P’s Basement

J.H is currently my roommate is he also went to the same high school as I did. His ethnicity is Taiwanese but he was born and raised in Alabama.

J.H told me about a tradition he and his friends would do. He and his friends would usually go to P’s basement is spare time, or to hang out. J.H explained to me that P never lets anyone go inside of his house, but his apartment has a basement facility, in which he would let his friends stay when they’re bored. But J.H also said that P was always reluctant or hesitant and letting his friends stay in his basement.

J.H is fond of this folk tradition because it’s the basement itself that holds meaning. There wasn’t anything about the basement, it wasn’t haunted or anything, it was just a location that holds goods memories for him and his friends. He first learned about the basement from another friend who was one of the first people who used P’s basement as t place to hangout.

The context mostly revolves around P’s basement. It’s the location that holds significance to J.H and his friend. According to J.H, the idea of going to P’s basement has been circulating around J.H and his circle of friends. This location represented a form of social gathering. Where whoever has been to P’s basement would be considered part of the group of friends who know s about the basement.

I think this type of folklore shows that people can become culturally close because of just one location. The location may not many aspects of it itself, but the people who experienced going there has shared with others about it, and thus the basement became significant to many others.