Hand Gesture – Korea

Nationality: Korean
Age: 52
Occupation: Business Owner
Residence: Newport Coast
Performance Date: 2/17/17
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

My informant was born in South Korean, but moved to America when she was 16 years old. She explained to me how when she first moved, she was very confused by some of the cultural differences including hand gestures.

In America, we wave people over with our palms facing up. A similar motion that is common in western culture to beckon someone over is curling the index finger. However, in Korea both of these are considered extremely rude and degrading. They typically use the same hand motions to gesture over dogs.

Respect is a huge attribute in Asian culture. It is deeply rooted in family and demonstrated formally through gestures and language. Therefore, using the “American wave” on a human is equivalent to treating or calling them an animal. Koreans will signal people over by having their palm face down, and using a little “digging” or small swimming motion with their hand. Another way to describe it would be having your palm face down and waving it up and down vertically. If you tried calling a cab in Korea using the Western style wave, you would undeniably be rejected and ignored.

At first, my informant thought that Americans were “kind of arrogant and snobby.” She didn’t realize that there would be a significantly different meaning in something as trivial as gesturing someone over. She eventually caught on that people were not intentionally trying to be rude, and that it was just part of western culture to call people over using the palm facing up.

This made me really think about how important it is to be culturally aware, especially while traveling. There are so many little differences that may seem insignificant, but is actually really important to recognize. It helps us better understand our global peers and can prevent us from accidentally offending others.

Haitian Version of Jacks (Game)

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Oakland, California
Performance Date: 4/18/17
Primary Language: English

My informant is from Oakland, California. Her mother was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with her some experiences of her time living in Haiti. My informant decided to share with me the rules for the Haitian version of Jacks.

“The start of the game began around the Roman Empire and took different evolutions. It’s basically a game where you play with animal knuckles—you play with bones. Now they just make it and you play with metal pieces. But back then kids would play with literal bone pieces. The way that the knuckle worked is it has like four sides. You don’t use a ball and have it bounce to pick up like how we play Jacks. So when you throw it up in the air, you have to catch. So when you have these knuckles, you only play with four knuckles. When you throw I guess the master knuckle or the father knuckle, you have to hurry up and catch or pick up one of the other knuckles on the surface and then catch it before it comes down. You would do it by ones and then by twos.”

I always wondered what the reasoning was behind the shape of the small metal “jacks” in the game. Producers made them that way to resemble the original knucklebones used in ancient times. This game has been around for over 2000 years. It has probably stuck around for so long because of how simple, portable, and fun it is. There are so many different ways to play the game. Players can choose to add or drop whatever rule they please. The flexibility and variability of the game is what keeps the game interesting. Not only is it fun and entertaining, but it also serves as a helpful tool for building hand-eye coordination in young children and building motor skills in children with autism and/or sensory processing disorders.

 

For three versions of how to play the game, go to http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Jacks

Proverb #4 – Haiti

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: Director of Human Resources
Residence: Oakland, California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

My informant was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with me a few proverbs that she learned from her time growing up there.

When people think of Haiti, they rightly so think of severe poverty, denuded mountains, music, art, and its oral history — including proverbs of its peasants.  These peasants have suffered so much over the centuries.  Because of all that they have suffered, they have gained a treasure full of wisdom. Haitians seem to hold the mentality that a lot of things are up to them and that they can only depend on themselves. This belief that they hold is understandable; how can they trust a world that has been so cruel and unfair to them? A lot of their proverbs reflect skepticism, relentless hardship of life, universal truths about people, and at times a hopelessness or defeated attitude. Below I have laid out the proverb in Creole, the English translation, and then an explanation behind the proverb as provided by my informant:

 

Haitian Proverb (Creole)

Nan benyen pa gen kache lonbrit

Translation

A beautiful burial does not guarantee heaven

Explanation

“People put in so much into the external in their lives. So it’s like ok you do all this for yourself—you pamper yourself. But in the end it’s not a passport to heaven. Because who knows what’s on the other side? It’s not ultimately money that matters when you die. It’s not going to take you to heaven. You can lavish on yourself, but in the end it won’t matter.”

Proverb #3 – Haiti

Nationality: AmericaN
Age: 53
Occupation: Director of Human Resources
Residence: Oakland, California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

My informant was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with me a few proverbs that she learned from her time growing up there.

When people think of Haiti, they rightly so think of severe poverty, denuded mountains, music, art, and its oral history — including proverbs of its peasants.  These peasants have suffered so much over the centuries.  Because of all that they have suffered, they have gained a treasure full of wisdom. Haitians seem to hold the mentality that a lot of things are up to them and that they can only depend on themselves. This belief that they hold is understandable; how can they trust a world that has been so cruel and unfair to them? A lot of their proverbs reflect skepticism, relentless hardship of life, universal truths about people, and at times a hopelessness or defeated attitude. Below I have laid out the proverb in Creole, the English translation, and then an explanation behind the proverb as provided by my informant:

 

Haitian Proverb (Creole)

Konstitusyon se papye, babyonet se fe

Translation

The constitution is made of paper, but the bayonet is made of steel

Explanation

“This one requires a bit of history about Haiti. It was the first country where slaves gained their freedom and became the first nation to create one after a fight. It happened under the Napoleonic rule. And at the time, it was the richest colony that France had, so a lot of the money that it needed actually came from Haiti. Then when they lost Haiti, the French got their coffer drained so much that they couldn’t’ make ends meet. And it was because of that, that they sold a chunk of the United States called the Louisiana Purchase. So it was because they lost Haiti, they had to find other means to raise money, so they sold Louisiana and that whole area in the United States. The Haitians created the constitution, but it’s gone through so many constitutions to the point where constitutions don’t matter anymore. The way you make a difference is you get your armaments to fight. That’s what drives change. It has nothing to do with constitution. Unlike us in the United States, we can depend on our constitution because theres stability. But in so many countries there is no such thing. Somebody else comes into power, you have a new constitutions, somebody else comes into power, you have a new constitutions—it’s meaningless. But what does matter is who has the guns. It’s like people pay attention to that cause constitutions don’t’ matter.”

Proverb #2- Haiti

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: Director of Human Resources
Residence: Oakland, California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

My informant was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with me a few proverbs that she learned from her time growing up there.

When people think of Haiti, they rightly so think of severe poverty, denuded mountains, music, art, and its oral history — including proverbs of its peasants.  These peasants have suffered so much over the centuries.  Because of all that they have suffered, they have gained a treasure full of wisdom. Haitians seem to hold the mentality that a lot of things are up to them and that they can only depend on themselves. This belief that they hold is understandable; how can they trust a world that has been so cruel and unfair to them? A lot of their proverbs reflect skepticism, relentless hardship of life, universal truths about people, and at times a hopelessness or defeated attitude. Below I have laid out the proverb in Creole, the English translation, and then an explanation behind the proverb as provided by my informant:

 

Haitian Proverb (Creole)

Se je pa we ke pa tounen

Translation

What the eye doesn’t see, doesn’t move the heart

Explanation

“If you think about it literally, it’s hard for us to relate when it’s not something we experience. It’s hard for us to find empathy unless we’ve been there. So if you can see something, but sometimes unless you’ve experienced it, you can’t really understand or know the experience.”