Author Archives: Nancy Liu

Chant – University of Southern California

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 23
Occupation: Housing IT
Residence: Hilo, HI
Performance Date: April 10, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

“Ohhhhh S-O-U-T-H-E-R-N C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A

Southern Califorrrrrnia!

Beat the Bruins!

Eat the Dongos!”

Gavin first learned the So-Cal spell out as a freshman at USC in his dorm from his residential advisor. People usually perform the So-Cal spell out at school wide events or anywhere just to express USC pride. Crowds of people just start yelling it at football games, tailgates, basketball games and other rallies. And then Gavin joined the fraternity, Gamma Epsilon Omega, and that is where he heard the additional two lines. He believes that it came from the 1980s when older members use to be very crazy. They most likely created it at a USC versus UCLA football game where people got incredibly enthusiastic and rowdy. Gavin also says that dongos are a Japanese pastry, resembling a donut. Since Gamma Epsilon Omega is an Asian-interest fraternity, many of its members were Japanese and so they all ate dongos.

I am thinking that since alcohol was still allowed in the Los Angeles Coliseum back then, these students probably started yelling these phrases on a whim and it just caught on due to its catchiness. I also heard this version of the spell out last semester at football games from my sorority sisters. I never knew where it came from and we all thought that dongos were another team’s mascot. We thought it was incredibly disgusting and strange that someone would incorporate eating an animal in the spell out. However, just asking more people about the origins of it, I found Gavin who says that his fraternity made it up. It makes sense that my sorority sisters would know it because the older girls use to be very close with the Gammas. They would tailgate and go to football games together. Just being around the Gammas, they would learn it too and then share it with younger members of the sorority.

It is interesting to see how a school-wide chant can be personalized to fit a smaller group just by adding a few lines. Outsiders would never be able to figure out the meaning or origin of it. USC students would understand the “Beat the Bruins” line, but only Japanese people would know what “Eat the dongos” means.

Children’s Game – Rowland Heights, California

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Rowland Heights, CA
Performance Date: April 15, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese

“Concentration, concentration is the game

Keep the rhythm, keep the rhythm just the same

Subject movies

A Walk to Remember

Lord of the Rings…”

Tiffany learned this game from her friend when she was seven in elementary school in her hometown of Rowland Heights. She played it with a bunch of her friends on the playground during recess time. You have to keep to the beat by patting your lap, clapping once, snapping with your right hand and then your left hand. You just repeat this sequence over and over again while saying the words that go under the subject until someone messes up and then that person is out. People have to think quickly of a word to say and make sure that no one else has said it already. The last person who does not mess up wins the game. Children often play this game when they are bored and have nothing else to do. Tiffany says that this game helps pass the time really well and you can keep playing it because you can always change the subject. In this case, it was movies, but one can change it to fruits, books, television shows, or any other category.

Tiffany is not sure where this game came from or who made it up. She thinks that it originated from a girl who was incredibly bored and just decided to make sounds with her hands and legs. It is an easy game to learn and remember and so that is why it has been passed down on the playground for many, many years. She played it when she was in elementary school and she knows of younger girls who also play the game now.

I agree with Tiffany and believe that this game is relatively easy for elementary school students to play. During recess, everyone has about thirty minutes to play outside. Most boys probably do sports and are on the field. However, girls who do not want to run around do not have much to do. These games then come in handy for any girl that just wants to sit and do something with her friends. Since elementary school students might not know a whole lot about the world, the subjects of these games are usually simple. Children most likely will not start using political issues as the main subject because they do not know much about it. The concentration game probably works best with easy topics such as colors or vegetables because it is common knowledge and everyone can join in. This game does not have any meaning behind it because most children at that age do not think deeply about issues, especially during their breaks. They resort to an easy-going, mindless game.

Myth – Japan

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beijing, China
Performance Date: April 15, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Chinese

“So you want to hear the story of the birth of the Japanese islands? So there’s these two deities, a god, Izanagi, and a goddess, Izanami. The guy dipped his spear into the ocean and took it out and then the water dripped from it and made islands, but they were imperfect. The goddess initiated sex, but Izanagi didn’t want to and so they went to see a relationship counselor or something like that. The counselor said that the guy had to initiate sex. And so they went back and did a ritual around a pole and when they met, the guy initiates sex and so the islands came about and were perfect. Those are the Japanese islands”

Tony heard this story a few months ago from an Asian Studies professor at the University of Southern California. They were sharing stories in class about Asian cultures and the professor told this myth with the rest of the class to inform them about a theory about the origins of the Japanese islands. He thinks that this myth was created two thousand to three thousand years ago because the Japanese needed a sense of purpose or reason for why they were on earth. Tony says that the myth gives the Japanese a sense of belonging in the world and that they were made to be perfect. He believes that this story is usually told to Japanese teenagers because that is when they start understanding the concept of sex. It is a more mature myth of how Japan came to be. It is not appropriate for children because of the sexual content.

I agree with Tony that the Japanese made up this myth because everyone wants to know where they came from. I also think that men created this in the ancient days as a way of establishing their dominance over woman and justifying their role in society. It is interesting to see that the islands become perfect when a male initiates it, demonstrating the patriarchal system of the Japanese. Women are taught to be obedient and let men run things. This story suggests that whenever women lead something, it ends up being blemished. The Japanese use this myth as a way of founding the origins of their people and the values they abide by. It fortifies patriotism towards Japan because the myth makes it seem like the country was created purposefully and flawlessly. The gods set the example for how people should live in Japan. This occurs before the real world and is considered high mythology according to Manheardt’s distinction between lower and higher mythology. These Japanese gods and goddesses live in the sky and the heavens instead of dwelling on earth around nature.

