Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

JUNGLES OF CAMBODIA

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

JUNGLES OF CAMBODIA

 

Main Piece:

 

While I was at work I went on REDDIT to learn more about ghost stories I could find about Cambodia. I found one story on reddit from someone’s great grandparents a story about how one must never one must be extremely careful before establishing, going forth into the jungle, or hunting in the jungle.

 

There was one story where one traveler visited a town and asked the leader for guidance into the jungle. The leader was hesitant but eventually they both went into the jungle armed. the leader had told the traveler of the dangers and the things he must be very careful of doing such as talking to the animals. the traveler laughed and took no regard to this and one day attempted to speak to the animals. the next day he went missing.

 

the leader knew what had happened to him and fled back to town.

 

my thoughts behind this story is that these animals are of no ordinary animals but they are perhaps possessed by spirits or demons of the jungle.

 

these stories are somewhat similar to some of the things my father said about the jungles (father lived in Cambodia as a farmer/villager in his youth)

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

From reading a post on reddit – interest in learning about ghost stories found online through Cambodian ancestors.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

Reddit – a post made by a Cambodian male. (but this story also resonated/aligned with what the subject’s father told her when she was young – the father was a villager/farmer in Cambodia during her youth).

 

What does it mean for them?

Coming from a Christian family who had no interest in telling me stories such as these it means a lot learning about real stories coming from ancestors who believe in the spiritual world. It also teaches me about what life was like in the jungles of Cambodia and how farmers like my ancestors survived.

 

Context of Performance:

Sitting inside friend’s room talking.

 

Thoughts:

Here it is interesting yet again that in the modern 21st century, people can learn about their ethnic/cultural folklore (that may be lost through sequences of immigration, naturalization, or assimilation) through mediums outside their family, such as the internet (Cambodian folklore part of Reddit).

 

Although I am aware that such accounts gotten from the internet, such as Reddit, may not be the most accurate, I do stand by this account because she (the subject) told me how this story was very similar to those that she was told by her father a long time ago when she was much younger.

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.

 

Unexplainable Alien Voice

Nationality: Russian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: U.S.A
Performance Date: 04/15/2018
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English

The following story is collected from my friend. She lived in Russia for the most part of her life. Then she lived in England for few years and now lives in L.A. She talks about an event, which she considers to be unexplainable. This interview is done face-to-face. “A” refers to me, the collector. And “B” refers to the participant.

 

A: “Did you have any interesting experience in the past?”

B: “Yes. Okay so the story is this; Me and my friends were watching a movie together, and the most interesting thing ever happened to me… Guess I am kind of a boring person. It was me, my friend, and her sister watching a movie and then suddenly, the volume of the TV goes down to almost silent. Then we heard two guys in a very low voice talking in a language that is not distinguishable. Like a language that comes from outside of this world. Then a few seconds later volume of the tv goes up by itself. And movie continues. Me and my friends freaked out. I talked to my dad about this and he said, maybe it’s the people outside in the street and their radio interfered with our system but that does not make sense because we were watching it from a DVD player, which I don’t think has the ability to receive radio transmissions. Also, it was 10 years ago and we didn’t use the internet, so it can not be something related to that too. And I am not crazy, you can write that down, because my two friends heard it too. Very weird.”

A: “What do you think it was?”

B: “(Silence)… I don’t know… UFO”

A: “Do you believe in aliens?”

B: “I believe there are other intelligent beings in the universe… but I don’t prefer the word alien.”
In my opinion, she can not explain what really happened but she thinks it does not belong to this world.

 

Baba Vanga

Nationality: Russian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: U.S.A
Performance Date: 04/15/2018
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English

The following story is collected from my friend. She lived in Russia for the most part of her life. Then she lived in England for few years and now lives in L.A. She talks about a mystical figure, who is famous in Western Europe. This interview is done face-to-face. “A” refers to me, the collector. And “B” refers to the participant.

A: “Do you know any mystical person?”

B: “So there was a woman who could see the future,  Baba Vanga, and in 1999, and she wrote a letter with her own predictions about the future. She said there is going to be a third world war in next 15 years between Muslims and Christians. First connection with a UFO in 2054 in Budapest, Hungary. This is going to be the first connection between aliens and human.”

A: “Is she famous in Russia?”

B: “She is famous in Russia and eastern Europe, everyone knows her.”

A: “Do people in Russia believe her?”

B: “Some do. She kinda predicted future wife of our president in 1990s. She saw that he was ill with…not cancer… I think a problem with his heart. She gave the exact date he will die.”

After this interview, I researched Baba Venga and found out she predicted certain events.

 

Dream comes True

Nationality: Turkey
Age: 28
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: Turkish
Language: English

 

The following story is collected from my friend. He lived in Turkey for the most part of his life. He talks about a Turkish tradition in this collection. This interview is done on phone. “A” refers to me, the collector. And “B” refers to the participant.

 

A:” Did you experience anything you can call supernatural?”

 

B: “I was planning to go to South America with my friends. I month before the trip, I saw a dream. In the dream, I was in Buenos Aires with my friends. I was walking in the city and saw a two floor building. I can remember very specifically, there were graffitis of bananas. The building was selling only bananas. I told to myself, why there is such a random building in Buenos Aires. Then a month later, I went to Buenos Aires. I was walking randomly without having a destination. Then suddenly… I saw the exact same building in my dreams. I was shocked because, everyone can experience something in their real life that is similar to what they have seen in their dreams, but this was very specific. Never experienced something like this. I even took the photo of the building. And again, I had to aim while walking. There should be thousands of streets in the city, and I was walking randomly.”

 

A: “How do you explain this?”

 

B: “I think what we dream, can happen in the future sometimes. Maybe when we sleep, we have a connection to the parallel universe.”