, người ở nam, người ở trung, người thì ở xa xôi trên rừng núi, còn người thì xuống biển. Năm mươi người con lên rừng, và năm mươi người con xuống biển. Tức là vùng biển. Rồi mới sinh ra những người trên rừng đó thì mới lập ra những, cũng như là vùng thượng du, rồi cao nguyên, này kia. Năm mươi người con xưống biển, thì ở những cái vùng thấp đồng bằng giống như mình.
Translation: “Lady Âu Cơ, I heard that she birthed a pouch. Inside the pouch was one hundred eggs. Sir Lạc Long Quân married Lady Âu Cơ, get ready with Lady Âu Cơ. She gave birth to one hundred eggs. From those one hundred eggs emerged one hundred children. Those children, when they grew up, each child… when they grew up, each child came to rule a certain area… like the people from the North, people from the South, people from the central area, those people split up far from each other, some living in the jungle while others lived by the sea. Fifty people went to live in the jungle, while fifty people went to live by the sea. That is the sea. When the children were born and came to live in and rule the jungle, they established the Northern region, then the highlands, and things like that. Fifty of the other children who lived by the sea, established the lowland Delta region who we are today.
Background:
My informant is my grandmother, who was born and raised in Vietnam. She grew up in the Delta region of Vietnam, and first heard pieces of this creation myth from her father (my great-grandfather), but learned the long-form written version while she was in school. She explains that her father was told this story by his father, who was told the story from his father, and onwards. It is a story that is thus passed down from generation to generation, but also became a part of Vietnamese history taught in schools when my grandmother was in third grade. She likes this story because of the fond memories she has attached to it.
Context:
This is a transcription of a live conversation between my grandmother and I. I have been able to visit her from time to time during the pandemic and recorded this conversation during one of those visits.
Thoughts:
The creation myth of Lady Âu Cơ can be complex and complicated, and this telling of it is a very simplified version of the myth. Many other details regarding the relationship between Âu Cơ and Lạc Long Quân were not included in my grandmother’s telling of the myth. One element that is not clearly explained is how Lady Âu Cơ is a fairy deity, while Lạc Long Quân is a dragon deity. Their separation then is due to the difference of their needs; Âu Cơ wanted to live in the mountains while Lạc Long Quân needed to live by the sea. Despite the simplicity of this telling, most of the main points of the myth are covered. That is, eggs often appear in creation myths due to their symbolism of life. Such is the case with this myth, in which the first people of Vietnam emerged from one hundred eggs. I love this story because it captures how different groups of Vietnamese people (those from the Delta and those from the Highlands) came to be through a loving relationship between two deities. One note to make about myths and legends is how their classification depends on the storyteller’s belief. For my grandmother, this is a sacred creation myth that details how the Vietnamese people came to be. For me, who was not raised with the story, it is more of a legend.
Full translation: I will return home and bathe in my own pond
Explanation: An American equivalent of this proverb would be “There is no place better than home.” Thus, this proverb means the best place is home, and could otherwise be stated as “I would rather go home and bathe in my own pond.” My grandmother explains that this proverb could be used to describe a situation where you have traveled to another country, but facing difficulties there makes you realize that your home country was better. It can also be generally referring to another person’s home or an unfamiliar place that is otherwise not your own home. Within the meaning of this proverb is the possibility of the other country, the unfamiliar place, or stranger’s home being wealthier, shinier, or more glamorous than your country or your home. Yet, she explains, at least your home is yours, thus, the wealthier place is not necessarily better.
Thoughts:
I like this proverb because I believe that it attests to the culture of my family and the culture I was raised in. When my grandmother was raising my father and his siblings, Vietnam was in the midst of war, and then had to rebuild after the war. Because of this, financial instability was common. The principle of being only concerned with how you are doing and taking care of your home rather than desiring another person’s wealth shines through those circumstances and has followed how my parents raised me. I remember wanting to sleep over at my cousins’ houses often when I was younger, and sometimes complaining to my parents about things they can do or have that I cannot do or have. My parents always responded then that I should want to sleep in my own house and that “it doesn’t matter what someone else has” and reminded me to be grateful for the things that are mine. This sentiment has always been with my grandmother as well, who once expressed to me how “the best place is home” to explain why she turned down my uncle’s offer for her to live with him for a few months in California.
