Title: Drinking Barley Tea before a Test (Korea)

General Information

• Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
• Interview language: English
• Location of origin: Idaho, United States
• Informant: RY
• Date collected: 11/6/2021

Informant

• RY is a sophomore (’24) at Dartmouth College who is from Idaho. His family is Korean, but he was born and raised in the U.S. The informant identified himself as an avid tea brewer and fan.

Contextual Data

• Cultural Context: The drinking and brewing of tea is a large part of Korean culture as well as many East Asian cultures. There is even a Korean term 다도 [dado] that translates into English as the “art of tea” or “tea ritual/ceremony.” Tea rituals may no longer be an essential part of Koreans’ daily lives in the contemporary era, but drinking tea has become a part of daily life. Barley tea, which is mentioned by the informant, is a typical kind of tea that most Koreans would enjoy drinking; it is easy to see Korean students carrying a bottle of barley tea around instead of plain water. In summer, there are more students who drink cold barley tea with ice, and in winter, hot barley tea in a thermo is more popular. Furthermore, many families seem to endorse the belief that drinking tea (a form of boiled water) is healthier than drinking plain tap water.
  
• Social Context: This item was collected during an in-person interview. The informant mentioned that he is very fond of tea and enjoys drinking and brewing various types of tea. He said that the activity is very soothing and allows him to concentrate his focus on a particular activity that would normally require a lot of mental energy.

Item:

• Before taking a test, the informant would brew himself hot barley tea.

Associated File

Transcript:

• “I’m a huge fan of tea – I like brewing it and drinking it. I try to make myself a cup of hot barley. It’s really relaxing – just the act of making it and drinking it.”

Informant’s Comments:

• “Barley tea is what I usually go for, but I’m down for any other tea as well. It’s just that barley tea is my go-to tea.”

Collector’s Comments:

• As someone who drank a lot of barley tea during middle and high schools, I agree with the fact that it can help one calm down enough to take a test with a clear mind.

Collector’s Name: Jea Mo

Tags/Keywords

• Korean
• Customary Folklore
• Pre-test ritual

Title: Making contact with a Classmate with the Best GPA (South Korea)

General Information

• Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
• Interview Language: English
• Location of Origin: Seoul, South Korea
• Informant: SM (currently a junior in high school)
• Date Collected: 10/26/2021

Informant

•  SM is currently a junior in an international school in Seoul, South Korea. She describes herself as an “overachiever” when it comes to grades and said that she tends to get very nervous before important tests such as midterms and final exams. Prior to entering an international school in 10th grade, she studied at a Korean middle school and high school where she experienced a lot of cut-throat competition.

Contextual Data

• Cultural Context: The informant’s experience of attending a Korean middle school and high school has led her to endorse this superstition. Unlike how students are assessed and graded based on their individual performance in the American education system, the Korean education system forces some schools to assess students based on how well they do compared to other students. Only the top one or two percent of students are allowed to get an A on their transcript. This creates extra competition as well as an intense and almost toxic environment in which students must study harder to do better than their classmates. Consequently, Korean students, especially those in middle and high school, tend to endorse unscientific superstitions that may help them to feel better when taking an important test. Some of these superstitions, such as the item below, involve contagious magic. The informant did emphasize that this is not something that most Korean students would typically do.

• Social Context: This item was collected inevitably over a scheduled zoom call due to the 13-hour time difference between Hanover and Seoul, South Korea. The informant noted that she would usually do this ritual the day before she takes an important test and that she started doing it because one of her friends told her about it.

Item

• Before taking a test, students may approach the classmate with the best GPA and request that they hold a pencil or pencil case in their hand. Doing this is said to make the students taking the test feel better. In some cases, students may even ask for a strand of hair from the classmate. They would then place the hair inside their mechanical pencils and use them to take the test.

Associated File

Transcript

• “I know this sounds, like, super weird, but I try going to a classmate with the best GPA and ask for them to hold my pencil for a bit. Then I’d take it back and use that pencil to take the test – I don’t really use another pencil. Sometimes I ask them to just hold my pencil case. I don’t do this, trust me, but I also know that some students would ask for a strand of loose hair from the best person in the class and put it inside their mechanical pencils when they take the test.”

Informant’s Comments

• “I know that the hair part is, like, super weird. And I’m trying not to do something like this in general. I don’t want to rely on stuff like this. But sometimes it just makes me feel a little better.”

Collector’s Comments

• I can empathize with the informant’s concerns regarding how bizarre this superstition may look. I went to a Korean middle school, and the competition was definitely intense enough for a student to resort to measures such as this.

Collector’s Name: Jea Mo

Tags/Keywords

• Korean
• Customary Folklore
• Pre-test ritual