Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Dreaming of Pigs

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 58
Occupation: Self employed
Residence: Cerritos, CA
Performance Date: 4/10/17
Primary Language: English
Language: korean

Background: Simon is a 58-year-old man living in Cerritos, CA. He was born in Seoul and has lived in South Korea for the majority of her life until he moved here and went to the American military. He owns a car wash. Before that, he was a self-employed accountant. He is married and has two grown children.

Original script: “It is good luck to dream of pigs because it means you will gain great wealth in the future very soon. I don’t really know why pigs are symbols of wealth, but it may be because only rich people could eat meat back in the day so if you had the luxury of eating ham, you were very wealthy”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Apparently he had heard this from his school friends in middle school when he had a dream about pigs.

Thoughts about the piece: My parents are very superstitious when it comes to dreams, so I kind of associate them with fortune cookies; you don’t know what you’ll get but reading into them is fun and could maybe come true so why not take the chance?

 

Cutting Nails at Night

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 55
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Cerritos, CA
Performance Date: 4/10/17
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Background: Stella is a 55-year-old woman living in Cerritos, CA. She was born in Seoul and has lived in South Korea for the majority of her life until she moved here for college. She stays at home. Before that, she worked at a hair salon as a beautician. She is married and has two grown children.

Original script: “You must never cut your nails at night because if you do, spirits will come after you and your life will be shorter.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Her mother told her about this old Japanese superstition when she was younger. Apparently people thought nails contained a part of your soul, so by cutting it at night you were releasing parts of your soul into the darkness where spirits rest.

Thoughts about the piece: I found this superstition to be very scary when I was younger. Surprisingly, I still do not cut my nails at night because this superstition scared me so thoroughly. It has stuck with me through the years and now I avoid cutting my nails in darkness.

South Korean Plastic Surgery

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 55
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Cerritos, CA
Performance Date: 4/10/17
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Background: Stella is a 55-year-old woman living in Cerritos, CA. She was born in Seoul and has lived in South Korea for the majority of her life until she moved here for college. She stays at home. Before that, she worked at a hair salon as a beautician. She is married and has two grown children.

I was watching a Korean music show with my mother. I commented on how gorgeous the idols were and my mother interjected, “you know, they’re all fixed, right? Every idol, no matter how natural they look, has had plastic surgery on some part of their face. Look at them. They all look the same.”

I asked her if she really thought that was true and how she knows they’ve had plastic surgery.

She said, “Korea’s plastic surgery is the best in the world. There’s a reason for that. We have the best, and we want to look the best. You know, I think every Korean citizen probably has or will get their faces and bodies fixed because it’s just, um, part of the culture there, do you know what I mean? Even I’ve had my nose raised and eyes widened, so you see, I can tell if somebody else also had the, um, same procedure.”

I believe my informant is both proud and skeptical of the plastic surgery phenomenon in South Korea. It has caused her to become very jaded about “natural beauty” and very particular about what features are “beautiful” in her eyes. She constantly talks about how Korean people all look the same because they all go to the same plastic surgeon. As a result, she refuses to call anybody “pretty”. But at the same time, as someone who has undergone plastic surgery herself, she begrudgingly recognizes the power of plastic surgery as well.

Raw Garlic for Stomachaches

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 your stomach is hurting?

Ivana: “One time my mom gave me three cloves of RAW GARLIC and told me to eat them. At first I was like ‘what no why’ but she told me it would help my stomach hurt less and at that point, I was honestly willing to do anything to lessen the pain I was feeling. So I ate the garlic and then she gave me half a bowl of hot rice to chase away the garlic taste.”

Where did your mother learn this from?

Ivana: “Apparently she had done it when she was a child after hearing about it from her English teacher at school.”

Does it work?

Stella: “I’ve only done it twice in my life because eating raw garlic is just so intense, but honestly it has worked both times. It’s a lot to handle, but effective for sure.”

Performance Context: I interviewed the informant here at USC because she is my roommate. Apparently Ivana’s mother does not believe in taking pain killers or any sort of prescription drug unless absolutely necessary. So, she has many homemade remedies for different types of sicknesses.  

My Thoughts: 3 cloves of raw garlic seems like a little bit too much. I’m almost thinking that the stomach must have just gone into shock and that’s how the initial stomach pains went away. It’s so fascinating to see how such natural ingredients can create change in your body.

 

Arranging Bed Farthest from Door

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

Background: Shoko Nagata is a 20-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She transferred to USC from community college. She has lived in Southern California for her entire life.

Original script: “My mom told me when I was younger that I had to always arrange my room so that my bed is the farthest from the door as possible, and preferably against a wall. There were a lot of specifications about where the bed was supposed to be but I don’t remember half of them because there were so many.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Her mother was knowledgeable about Feng Shui and told Shoko that this was the only way to avoid bad luck and keep good vibes within her bedroom.

Thoughts about the piece: This superstition made me wonder if the layout of your bedroom really does make a difference. My mother once rearranged my room and after that, I slept much better than I did previously. Now, I wonder if it has to do with Feng Shui. 

 

For another version of this protection folklore see http://hawaiirenovation.staradvertiser.com/2011/07/improve/rest-easy-with-these-bedroom-guidelines/