Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

100 Day Party for South Korean Babies

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 21, 2016
Primary Language: English

The informant, my friend, is a 20-year-old college student. All of the informant’s grandparents immigrated to the United States from South Korea, but both of her parents have lived in the United States their whole lives.

While we were in line to order at a local Chipotle restaurant, I asked the informant if any specific traditions or customs related to her South Korean heritage have stood out to her the most throughout her life. She hesitated for a moment, and at first failed to answer my question. A few minutes later, she began to describe a coming-of-age ceremony that was held for her as a baby.

“Traditionally in South Korea, when a baby makes it to 100 days it means that they’re going to live a long life. So at 100 days the baby’s family holds a ‘100 Day Party.’ The babies wear a traditional South Korean outfit and there is a whole feast for the family. During the ceremony there are a lot of different bowls, and each one contains something different like a dollar bill, different types of food, some thread, or a pencil. The baby is set in front of the bowls and whichever ones it puts its hands in are supposed to represent what type of life it will have. So if you choose the pencil you’re supposed to be intelligent, the dollar means you’ll be rich, and the thread means you’ll have a long life.”

This ceremony marks the point at which a South Korean family truly celebrates the life of their new child without hesitation or worries of health complications leading to a premature death. It seems to be a remnant of the lack of healthcare and prevalence of childhood mortality that existed across the globe several centuries ago, since in recent years child mortality rates in developed nations like South Korea and the United States have fallen drastically as a result of increasing knowledge in the health sciences as well as greater availability of medicine and healthcare services. I asked the informant if she remembered what was in the bowl that she picked on her 100 Day Party, but she did not. For the informant’s family, then, the party served more as a celebratory event than a true predictor of their child’s life trajectory, since her lack of knowledge with regards to the object that she picked had no bearing on the personal and career choices she has been allowed to make throughout her life. I also asked the informant if she plans to hold a 100 Day Party for her children, if she has any, and she responded that she does. It is realistic to say that this folk tradition will continue to exist for future generations, as it is a fun and exciting event that many would have no moral hesitation holding for their child.

Pennsylvania Apple & Cheese Festival

Nationality: American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Long Island, New York
Performance Date: 3/7/16
Primary Language: English

The informant is an 86-year old man who spent his adult life in Northeastern United States.

 

Tell me about the Pennsylvania Apple & Cheese Festival

TS: Every October, for the past ten years, me and my wife made it a tradition to go to the Apple and Cheese Festival in Pennsylvania. Then, after maybe five years, we started going with some people from the fire department, until it became.. uhh.. a whole sorta tradition for a bunch of us in the community.

How many of you go to the festival together?

TS; There are about forty of us that go now, every October. It’s a wonderful place.

 

The Pennsylvania Apple and Cheese Festival is a celebration of the agricultural economy of Pennsylvania, with focus on  apples and cheese production. Using agricultural pride as the foundation for a festival, the festival-runners bring tourists and profits into an area that normally wouldn’t draw many.

Hiding the Afikoman

Nationality: American
Age: 59
Occupation: Musician
Residence: Malibu, CA
Performance Date: April 18th
Primary Language: English

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My informant was my father, 59 year old man that lives in of Malibu, CA. Being a Jewish man, he is very familiar with the traditions of his religion. He explained the tradition of hiding the afikoman at a Seder.

Collector: “Do you have an important tradition that you celebrate?”

Informant: “Yes, hiding the afikoman on passover every year is something that I have done my whole life”

Collector: “What is the afikoman?”

Informant: “Basically, on passover, we have three pieces of matzah bread and take the middle of the three matzahs and split it into two. The larger half, known as the afikoman, is wrapped in a cloth, set aside, and then hidden somewhere in the vicinity”

Collector: “What is the purpose of this?”

Informant: “Well, it is basically so we don’t get that specific matzah, which is meant to be eaten at the end of the Seder, mixed up with the other two matzahs. Also, we put it in a cloth to remind us of how the Jews carried the matzah out of Egypt in a hurry before the dough could rise… and it makes it fun for the kids to run around the house looking for matzah then giving them silver dollars or a couple bucks or something”

I was personally connected to this learning because like my father, I am Jewish and celebrate passover with him, yet I did not truly know what the purpose of hiding the Matzah was or that it was even called the afikoman. This was particularly interesting for me because it now allows me to gain a further understanding of the traditions of my religion. This finding has inspired me to gain more knowledge about the Jewish traditions that I celebrate so I don’t just blindly take part in religious activity, but actually know what and why I am celebrating.

Kagami mochi

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 64
Occupation: Chef
Residence: Tokyo, Japan
Performance Date: April 3
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English

My informant was a 64 year old Japanese chef that used to work for my family. I talked to her about her heritage and different important aspects of Japanese culture that I would not know.

Collector: “Are there any Japanese traditions that you take part in?”

Informant: “Yes there are many, which would you like to hear about?”

Collector: “Which one means the most to you?”

Informant: “Hmmm.. well, there is one that my family has always done on New Years. Every year my father would always bake mochi, which are chewy rice balls. When he was pounding the race with a wooden mallet, our entire family would gather around to watch. Many families did this. Because the mochi balls would turn out so sweet, we would always eat them on New Years to lead in to a sweet new year. It is called kagami mochi.”

This was very interesting to know because I love Japanese culture and spend a great deal of time there with my dad. I found it intriguing to learn more about the Japanese new year and I would love to take part in this tradition in the upcoming year.

I decided to do some research on kagami mochi and actually found out a lot of useful information. It was found that the kagami mochi first appeared during the Muromachi period which was between the 14th and 16th centuries. Rather than provide for a sweet year, mochi was thought to give one strength. However, it could mean different things for different families.

Independence Day in the Zocalo

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 15
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

I interviewed a really good friend of mine who is 20 years old and moved to the United States from Mexico City pretty recently to go to school. I thought he would be a perfect person to interview because I really don’t know much about Mexican culture especially that of Mexico City. Through some research and discovery, I did find that the city was the center for celebration and festivals across the nation and that people come here for the wonderful events. However, I wanted to find out which festivals my friend was a part of during his childhood.

Collector: “Were there any celebrations or events that you regularly took part during your life in Mexico City?”

Informant: “Yes of course, there are a lot of festivals that occur every year. One is Independence Day which is on the night of September 15th. The main square is decorated with lights and it turns into a huge party with music, drinking and a lot of really good Mexican food. At this celebration the President of Mexico rings a huge bell and after he rings it and we all shout the famous names of important Mexican heroes and then yell “Viva Mexico!”. It is a huge party that I go to every year with family and friends. The next morning there is parades and stuff that we also go to. It is a lot of fun.”

This was a really cool interview because he has been one of my best friends at school but I didn’t really know the culture from which he came from. I wanted to do a little more research on Mexican independence because I still didn’t know much about why they celebrate on this day. September 16th was the day Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla uttered the “Cry of Dolores” which encouraged Mexicans to free themselves and fight the Spaniards for their rights. He got every one in the churches to revolt in what became known as The Siege of Guanajuato. This ended up being the start of a war which gave them independence.