Category Archives: F16 Russian 13

Evil Eye

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Title: Evil Eye

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre: Customary Folklore– Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

Multiple informants shared this piece of folklore with us. They are Billy Kosmidis, David Lilla, Vungelia Glyptis, Judith Varlamos, Mary Wallenmeyer, and Lia Constantine.

  • Billy Kosmidis is a ’19 student at Dartmouth College and lives in Chicago. Both of his parents parents were born in Greece. His mom was born in Tripoli, in the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greece. His father was born in a small town called Alexandria close to Thessaloniki, in northern Greece (historically Macedonian area). All of his cousins, aunts, and grandma live in Greece, and everyone in his family speaks Greek. Billy and his older brother grew up bilingual and were the first two in their family born in America. In his house, they follow many Greek customs and constantly switch between speaking English and Greek based on the topic of conversation or who they are talking to (his dad only speaks Greek to them for the most part). His grandmother spends half the year living in Tripoli and half the year living in Chicago with Billy and his family, so when she is around there is a peak in the number of Greek customs and traditions that are practiced in the house.
  • David Lilla is a student at George Washington University in D.C. He is from Hummelstown, PA. His mother is Greek but his father is not. While no one in his direct speaks Greek, they have lots of extended family in Greece and they celebrate Greek holidays.
  • Vungelia Glyptis was a 2017 graduate of Dartmouth College. Both of her parents are Greek (from the island of Chios). Her maternal and paternal grandfathers are actually from the same village. Everyone in her house speaks Greek, but she usually speaks English with her parents. They follow very old-school customs and superstitions.
  • Judith Varlamos is from Seattle, WA. Her mom is from Karpenisi in Central Greece, and she still has relatives who live in Greece. Her husband also speaks fluent Greek, and they follow many Greek customs. They are also practicing Greek Orthodox Christians. They own a Greek pizza place in the neighborhood.
  • Mary Wallenmeyer is a 55 year-old woman from Shermans Dale, PA. Both of her parents, her two sisters, and her one brother were born in Greece. Her parents were raised in a small village in the mountains of central Greece. Her father came to the U.S. first and worked for two years so he could bring the rest of the family to America. She was born a year after her parents were reunited in the U.S., and her younger brother was born seven years later. Her father and his siblings are deceased, but she still have cousins from his side of the family that live in Greece. Her mother has six siblings still living in Greece along with their families.  Growing up, Mary and her family spoke Greek at home and attended Greek classes. Her husband and children do not speak the language fluently, but they do understand some of it. Her family belongs to the Greek Orthodox church, which she says “ helps keep the ‘Greek’ alive in [their] lives.” Their family still prays in Greek and cooks many Greek foods. They are very proud of their Greek heritage.  
  • Lia Constantine is a ’21 Dartmouth student from Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her Greek heritage is very much part of her identity. She relates to the family in the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in a lot of ways. It is also something she has grown up with and that her parents and grandparents are very proud of, so she has inherited that pride. Both her parents are 100% Greek. They were both born in the U.S., but her dad lived in Greece for a period of time.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: The Evil Eye can be given to people accidentally or on purpose. It can be given by strangers or “bad people.” People often aren’t aware of receiving the evil eye. This superstition is passed down from parents to their children. 
  • Cultural Context: The Evil Eye is recognized by the Greek Orthodox Church as a legitimate religious phenomena. It is said to be generated by the devil. It serves as an explanation for bad things that occur (especially illnesses or pain). 

Item:

  • The superstition is that if someone looks at you the wrong way, then you will have the Evil Eye. Side effects of the Evil Eye include: feeling ill, acting strange, crying, or feeling pain. This is an example of a sign superstition (If A, then B).

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Segment of Interview with Lia Constantine

 

Transcript of Associated File:

    • Lia: My mom is superstitious about the Evil Eye so she always gets us little Evil Eye things or puts it in her car and stuff like that so I guess I don’t really believe that but they do… 

Informant’s Comments:

  • None

Collector’s Comments:

  • Lia Constantine was interviewed in person (as seen in the video). The others (Billy Kosmidis, David Lilla, Vungelia Glyptis, Judith Varlamos, and Mary Wallenmeyer) were interviewed over FaceTime due to their inaccessible location.