Me: So at your high school, senior year, some of the kids made a slip and slide?
J: Yeah… so basically, right by the cafeteria there’s this.. ramp? For some reason? And people would just (laughs) set up the slip and slide there and they got– I think they got like water, or maybe it was– no, I think it was water. And they just created this slip and slide and they all just went down it. And a lot of people recorded it on their snapchats but I did not partake, because I was a good student. And also, I did not run in those crowds, so I wouldn’t do something like that (laughs) so uh… I didn’t participate but I did see it happen. I think another thing people did was… I heard stories about people, like, setting like, baby chicks into the hallways (laughs) and letting them roam through the school, but I’m not even sure if that’s true. But I feel like I heard about that.
Me: So the slip and slide thing, it wasn’t like a slip and slide that you could buy? People just set up water and went down the ramp?
J: No, I think they set up a tarp, or some sort of rubber or something– but then they ran– I don’t know if it was water or… it was some sort of liquid or some sort of substance and then they all like ran through– they all dived down the ramp (laughing). It was like all the popular kids at my school, like all the jocks and whatnot.
Background:
My informant is a senior at USC as of the year 2021 and is from the same state as me (Iowa) in a city not too far from my hometown in the capital. He attended a public high school in a suburban neighborhood, where he witnessed this prank during his senior year. He expresses that he did not participate in the prank, as a certain “crowd” of students were the ones who initiated and participated in it. He explains that it was started by the “popular” kids at his school, who were mostly the student-athletes and other kids who were infamous throughout the school for pulling such pranks. He tells me that he recalls administrators bolting past him in the hallways, which he now realizes was in response to this prank. It is now a funny memory for him, though he was never one to participate in it.
Context:
This is a transcript of our conversation over zoom. My informant has been a mentor for me throughout the year, and this story came up during one of our bi-weekly meetings where we catch up with each other on life and school.
Thoughts:
I like this story because it is something that I never got to experience. Unfortunately, my senior year of high school was cut short due to the pandemic, so the opportunity for a senior prank was slim. However, it’s nice to hear others’ stories because these pranks are almost always humorous and can get outrageous. I also feel that this senior prank is a good example of the liminal period. Because high school seniors, in their last stretch of high school, are in the process of transitioning from one identity to another, they are caught in a state of being identity-less. They are not quite high school students anymore, but they also have not assumed the identity of a college student, or have started a professional career yet. Being identity-less can bring great freedom, but also feelings of tension and stress. Pranks are thus a vehicle for relieving this stress. Creating a slip and slide in the middle of a hallway in the school is a clear example of a prank that can alleviate the stress of this transition while enjoying the rebellious freedom of finishing high school. Further, I also find the dichotomy of the participants and the observers in this story interesting. Rather than being a prank that all seniors partook in, the prank was mostly controlled by a group of students that are stereotypically thought of as more powerful than other students. This may suggest that the freedom to rebel may not be something that all students feel they possess. Despite this, all of the seniors enjoyed the prank whether they participated in it or observed it.
*preparing for 15 servings *total time from start to finish: 3 hours
1lb of beef bones
400g of brisket
250g of beef tenderloin (fillet)
2 large onions
3 limes
Thai chilis, green onions
Basil, cilantro
50g hoisin sauce
20g sriracha
Salt, pepper, MSG or chicken sugar (chicken bouillon)
1lb of rice noodles
300g of raw mung bean sprouts
1 whole ginger = char the skin
3 pieces of star anise
1 small piece of cinnamon or one seasoning packet
Beef bones: soak in warm water to drain the blood out, dump the water and repeat many times
Wash the brisket with water until clean and let the water drain out
Wash the beef tenderloin with water until clean, dry with a paper towel, then put in the refrigerator
Raw mung beans, fresh herbs, Thai chilis and lime: prepare right before serving
Making the Phở Broth
Pour 12 large bowls of cold water or a little more in the pot and bring to a boil, at the same time, cook the beef bones and brisket in the pot on medium-low heat while it is uncovered. Watch the pot. Film will occasionally form at the top of the broth, skim it off and discard the film. Skim the film many times.
