Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

CAMBODIAN DANCING

Nationality: Cambodian
Age: 22
Occupation: Barista
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-24-2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Cambodian

CAMBODIAN DANCING

 

Main Piece:

 

I was exposed to it a lot when I went to church in Los Angeles. (a Christian church). My old best friend was an active dancer of the Cambodian dancing group in Long Beach and her parents would organize dancing performances during the church service as a way to promote Cambodian culture. When the Church service had combined different languages, such as during Thanksgiving I remember my mom would be pissed that my best friend’s mom can get away with organizing a dance meant for either an ancient Cambodian king or something affiliated with Buddhism.

 

I also remember that I had attended one of their trial classes in Long Beach and I observed the elasticity of their hands bent backwards, their balance, the patience to wear heavy gold jewelry and crowns while maintaining a steady yet careful dance flow.

 

The only thing I enjoyed about these dance performances was being entertained by the demon dancer.

 

The demon dancer is probably a character in the dance performance who has intentions of kidnapping or raping or killing the female dancer or princess-like character of the performance.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

It’s probably the most creative and representative form of art within Cambodian culture.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

My old best friend / the Cambodian service at the Christian church.

 

What does it mean for them?

An art form perhaps worth more exploring when visiting Cambodia.

 

Context of Performance:

Sitting inside friend’s room talking.

 

Thoughts:

I think it’s interesting here how even though the subject’s parents did not have a strong cultural root(s) in Cambodian culture, that as immigrants joining an American Christian church in Los Angeles, California (with a Cambodian service), she was able to in a way get back in touch with her Cambodian cultural roots. Interesting to see that in America, at least, today, you can still go to say, a church, a community/organization outside your traditional folklore handing-down passageway (usually just from family) to learn/get into contact/access with your forgotten cultural roots/folklore.

 

PUTTING YOUR BUTT ON YOUR PILLOWCASE AND SLEEPING ON IT WILL MAKE YOU GROW TREES OUT OF YOUR FACE

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 48
Occupation: Shopkeeper
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-24-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary Language / English Secondnary

PUTTING YOUR BUTT ON YOUR PILLOWCASE AND SLEEPING ON IT WILL MAKE YOU GROW TREES OUT OF YOUR FACE

 

Main Piece: (rough English translation)

 

Do not put your butt close or near or touching the pillow because if you do and then you sleep on it your butt is dirty so your pillow is dirty sleeping on it will make you grow trees and brances out of that side of your face that you put it on.

 

Do not do this because your pillowcase is for your face and it should be clean you don’t do dirty things to your face like that.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

This is something that my mother and friends would tell me growing up.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

I learned this from my mother and my friends.

 

What does it mean for them?

Don’t put your butt on your pillow case it can be dirty. This is how some kids get pink eye.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to mother through the phone.

 

Thoughts:

I never thought much of this – it is very comical to me and I do not put my butt on my pillowcase regardless because that’s just a dirty thing to do.

 

But what’s interesting is that there is this “tree man” in Indonesia who is famous because he has “tree/root like tumors” all over his face and skin…not sure if this is related but very eerie and interesting….lots of videos of him up on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmVseKdB6So

DON’T PEE IN NATURE WHILE IN BALI…YOU CAN PEE ON A SHRINE AND HAVE A CURSE ON YOUR GENITALS

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 48
Occupation: Shopkeeper
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-24-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

DON’T PEE IN NATURE WHILE IN BALI…YOU CAN PEE ON A SHRINE AND HAVE A CURSE ON YOUR GENITALS

 

Main Piece: (rough English translation)

 

There are a lot of shrines here in the jungles/wild/forests/beaches of Bali. Sometimes you do not know whether or not a place is sacred and there are a lot of tourists or people even (natives) who would just go to a bush and pee there – but then they would pee on a sacred space, like a shrine or part of a temple and then spirits of that temple/shrine would get very mad and curse them – their genitals.

 

Their genitals (penises) would get very swollen (in a very bad way), like purple or blue, for a very long time, until they would go to a witch doctor/shaman, and do what’s necessary for them to heal.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

It is important to know things like this when you are going through the jungle/forests/beaches/the wild because it is important to protect yourself from bad situations like this.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

Friends, family accounts of tourists, taxi drivers.

 

What does it mean for them?

Do not go around peeing anywhere/everywhere when you are in the jungle.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to mother through the phone.

 

Thoughts:

My mother told me this when I was in Bali and I did not pee anywhere in the wild just to be safe. Always used a bathroom.

COINING

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 80
Occupation: Grandmother
Residence: Indonesia
Performance Date: 4-20-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

COINING

 

Main Piece:

 

This is a method of medicine for Indonesians/Chinese (for things such as colds, flus, fevers, etc.).

 

You do it by first rubbing “minyak putih” (literal translation: white oil) on to the affected area (usually the Chest or the Back area – could be over the triceps in some cases, etc…) – the area where “the bad wind” has entered the body, making it sick, and then you use a coin (but I use the hard peeled skin of red garlic, sometimes using the garlic piece too) and I use that to rub on the affected area down, down, down, in lines down the body to get rid of the bad wind.

 

The idea is that with each stroke down of the garlic/coin the garlic/coin takes some bad wind out of the body.

 

Usually this is done until there are red marks all over the affected/intended area. The redder the mark, sometimes blue or purple dots, the better or more effective the coining is working.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

Because this is a very big part of medicine of our culture and it is a very good way to heal.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

I learned it from my mother.

 

What does it mean for them?

A very good way to heal your family when they are sick.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to grandmother over the phone.

 

Thoughts:

Personally I do not like this method of medicine because it is painful/can be very painful. This would be done a lot to me when I was younger.

 

Once I went to school in the 2nd grade (I came here to the States from Indonesia when I was in 1st grade, still unaccustomed to the culture/rules of America) and my teacher saw how I had these giant red marks up to my neck. She called me during recess and asked me if everything was okay at home – she mistook it for child abuse.

 

Also there was a period when my father was very sick from pneumonia and this coining was all that my mother did to help him heal – and it was extremely insufficient – and he had ended up going to the ER for his pneumonia – it had gone very bad to the point where 75% of his lungs were filled with the liquid and the bacteria. I think this could have been preventable much earlier on if we took him to a legitimate doctor instead of trying to use this home remedy to heal him.

 

Although I have some dislikes about this I do admit that sometimes it does work and it helps me heal much faster than without it/traditional American/Western over the counter medicine.

 

 

ACUPUNCTURE

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 80
Occupation: Grandmother
Residence: Indonesia
Performance Date: 4-20-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

ACUPUNCTURE

 

Main Piece: (rough translation from Indonesian)

 

When you are sick besides coining you can also do acupuncture.

 

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese tradition and method of healing where you lay flat either on your back or your front side and an experienced and trained physician sticks needles gently into you acupuncture/acupressure points.

 

They believe that by doing this you can “clean up” or “open up” your chakra / meridian points / flow of energy throughout the body.

 

They believe that this is because all sickness in some way shape or form block or disrupt the flow of energy through the body through these acupuncture points.

 

I always use acupuncture when I am sick and it always makes me feel better very fast.

 

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

Because this is a good way/method of healing for the body.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

From a lot of places, books, doctors, family practitioners.

 

What does it mean for them?

A very powerful Chinese tool and tradition to cure the body of anything.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to grandmother over the phone.

 

Thoughts:

I personally believe in acupuncture and a lot of my friends who had it before told me that it worked – but I never did it because I am very afraid of needles. This is a very well known Chinese tradition and way of healing.