Collector’s Name: Interviews conducted by Carmen Braceras (Vungelia, David), Jess Valvano (Lia), Katie Spanos (Mary), and Ellen Pattinson (Judith, Billy). Webpage published by Carmen Braceras.

Tags/Keywords:

  • Evil Eye, Greek Superstitions, Greek Orthodox, Customary Folklore

Soju Bomb Toast

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (superstition)
  • Language – English (Soju – Korean liquor)
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea
  • This is a self-collection

Informant Data:

The informant (myself) is a male from South Korea (age 23). He is a junior at Dartmouth College and majors in Computer Science. He left Dartmouth in 2014 June to start his military service in South Korea, which lasted from August 4th 2014 to May 3rd 2016. For the length of his service, he was assigned to a unit called Korea-US Combined Forces Command and worked at its C-1 Branch Surgeon’s Office, where he was an interpreter and executive assistant to a team of 16 Korean and US officers. He is now back at Dartmouth College. This is a self-collected piece of folklore.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – The self-collection took place in Hanover, NH in November of 2018. The informant was sitting at a dinner party as an interpreter between US and Korean officers, towards the end of March in 2015. The command had recently completed a national-scale annual exercise and the “Victory Party” was hosted by the chief of C-1 Branch (a Korean Navy 1-star general) and his deputy chief (a US Air Force colonel). The atmosphere was euphoric and everyone present (around 70 members, both Korean and American, male and female, officers and NCOs) was happy that the exercise ended in a success and ready to enjoy the night with their comrade-in-arms. The party lasted from 6pm to around 9pm at the Friendship House in US Army Garrison-Yongsan in Seoul, Korea.
  • Cultural Context – The Korean military has a special word for these types of dinner parties within its communities: hoeshik. It is known for consuming large amounts of alcohol and hazing junior members. The hoeshik that the informant is recounting was a more special than usual in that it involved US soldiers. This fact may have triggered the Korean navy chief in the account to exaggerate some details in order to boast his masculinity and prowess at the drinking table in front of the Americans.

Item:

  • There was Korean-style pork-barbeque and a lot of Soju (Korean liquor) and beer at the party. Soon after everyone was seated, the chief and the deputy chief made some welcoming comments as usual. Then came the time for the toast. The chief, having served the Korean navy for more than 25 years, suggested a Korean-navy style toast to the Americans and the non-Navy Koreans. Everyone who was not a Korean-navy, including the informant, watched curiously. He first made a Soju bomb (Soju mixed with beer) in a glass. To truly mixed the drink, he put a few pieces of napkins over the glass and slammed the glass on the table. The drink fizzed in the glass and the napkin absorbed the contents overflowing. Then, he turned around and through the wet napkin towards the ceiling behind his back. Turning around and making sure the napkin was now stuck on the ceiling, he told the confused audience that it is a Korean navy custom: mix your drink, throw the napkin behind your back towards the ceiling, and if the napkin does not stick to the ceiling, you have to drink another shot. It is considered bad luck in the ship if the napkin does not stick and falls to the ground because it is similar to a sailor falling from the ship into the sea. He made everyone follow and made the toast.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript of Associated File:

Everyone watched curiously what he [the navy general] was going to do. He made a soju bomb, which is just soju mixed with beer in special proportions, in a glass. And to mix the drink, he put napkin over the glass and slammed the glass on the table. The soju bomb fizzed inside the glass and then the napkin absorbed the contents in the glass, contents that were overflowing. Then he turned around the threw the wet napkin towards the ceiling behind his back. Turning around and making sure that the napkin was stuck on the ceiling, he explained to us that this is a Korean navy custom. He explained that you have to mix your drink… and if the napkin does not stick to the ceiling you have to drink another shot. So everyone tried that at the party, including the deputy chief (the US air force colonel) and everyone had a good time after that.

Informant’s / Collectors Comments:

The superstition at work seems to have elements of homeopathic magic (law of similarity) at work.

