Krumkaka

Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 22
Residence: Seattle, Washington
Performance Date: April 23, 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant:

Evan is from Seattle, Washington but is in a family that loves to practice the traditions of their Norwegian roots at home.

Cuisine:

Evan: “Krumkaka is a cookie similar to, like, a pancake, but has a little bit of a rougher consistency. So you first flatten the dough out and put it in a frier, or however you want to cook it, but you don’t let it get too hard yet. Then you take it out and like roll it out with a special cone that leaves an imprint or design in it. Then you cook it a little more to however hard or soft you want the cookie.”

Context:

Evan says that this dish is always brought out on special occasions as a surprise dessert.

My Thoughts:

Cookies are my favorite dessert and pancakes are my favorite breakfast, so this dish sounds amazing to me. I am definitely going to try making it myself soon because a mixture of two of my favorite foods sounds like heaven to me!

Kubb

Nationality: Swedish
Age: 21
Residence: Gothenburg, Sweden
Performance Date: April 24, 2017
Primary Language: Swedish
Language: English

Informant:

Elliot Danielsson is a 21 year old man from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Original Script:

Elliot: “So there would be two teams on each side of a field, or…like…a grass area, and there would be 5 sticks or poles on each side with the two teams. Then there would be two throwing sticks per team, and each team would have to try to knock down the other team’s five sticks with their throwing sticks. And then after you, like, knock down all of the other team’s sticks, then you would have to knock down the big stick in the middle, and that stick’s name was the king. And once you knocked down that stick, you killed the king and won the game.

Context: 

This childhood game is, as Elliot states, “an extremely popular game for when you’re bored as a kid.”

My thoughts about the piece:

It is extremely interesting to me just how different childhoods can be from different cultures around the world. Sure, my friends and I used to play with sticks when were younger, but I don’t know of anyone who created a sophisticated game with rules revolving throwing sticks. The only organized games that everyone really knew when I was growing up were actual sports like soccer and baseball. This shows that the games that we all know and love in the U.S. do not necessarily translate to every culture outside America.

Sma Grordorna – Swedish Midsummer Celebration Song

Nationality: Swedish
Age: 21
Residence: Gothenburg, Sweden
Performance Date: April 24, 2017
Primary Language: Swedish
Language: English

Informant:

Elliot Danielsson is a 21 year old man from Gothenburg, Sweden. This is his favorite folk song from his native Swedish culture. He also says that almost everyone in his town “and probably most of Sweden” knows this song and sings it during their Midsummer Celebration.

Folk Song:

Små grodorna, små grordorna

är lustiga att se.

(Repeat)

Ej öron, ej öron, ej suansar

hava de.

(Repeat)

What the song is about:

Elliot: “It’s…uh…kinda hard to give a straight translation, but it’s basically about…It’s small frogs without tails or ears, which makes their lives very difficult, but they are still full of joy and love dancing around a tree. It basically shows how even though we all may live tough lives, we can still live our lives with happiness and joy.”

Context:

Elliot: “It is most often performed at any celebration that whatever Swedish town is putting on the…uh…celebration. Kids, like, love singing it during the celebration, and adults join in too.”

My thoughts:

Elliot also added that this Midsummer Celebration is comparable to America’s Christmas in regards to popularity, and one of the biggest parts (and probably my favorite part) of our Christmas traditions is Christmas music. Therefore, this song that is connected with a major holiday is very interesting to me because I did not know that other cultures’ holidays also often had music that went along with them.

Hoser

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 19
Residence: Calgary, Alberta
Performance Date: April 17, 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant:

Tim Marino is a nineteen year old student at USC from Calgary, Alberta. He currently plays on the USC hockey team.

Original Script:

Hoser.

Background Information: Tim explains that the term “Hoser” comes from “when the Canadian kids would be playing hockey on the ice…or like, on a pond, and the losing team would actually have to hose down the ice for the next teams to play.” Therefore, “Hoser” is a kind of folk insult in Canada, similar to calling someone a loser in the United States.

Thoughts on this piece: I find this term very interesting and funny, for when I used to play sports, I was always known as the trash-talker on my teams. It entertains me to know that people from other cultures have their own methods and terms to use when they are trying to get in their opponents heads while playing sports.

Hood Vulture

Age: 38
Occupation: None
Residence: None
Performance Date: April 11, 2017
Primary Language: English

My informant is Slim, a homeless man from downtown Los Angeles who often hangs out outside Spudnuts Donuts on Figueroa Street. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, never straying too far from the South Central area.

Hey Slim, do you have a joke for me?

Slim: “Um… yeah. Yeah, I know a joke. Uh… what do ya call a police helicopter in LA?”

I don’t know. What do you call a police helicopter in LA?

Slim: “Ya call it a hood vulture! They just… uh… flyin’ over lookin’ for some brothas to eat!”

Slim here illustrates what I would think many people growing up and living in South Central feel not only whenever they see a police helicopter in the sky but also whenever they see policemen on the ground in the city. Obviously, there are countless police brutality scandals that happen every year, and Slim’s joke represents what many of the subculture of inner-cities are worried about. When asked if South Central has its own culture, Slim replied, “Um… yeah. I would say definitely yeah. We have our own way to do things, I think.” So as a result, this joke comes to display the inner-city and, especially, the South Central mindset towards police.