Folk Belief – China

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 59
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: March 29, 2008
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

“It’s Chinese tradition, after you born baby, you only drink hot or warm stuff. When your pregnant, everything is looser, your entire body. Your body is naturally hot inside. You cannot touch cold water because when you get old, it will hurt. Chinese people like to drink warm things because cold things are not natural. It’s like after you exercise you’re hot, and if you drink cold water, it’s not good. After I had Patti, our house flooded and I had to walk through cold water up to my knees. And now my knees always feel cold like in the bone. Chinese people say that you have to treat your body well your entire life because it’ll stay with you.

Another one of my friends said that her mother couldn’t help her after she had baby, so her dad came to help. Her dad didn’t know anything, so he let her eat ice cubes when she was hot. And after awhile she said her hand hurted a lot.”

My mother heard it when she was a little girl from her mother when they lived in Taiwan. She has a younger sister, so she saw this belief in practice when her mother did not touch anything cold after having a baby. She says that it is mainly passed down to females and men only know about it if they are fathers or husbands who hear about it from their wives. Women rarely overlook these beliefs when they are dealing with pregnant women because it is one of their biggest concerns. In China and Taiwan, women were in charge of cooking, cleaning, taking care of children and bearing children. However, men often do not remember these things because they are not responsible to know it. My mom says that is why her friend’s father let her eat ice cubes. Men have no idea what a woman’s body goes through after she has a baby.

My mom says that this belief is very old and it was probably created by women who have had bad experiences with cold water after delivering a baby. Chinese typically drink warm liquids because they feel that it is more in sync with the body’s natural temperature. Anything too cold will shock the body.  Since many generations of women lived in the same household for most of their lives, they passed on their knowledge and observations to younger generations. When a woman gave birth, her mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and even aunts would come and help out with the new baby. When my sisters had their babies, my mom would go live with them for about a month to cook and give advice. Even though this practice is very old, my mother still partakes in it because it is how she grew up.

After women have children, their bodies are in a lot of stress because they have been carrying another human being in them for the last nine months. They should allow their bodies to recover by only eating and drinking soothing foods. They should not distress the body more because it has already been through a lot.

I am usually skeptical about practices that are not proven by science, but I still find logic in my mother’s belief. There might be some mental aspects to it, but I do not find any reason to doubt it. There is no harm in not drinking cold water for a month after having a baby if it may reduce the risk of future ailments. Our bodies are vulnerable to many things and we should do all we can to protect it. We only get one body in our lifetime, so we should take care of it. I will most likely follow my mom’s advice when I have children because I have seen what might happen if I do not as exemplified through my mom’s feelings in her leg. Even in western cultures, we drink warm things, such as tea and hot chocolate to make ourselves feel better. It warms us up inside because it helps return our bodies to its natural state and temperature.

Folk Medicine – China

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 59
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: March 29, 2008
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

“When you have a cold or after you get rained on or in the winter time and you work outside for a long time, drink hot ginger water and brown sugar. Chinese people think that ginger gets rid of the cold in your body. Even when we cook, we put ginger in food when it’s too cold for your body. Ginger helps balance cold and hot.”

My mom learned it from her mother when she drank it as a child in Taiwan. Her mother brought the remedy from her hometown Anhui, China to Taiwan when she moved there in 1950. My mom then brought over the recipe to the United States when she moved here in the 1970s. One basically just boils ginger root in water and add brown sugar to make it taste slightly better. She thinks that this tradition probably dates back to the beginning of Chinese civilization because ginger is a mere root. Medicine in China use to be mainly herbal, so doctors would try to mix different roots and plants together to create an effective concoction. I am assuming that one man from northern China boiled ginger root and drank it and found it very warming. The winters in northern China get very cold and without heaters, people drank this to keep themselves warm. I think that this spread to the rest of China through travelers and relatives who found this drink to be therapeutic and helpful. When I drink hot ginger water with brown sugar, it tastes very bad and it stings, but it makes the body warmer and it is not just from the heat of the liquid. My mom makes it every time someone in the family gets sick or just during the winters in Maryland because it gets very cold. After my dad shovels the snow out of the driveway, my mom makes him drink the ginger water to prevent him from getting sick. No matter what kind of sickness, she makes people drink the ginger water.

Although I am unsure of the actual benefits of ginger, the ginger water my mom makes is effective to a certain degree. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. When I feel a cold coming on, drinking ginger water usually prevents it, but then there are still times when I get sick regardless of what I do. I also think that it may be mental. If I think I am not getting sick, then I am more likely to stay healthy. The ginger may or may not have any actual health benefits. However, through experience, I do know that it warms the body for awhile after you drink it.

Chinese herbal medicine still exists in China, but western medicine is becoming more and more accepted. I do not think that Chinese folk medicine will die out anytime soon because there are many clinics in both China and the United States that practice folk medicine. Doctors now are still being trained in the ways of acupuncture and herbal medicine. I do not strongly believe in the effects of all Chinese medicine, but it must be effective since it has been passed down for hundreds of years.