The informatn/collector had a unique opportunity of serving in a joint unit (a unit that has all four branches of the military). It was also combined, in the sense that it had both US and Korean soldiers. From his experiences, he got an impression that the navy outnumbers all other branches in terms of superstitions. Perhaps, this is because they have to live in a confined space for a long time when they sail and is often subject to whims of the violent weather at sea.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

ETS Eve Beating

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General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (rites of passage)
  • Language – English (ETS – extermination term of service)
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

Daniel Kang is a 24 year old male, and senior at Dartmouth College. He is currently a math and computer science double major. He is a class of 2015 but he enlisted in the South Korean military in 2012 after finishing a year at Dartmouth. He served from July 23, 2012 to April 22 2014 under the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army Avaition School. He worked as a human resources admin. He came back to Dartmouth to resume his studies in 2014.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – The interview took place one-on-one in the informant’s apartment living room. The event described in the interview involved 40 other members of his platoon (only the soldiers, no officers). The informant could not come up with the exact date but it was in the bathroom area of his unit at night around April 1st of 2014.
  • Cultural Context – The extermination term of service (ETS) has a very special meaning in South Korea military. Because the system runs on mandatory conscription, almost no one wants to serve and from day one of the service soldiers start counting the days they have left until ETS. There’s even a saying in South Korean military lore that is a variation of the more publicly well known saying “unification is our dream”: “ETS is our dream”. Therefore, ETS is regarded as a very special occasion as the end of military service and almost a new beginning in a South Korean male’s life.

Item:

  • The beating always takes place the night before ETS. After roll calls (930 pm) and before bed time (10pm), the beating takes place in a designated area. For the informant’s unit, it was the bathroom area just outside of the barracks. This particular person, who was the informant’s friend (meaning same month hierarchy), knew what was coming and hid in the telephone booth. But the 40-or-so platoon memebers found him and dragged him to the bathroom area, wrapped him up in blankets (to prevent external injuries), and started giving him a hearty beating.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript of Associated File:

So on the night of April 1st, this event happened? Please describe.

… It usually happens right after roll call [2130] and like before every has to go to bed. So what usually happens is that the person who is like getting discharged the day after is basically beaten up. So they know it’s gonna happen so they usually run away. So this person, in particular, was hiding in a telephone booth, so we tracked him down and basically.. dragged him back to the base, like around the bathroom area. What we do is.. we are aware this could hurt him and also… but it’s like a thing we do so we usually roll him up in blankets and basically hit him, kick him, sit on him (laugh).

Informant’s Comments:

According to the informant, the degree of violence usually depends on how mean the senior was to the juniors. The juniors ranks get the one and only chance to get back at the senior soldier and make amends.

The informant thought this was a brutal and uncivilized way to end one’s service. He revealed that for his own ETS he did not let other soldiers do this ritual to him.

Collector’s Comments:

It is very interesting to see this rite of passage in a particular version performed at the informant’s unit. The collector has seen and heard it in many different forms, but a detailed account of this ritual in another unit that has lived on for a long time is definitely worth observing. It is also interesting to note that the informant simply chose to reject the ritual by his own will.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

Night Post Duty at IPRSS

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General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (superstition)
  • Language – English
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

Jun Ho Lee is a 23 year old male, and junior at Dartmouth College. He grew up in Korea and until he came to Dartmouth. He is currently a neurosciene major. He is a class of 2016 but he enlisted in the South Korean military in 2014 after finishing two years at Dartmouth. He served from Aug 4, 2014 to May 3, 2016 under the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army Special Forces Command International Peace Reinforcement Support Services. He worked as a logistics admin until he was deployed to United Arab Emirates as a translator for 8 months. Now he is back at Dartmouth to resume his studies.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – The interview took place one-on-one in the informant’s dorm room. The event described in the interview took place with a senior soldier (2 people involved in total; the informant and his senior soldier). It was in the October of 2014 at night time. The informant could not recall the exact date at his unit in Incheon.
  • Cultural Context – The night post duty is something all South Korean soldiers do, whichever unit or job they have been assigned to. Becuase it happens at night and always in pairs or more, there is some social aspect to it as it is a chance for people on duty together to bond over the night.

