Author Archives: Kirsten Talbot

Christmas Dinner

Nationality: American (British and Irish Descent)
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Williamsburg, VA
Performance Date: April 24, 2012
Primary Language: English

“Well there is the traditional, like, British food stuffs.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“… that we do. And, like, my Mom just always made Yorkshire pudding, and I guess her mom always made Yorkshire pudding and…”

 

“Do you know, do you use, like, a recipe that that, like, from anywhere in particular? Like a family recipe?”

 

“Not that I know of, but I mean it might be. I’m sure at this point it was adapted from somebody’s recipe haha. But, it’s, you know, I think it’s one of those index cards that just has, ya know, yay-much flour and yay-much other stuff that goes into it.”

 

“And so do you have that at Christmastime?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“For Christmas Eve?”

 

“Yeah, well, Christmas Day is the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. And Christmas Eve varies depending on what kind of mood we’re in. My mom actually threatened to take away Christmas Day dinner and replace it with lamb. And I was like, lady, I like lamb but, like, I look forward to that roast beef. That’s the one day out of the whole year that I can I have that for dinner. And I look forward to it every year, you’re not takin’ it away.”

 

[Laughing]

 

“So, it’s, like, keep the lamb for Easter. It’s always lamb for Easter and always roast beef at Christmas.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Yeah, and then, otherwise, other holidays are up for grabs. Except, Thanksgiving, is turkey, of course.”

 

“Yes, can’t change turkey.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“So, what’s in the Yorkshire pudding. Like, when, this is why I always get confused British food cuz, like, when I think of pudding, I’m thinkin’, like, chocolate pudding haha. That’s like, totally, not what it is in Britain.”

 

“Yeah, Yorkshire pudding is flour and the drippings from the pan, from the meat.”

 

“Does it, is it, like, a little bread kind of thing?”

 

“Yeah, yeah it’s like a soft bread. And it’s, like, it’s flat on the pan and then the sides, like, blow up so you get like, this weird, like angular…”

 

“Bowlish thing.”

 

“Yeah, it’s really good.”

 

“Interesting. And so, how did the roast beef get started? Is that like a British thing or just a you-thing haha? Have to have my roast beef!”

 

“I don’t know, cuz, like, it was always the dish before I was, like, whatever kind of a carnivore that I am now haha. Um, I think it was just, it was probably, um, the more British side of my family coming into play. Um, I’m assuming that’s what my mom had growing up with her and her brothers and, um, I don’t know how much of, er, I don’t know that much about my grandpa or my grandma growing up. What kinds of stuff. Yeah, I know my grandma grew up on a farm.”

Yorkshire pudding, a distinctly British food, is an example of a cultural tradition somehow surviving its way into American society, at least for some people who like to have fun with acknowledging some of their ancestor’s country’s traditions.

The Magpie Rhyme

Nationality: American (British and Irish Descent)
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Williamsburg, VA
Performance Date: April 24, 2012
Primary Language: English

“It’s the Magpie poem. I think I told you about that one. Did I?”

 

“I don’t know if you did.”

 

“It was like the ‘One is for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.’”

 

“So, that’s your new saying now?”

 

“That’s that’s my little poem.”

 

“Could you have picked any longer of one haha? You’ll have to practice saying it, like, 15 times. Like really fast and then when you, like, blurt it out.”

 

“Blurt it out, yeah. So, um, yeah so otherwise. I’m trying to think…”

 

“So where did you learn that one?”

 

“Internet haha.”

 

“Internet.”

 

[Laughing]

 

“Do you know where it’s from? Is it…?”

 

“Um…”

 

“Probably, like, a British one or something.”

 

“Yeah, yeah I remember I looked at the origin but I can’t remember what it is now.”

 

 

This rhyme is an example of a saying that has multiple versions, dictated by the occasion. Also, the subject matter itself, the magpie, can be found in various other superstitions, particularly in the British Isles.

