Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Reunion and Games

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student - Interactive Media
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/25/18
Primary Language: English

Transcription:

Interviewer: “Do you have any cool family traditions?”

Informant: “Hm… that’s an interesting question…um…because I don’t…I have a really small immediate family um… cuz I don’t have many living grandparents. It’s just- and I’m an only child of my mom and so…um we don’t- we as a small family don’t have any but I have a larger family…um…of step siblings and half siblings who I’m close to. And with them we do a family reunion every year…out in Ohio which is like the big tradition that we all partake in. Yeah.

Interviewer: “What kind of things do you do there?”

Informant: “Um…we…so we gather in this…in the house that my…dad’s…not my stepmom but my dad’s ex-wife lives in. Um on an island called ‘Balast Island’(?). Uh…she’s awesome. She was excommunicated from the catholic church for being secretly ordained as a female priest. Um and so she’s weird and great. Um…so we all gather there and it’s about anywhere from 20 to 45 people depending…cuz on how many people come…um cuz yeah I have uh 6 half siblings. Yeah we play games, we cook. Um…one thing is the kids always play Ghosts in the Graveyard, where we wait til the final night and have like a bonfire and roast marshmallows, we do that. Um… yeah that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.”

Summary:

The informant doesn’t have any big family traditions with his immediate family. However he does have a big family reunion with his step family. They have a tradition of meeting up in Ohio and having a bonfire as well as a multitude of activities. The kids have a tradition of playing Ghosts in the Graveyard. The informant tried to bring Ghosts in the Graveyard to our school when he was helping us plan an event. He was spreading a folk game that many of us hadn’t heard of at the point. The plans ultimately fell through but we were introduced to a new game nonetheless.

Oplatek

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student - Interactive Media, Music Production
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/25/18
Primary Language: English

Transcription:

Interviewer: “Where are you from?”

Informant: “Litchfield, New Hampshire”

Interviewer: “Okay can you tell me about your family traditions?”

Informant: “Um…yes I am…so I’m French, Polish, Irish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, and Italian but…the thing is…equal parts everything except for two parts Irish, umm just for context. But the thing is my family has only ever celebrated like…actively in my Polish and Irish side. Um…we tend to celebrate St.Patrick’s day pretty hardily. He have a lot of like traditions. We listen to a lot of traditional…like uh traditional Gaelic music. Um…bands like The Berry McNeals and so on so forth. We very much tend to listen to those types of music. And our Irish heritage just generally throughout something that we’re pretty proud of. Um…but in terms of actual traditions…we uh picked up a polish tradition called the Oplatek on Christmas Eve where um… there’s this… basically we don’t follow it strictly because the story behind it is a little bit more long form than we have time for. But um…essentially what would happen would be…a priest I believe would distribute loaves of bread…to…um…to each…to every house or something like that then like towards the start of the Christmas season I think. And then like they would break that load of bread like um…on Christmas Eve. As I understand it. Um…but the important part is the breaking of it on Christmas Eve and um…saying ‘This blessing may have health, wealth, and happiness in the golden crown of heaven.” Um saying that blessing over it then I believe it’s the oldest member starts…the head of household starts and then they pass to the left. Until everyone has a piece of bread. Then they all eat it and it’s like just a part of like a ceremonial kinda thing.”

Interviewer: “So it’s religious?”

Informant: “Yes but no. It’s um…it’s religious based but it’s culturally religious. It’s a culturally specific celebration of a religious thing. My family is Catholic and so um generally practices Catholic holidays. Even though I’m atheist, I still observe Catholic holidays with them just because at this point, it’s not anymore about the religion side of it so much as celebration with family and experiencing those celebrations together.”

Summary:

The informant talks about a Christmas tradition in his family. In it, there is bread and on Christmas Eve, the eldest or head of household takes the bread, breaks it, and passes it to the left. Once everyone has bread in their possession, they bless it and then eat it. This tradition is a Polish tradition and has roots in Catholicism. However, I find it very interesting that it isn’t about Catholicism anymore. I asked the informant and he said that he still celebrates it even though he’s atheist. He claims that the tradition has lost it’s original meaning and is now more about spending time with family. It’s very similar to Christmas as a whole. It’s also slightly reminiscent of Folklorismus. More like Folkloristmas I guess.

The Giving Tree

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student - Interactive Media, Music Production
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/25/18
Primary Language: English

Transcription:

Informant: “Okay um one more thing. Oh yeah my mom does this thing or did this thing which we don’t really do anymore but I’ll probably do once I have my own place. Um…like with my own kids. We did this thing called the Giving Tree or the Thankful Tree or whatever the hell but basically it was just like a big poster like ‘hey what are you thankful for?’ and we would get these leaves and we would trace them. Like we would trace them on the table and write a couple of things that we were thankful for. And then just put those up for like Thanksgiving season. Um and that would be like a sort of a…um that would be something we would do pretty consistently every Thanksgiving season.”

Summary:

The informant tells me of one of his former Thanksgiving traditions, known as the Giving Tree. A big poster of a tree is hung up. The kids trace leaves and write what they’re thankful for on them. Then they hang the leaves up on the tree. The informant states that the tradition hasn’t been done in a long time. However, he still wants to continue the tradition when he has his own family. In the future he plans to be an active bearer of this tradition. I think it’s a nice tradition that’ll bring the family together and teach the kids what thanksgiving is all about.

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.