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Sharpened Pencils (Singapore) – Kevin King

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Singaporee
  • Informant: EF
  • Date Collected: 11/01/21

Informant Data: EF is a sophomore (‘24) at Dartmouth College from Singapore. She was born in Berkeley, California, before she and her parents moved for her dad’s job. She and her younger sister attended Singapore American School. She noted that her family is very superstitious in their everyday lives. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Singapore, academics are stressed greatly. It is important to keep a fresh mind and be prepared for major exams as much as possible. This applies to everything, which means the items they use because they are essentially extensions of one’s body.
  • Social Context: The informant collected this piece of folklore when she was in the fourth grade at Singapore American School. Her teacher that year, who was native to Singapore, would always get a box of Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencils before tests and hand out a new one to each student beforehand. Once the pencils were passed out, her teacher would have everyone freshly sharpen them to make sure that they were in perfect condition. I collected this item in an in-person interview. 

She would use this specific pencil, and only this one, until the next test because she enjoyed the sense of excitement she would get on test days when she received a new, fresh one. This would always put her in a good mood, which she believes was a huge advantage because it helped her ignore her other worries and solely focus on the test material. When she entered fifth grade, her teacher didn’t do the same tradition, so she decided to do it for herself from there on out. At the beginning of each school year going forward, and currently in college as well, she would buy a huge pack of these pencils. Then, on each test day she would take a new one out, sharpen it, and proceed to take the test. 

Item: In Singaporean culture, it is believed that if you sharpen your pencil right before you take an exam or test, the freshness of the pencil will result in a fresh mind, allowing one to think clearly and do well. 

Associated File

13924 - Dixon® Ticonderoga - Pencil - #2, 24/Box, Yellow Clear - PK of 24

Transcript:

  • “Before I take any form of test or exam, I always use a sharpened Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil. I started doing it because I thought the freshness of a new pencil would result in a fresh mind while I took exams, allowing me to think clearly and do well.” 

Informant’s Comments:

  • EF continues this superstition in all of her exams in college. Over the years, she has gotten many of her friends to follow suit as they have found that it helps enact a similar effect of clear-mindedness when they take exams.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I believe this pre-test superstition carries a great deal of significance for EF because, not only does it clear her mind for exams, but it also is a routine that she’s been comfortable with since she was young. Many people I’ve come across have specific routines that they follow before exams or other high-pressure situations such as performances or sports games. For many, superstitions serve to calm one’s mind because it helps them believe that they have control over outcomes. 

Collector’s Name: Kevin King

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstitions 
  • Singapore
  • Pencil 

Not Washing Hair (Korea) – Kevin King

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Korea
  • Informant: LL
  • Date Collected: 10/28/21

Informant Data: LL is a sophomore (‘24) at Dartmouth College born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended Harvard-Westlake School, one of the top-ranked high schools in the country. She mentioned that she and her Korean family are fairly superstitious. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Korea, New Years Day is a big celebration for people and offers them a chance at a fresh start. A major tradition that people do is to not wash their hair, for they believe it will wash away their good luck. This ritual is often practiced by students on testing days. 
  • Social Context: LL’s mother passed down this superstition to her as soon as she entered middle school. It is a tradition that LL used throughout middle and high school. I collected this superstition from LL during an in-person interview. Her parents were always very strict with her in her studies, and always wanted her to be the best in the class and score highly on tests. Thus, they were adamant that she followed this superstition as a child.  

Item: The night before a student takes an exam, they don’t wash their hair with shampoo because it is believed that this act will wash away (1) good luck and (2) all the information that the students studied. 

Associated File

Shampoo debate: Are you washing your hair enough? | CTV News

Transcript:

  • “Before I went to bed the nights before I would have a test, my mom would come into my room to make sure that my hair was dry.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant noted that she thought at times her parents made her follow this superstition to too much of an extreme. Now, she doesn’t follow it as closely. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I could relate with this superstition because during Chinese New Years, my mother would tell my sister not to wash her hair because it would wash away good luck. This isn’t really something I would follow, however. 

Collector’s Name: Kevin King

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition 
  • Korea
  • Hair

Eating Kit Kats (Japan) – Kevin King

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Japan
  • Informant: EK
  • Date Collected: 11/01/21

Informant Data: EK was born in Palo Alto, California, in 2002. He was raised by his parents in Burlingame, just 20 minutes north of Palo Alto, and lived there his entire life. His mother is Japanese and enjoyed passing down family traditions and superstitions to EK when he was younger. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context:  In Japanese, the name of the popular candy, Kit Kat, is pronounced “kitto katto” which sounds similar to the phrase “kitto katsu” which translates to “you will surely win.” This candy is very popular in Japan and is sold in a variety of flavors. 
  • Social Context: EK collected this pre-testing superstition from his mother when he was in elementary school and I witnessed him performing this superstition when I met him in high school. He told me that it was a very popular Japanese pre-testing superstition.. When he was younger, EK would always get nervous before taking exams. It wasn’t that he didn’t do well on them, but instead just that he got really anxious beforehand. In order to calm his nerves, his mom would pack a Kit Kat candy in his lunch bag on days where he had assessments and told him to eat one before he took tests. He later noticed that his peers who were also Japanese would also come to tests with a Kit Kat or two in hand. When the informant asked his classmates why, they also stated that eating one prior to a test brings one good luck.