Item:

  • The informant was on his first ever night guard duty with a senior soldier. It is a rotation duty where everyone stayed at a post for 2 hours for the night. He had to do it every 3-4 days. There were 5 posts in total around the boundary of the base. He was a little nervous, because he had to prove myself to the senior soldier and others in the platoon that he was a capable soldier. On his way to the third station, the northern most corner of the base. Before entering the guard post, the corporal stopped him in front of a big tree. He told the informant to hold his breath and follow him. Holding his breath, the informant went around the tree three times and entered the guard post. After closing the door, he told the informant someone had committed suicide by hanging himself to the tree while on night duty. Ever since then, soldiers on duty started walking around the tree three times without breathing to “deceive” the spirit of the dead soldier which was supposedly still residing in the tree and have become malicious against other soldiers coming to stand duty at night. The informant was told to do it every time he arrived at this post in future duties and teach it to new recruits when it becomes time for him to go on duties as a senior soldier in the pair.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

We had to go through five posts per night. And on our way to the third station, our third post… my senior soldier suddenly found a tree and he started going around the tree holding his breath. And then, after he finished going around three times, he told me that I had to do the same thing too. So, a newbie I was, I did what he told me to do. I held my breath walked around that tree. Three times, counterclockwise. And then we got into our post station and he told me that the reason behind all this weird ritual that I just finished doing was someone had committed suicide on that tree and it was that walking around three times was a method of deceiving the spirit of the dead soldier who supposedly… still residing in that tree and haunt soldiers coming up to guard the post.

Informant’s Comments:

Informant was said that he did not really give much thought to it in the first place. But he found himself doing it every time he went on duty and later passing it on to the new recruits whom he went on duty with.

Collector’s Comments:

It is very interesting to see this unit folklore that is definitely anonymous in authorship but yet lives and thirves so well over many geneartions of soldiers, although each “generation” in South Korean military system is only 21 months.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

Diving Suit Superstition

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Title: Diving Suit

General Information about Item:

  • Customary folklore: rituals
  • English
  • United States of America

Informant Data:

  • Allison Green was born on January 1st, 1997. She began diving year round at age 8. She is now a sophomore at Dartmouth College and a member of the women’s varsity diving team. She specializes in the 1m board.

Contextual Data:

  • Allison described divers in general as very superstitious. She described one typical item here that was passed down from each captain to the youngest members of the team.

Item:

  • Allison describes how divers often practice in their competition suit and can only compete in it if they dive well in it during practice. The item exemplifies contagious magic.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Diving Suit

Collector’s Name: Robert Purvis

Tags/Keywords:

  • folklore, water sports, diving, diving suit superstition

Ssa-ga (unofficial chant)

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General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Verbal Folklore (song) with connotations of Cutomary Folklore: Rituals / Rites of Passage
  • Language – English (interview), song itself (Korean)
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

DongHyun Lee is a 23-year old male from South Korea. He is currently a sophomore at University of Hong Kong. He has served in the Republic of Korea (ROK) Marine Corps from June 23rd 2014 to March 22nd 2016. He was stationed in a battalion in Yeong Pyeong Island, one of the northern most islands closer to North Korea than South Korea. His job was a machine gun marksmen for the first half of his service time and a cook for the second half.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – DongHyun Lee was interviewed over Skype because he is currently located in Hong Kong. He went on his first regular leave after 3 months of service. It was the first time he returned to society since he started his service. His parents were in Shanghai, China so he stayed with his grandparents. He recalls it was one of the happiest few days in his life.
  • Cultural Context – In the South Korean military, not just in the marine corps, the first regular leave of a soldier has a special meaning, not just in military culture but also in society in general (because most Korean males serve due to conscription). The first leave means returning home and meeting family and friends for the first time since enlisting. The nature of conscription makes this a very special time for not just the soldier for those around him.

