Author Archives: Stephanie McGregor

Drinking Game

Nationality: Peruvian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: March 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Drinking Game (Fuck the Dealer)

You need a full deck of cards and at least two players to play. Whoever has the deck can see the card that is coming and someone that doesn’t have the deck must guess what the card is. If he is wrong on the first try, the dealer will either tell the person that their guess was too low or too high. Then the guesser gets another chance and if he gets that wrong he must drink the difference of his guess (so if he guess 7 and it was five, he has to take two sips of his drink). If he guesses right then the dealer must drink (if its a seven its seven sips). Also after every card you discard the card and put in on the table so everyone can see what cards are left. For example, if all four tens are gone you will know and never guess that number. The dealer must survive three wrong guesses in a row before he can hand over the cards to the next person. The later in the deck the more fucked the dealer gets because it is easier to guess the cards.

Analysis:

Charlie learned of this drinking game senior year of high school. He was at a party in his hometown and played it with a friend.  Since then, it has become one of his “top five” drinking games.  Once he came to college, however, he did not play it as much.  He said this is because friends here are not as “hard core” of drinkers as his friends back home.  There is no way to avoid drinking heavily in this game, so it is not suited for lightweights.  The game isn’t meant to be as fun as beer pong and other competition games, because its sole purpose is to get the players very drunk, very fast. He recommends playing this game, especially if one is fond of drinking alcohol. It is good to play before the party gets “bumpin”, according to Charlie.  The game is mostly played with close friends, unlike King’s Cup where the more the merrier.

This game seems to be pretty contemporary.  I have not heard of this game and it certainly isn’t as popular has Beirut (Beer Pong), Flip Cup, or even King’s Cup.  The goal of most drinking games, especially in American culture, is to get as drunk as possible. This game seems to fulfill that objective pretty well.

Fuck the Dealer represents the essence of college partying.  Many stereotypes portray college and universities with a tendency to binge drink.  In most cases this is a fairly accurate statement but there are many schools with strict policies on alcohol.  Drinking among American students, however, is fairly common.  It is a way for students to relieve the stresses of school and socialize with peers.  Alcohol has become almost essential to any party environment and is even frowned upon when out.  This is probably due to its effects on the nervous system, making people lose their inhibitions and be more open. In addition, some people do not feel comfortable interacting sober on an individual basis, so these group games provide a context of interaction in which the timid are able to come out of their shell.

A deck of cards is common in drinking games.  Some of these games include King’s Cup, Spoons, Category, Drug Dealer, Drunk Driver, Indian Poker, High Low Red or Black, Jacks, and Pyramids to name a few[1].  It is not known why cards play just a vital role but it could just be the ease of accessibility and inexpensiveness.

These types of drinking games are typically played at the beginning of one’s night, as sort of an icebreaker or just to pre-game before a party.  It is generally not played all night but rather for a couple hours at maximum. There are, of course, exceptions to this; for instance, Beer Pong competitions have been the center of many parties with extensive brackets and the illustrious title of champion on the line.

[1] http://www.beerfun.com/cardgames.html

Insult

Nationality: Indian-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Louisiana
Performance Date: February 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Insult

Ullu ka patha

Son of an owl

Someone who does not understand anything properly

Analysis:

The collector, who wishes to remain anonymous, first heard this insult around middle school but only remembered it being used in high school.   Since it is an insult, it is not appropriate to use it all the time, mainly just around one’s peers and age group.  The insult can roughly translate as a “fool”; someone who doesn’t understand anything properly or thought to be dumb. Other uses of this slur include “a good for nothing person” or as an insult to your father.  It is more commonly found in northern India where Hindi is spoken. “Ullu ka patha” is also seen in movies a lot.

