Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Saint Martin’s Day

Nationality: German
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/7/13
Primary Language: English

MATERIAL

 

“On November 11th, we celebrate Saint Martin’s Day. Now, we just have a big dinner that night with whoever is home. I have 3 younger sisters, but one of my sisters and I are already in college, so we don’t go home for it. So, it’s just my parents and two youngest sisters that celebrate it. It’s not as big of a deal to us now as my dad told me it was to his family growing up in Germany. It is a holiday that ends with a huge feast, usually with a cooked goose, at dinnertime. Before November 11th, the children all build their own lanterns. There are lantern parades in towns and cities all over the place, kind of like America on Thanksgiving or St. Patrick’s Day. Sometimes, onlookers will give the children candy. I want to go to Germany to observe this holiday at least once in my life.”

 

ANALYSIS

 

Saint Martin’s Day celebrates Saint Martin of Tours, the third Bishop of Tours. He is remembered as a very altruistic man who, as legend recalls, saved a homeless man in the middle of winter from freezing to death by giving him his cloak. Now, the tradition is to mainly eat a goose at dinnertime, which even in America, my informant’s family adheres to. This is due to honoring the tradition of payday, which in the medieval tax system in Germany, was November 11. Tax debts were usually paid with a goose and so nowadays, Saint Martin’s memory is celebrated by eating a goose with the whole family. One good thing about customs and traditions aimed toward young children is that the customs become ingrained in their mind, even if they don’t know the meanings behind them. However, as they grow older, they will discover the meanings and that will give their favorite traditions some background and make it all the more special. It is a good way to teach children about their culture in a fun way. My informant even stated that she would like to go to Germany, where her father was born, to observe this holiday and join in on the festivities.

Full Month Party

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 48
Occupation: Software Engineer
Residence: Naperville, Illinois
Performance Date: 4/9/13
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

MATERIAL

 

小婴儿出生后一个月之内，不去公共场所，但是当满一个月时，通常都要摆“满月酒”，亲戚朋友们要给小婴儿送钱或者礼物表示祝贺；婴儿的家人要请来宾喝喜酒、吃喜蛋表示感谢。

 

Before a newborn turns one month old, neither the mother nor the baby ventures outside of the house. The baby especially can never go to any public places. However, when the baby turns one month old, there is a full month party. Friends and relatives come to the mother’s house to celebrate the baby’s first month. They drink alcohol and give the baby money or gifts to congratulate his or her life. In return, the mother and father will provide hard-boiled eggs that are painted many different colors for their friends and family to eat to show their gratitude for them.

 

ANALYSIS

 

Up until a few decades ago, it was not uncommon for babies in China to die before they reached one month of age. Living conditions, especially in the rural areas of China, were not up to par and many diseases floated around. Therefore, it was a big deal for a baby to survive its first month, because it was much more likely for it to live a normal life without complications. In some areas, babies weren’t even given names until they turned one month old. The Chinese tradition of celebrating a baby’s first full month has carried over to the modern day, despite newborn mortality rates being much lower than ever before. The eggs that are given to guests to eat are a symbol of fertility.

 

This tradition is especially hits home for my informant. She was the youngest of 5 in her family, the oldest being her brother and then three older sisters. She was born and raised in rural China, only moving to the United States when she was 28 years old. After my informant’s mother had her son and the first two daughters, she gave birth to two boys one year apart from each other. The first boy died before he reached his first month, but the other lived to be two years old before passing away from disease. Although my informant never met her two older brothers, it is still something that the whole family will with their whole lives. So, the full month celebration for all of the babies in the extended family have been and will continue to be elaborate, grand parties with a lot of love.

Hungarian Sprinkling Day

Nationality: Hungarian
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/5/13
Primary Language: Hungarian
Language: English

MATERIAL

 

“You celebrate Easter just on Sunday in America, right? We celebrate Easter for two days in Hungary, Sunday and Monday. On Easter Monday, there is a thing called sprinkling. Usually all of the males in the family will visit all of the females in their family or in the neighborhood. They will go up women and tell them poems about sprinkling, sometimes not so appropriate poems, and asking if they can water the girls like a flower. Smaller boys will sometimes throw water on the girls because it is more fun. The girls want to show themselves off as popular and to have more water thrown on them or more cologne sprayed on them to show that a lot of boys like them. The older men mostly will just spray the women with cologne to symbolize the sprinkling. By the end of the day, the women will most likely smell of a lot of different cologne. The women will cook for 3 or 4 days leading up Monday to prepare to feed the men that day.”