Turn up the heat little by little so all of the film can form at the top to be removed, keep skimming it off until the water becomes clear. At this stage, you can put in the ginger and onion which should be charred right before putting them in the pot. Season by taste with chicken bouillon, a little salt, and MSG. Lower the heat.
Page Two
Use chopsticks to pierce the brisket to test if it is cooked properly. If it pierces through, take the brisket out and rinse with cold water and leave it until it completely cools down, then slice it.
Slice the beef tenderloin
*Taste the broth to adjust seasoning as needed and lower the heat to keep the broth at a simmer.
Plating the Phở
First put the raw mung bean sprouts in a strainer. Then put the uncooked rice noodles on top, blanch them in boiling water, strain the water and plate both the mung beans and noodles in a bowl. On top, plate the brisket, fillet, sliced onion, and green onion. Also include one piece of green onion about 2-3 inches long cut from the bottom up.
Pour in the broth (brought to a boil before serving), until the raw tenderloin is covered. Add blanket tripe or honeycomb tripe.
Pho has to be eaten very hot with hoisin sauce and sriracha, lime, sliced chilis, cilantro, and basil.
*Do not use fish sauce to season the broth. It will make the broth taste sour.
*Only add fish sauce to your bowl when you’re eating, if you want to.
*The seasoning packet is ground star anise and cinnamon. Only add to the broth when the broth is clear (all the film was removed). Leave it in for one hour, then taste for proper seasoning. If it’s good, remove the seasoning packet.
Background:
This is my grandmother’s recipe for Phở Bò, which is rice noodles in beef broth. It is an iconic dish of Vietnamese cuisine, however, she only started to make it after immigrating to the United States in the 1990s. She explains that in Vietnam, there were phở restaurants everywhere, so there was never a need to make it yourself at home. Further, since the dish takes so long to make and requires so many ingredients, it was not convenient or accessible for the normal citizen to make it themselves. Unless you owned a phở restaurant, you were not cooking this dish at home. Thus, after immigrating, because the abundance of phở restaurants and general Vietnamese cuisine was no longer a given, my grandmother, like most other Vietnamese people in the diaspora, had to learn how to cook certain dishes themselves. It was through sharing knowledge with others and the coming of the internet that helped my grandmother develop her recipe over time. It is a loved dish for her to make and share with our (very large) family.
Context:
I have been able to visit my grandmother from time to time during the pandemic. It was during one visit where she shared this recipe with me.
Thoughts:
This is one of my favorite foods to eat, so I am delighted to have my grandmother’s recipe. Phở has always been a source of comfort and also healing for when I’m sick. Because so much effort and time are poured into the dish, as well as eating it while it’s practically boiling, the warmth of the cook shines through the meal. I also love phở because a person’s recipe can tell you a lot about their history and where they came from. The inclusion of fresh herbs, lime, among many other toppings shows that this particular recipe follows the style of phở from the southern region of Vietnam. I’ve also had the northern version, which is also delicious, but slightly different in its simplicity: very few toppings are included and the broth is made with a stronger spice base. Furthermore, this dish has changed drastically over time as new variations appear along with newly gained access to more ingredients. The Huy Fong Sriracha is now a staple topping in the southern style phở but clearly was not included in the earlier versions preceding its creation in 1980. Now, you may see variations of phở adorned with lobsters, other seafood, accommodating vegetarian or vegan diets, and many more. Tracking the differences in these variations can thus reveal changes in people’s circumstances, tastes, and trends.