On the first literal translations of this item, I found the meaning to be somewhat ironic.  In most scenarios, owls are associated with wisdom and are considered to be very knowledgeable.  In this case, however, it has quite the opposite meaning.  I am not sure why this is, maybe it has something to do with Indian culture that is unknown to foreigners.  R.C.D. has heard this insult used in many different forms.  He/She mentioned that in same causes, people use it as the equivalent of “Son of a bitch” in Western culture.  He/She said this interpretation is not as common and is not sure of the validity behind that meaning.

Game

Nationality: Ecuadorian, Columbian, Czechoslovakian, Italian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Game

You stand in a circle and one girl starts and she walks around the inside of the circle.  Then she jumps in front of the person when it says “she jumped in fron’ of me.”  Then the next girl goes into the middle and the one who ones in the middle replaces her stop in the circle.  “Little Sally Walker walkin down the street.  She didn’t know what to do so she jumped in front of me.  She said go girl do your thang do your thang do your thang. Go girl do your thang do your thang stop.”

Analysis:

Vienna first played this game in the 2nd grade.  She went to Page Private School in Beverly Hills. “What you would do is you got a group of people, at least five or six minimum, and you would get into a circle. Then whoever wanted to start would go in the middle and then walk around the inner circle and “strut” while you walk around.  Once it says “jumped in front of me” then that person stops and jumps in front of someone and does some kind of dance and then once it’s over, the person she jumped in front of goes into the circle and the other girl takes her place.  You continue until the whole circle has been in the middle”.  She enjoyed playing this because recess there was never really enough time, and this was fun.  To her, the best part is that the more people in the group, the longer it would last.  Also, there wasn’t a set amount of people; more kids could join during the game if they wanted.

I had never heard of this recess game until I collected it from Vienna. It seems more associated with western culture, especially because of the language used.  Vienna said most of her classmates were African-American—she was the only ‘white’ girl in her group of friends.  Myself growing up, I never heard of the word “thang”.  It wasn’t until I came to the United States and listened to rap music that I began hearing it.  I believe this type of slang is most commonly used among African-Americans.  I also asked what kinds of dances the girls would do to “do their thang”.  She said they did it with attitude and confidence.  I asked for further explanation and she said, “Let me put it this way—about half of our dances were banned by the principle”.  I’m not sure how risqué these dances could have been, considering they were in the second grade, so it may have just been inappropriate for their age group.

I think this game was especially common among her group of friends because it enabled them to express themselves.  Young children are often insecure and unsure of themselves.  By taking them out of their normal environment and letting them play with their peers, they are more likely to be themselves.  Furthermore, the game was never the exact same.  Girls would do their dances differently every time, providing exciting entertainment that consistently amused young children.

Superstition – Hawaii

Nationality: White, Japanese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hawaii
Performance Date: 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese, Hawaiian

Superstition (Hawaiian)

You are not supposed to carry any type of pork over the Pali Highway or your car will break down.

Analysis:

Alisa said she probably heard this superstition in grade school, at the time when she moved to a different town on Oahu.  The Pali Highway connects her new town to Honolulu and she had to drive it to school everyday.  Her parents were most likely the ones who told her of this superstition.  Alisa is not sure who follows this superstition and is unaware of anyone having problems on the Pali Highway.  She notes, however, that carrying pork is not all too common to begin with.  Moreover, she doesn’t really know why this holds but said that most people on Oahu knew of it.

I myself did some research on this superstition to find some reason behind it. Although the sources of my findings may not be credible, it provided an interesting myth. It is believed that Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, was involved in a tempestuous relationship with the demigod, Kamapua’, who was half man and half pig. The two lovers decided not to visit each other because of their testy relationship.  Because they lived on different parts of the island, when people brought pork over the highway, it was symbolic of taking a piece of Kamapua’ from one side to the other.  This obviously made Pele upset, so she would use her powers to stop whoever brought it over. I also found some variation with the actual item, like the pork had to be raw, or it only happens at night time, or even that a white dog would appear and one would have to feed him before he or she could proceed.

