Category Archives: general

Opening Windows in a Tornado

“Whenever there’s a tornado, you’re supposed to open up all of the windows in your house… which scientifically does not make sense, but you’re supposed to do it… you’re supposed to do it to balance out the anger of – the supposed anger of the storm… it’s thought that if you’re inviting it in, it will be less hostile to you…”

Background: The informant was raised in the lower midwestern region of the United States, specifically Kansas, and now goes to college in California.  He learned of this custom from his elementary school librarian.

Context: I was told about this tradition in USC’s Annenberg Hall during a quick interview.

It was interesting to sit down and hear about unique experiences of natural phenomena, especially as someone raised in a tropical country and subsequently California.  I have never needed to consider the stories and beliefs that people may hold who come from a different region in the United States who have to live through different natural disasters such as tornadoes.  The thought processes for “inviting” a tornado in to minimize its damage is compelling, and would definitely be unique to an area that experiences such weather often.

“Bahala ka sa buhay mo”

“Bahala ka sa buhay mo,” it essentially translates to “Whatever, it’s your life; you can handle it,” in a tone that, in a way, communicates the exact opposite to whoever is hearing it.  It shows disapproval for something that a person of lesser power, like a son or daughter, is about to do.  It is the withholding of validation that hurts the most when you hear that from someone you respect.

Background: This is a proverb/saying that anyone who has had a parent disappointed in them has heard.  It’s extremely common to hear mothers say it to their children when they are about to make a decision that is frowned upon.

Context: The informant is a 60 year-old Filipina immigrant to the United States who has children of her own.  This myth was told to me during a weekly luncheon that always follows our Sunday church services.

As the daughter of Filipino immigrants, I have also been told this a countless number of times whenever I’m having a struggle of autonomy with my parents.  My experience of Filipino culture has included a highly involved family life, which often means that parents exert heightened amounts of control over their children’s lives and decisions.  While I used to resent having them dictate the actions I should take, the idea that they are relinquishing all of the control to me and having me handle my own life knowing that they do not believe I am ready to do so is also scary.  That, I think, is the saying’s purpose.  It drives home the idea that our parents are so sure of our failure that they’re willing to watch us deal with the consequences of our actions without their help.

“Bahala Ka” by MC Einstein is a song that uses the proverb to give an “I don’t care” attitude to the listener from the singer’s point of view. The disappointment and lack of concern in the original proverb are then inserted into the song’s lyrics and message.

Golden Doll


1

Original:

我有一个金娃娃

金色的衣服金头发

第一天我到河边去打水丢了我的金娃娃

我哭我哭我哇哇地哭

第二天我到河边去洗衣服找到了我的金娃娃

我笑我笑我哈哈地笑

第三天日本鬼子来到了我的家抢了我的鸡

抢走我的鸭后给我了大嘴巴

第四天有个军叔叔来到我的家还了我的鸡

还了我的的鸭后给我朵大红花

我带着红花去学校

老师叫我擦黑板

我瞪着老师一大眼

老师叫我爷, 

老师叫我奶。。。

Translation:

I have a golden doll

Gold body, gold clothes, gold hair

On the first day, I went to the river to draw water and I lost my gold doll

I cry, I cry, I cry very strongly

On the second day, I went to the river to wash clothes and I found my gold doll

I laugh, I laugh, I laugh very strongly

On the third day, the Jap-ghosts came to my house,

Stole my chicken, stole my duck, then assaulted me. 

On the fourth day, a Red Army uncle came to my house,

Gave back my chicken, gave back my duck, then gave me a big red flower

I wore the red flower to school

My teacher told me to clean the whiteboard

But I glared at her, so

Teacher called my grandfather,

Teacher called my grandmother,

[repeats until all family members are listed].

Analysis

This is a nursery rhyme that I played pattycake to whilst attending elementary school in Northeastern China, circa ~2007. There are also some additional hand motions at various points (e.g. reaching out to slap the face of my pattycake partner during “[he] assaulted me”, and mimicking crying and laughing during the appropriate times). I learned this nursery rhyme on the playground of my preschool from the older students, who likely learned it from the even older students, and so forth. There are some variations: for example, instead of ‘chicken’ and ‘duck’, the items are now listed as ‘mobile phone’ and ‘SIM card’, clearly demonstrating the shift from widespread agriculture to an increasingly capitalist society. The term “Jap-ghost”, of which there is no English translation, is a slur for Japanese soldiers–– the atrocities at Nanking are permanently etched into collective memory. The term ‘ghost’ has two dimensions, both as the spirits of slain Chinese civilians as well as the malevolent spirit-like nature of the Japanese army. The red flower is a symbol of recognition and honor bestowed on individuals who demonstrate bravery and perseverance, and was granted to many of the survivors that lived through the commission of war crimes. The disrespect shown to the teacher is obviously prohibited, and the endless listing of relative titles signals the importance and strong ties between family members, all of whom would be involved in a young relative’s misdeed. For more information, see 张永泰’s article 台湾民间团体发起保钓游行 published by VOA Chinese, in which the author describes this phenomenon being so prevalent that some variation of it is prevalent in a significant number of proverbs.  

