Author Archives: Larissa Puro

Ritual – Japan

Nationality: Japanese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Cypress, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Wedding ritual

Japanese House-Warming ritual

To welcome people into their new homes, Dana said her Japanese family prepares and eats fish eggs with rice with the new house-owners. For new couples, the fish eggs symbolize good luck for a baby to come.

Dana doesn’t enjoy eating fish eggs but she has just grown up around this ritual, so she is used to it.

The American house-warming tradition is not so specific and ritualistic. Instead, people throw “house-warming” parties upon moving into a new residence. At these parties, guests sometimes bring a gift for the house or the host. There aren’t any traditions or planned events.

Personally, I would not like to be welcomed into my house with fish eggs. A simple wish for good luck is enough. I would rather acquaint my friends and family with a party.

Tradition/Ritual – Jewish

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: Brooklyn, NY
Performance Date: March 21, 2008
Primary Language: English

Holiday Traditions/ Coming-of-Age Rituals

Bar Mitzvah – Jewish

My dad, who is Jewish, had his bar mitzvah when he turned 13 in Brooklyn, New York. He said it was held in a big hall, where there was a dais, or a stage, where he sat with this friends. The actual ceremony, however, happened in a synagogue.

He said he had to remember long passages in Hebrew and recite them, singing, from memory. This was the most difficult part, according to him. On the script were written special codes that indicated how the inflection was for that part. These codes got quite complicated, required a lot of practice. To my dad, it was a “big deal” learning them, and was especially difficult because he, and most of the boys his age, didn’t know Hebrew. The particular passage depended on when the bar mitzvah boy was born.

At the right time, he had to present the passage in front of the whole congregation in the synagogue. My dad recalled a vivid memory of this moment. He said, “The rabbi had very bad breath, so I would turn away and smile at the audience.” After this uncomfortable moment, however, the big reception is held, almost like a wedding—with food and dancing.

Typically, a bar mitzvah includes a band and a singer. My dad said there would always be “one of those circle dances and usually the bar mitzvah boy would be in the middle.”  He also got presents, usually cash, from friends and family, which the parents “usually used to help defray the cost” of the celebration.

In Jewish tradition, a boy becomes a man at 13. Girls have bat-mitzvahs at this age, although when my dad was growing up, it was not very typical for girls to do so. My dad brushed this off as the characteristic “male chauvinism” of the time. He also mentioned that he didn’t come from orthodox community.

A common American holiday that is comparable to the bar mitzvah is the Sweet Sixteen. However, it is much less ritualized and not exactly recognized as a coming-of-age celebration as much as it’s considered a competition for superfluous extravagance (probably influenced by MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen”).

With the difficult passages and other trials a boy or girl must overcome at a bar/bat mitzvah, it appears the child must prove him/herself before being accepting into adulthood. This concept is not at all present in the general American culture. For those who don’t observe any specific coming-of-age traditions, there are no obstacles or rituals presented. In fact, it isn’t even clear what age qualifies as adulthood. Is it the age when a girl begins to menstruate? Is it at 16, when a kid is allowed to drive, and therefore be independent? Is it 18, the law-determined age of (modified) adulthood? Or, is it 21, when a person finally gains all rights of an adult?

This confused notion of adulthood is probably why there are no traditional celebrations like bar mitzvahs in the general American culture. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it doesn’t force a person to grow up before he or she is ready. After all, in today’s society, 13 is incredibly young for a boy to be deemed a man.

Game – Brooklyn, New York

Childhood Game

Stoopball

My dad learned this game in the projects of Brooklyn, NY when he was six years old. A rubber ball, like a Spalding, would be thrown against the stairs of a house, or the stoop. It would hit two of the steps and come back. The player would try to throw it as hard as he or she could so it would fly up and out into the street. If it is caught on the fly, it was out. If it is dropped, it was a single, double, or triple out depending on how far away the drop was.

This game was usually played with about two or three kids. Although he played often, this wasn’t my dad’s favorite game. He mentioned that Stoopball, as well as something called Slapball were variants of baseball.

This game is a classic example of the ingenuity of children when resources are scarce in terms of entertainment. Typical of many child games, almost no equipment is required and the surroundings are used as part of the game.

The Stoopball of my generation was Handball—where a rubber ball is thrown against a garage door or wall. Like Stoopball, there are many creative rules that kept us amused for hours. The similarity of these two games in strategy and execution shows that childhood games can easily spread across a continent and last generations while retaining similar characteristics.  The difference of the environment (stoop of New York vs. garage in California) attests to how these games adapt to the places they are played in.

Tradition

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa MAria, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Holiday Tradition

Easter Confetti Eggs

Every year, a few months before Easter, Antonio and his family start saving up eggs. They crack the tops and make a nickel-sized hole through which they drain the egg, leaving the shell intact. After rinsing them out and letting them dry, they are ready to be dyed.

They dye and decorate the shells and then fill them up with confetti, after which the glue shut the hole. On Easter, they hide the eggs so the kids of the family can go on Easter egg hunts. When the eggs are found, the discoverer finds a victim and cracks an egg on his or her head. The result is confetti—everywhere.

Especially cruel Easter-eggers will fill their eggs with glitter, which leaves residue over everything for weeks and sometimes months. Antonio finds this tradition fun and familiar, since he has been doing it for as long as he can remember.

This Easter egg tradition differs from what I am used to. The Easter eggs I used to hunt were plastic and filled with candy. I like how it combines the creativity of egg decorating with the thrill of the hunt and a humorous finale.

Today, Easter is just like all other commercial holidays. My family usually goes on a shopping spree for plastic eggs, chocolate bunnies, and bags of candy or marshmallow Peeps. After my sister and I opened these gifts, Easter was as good as done.

Antonio’s cost-effective, creative tradition brings the whole family together for months ahead of time in a group effort to prepare for Easter. When the day comes, they spend hours together searching for eggs and smashing them over each others’ heads, which undoubtedly keeps them talking for days. When a holiday like Easter starts to lose its original purpose, it should at least retain its sense of family unity and cheerfulness.

Game

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: Brooklyn, NY
Performance Date: March 21, 2008
Primary Language: English

Childhood Game

Ringolevio 123

In this game, two teams are formed and the teammates would spread out around the neighborhood. You would form two teams and people would spread out around the neighborhood. The point was to search for members of the opposite team. One team was the catcher team and the other was the prey. If you spot another person on the opposite team, you would have to catch and hold him or her and say, “Ringolevio 123-123-123.” If the prey was able to get away before then, he or she wouldn’t be captured, but if the catcher held him or her long enough to say the phrase, he or she was captured.

My dad said the faster guys would run toward the catchers, who would grab them, but the guys would break through—so the same people would always win. Because of this, you would always try to get them on your team.

My dad learned this game in Brooklyn, New York. It could be played anywhere, in the streets, for example. Usually, there were 8-10 people per team, usually ranging form 8 years-old to early teens. When asked his reaction to the game, my dad said it was a lot of fun and one of his favorite games.

Personally, I think this game combines both Hide-and-Seek and Tag—two of my generation’s favorite games. Once again, it appears childhood games tend to spread across distance and generations. Either this, or the same kinds of games just naturally appeal to children.

When I looked up Ringolevio on the Internet, Wikipedia stated that it originated during the Great Depression in New York, which makes sense given my dad’s age and location. Apparently, it is also known as Relievio in Boston, Canada, and Ireland.

Annotation: Grogan, Emmett. Ringolevio: A Life Played for Keeps. New York: Citadel: 1990, 334