Author Archives: Tiffany Luke

LMU Birthday Ritual

Nationality: Japanese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Anaheim, CA
Performance Date: April 7, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

At Loyola Marymount University (LMU) inLos Angeles, it is tradition that on the night of a freshman’s birthday, that freshman has to be thrown into the Foley Fountain.

My informant is a currently a student at Loyola Marymount University.  She told me that she heard this piece of folklore when she was first taking a tour of the school; the tour guide had informed them that it was a tradition at this school although he had no idea where it had originated from.  When it was her birthday, her friends took her to the fountain and threw her into the water.  At the same time, my informant told me that this fountain throwing happened almost on a daily basis at night.

I asked my friend what she thought about this tradition.  She told me that as a viewer, it was always fun to watch people getting dunked in the water.  On the other hand, as somebody who was being thrown, it was quite scary since the Foley Fountain is known for being quite dirty.  However, afterwards, she said it was definitely one of the highlights of her freshman year at LMU.  I believe that this tradition is a right of passage at LMU as it is something that is expected of all freshman.  At the same time, I feel it is a quintessential part of the LMU student identity because my informant told me that whenever she meets alumni, they always ask her if she has been thrown into the Foley Fountain yet.

Car Game – Zitch Dog

Nationality: Japanese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Garden Grove, CA
Performance Date: March 12, 2012
Primary Language: English

Basically, the point of the game is if you see a dog, you have to be the first person to say, “Zitch Dog!” and then you get a point. Person with the highest score by the end of the car ride gets free dinner.

My informant brought up this game during a long car ride with me and a couple other friends.  He told me that he learned of this game when he was taking a road trip with some of his other friends.  Although, the last time he played, the person with the lowest score would have to pay for everybody’s dinner.

I decided to research the origins of Zitch Dog and found that it came from an episode of “How I Met Your Mother.”  As an avid fan of the television show “How I Met Your Mother,” I had seen the episode before but had assumed that it was already an established game.  I was surprised to find that the writers of the show had invented it.  The one main difference between the TV show version and my informant’s version is that in the show, there is no real prize for the winner, only bragging rights.  When I asked my friend if he was aware that it came from the show, his response was that he had never even heard of the show before.  While folklore has had a big influence over published media, this case is an excellent example of media creating and affecting folklore.

Annotations:
Harris, Chris. “Arrivederci, Fiero.” How I Met Your Mother. Dir. Pamela Fryman. CBS. 26 Feb. 20007. Television.

Chinese Parrot Joke

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Taipei, Taiwan
Performance Date: March 15, 2012
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: Taiwanese, Japanese

(Translated from Chinese)  The owner of a local store trained his pet parrot to say, ‘Welcome!’ whenever somebody entered the store and then, ‘Thanks for visiting!’ whenever somebody left the store.  One day, a little boy entered the store and heard the parrot say ‘Welcome!’  Hearing this, the boy was so taken aback that he took a step back out of the shop which then caused the parrot to screech, ‘Thanks for visiting.’  The boy thought that it was so funny that he began to step in and out of the store really quickly causing the bird to yell out, ‘Welcome! Thanks for visiting! Welcome! Thanks for visiting!’ over and over again.  Eventually, the bird got really agitated and yelled out really loudly to everyone in the shop, ‘Boss, somebody is playing with your bird!

The punchline of this joke can be found in the last phrase that is said by the parrot.  In Chinese, the word for bird (鸟) is also slang for the word penis.  Therefore, the phrase can also be translated to, “Boss, somebody is playing with your penis.”  This double meaning makes the joke funny as the parrot is publicly declaring that the shop owner is engaged in a sexual activity to all the people nearby.

My informant told me this joke when the two of us saw a talking parrot in a pet shop and it reminded her of this. She told me that her father, the owner of a small shop, had told her this story when she was little.  When she first heard it as a child, she did not understand that bird also meant penis.  Instead, she found humor in that the bird reacted to the little boy’s actions rather than the phrase said by the parrot.  As an adult, she finally understood the true meaning of the joke.  To me, I think it’s a reflection of a taboo that has been placed on sex in Asian society.  My reason for this is that people find this joke funny because the bird made such a declaration.  This implies that sex is not something that should be talked about publicly or out loud.

擲筊 – Fortunetelling Blocks

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 43
Occupation: President of an electronics company
Residence: Newport Beach, CA
Performance Date: April 14, 2012
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English, Taiwanese

擲筊 (Bwa Bwei) Blocks and the Different Responses擲筊 (Bwa Bwei) is an ancient from of fortune telling. My informant, a Buddhist, uses these wooden blocks as a way to ask Buddha questions. Bwa Bwei comes in the form of two curved red blocks; one side of the block is flat and the other is round. The blocks are thrown onto the ground and the way they land represent different answers. In figure A, one lands on the flat side and the other lands on its round side. This represents a "yes" answer. Both figures B and C represent "no" answers, but have different meanings. For figure B, Buddha is angry at the question being asked. For figure C, Buddha is laughing at the question. The blocks have to be thrown three times and get the same answer all three times in order to be a confirmed answer.

My informant told me about this ritual when we were visiting a Hsi Lai Temple, a Buddhist worshiping center.  She told me she had learned this from a monk when she was little girl attending Temple.  She uses this method to answer a lot of personal and financial question.  An example of questions that she was ask are “Will this business deal be good for the company?” and “Will my daughter get into college?”  I asked her if she truly believed that Bwa Bweis revealed the best answers and possibly, the future.  My informant replied that for her, they have never been wrong.

I think that this form of fortune telling is a way to emphasize and support the idea of destiny.  Since the questions asked tend to be ones that reveal what will happen in the future, the answers seem to suggest that the future is set in stone and is just waiting to happen.  At the same time, I also view this practice as a stress reliever of sorts since the questions are usually associated with stress-inducing topics.  By getting an answer, the person no longer has to really worry anymore since the result is inevitable.

Hiccups Cure – Sugar Under the Tongue

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 53
Occupation: CEO of an electronics company
Residence: Newport Beach, CA
Performance Date: April 8, 2012
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English, Vietnamese, Cantonese

“If you ever have the hiccups, just put some sugar under your tongue to get rid of them.”

My informant told me this one day when I had a severe cases of the hiccups.  I was just telling him that I had tried many other folk remedies (holding my breath, gulping water, etc.) but none of them worked.  He then told me that one of his friends at work had told him that putting sugar under the tongue can eliminate hiccups.  He also told me that he had tried it before, and it really worked for him.  So, I proceeded to put sugar under my tongue, and sure enough, all my hiccups went away.

I think this remedy probably originated from somebody who was experimenting methods to get rid of hiccups.  While this method works for me, I am still somewhat skeptical if the act of putting sugar under your tongue really is a cure for hiccups.  Part of me believes that this whole thing is probably just a placebo effect.  My informant told me that he also believes that it is a placebo effect.  Despite this, he still tells other people about this cure when they have the hiccups