Item:

  • Ssa-ga (translated as unofficial chant). It is a tradition among ROK marines. The song’s origins are unclear but different variations are very much alive and well-transmitted in different ROK marine units. Ssa-ga is actually a collection of different songs sung in different occasions. The informant’s recollection and recitation was the first-leave ssa-ga, which had to be sung to a marine’s parents right in the place and the time the soldier meets his parents on the first day of the first leave. The informant was a special case in that he had to sing it through Skype since his parents were in Shanghai, China (his comrades most usually sang it in public places e.g. bus terminal).

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

Korean original version (English translation each line below)

신병위로휴가가 – The New Soldier First Leave Ssaga

어두운 밤하늘에 팔각모쓰고, 골목길을 걸어갈 때에

Under the dark night with my 8-pointer on, when I’m walking in the alley

저 멀리 어머니 나와계신다 못난 아들 마중하려고

I see my mama standing in the dark, waiting to greet this ingrateful son

어머니 어머니 울지마세요 울지말고 들어가세요

Mother, Mother, please don’t cry. Please go back inside.

다음에 이 다음에 전역하거든 못한 효도 다 할게요

Next time, next time when I get discharged, I will do my best to make up for the lost time

Informant’s Comments:

Informant was a little embarassed to sing this and thought it was a little funny that he had to sing it over skype. In fact, he was the only one in his company at the time to have sung the Ssa-ga this way. One of his comrades sang it in front of his parents the Incheon Freight terminal packed with people.

Collector’s Comments:

The texture of the song is lost in translation, but the original audio is attached for those interested. It is an interesting combination of a verbal folklore that also serves as a customary folklore that has meanings as a rites of passage: for the first time the marine presents himself with his military identity to those who have known him only as his civilian self.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

Urashima Taro

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Title: Urashima Taro

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre: Children’s Folktale
    • Type of Folktale: Fairy Tale
  • Language: Collected in English, originally in Japanese
  • Country where Item is from: Japan

Informant Data: Ellis Guo is a ’17 here at Dartmouth College. He is a senior and while still technically undeclared for a major, he is interested in Computer Science and Engineering. He is a male of age 21. Ellis is from Tokyo, Japan, which is where he attended the American International School.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context/Cultural Context: Ellis learned this tale when he was little in Elementary school. He doesn’t remember the exact age, but it was when he was a child. He learnt it from his teacher, who told his class the tale from memory.

Item: Urashima Taro

Long ago there was a village by the sea. There was a group of three little kids poking a little tortoise not letting it go into the sea. A man named Urashima Taro saw this and yelled at the kids to leave the turtle alone. The little turtle escaped off into the sea. Upon this, a massive turtle appeared and thanked Taro for his kind actions. As a reward, the massive turtle offered to bring Taro back to the turtle home deep in the sea. Taro agrees and gets on the turtle’s back and swims down to the turtle’s massive underwater palace.

The palace is magnificent, and has almost anything one would ever want. Taro meets the princess of the palace, who happened to be the little turtle that Taro had saved from the little kids. The princess is eternally grateful and invites the man to stay and indulge in any of the amenities of the palace. Taro stays for three days and is enjoying his time at the palace, but decides that he needs to go back. Afterall, he misses his friends, family and the village. Taro tells the princess that he wishes to leave, and while saddened, the princess informs that Taro if he leaves he can never come back. Taro reluctantly decides that it is best if he leaves. The princess gives Taro a small wooden box as a gift and tells Taro that no matter what, he must never open the box.

Taro returns to the village with the wooden box and quickly realizes that things aren’t right. He recognizes nobody in the village, and nobody seems to know any of his friends or family. He learns that his family has passed away, and that nobody has seen or heard of them in many years. In fact, while Taro was down in the underwater palace, hundreds of years have passed. In a panic, Taro opened the box that the princess warned to never open. All of a sudden Taro aged hundreds of years and loses all the youth that he had.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