Item: In Japanese culture, eating a Kit Kat before an important test brings one good luck since the candy’s pronunciation is similar to a Japanese phrase that can be translated to “you will surely win.”

Associated File

Amazon.com : Japanese Kit Kat Mini Bar 21 pcs , ALL DIFFERENT FLAVORS Assortments (original green tea set) : Grocery & Gourmet Food

Transcript:

  • “I always have a Kit Kat with me on a test day. If I don’t have one, I feel weird and almost never do well on my test.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant strictly follows this superstition and has told many peers about it, influencing them to do the same. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • This was one of the more interesting ones I heard about. I thought that the phonetic relation between the item and the reasoning behind it was a little far-fetched, so I wouldn’t personally follow this superstition myself.

Collector’s Name: Kevin King

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition 
  • Japan 
  • Kit Kat

Reciting Three Hail Mary’s (USA) – Kevin King

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: KH
  • Date Collected: 10/26/21

Informant Data: KH is a middle school science teacher at St. Raymond’s Elementary School in Menlo Park, California. She was born in 1960 to a Catholic family and went to UCLA for college. She and her husband settled their family down in Menlo Park, just one town north of Palo Alto, after she finished graduate school at Stanford University. She has three children, all of whom have graduated from college. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Christianity, reciting a Hail Mary is a way to request purity from God and gain other virtues. It is most often recited in the morning and before going to bed. 
  • Social Context: KH’s parents were devout Catholics all throughout her childhood. They never missed Sunday mass, and she attended Catholic schools until she went to college. Her mother was adamant that she recited three Hail Marys every morning and night. KH knew that the purity one requests from God by reciting these three Hail Marys also applies to the purity of one’s mind and decided to begin performing this ritual prior to her exams. KH became a teacher at St. Raymond’s School in Menlo Park, CA and ever since, she asks her students to do the same before each of their tests. I collected this item when I attended St. Raymond’s in middle school and had KH as my science teacher. Before our first test in the sixth grade, she told us the backstory of this superstition.

Item: Before taking a test, a student recites three Hail Mary’s in order to have a fruitful testing experience. 

Associated File

Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary - dummies

Transcript:

  • “After reciting three Hail Marys, you’ll all not only feel more prepared to take your tests, but also in a better position to do well.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • It was clear that the informant was keen on following this superstition. There was not a test that I took in her class where the students did not recite three Hail Marys prior to taking it.  

Collector’s Comments:

  • This was a superstition I witnessed and performed for myself. I understand how it came about and especially given that I attended a Catholic school, it made a lot of sense. 

Collector’s Name: Kevin King

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition 
  • Christianity 
  • Hail Mary
  • United States

Eating Yeot (Korea) – Kevin King

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Korea
  • Informant: JC
  • Date Collected: 10/27/21

Informant Data: JC is a sophomore (‘24) at Dartmouth College. He was born in Korea, but his family moved to Singapore when he was young, and he lived there his entire life. He also served in the Singaporean military as an officer for two years after he graduated from Singapore American School.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Korean, the word yeot comes from the Korean word that means “to stick.” The word also means “to pass.” Yeot is also a sticky Korean Taffy that is made out of rice. 
  • Social Context: JC collected this item from his parents when he was young in Singapore and he shared it with me via an in-person interview. His parents were very traditional Korean parents and wanted him to succeed, and they were fairly strict when it came to his performance in schools. They were also very superstitious and he mentioned that they would force him to do various things before exams that he didn’t know the reasoning behind for the longest time.

Item: In Korea, before taking a test, you don’t eat seaweed soup because it is a slippery food that will cause important information to “slip out” of your brain. Instead, you are supposed to eat yeot, a sticky Korean taffy made of glutinous rice, especially before taking a standardized test. 

Associated File

Transcript:

  • “I remember so clearly that before I left my house to take the ACT, my mom sat me down and made me eat a piece of yeot. I had no choice whatsoever in terms of whether or not I had to eat it. I wasn’t going to be able to leave if I didn’t.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant said that he gets why his parents were so adamant about following this superstition since it is such a widespread one through Korea and plans on following the superstition when he has children and they have important exams. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I was very interested by the direct relation between the nature of the food and how it symbolizes one’s body. However, I don’t think I would follow this myself

Collector’s Name: Kevin King

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition
  • Yeot
  • Korea