Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Prank/Tradition – Phoenix, Arizona

Nationality: Welsh
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Phoenix, AZ
Performance Date: March 05, 2008
Primary Language: English

“So every year at Brophy seniors sell tickets to freshman for the pool party on top of the gym. The party usually is at the end of the year or something. If a freshman says “Let me see a picture or something” the seniors show them a picture that from the air looks like there is a pool but its really the ventilation on the roof or something. So for years now there’s been a “pool on the gym roof.” Tickets would be like $5-10 depending on who you bought them from. If you were a freshman and got tickets to the pool party, you were the shit until you found out it was a hoax and then you were gay. I got tickets when I was a freshman, but I never sold them to freshman when I was a senior.”

Brophy College Preparatory High School in Phoenix, Arizona is an all boys Jesuit high school. Directly adjacent to Brophy is Xavier College Preparatory High School, an all girls Catholic school (the white buildings closest to the baseball field). Therefore a pool party was guaranteed to be teeming with lots of the Xavier girls, which according to Parker was a big deal for the freshman guys who were isolated from the girls in their all boys school. As a freshman at Xavier at the same time as Parker, I heard about the pool party too but was told that girls didn’t need to buy tickets because we got in for free.

The pool party hoax has been around every year for a very long time. No one is really sure of who started it, my older brothers who went to Brophy in the 90s also fell victim to this prank when they were freshman. Parker guessed that the prank started soon after the gym was remodeled, in the 80s. The picture for proof didn’t exist when my brothers went to school at Brophy but Parker thinks that the picture existed for about 4 years before he came to Brophy.

The prank is definitely considered a rite of initiation at Brophy. The freshman guys are usually the only ones who fall victim to the pranks that are carried out by seniors only. Selling the tickets is also a form of initiation for the seniors. Ever since a freshman finds out about that he has been conned he waits until he is a senior to get his retaliation, and usually, his money back. The tickets are only sold for the first week or two of school usually because the secret gets out quickly that there really is no pool on the roof.

The pool on the roof prank disclaims responsibility of the seniors because it is tradition that the faculty and older students already know about and do not try to stop. It is an accepted rite of passage at the high school. The lore of Brophy is quickly learned by the freshman folk the hard way however, with the prank also acts as a method to unify the class, usually against the seniors, but unity none the less is a crucial aspect to building friendships.

Tradition

Nationality: Irish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Scottsdale, AZ
Performance Date: April 13, 2008
Primary Language: English

In the Greek system when a sorority and a fraternity member are in a serious romantic relationship the fraternity guy can “pin” his girlfriend. Every system has different variations of the same basic tradition. Basically, when the guy wants to pin his girl friend he tells the president of his house who tells the president of the sorority that the girlfriend is in. They keep it a secret from the girlfriend while planning the pinning. Then one night after the chapter meeting, when the entire house is present the president will announce to the sorority to head downstairs to the dining room for a special ceremony. Right away everyone knows that it’s a pinning. All the girls make a large circle in the dining room and turn the lights down low. The president lights a candle and it is passed around the room and passed past the girl getting pinned, once it passes her the candle switches direction and moves back towards the girl to be pinned. Once the girl has it in her hand her sisters to her left and right blow the candle out, the house claps.

Once this happens the president opens the door and members of the boyfriend’s fraternity come in one by one usually dressed in suits, each with a single rose in their hand. Each brother hands the rose to the girlfriend and gives her a smile and a hug. Lastly the boyfriend comes usually with a bouquet of roses and kisses his girlfriend. Next the two closest friends of the boyfriend and the girlfriend tell stories about the relationship between them, funny, serious, anecdotal etc. Lastly the boyfriend tells his girlfriend how much he loves her and gives her his fraternity pin as a symbol of his commitment to her and her official invitation into the fraternity’s family. This is the end of the ceremony, however each fraternity has a different variation of this basic ceremony.