My source/interviewee for this entry is my friend K, who also grew up in China and is my age. This rhyme is so transparent in its propaganda that I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just something I made up, or that was told to me by some ‘tankie’. K confirmed to me that she had also heard of a similar rhyme at her elementary school in Shanghai, and we reminisced a bit on how crazy it was. She mentioned that Americans are shocked that in Chinese schools, we have a flag/national anthem ceremony every Monday morning, yet the Americans say the pledge and have a moment of silence every morning! That part was strange to me too, and while I stood up with my classmates during the pledge, I never said the words. We were in a Starbucks at the Village when we were talking about this, and I was worried someone would overhear it… I didn’t know which would be worse, a Chinese international student taking offense, or an American student taking offense. After my conversation with K, I asked my dad if he had heard of this, and he was surprised and asked me if I were joking. My father, who grew up in China during the seventies and eighties, is unfamiliar with this rhyme: he did not attend preschool nor elementary school due to the Cultural Revolution, during which normal school operations were ceased in order for students to train and serve in a military capacity. As such, those in his generation did not organically learn the nursery rhymes of their parents. With regards to my generation, I later learned that there was a list of state-approved children’s poems that was to be promoted in elementary schools– which is how I came to know of this particular rhyme. I believe that my father’s generation was purposefully cut off from the traditional nursery rhymes of decades past, in order to more completely institute another set of poems glorifying the new China. As I became older and immigrated to various countries in the Western world, I was shocked at the staunch propaganda implicit in the poem. As I was in a phase of desperating Americanizing myself, I denounced how evil and cunning it was to insert such explicit conditioning in a children’s song– and was disappointed in myself for not recognizing it as such. My mother, who is not Chinese, dismissed it as “typical Chinese indoctrination”, but I was very upset at how I had been conned into repeating such derogatory terms about Japanese people and praising the Red Army without knowing the context. I am now much more forgiving of myself; I was only six years old and had largely grown up in China–– I lacked critical thinking skills for two reasons: the ignorance of childhood, and the lack of outside knowledge with which to compare my reality.

Source: 张永泰. “台湾民间团体发起保钓游行.” VOA Chinese, 2012, https://www.voachinese.com/a/taiwan-boadiao/1513208.html

Six in one hand, half a dozen in the other

Interview and Context

DO – It just means its pretty much, two different ways of doing the same thing, and neither is better than the other.
Interviewer – And it gets used all the time here (in the wood shop).
DO – Yes.
Interviewer – When was the first time you heard it?
DO – I have no idea, like when I was a kid.
Interviewer – Have you always worked in shops?
DO – No, I heard it before. I don’t think it s necessarily a shop only saying, but it is heavily used in shops. Between… (shouts to shop manager, DM) would you agree that between you, me, and (other shop manager) that we say six in one hand, half dozen in the other— like how often do you think we would say that phrase, or a version of?
DM – Ehh, at least weekly?
DO – It, it’s generally used in the planning stage of a thing because we’re like, “How are we doing this, what do you think?” and it’s like, “How do you suggest we like—”
DM – There’s usually two or three ways to accomplish the same thing. At least.
DO – And sometimes there’s an advantage to one way and sometimes there’s not. It’s comparable.

Analysis

This metaphor is used frequently in this informant’s environment. They mentioned that it is most common in planning stages of set construction, which explains why the regular student workers had not heard the saying (because they are not involved in the planning or designing stages), while set designers and technical directors had heard it.
Because six is equal to a half dozen, the metaphor is saying that there are multiple ways to achieve one goal, and neither way is necessarily better than the other, so it does not much matter which option they choose. However, it also signifies a tiny roadblock caused only by indecision between two equal choices.
The informant doubted it was a saying unique to construction shops, even recalling they had heard it before entering that specific culture, suggesting it was more of a crafting cultural saying than a specific construction one.

Jealousy and Forgiveness

Story: George, my great great grandfather, had a neighbor was jealous of him. The neighbor was very poor, and my great great grandfather would give him bread and water. He was so jealous that one day he just shot him – right through the forehead. According to my grandfather- but I should really ask my Yaiya who knows the story better- after he shot George, he felt so much remorse for killing a kind man – he begged my great, great grandmother for her forgiveness, and she did forgive him- and he became so depressed that he never left his home and spent the rest of his life looking out across the road at George’s house.

Format: The informant told these to me in person, and I recorded them to better transcribe them later.

Context: The informant was told these stories by their father, who was handed down these stories from his father, who was told some of these stories by his father. They are stories about the informant’s great great grandfather, George, and the village he is from. The informant feels as if this story is bittersweet, and did not have much else to say about it.

Analysis: I believe that this legend shows the immense capacity for kindness that the informant’s ancestors had and show what someone is capable of when they truly care about others, but in the same story you hear about the worst that humanity can do, and where their minds are capable of going. It feels like a cautionary tale.