Category Archives: Game

Pen spinning

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 21
Primary Language: English
Language: English

The informant is California-born Chinese American. She is 21 years old, and she likes being caught up with new trends on mass media. She is currently a business student at USC.

pen spinning

(click the link above to see the informant’s pen spinning skills)

The informant first witnessed pen spinning from a friend in her middle school class. She was quickly mesmerized by the world of pen spinning, and she searched for more on internet. She could find a lot of skilled pen spinners especially on Youtube. She later found out there are several online communities on internet for pen spinners. The community she participated was called ‘Universal Pen Spinning Board.’ The spinners would share various tricks and teach each other how-to’s. They have established their own vocabularies such as ‘inverse twisted sonic,’ ‘TW sonic,’ ‘pass rev,’ etc. 

Starting from the easiest pen spinning move, the informant learned one by one. She said it was hard because she was learning it through internet, and there was no one to correct her. When she acquired few basic moves, she combined two of the moves to create a new move. She didn’t create it intentionally. It just came naturally, as she thoughtlessly exercised and modified some moves. According to the informant, pen spinning is a good way of relieving the boredom, and sometimes it helps her concentrate better. She does it in class, at home, and just anywhere she has a pen in her hand. It became her habit, so she finds herself spinning pens without even noticing.

Pen spinning developed more rapidly with an advent of internet. It is a good example of how internet has created many different groups, which develop traditions as years go by. Activities like pen spinning are not found very prominently, thus such internet groups are essential for the individuals to relate to others and keep developing the culture of pen spinning. New moves are continuously created on hands of many different individuals, both intentionally and unintentionally (variation and multiplication). 

For more pen spinning moves, see The Best of Pen Spinning World Cup 2012

Chinese tongue twister

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Primary Language: English
Language: English

The informant is Chinese American who was born and raised in California. He can speak Chinese, but he is not very fluent. At home, he speaks English to his parents, whom replies back to him in Chinese. He is a business student at USC.

Tongue twister: 吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮 (chi putao bu tu putao pi, bu chi putao dao tu putao pi)

Informant:  “The literal translation of this tongue twister is “eat grapes but not spit out the skin, not eat grapes but spit out the skin.” It doesn’t have any meanings. It’s just made for tongue twister purposes. When I was young my mom told me it, and then she had me say it. I think she taught me this tongue twister as part of language development.”

“Some of my Chinese American friends also know this, because it’s something that they teach in Chinese schools here. I went to a Chinese kindergarten, because my mom wanted me to speak Chinese fluently. I learned this tongue twister again at that kindergarten. I think it definitely helped me improve Chinese. Chinese have several different tones, and saying those tones differently may make the sentence mean something totally different. So practicing the tones and exact pronunciations is an important part of learning Chinese, and tongue twisters definitely help me practice tones and pronunciations.”

Tongue twisters exist in many different language groups. Like the example given by the informant, many tongue twisters do not have meanings. It’s solely made for language development. No one knows who made it, but the tongue twisters definitely help people to improve their pronunciation. Tongue twisters may differ by regions. In China, the difference is larger than any other countries, because there exists so many types of language groups in China. 

Don’t Cross Your Eyes

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 55
Occupation: Chiropractor
Residence: Silver Lake, CA
Performance Date: 4/14/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

Background:

The informant is my Uncle. He was born in the Philippines and came to the United States when he was twelve. He went to Hollywood High School and after he attended chiropractic school. He enjoys watching basketball and is also on the verge of retiring from work. 

Informant: 

When I was a kid in the Philippines, all the parents in the neighborhood told me and my friends that if we crossed our eyes and someone blew into them, we would end up permanently cross-eyed for the rest of our lives. So of course us being kids we believed what we were told. I was around 5 or 6 at the time when it was first introduced to me. So for fun my friends and I would play this game where we would cross our eyes and the other person had to try and blow into our face. If you turned away in time to dodge the blow then your eyes were safe. The funny part about this though was that it was so reinforced by our parents that even as a teenager I didn’t want to risk it. The idea of being permanently cross-eyed was a nightmare for me. I didn’t stop believing till I was umm let me see..seventeen. And by that time I was already living in LA. I don’t know what I was thinking (laughs)

Analysis: 

I am so curious as to why the parents reinforced this idea so much. Was the crossing of eyes a major issue back then in the Philippines? I asked my Uncle and he says he still has no clue why parents reinforced the idea back then. Whatever the case may be this belief is quite comical. I can only imagine what playing that game was like with a bunch of five and six-year-olds. Probably an excessive amount of spit and invading of personal space. Maybe the parents got a good laugh out of it watching from afar?

Ouija Boards

Background: 

The informant is my aunt from my mother’s side of the family. She is a second generation American citizen and is the oldest of six children. After high school, she paid her own way through college and supported herself at the same time. As a result of her hard work, she has worked as an RN for almost 30 years at LA County Hospital. 

Informant: 

Back when I was in my teens it was common for kids my age to play with Ouija boards. Nowadays with all the scary movies, I know you wouldn’t dare go near something like that (laughs). One Christmas we got an ouija board as a present. Yea I know crazy right? Well, we played with it. I remember inviting friends over to play after school. One time it told a friend of mine that he was going to die. Immediately he bursted into tears. But what is really weird and still bugs me to this day is the fact that I asked the ouija board if I was going to have kids in the future and it told me no…….and well what do you know…your uncle and I were never ever able to have kids no matter how hard we tried. But it is what it is….I just find it really weird that it told me that at such a young age and it turned out to be true.

Analysis: 

I know for a fact I would never have the guts to play with one of those things. Back then though it was fun and a popular thing to do according to my aunt. I mean shit she got a board for Christmas. It was considered fascinating to communicate with those from the so-called “other side”. Some believe that whoever is participating is moving the arrow, while others truly believe they are in contact with spirits. Some religions and cultures believe more than others. This goes beyond religion though in my eyes. There is some weird magic at work with stuff like this and I would want no part in it at all. Its spooky.

Hebrew School Pranks

Nationality: American
Age: 95
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Skokie, IL
Performance Date: 04/05/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Some Yiddish

The informant is a 95-year old man who grew up in Davenport, right near downtown with his parents and two brothers. His father came over from Russia and owned a grocery store in Davenport. He now lives in Skokie, IL with his wife and caretaker. He has three sons and 9 grandchildren.

Informant: “In Hebrew school they liked to play tricks on teachers. The tricks were different but they always happened. In my Hebrew school we always used to pull pranks if a substitute teacher came. The school was getting all new desks. The new desks were in the basement of the temple. They didn’t bolt them down to the cement floor, they just had them loose. When the substitute teacher went to go to the toilet, all the other guys in the class (there must have been 20 of us) moved their desks way back. And I was not going to participate in it, that kind of tomfoolery. So I kept my desk right where it was. He comes back, he’s from English this teacher, and you know he has thee gray gloves. He comes back in and sees sall the rest of them all the way back and sees me by myself up front and he looks around and tells me to come up to the front, “come up here and get your punishment.” He hit me across the face with his gloves.”

 

Thoughts:

This story reflects the insider/outsider mentality that is often involved in pranking. Pulling pranks on substitute teachers is a way of bringing closer together the pranksters (the students in the class) and in a sense, is the students’ way of demonstrating their power. It could also be seen as a sort of initiation right for new teachers, or for substitute teachers, into the class. Practical jokes create a situation and distract from a lesson, something students are often very keen on doing.