I have witnessed 3 girls get pinned from my sorority in this past year. The particular pinning described above was the most formal and respectful. The other pinnings were less formal and frankly, more embarrassing for the girl. Because each house cultivates its own traditions each pinning will differ depending on the house. To pin your girlfriend was once synonymous with proposing; however with time it has lost a lot of that connotation.

Currently, when a girl is pinned it means that her boyfriend is putting her first in his life. He is putting her before the brotherhood, which is a very big step for any fraternity brother. When initiated brothers take a vow of allegiance to the fraternity and pinning is one of the ways to respectfully break the vow. Also, symbolized by the rose received by each brother, when a girl is pinned she is welcomed into the house, into the family of that particular fraternity. Usually only juniors or seniors are pinned. The couple has usually been dating for more than a year as well. Pinnings don’t happen unless the relationship is very serious and long term.

Pinning is a public display of affection and commitment accepted in the Greek community and an active tradition. For sororities pinning usually embodies the girlish fantasy of a wonderful boyfriend who isn’t afraid to show how he feels, and secretly, every girl wants to be pinned at some point.

Tradition – Russian

Nationality: Irish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Quicny, MA
Performance Date: April 01, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

Traditionally, in Russian weddings receptions there is a tradition to determine who the head of the household will be. The bride and the groom both are given bread and salt from their parents. Together they (the bread and salt) are supposed to symbolize good health. The bride and groom have to take a bite of the bread and whoever takes the biggest bite of the bread supposed to be the head of the household or family. Sometimes the bread and salt are given after the civil ceremony, depends on the family.

Tom first heard about this custom from his Russian professor here at USC. Although he has never attended a traditional Russian wedding his professor has talked extensively about the differences between Russian weddings and American weddings. Tom thinks that the bread and salt were first used during the communist regime when bread and salt were scarce items and highly prized. Giving bread as a gift came to symbolize wealth, prosperity and good health (if you could afford the bread and salt you were probably in good health is the assumption Tom made).

Similarly Tom thinks that who ever can take a bigger bite of the bread, symbolizing a bigger part of health and prosperity and therefore heading the family. Usually this would be the man as men tend to have larger jaws. Tom also mentioned that if a woman took the bigger bite it might mean that she would have lots of children. Because she would be home with the children most she might be seen as the head of the household. Tom says this tradition is still carried on today but is merely for entertainment and fun rather than a means to predict a couple’s life together.

Traditions and customs in weddings are usually meant more for entertainment and are usually taken lightheartedly. This attitude however, differs depending on the religious association with the wedding. In Russia, the government does not recognize religious weddings therefore a civil ceremony is required. Because religion is removed from the ceremony, I think, Russians take more liberty in providing entertainment for entertainment’s sake rather than rituals based on religious orders. The Russian wedding traditionally is more focused on the reception and the playful nature between the bride and groom, the families, and friends. This tradition exemplifies the nature of the Russian attitude towards weddings.

Tradition/Food – Chinese

Nationality: Chinese, American, Brazilian
Age: 47
Occupation: ESL Teacher
Residence: Ossining, NY
Performance Date: April 15, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese

Mooncakes on Chinese New Year

“Mooncakes represent the full moon, which is the beginning of spring for the Chinese. Mooncakes are round and with black or red bean paste and yolk in the middle representing the full yellow moon in the dark evening sky. Chinese will gather outside the full moon to delight themselves with the moon cake” –Lee Lee Wong

Analysis:

The moon cake has been around since the 13th century Ming Dynasty and was commonly eaten during the Mid- Autumn Festival. The story in which it originated can be found in “Traditional Chinese Folktales” in the section titled, “The Secret in the Moon Cake.”The ongoing battle between the China and Mongolia was a rough time for the native Chinese. The Mongolians patrolled the city and stationed themselves in almost every home. Through collaboration with an old friend, General Ju came up with an ingenious plan to overthrow Mongolian dictatorship. They decided to set up a booth at the central marketplace to sell their delicious moon cakes, whose sweet bean paste attracted a huge crowd. Every time they sold a moon cake, they would give out a “bonus” moon cake, which contained all of the same ingredients except for a red mark that decorated the top of the pastry. Inside every moon cake marked with a red dot was a tiny piece of rolled paper containing the memo, “On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when you see bonfires in the hills above the city, kill the Mongol soldier in your house.” Sure enough, on the day of the Festival at the time specified, huge fires broke out and all the Mongol soldiers quartered in Chinese family’s homes were killed as planned. The Mongol general made a last attempt to control the chaos by ordering the few remaining generals to fight. However, in the end, the Chinese prevailed and General Ju was hailed by the people. His victory earned him a seat on the Imperial Throne. Today, Chinese people eat moon cakes during the Mid- Autumn Festival. It is common for some to decorate their moon cakes with red coloring in honor of General Ju’s triumph over the Mongolians. The red is supposed to symbolize freedom and honor General Ju’s courageous efforts.

Like my mom said earlier, our family eats moon cakes around Chinese New Year. Since they are hard to make, we usually buy them at Chinese supermarkets in Flushing, Queens where my grandparents live and where we usually spend the New Year. Traditionally, moon cakes are eaten with tea. The moon cake is denser and richer than most Chinese pastries, since it contains rich products like the lotus seed paste. The saltiness of the yolk in the center balances the sweetness of the cake. The top of each cake has a Chinese imprint of a character, which usually represents the words “harmony” or “longevity,” and surrounding images for decoration, such as the moon or flowers. (Wikipedia.org) According to my mom, each cake is also expensive, starting off at $10 a moon cake (to feed one person), which is probably why they’re most commonly eaten during major Chinese holidays. I’m not sure whether or not people still eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival because my family does not celebrate this holiday.

Annotation: Chin, Yin-Lien, Yetta Center, and Mildred Ross. Traditional Chinese Folktales. New York: An East Gate Book, 1989. 171-180.

Tradition – Sweden

Nationality: English, Irish
Age: 85
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Hollywood, CA
Primary Language: English

“Each Christmas the house is decorated with statues, pictures, and ornaments.  Our family from Sweden always brings gifts, and over the years they have always brought the wicker animals… with the red ribbon wrapped around them.  They look like goats, or horses, and come in all different sizes.  We put out the tiny ones for decoration.  Every Christmas, someone would hide one of them and you girls [my three cousins] would try to find it.  And then whoever found it would get a chance to hide it and that’s how it went on.”

After I interviewed my grandma, she called my Swedish relatives to find out more about the Julbock.  They told her that the Julbock (the Yule Goat) has long been a part of Swedish tradition.  Sometimes made from the last straw of the harvest, the Julbock has often been associated with farming and represents hope for the new year (hope for good crops and prosperity).  One of my Swedish cousins said that it is possible that the game of hiding the Julbock was a way of integrating a Pagan holiday ritual with the more formal Christian traditions that occur during Christmas.  However, most people in my family are not religious and are not trying to unite their religion with pagan traditions.  In fact, most of my family, including myself, did not know why we hid the Julbock, even though it has been a tradition in our family for many generations.  I always figured my grandma made up the game to keep my cousins and I out of trouble and to give us something to do in between unwrapping presents and eating Christmas dinner.

Also, in our family we do not even call it a Julbock; my grandma usually refers to it as “the goat”.  Since my family knows so little about the tradition of hiding the Julbock, I asked my grandmother why we continue the tradition every Christmas.  She said that she liked seeing my cousins and I playing together, and that it reminded her of when my dad was younger and would also try and find the toy animal.  Therefore, it seems like even though my family may not know the historical origins of the Julbock, the tradition has great importance because it brings our family members together during the holidays.  Also, it helps establish our family as a unique group with our own identity, since not every family hides a Julbock during Christmastime.