Popular Japanese Song, “China Night”

Nationality: American (German and Irish Descent)
Age: 79
Occupation: Retired (served in the National Guard and the Korean War)
Residence: Westminster, CA
Performance Date: April 21, 2012
Primary Language: English

“What got me is when I went back in ’85 with the division headquarters and we were participating in a, uh, division exercise with the Japanese self-defense force. And, uh, the 25th division of the Japanese Imperial Army, they and the 40th infantry division opposed each other in the Philippines during World War II, so whenever we’d display the flag we’d manage to put the Philippine battle streamers on the back of the flag just to be polite. I, uh, run into a young captain who was a traditional music buff. The all time song of Japan in the Japanese army was ‘China Night’. And it’s about a young man looking for his girlfriend, or thinking fond memories of his girlfriend back home, Shidanai. I said something about it, and this guy grabs me by the hand and gotta go up and sing it. I only remember, uh, the first line. And fortunately he remembered the rest of them and so I just mouthed the rest of the words after Shidanai. And I went through the rest of the song like that. ‘Huh, well Mac I didn’t know you could sing that.’ Haha.”

A few summers a go, I visited Japan with friends, and I was able to witness firsthand the joy of karaoke that is ever-popular there. It’s interesting to see the mix of old tradition new, modern customs. Song, obviously, is a very old tradition in every culture, but is made distinctly modern in live performance. Though today it may be more for the purpose of pure entertainment, the song that my Grandpa relayed shows how art and culture can connect people both within their own nation and to various others.

The Easter Bunny

Nationality: American (British Descent)
Age: 56
Occupation: CFO
Residence: Del Mar, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2012
Primary Language: English

“The Easter Bunny coming and leaving eggs, hiding eggs around the house. So, when the kids woke up in the morning they’d, uh, find Easter eggs.”

 

“So yours were in the house?”

 

“Yes. It was in the house. It wasn’t like we did up at Yosemite and stuff. We changed it cuz when we went camping at Yosemite, we changed it to hide the eggs around the forest, or the trees and stuff when we were camping.”

 

“I sure hope you guys counted the number of eggs you hid in your house cuz you’d be finding something smelly later.”

 

“Well or the dogs would find them.”

 

“And then there was, uh, the time when we had done the camping and Yosemite and Easter egg hunts so many times that one year it was raining so hard that we left, and you were concerned that the Easter Bunny would never be able to find us. Cuz we weren’t in Yosemite. which was kind of funny.”

 

“ And then you did them in the, or what was it, in the hotel?”

 

“Yeah, we stayed at a hotel and I went out out, and colored eggs and we hid them all over the hotel room and in your bed and everywhere.”

 

 

Easter, a very religious, Christian holiday, follows a different path for some, particularly in our more secular, commercialized American culture. It’s all about the bunny, Peeps, and chocolate. And, personally, the family tradition of camping in Yosemite and searching for decorated eggs has always been a highlight of my year. Perhaps it neglects the original, truer origins of the holiday, but at least it will never be forgotten in one way at least.

 

 

The Easter Bunny, and basically everything else that has to do with the holiday, painted eggs, Peeps, deviled eggs, jelly beans, is so far removed from the original Christian roots of the holiday. But nonetheless the holiday and at least some of the traditions have survived the centuries in one way or another. Only time will tell what may become of them.

The Tooth Fairy

Nationality: American (British Descent)
Age: 56
Occupation: CFO
Residence: Del Mar, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2012
Primary Language: English

“I don’t know if anyone said anything to you about the Tooth Fairy yet. Basically putting a, uh, quarter or a dollar under the pillow as a kid at night when they lost their tooth. And the tooth fairy would come at night and leave money for the tooth. You’d have to put your tooth under there and the Tooth Fairy would come and leave ya money.”

 

“Do you remember if it was your mom or your dad told you to do that?”

 

“My mom an dad both. That was, goes back as far as time as far as I know.”

 

“Was there something special that you put your tooth in or did you just put it straight under your pillow?”

 

“No you just stuck the tooth straight under the pillow and looked under in the morning, wake up and find a quarter under your pillow is what it was. And then I think with inflation it turned into a dollar.”

Childhood is filled with imaginary creatures and mythical figures, and the Tooth Fairy is no exception. Losing baby teeth is one of our first rights of passage, not to mention a young child’s introduction to earning money. As well as in the case of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, finding out that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist comes as another early life shock.