 

ANALYSIS

 

My informant was born in Hungary and lived there until she was 17 years old. She remembers vividly celebrating the Easter holidays with the sprinkling just as much as Americans associate their childhood Easters with decorating eggs and going on an Easter egg hunt. She remembers that as a child, it was just a fun day where boys could splash girls with water and the girls would feel special to receive the attention. As she grew older, it turned into almost a shy flirting mechanism, where the boys would spray the girls they liked with their cologne. It was always remembered as a joyous occasion.

This Hungarian holiday has many subliminal connotations. The poems that the boys read to the girls asking if they can water them like a flower represent fertility. Watering a flower is like preparing a woman for childbirth. Then, when males spray the women with their cologne, it represents them marking their territory. It also perhaps shows that the Hungarian culture is a patriarchal one, since males can spray their cologne on as many women as they want, whereas the women don’t really have a say in who sprays them. In return, the women even cook for days on end to feed the men who spray them that day, so as to thank them for blessing them with their cologne and attention.

Christmas in Hungary

Nationality: Hungarian
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/5/13
Primary Language: Hungarian
Language: English

MATERIAL

 

“On December 25th, we celebrate Christmas in Hungary. On Christmas Eve, December 24th, the adults bring the Christmas tree in, set it up, and decorate it. The children are not allowed to enter the room. The tree is usually set up in the night while the children are sleeping. The children are only allowed to enter the room when they hear the bells the next morning. They are supposed to believe that the tree was brought by angels. There are presents under the tree but instead of in America where you write “To: ___” and “From: ___” on each present, in Hungary we just write the name of the person the present is for. This is because Baby Jesus brings all of the presents for everyone.”

 

ANALYSIS

 

My informant grew up in Hungary and lived there for all of her life until she was 17years old. Each Christmas when she was younger, her parents would set up the tree after fell asleep on Christmas Eve and when she woke in the morning, there would be a tree and presents under the tree from the Baby Jesus. This may be an extension of a representation of the Immaculate Conception. In Roman Catholicism, the most prominent religion in Hungary, Baby Jesus was believed to be conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit and was birthed while Mary remained a virgin. In this same way, Baby Jesus comes with angels on Christmas Eve in secret, in a way that nobody knows or sees, to set up the Christmas tree and leaves presents. In this way, Christmas remains a predominantly religious holiday in Hungary, rather than becoming a more commercialized holiday, as it has become in other parts of the world.

Feliz Año Neuvo

Nationality: Colombian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Costa Mesa, California
Performance Date: 4/7/13
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

MATERIAL

 

“On New Years Eve in Colombia, all the families will build a stuffed doll together. It is filled with old clothes that you’ve grown out or old sheets and pillowcases. My family also writes slips of paper with our bad habits or mistakes and throw those inside the doll, too. It is kind of like a New Years Resolution but the opposite. They are things you want to rid yourself of. After you put everything in the dummy figure, you either tie it with firecrackers or put firecrackers inside of it. On the stroke of midnight, you set off the fireworks with a match. All through the streets, you can see everyone’s dolls blowing up and firecrackers going off. It’s very loud, bright, and colorful everywhere. It’s a celebration of a new beginning.”

 

ANALYSIS

 

The transition from one year to the next is a subliminal time. That being said, many traditions revolve around New Years Eve and the moment the clock strikes twelve and the New Year is upon us. My informant grew up in Colombia and celebrated New Years Eve with friends and family every year. The day of New Years Eve, my informant’s house, along with most other Colombian households, were buzzing with food preparation and doll making. My informant said his favorite part of New Years Eve was watching the firecrackers blow up the doll.

This celebration is very symbolic of a new beginning. When the doll blows up with the firecrackers, the old sheets, clothes, and slips of paper with bad habits blow up with it. This is a representation of getting rid of the old year and all the bad luck that came with it, preparing your household and family for the new year. Firecrackers are used in many cultures to contact dead ancestors or the Gods in the heavens. Therefore, I believe that the firecrackers may also be used to notify either ancestors or Gods that a new year is upon the Colombians, and that they are ready for a year of good luck and success. Beyond that, a celebration of firecrackers in the streets and children running around and rejoicing is a way to show all of Colombia coming together to celebrate during a special time.