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.