Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

The Haunted City of Pleasanton, California

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English

“I’m one of the believers that my hometown of Pleasanton, California is haunted by ghosts.  There are certain buildings around the city that are rumored to be haunted by ghosts, and most people that live in Pleasanton know exactly which buildings I’m talking about, regardless of if they believe in the ghosts or not.  So whenever you enter one of these buildings you have to not freak out or anything, because that’ll make the ghost want to haunt you.  If you just stay calm and act normal, the ghost will be friendly with you, and you’ll be okay.”

ANALYSIS:

I find it interesting that in this ghost story, whether the ghost is amicable or not to you is completely up to the person interacting with the ghost.  This results in a ghost story that directly opposes the traditional ghost story narrative of the evil ghost trying to haunt everyone it comes across.  Additionally, I found it very interesting that there was such a clear divide between who believes in the ghost stories and who doesn’t, because the way the informant described it made it seem like the believers and non-believers were in direct opposition to each other.

Beware of Wheelchairs

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York
Performance Date: April 27, 2017
Primary Language: English

“So there’s this superstition I have, and I don’t really know where I first picked up on it, but I still take it really seriously just because of how much sense it makes.  It’s basically a superstition that if you sit in a wheelchair when you aren’t physically in need of a wheelchair, you’re giving yourself bad luck and making a bad omen that you might, one day, actually need a wheelchair through some freak accident or something.  It’s basically just a general rule I follow, since I don’t need a wheelchair, I just won’t sit in one because there’s really no need and I just don’t want to risk it.”

ANALYSIS:

This superstition is really interesting because it has almost no logical standing but yet still exists pretty prominently it seems.  It’s not a superstition I would follow because, despite what the informant thinks, it really doesn’t make any sense, as there’s no way that sitting in a wheelchair once could possible correlate to you being wheelchair-bound in the future, but that’s the thing about superstitions: they don’t have to make sense, they just have to have a root in the believer’s mind and then they exist.

Brazil vs. Portugal

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York
Performance Date: April 27, 2017
Primary Language: English

“So my mother’s Brazilian, and in Brazil there’s this stigma against people from Portugal.  It’s kind of like how people in America view blonde people as being dumber than average, or maybe it’s more like how people in America see people from New Jersey as lesser people.  So like, in Brazil, there’s just this stereotype that people from Portugal are dim-witted or something.  Like, if someone does something stupid, Brazilians will say, ‘oh, how Portuguese of them’ which sounds really mean, but there is an heir of teasing behind it.  It’s not like Brazilians are bigots that actually have something agains Portugal, it’s just this kind of international teasing, but just with a little bit of truth behind it (laughs).”

ANALYSIS:

This is a really interesting cultural stereotype to make because while it is playful, it wouldn’t exist if people didn’t at one point in time, believe there was some truth behind it.  I would be really interested in seeing how this stereotype originated, and if it was still teasing back then or if it was really serious.  And seeing that it’s even still slightly serious today, I would think that it was serious back when it originated.  After all, I don’t think it would have stayed around for as long as it has without people believing it to at least some degree, like the informant does.

Eating sticky food on days of exams

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, MA
Performance Date: 4/11/17
Primary Language: English

Background: Alan is a 19-year old student at Boston University. He grew up in Southern California but moved to Boston for school and is now in his second year of college.

Original script: “On the day of a really important test, I make sure to do a couple of things to get good luck while I’m taking the exam. First of all, I have a lucky pencil I’ve kept with me for two years now. Second, I eat lots of sticky foods like candy or sticky rice or anything that really sticks in your mouth. I heard from my mother that it helps information ‘stick’ in your brain. I don’t know if it’s true, but either way, I believe in it and try to eat some form of sticky food before I go take a test”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Apparently he had heard this superstition from his mother on the day of an exam. His mother cooked him sticky rice and gave him chocolate before he went to take his exam. Apparently, he did well and has continued believing in the superstition ever since then

Thoughts about the piece: This superstition sounds a great deal like what my parents would say to me. They would relate it to food to keep me nourished but also give me hope that I’ll have good luck when I take the test. It’s cool how every superstition has some sort of reasoning/symbolism behind it.

Ginger Tea Mixture

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/14/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

Background: Ivana is a 19-year old student at USC, studying Public Policy and Diplomacy. She is from Ohio and moved to Los Angeles when she started USC as a freshman.

 

Main piece:

So what do you usually do when you’re sick?

Ivana: “My mom always makes me this herbal tea mixture drink… I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s made of ginger and then she adds like oranges and honey and honestly I don’t know how she does it but it tastes pretty good surprisingly and soothes my throat a lot. She also makes me handmade pho which is THE BEST I’m tellin’ ya, my mom makes a hearty bowl of pho and my sickness just goes away.”

Where did your mother learn this from?

Ivana: “I don’t really know, I’m assuming she learned it from her mother or something.”

Does it work?

Stella: “Always.”

Performance Context: I interviewed the informant here at USC because she is my roommate. We were talking about Pho and how every culture has some sort of “soul food” so she started talking about her mom’s homemade Pho.

My Thoughts: this definitely made me think of my own childhood and how my mom treats my sicknesses. There’s nothing quite like a mom’s homemade, piping hot bowl of soup or cup of tea.