Tag Archives: friends

Paper Stars- Material Culture

Text:

Informant: “I learned how to make paper stars in middle school. You just need a long strip of paper and you create a knot with it, then fold the paper in a specific way following the edges of the knot. Eventually you run out of paper and tuck the end in, and then you puff up the star, which is the most fun part in my opinion. My friend taught me how to make them in my after-school Chinese school class, and she showed everyone there. I still make them occasionally in class or while watching a movie because it gives me something to do with my hands. They’re pretty easy to make and all you need is strips of paper, so it’s very accessible.”

Context: The informant learned how to make these paper stars from a friend during an after-school Chinese school class in middle school. The friend demonstrated the process to multiple students, and the technique spread informally among classmates.

Analysis:

Material folklore like paper stars are often learned and shared within a social group rather than created by a single individual. In this case, the informant learned how to make the stars from a friend in an after-school Chinese school class, and that friend taught the rest of the group as well. This shows how small crafts like this spread through communal creativity, where people learn by watching and teaching each other. The stars are also an example of bricolage, since they are made using simple materials that are already available. Because the craft is easy to learn, requires almost no materials, and can be done casually while sitting in class or watching a movie, it continues to circulate informally as people pass the skill along to others.

“Stop Shitting Yourself!”

Age: 22

Context: While at a coffee shop, my friend told me a phrase that she and her mother use when they’re overthinking things. They learned it from a family friend who told them a story about her grandmother.

Text:

“Like, stop shitting yourself? Like, even as a kid, I just…my mind runs rampant. I have a huge imagination, which is great in a lot of ways, ’cause it means that I can work creatively, but also, like, it tends to run rampant in anxiety ways too. And so, my mom told me this story of, and she’s a psychologist, but my mom told me this sotry of one of her friends or clients. Um, she was talking with her grandmother and she was like, ‘God I should have done this differently. Like, I should have done blah, blah, blah. I should have done this.’ And her grandmother just slammed the tale, and she said, ‘You need to stop shitting yourself!’

And so I think that has always kind of…stuck with me. Like these, should statements as…cognitive distortions. So we just kind of say to each other, ‘You need to stop shitting yourself.’

Analysis:

I thought this story was hilarious to imagine a blunt statement coming from an elder. Overall, I feel like we naturally think of proverbial phrases as ancient or passed down through generations. However, to hear one as crass yet encouraging was a funny refresh. As we’ve discussed in class, it’s still interesting to me that, even in a modern context, this is advice from an elder. The pattern of us relying on others who have lived life a little longer is continuous, no matter the era.

Sparkling Cider


Text: “A family traditional of mine is that the sparkling apple cider to me is such a special thing because I used to only drink it during like holidays and stuff and like family get-togethers. I would drink it at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter. Basically anytime that there was like a holiday dinner. I didn’t drink sparkling apple cider unless it’s a holiday or something. Even still today I only have it at special occasions, but now I’m an adult I can choose when is special. Like my friends and I we did a little gingerbread house night and I brought it. I brought a bottle just cause I was like this is a special event to me, so I’m gonna bring this. But my grandma used to get us these little glasses that we would use for kids so that we had our own fancy glass instead of giving us a wine glass. My dad would do the same thing for us at New Years, so when the ball drops and it starts the new year we all drink the champagne, even though it’s sparkling cider, but it made us feel like we were drinking champagne.”

Context: AL’s parents and grandparents would by them and their sibling sparkling cider for every holiday. It would be in fancy glasses and made the kids feel like they were drinking champaign. Despite being an adult now and being legally able to drink champaign, AL still sees sparkling cider as a fancy drink. They now get it themselves for whatever they deam a special event – whether with family or with friends.

Analysis: This beverage became a tradition that was not just fun, but made kids seem a part of adult culture, such as making them have similar looking drinks on New Years like champagne, and made kids feel included. This tradition became so beloved after being repatead a plethora of holidays for years that it became a huge part into positive and important celebrations that now AL has transported the beverage to have it at multiple fun events that they deem important. Therefore expanding the tradition. This can show that tradition can be expanded from repition and positve beliefs around the topic.

Don’t Whistle At Night!

“I’ve always been told not to whistle at night, like ever. My grandma was super serious about it, too. She would hear even the tiniest whistle and immediately tell me to stop. The way she explained it was that whistling at night calls things to you…like spirits or bad energy, basically things you don’t want around. She said nighttime is when everything is quieter, so if you whistle, it travels farther, and whatever’s out there can hear you. I remember asking her what would actually happen, and she didn’t give a super clear answer, just that it could bring bad luck or something following you home. It honestly freaked me out as a kid, so I just never questioned it. I will stop anyone I hear whistling at night because I’m not trying to summon any demons.”

Context: AK is very superstitious; all people from Albania are, from what they told me. Whistling in the dark can summon bad energy or attract evil because sound travels farther when you can’t see as well, according to the belief. Since moving to America, AK has brought this Albanian superstition with them and stops anyone who whistles at night.

Analysis: This story shows how a simple belief can turn into a real habit just from growing up with it. Even now, AK reacts to it automatically, which shows how these kinds of superstitions can stay with you without needing proof. Bringing it from Albania to the U.S. also shows how cultural traditions can travel and continue in new places. This is a great example to show how superstitions spread throughout the world. AK heard it in Albania, and then spread it to their friends in the U.S. until they believed it too, and those friends could spread it on, etc.

your so cute wat – Inside Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Stater Bros Employee
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“your so cute wat”

Context:

“it originates from a old instagram post that my friend has on his account. Where one of his childhood friends commented that on the post. Me and my friends found it and thought it was hilarious. So now whenever my friends send me pictures of themselves or post something where we think they look pretty or cute. We’ll comment your so cute wat”

Analysis:

This phrase starts as something small as an instagram comment, which then quickly spreads into the informant’s friend group as a developed inside joke. It’s used in humorous contexts, but also with a deeper meaning of support and positivity between the friends. It differs from an original phrase of “you’re so cute,” where it consists of misspellings and an added word of ‘wat.’ These additions changed the phrase so it fit more with the friend group’s dynamics of support and humor, also making it unique as a comment and to the folk group itself.