These types of myths, with demigods, are quite common in Hawaiian folklore. Dog men, bird men, and hog men are other examples of demigods.  Pork is also a fairly recurrent dish in Hawaii.  Many traditional luaus consist of roasting kalua pig in an imu, which is an oven dug into the ground to preserve flavor.

Wedding Traditions/Superstitions – China

Nationality: Chinese, Malaysian
Age: 49
Occupation: Homemaker
Performance Date: 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese, Hakka

Chinese Wedding Traditions and Superstitions

Ancient customs and old wives’ tales have been handed down from generations to generations.  As a young girl I was told not to leave any rice behind in my bowl or else, I will end up marrying a guy with lots of acne or poke marks.  It is also a taboo to marry someone with the same surname as it means that you’re marrying the same bloodline.  Ancient customs do blood test by pricking their finger and dropping their blood in a bowl of water.  If the two mix together, then supposedly you’re related.

If one does end up getting married, there’s a lot of taboo and customs to follow like when a couple gets married, the groom has to carry the bride over a pan of burning coals when they first enter their new home so that when she is pregnant, she will give birth successfully and with ease. Since maintaining and passing down the surname of the family is very important, having a son as a firstborn is a priority. Therefore, a young male child will be asked to first lie down on the bed before the couple does.  It is also believed that putting some auspicious food under the bed will bring lots of children and harmony with the newlyweds.

During pregnancy, it is believed that hammering and renovation of the home will lead to miscarriages or deformities.  Eating a particular kind of food can help determine the kind of baby the woman gives birth to– like if you eat light colored food or drink plenty of milk, the baby will have a fair complexion.  Eating crabs will lead to an overactive baby and blotchy complexion.

After giving birth, it is not recommended to attend any weddings or funerals for the first 100days– it is believed it might bring ill health or misfortune to either families.

Analysis:

Ms. Yong heard these customs growing up as a child in Malaysia.  She was one of seven girls, so the topic of marriage was always a favorite.  She is not too sure if her own parents practiced these traditions, although if they did, it would be quite ironic since only the last two children, out of the nine in her family, were boys. Now, however, as a grown woman, she is more skeptical about some of these beliefs saying, “I probably do not believe that leaving rice behind in your bowl means you will marry a man with poke marks [or acne] on his face”.  My mother has some doubts on the truth behind these beliefs, but it should be emphasized that that is not be the point.  I’m sure most folklore could be disproved with science, but that takes all the fun out of it.  Passing down tradition and beliefs is what creates a culture.  Without it, everything would be black and white with no room for imagination.  One should not worry about the validity of lore but rather the experience of being able to know it (part of it’s folk) and the ability to tell it to future generations, ensuring its survival.

The wedding traditions seem very typical to me of Chinese culture.  One superstition in particular stood out, that of wanting a son as one’s firstborn. Chinese people put a lot of importance on one’s surname.  Throughout history, male babies were of preference over female.  Males would not only be more helpful to the family business, which back then was mostly farming and agriculture, but also in passing on the family name.  This tradition is not changed, even in the twenty first century.  When modern China realized it needed to take action on their enormous population (currently around 1.4 billion), they imposed a “one couple, one child” law.  This encouraged new families to only have one child; if they were to have more they were stripped of benefits and tax breaks.  The policy worked for its purpose, but it also generated serious side effects.  Deserted and even dead babies started turning up in dumpsters, rivers, and everywhere imaginable.  As one can guess, these babies were all female.

This reality is very depressing but it proves just how powerful tradition is.  Modern Chinese would not behave in that manner if their culture did not emphasize the importance of a surname.  This can be paralleled with American culture, where most couples are indifferent about the sex of their child.  Some may be concerned with their family name dying out, but with our increasingly liberal society, hyphenated surnames are ever more common.  I have never heard of a Chinese woman keeping her maiden name, which may be more reason for this unfortunate circumstance to continue.   Folklore, surprisingly, does indeed carrying significance in a culture and can even be the reason behind people’s actions.