  • There’s a story of a young man who lives on a small coastal village. Pretty typical guy. Lives by the shore. One day he sees a group of small children torturing this tiny little sea turtle that’s trying to make its way to the ocean. Like a bunch of little kids poking it with sticks and not letting it into the ocean. He goes up to him and starts arguing with them, and eventually scares them off. He brings the turtle to the water and lets it go to the water. A few days later a massive sea turtle emerges from the waves and approaches the same man and says “Thank you so much, you saved my life how can I ever repay you. Let me take you to my home” So the turtle tells the man to get one his back and they swim down into this underwater palace. Huge, magnificent palace with basically anything you could want in the world. The man meets a princess of the palace and she essentially says we’re eternally grateful, please stay as long as you want and indulge in all the amenities of the castle, and enjoy yourself to the fullest extent. And the man stays there for quite some time, just really loves the people and the princess and everything and has a spectacular time. After quite some time he decides its time for him to return home and get back to his normal life. The princess informs him that if he leaves he can never come back. So reluctantly he knows he needs to get back to his home so he reluctantly decides to leave. So the princess gives him a small wooden box wrapped up, and says “This is my gift to you, but you may never open it. You must never open it.” So he thinks this is kind of weird but he takes the box and gets brought back to the shore. He goes into his town and realizes he doesn’t recognize anyone there, everyone in the village is different. He asks around where is my family, where is my home and he realizes no one knows what hes talking about. His friends and family have long sinced passed away, and no one has seen them in many years. He’s distraught and in a panic decides to open a box in hope that it will give him some answers. He opens the box and all of a sudden he ages hundreds of years and becomes an old frail man. He loses all of his youth that he once had. And that’s pretty much the end.

Informant’s Comments:

  • Ellis is recalling this story purely from memory so he informed us that he may be missing small details, but he covered the general idea of the story as he knows of it.

Collector’s Comments:

It was really interesting to hear about this story from a native of Japan. After reading on online about this story, it was interesting to see how the version that Ellis recalled was different that the versions I read online. This goes to show how folklore is dynamic and changes through time, as it is told from one person to another.

  • Analysis:Applicable Laws of Folk Narrative (Orlik’s Laws):
    • The Law of Three (Three children tormenting the turtle)
    • The Law of Two to a Scene (Each scene will only have two speaking characters)
    • Concentration of Leading Character

    Propp’s Functions:

    1. Lack
    2. Departure
    3. Absentation
    4. Interdiction
    5. Return
    6. Violation

    Dramatis Personae

    1. Hero: Ursahima Taro
    2. Villain: Lack
    3. First Donor(s): Small turtle/Princess
    4. Magical Agent: None
    5. Dispatcher: None
    6. Princess: None
    7. The False Hero: None

    Similarities with Russian Folk Tales

    The main similarities between this tale and Russian folk tales mainly involve the structure of the tale. Both this tale and Russian folk tales follow many of Orlik’s Laws of Folk Narrative, such as the Law of Three and Law of Concentration of Leading Character. In addition, Urashima Taro has a lesson that it teaches, which many Russian folk tales do as well. Moreover, we see that Propp’s functions that are normally paired are still paired. For example, departure + return and violation + interdiction.


    Differences with Russian Folk Tales

    Ursahima Taro definitely has more differences than similarities with Russian folk tales. One thing that stands out is that Ursahima Taro does not follow the typical order of Propp’s functions. Normally interdiction and violation come very early on in Russian tales, however this tale finishes with the pairing of interdiction and violation. Furthermore, the ending of Urashima Taro was not a typical happy Russian folk tale ending. In fact, it was quite the opposite – Taro ended up getting heavily punished for his violation of the princess’ interdiction, and ends up extremely old and losing his friends and family.

    Another one of the major differences is the straightforwardness of Urashima Taro. Most of the fairy tales we’ve read in class are multidimensional and have a much more complex plot. There is no real villain to Urashima Taro – the tale more or less has no suspense and is a very forward tale.

Collector’s Name: Teddy Ni

Tags/Keywords:

  • Japanese Folktale, Children’s Folklore, Urashima Taro

Snake Stew

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Title: Snake Stew

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre
    • Example: Customary Folklore: Rite of Passage
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Josh was born on October 18, 1985. He has always wanted to be in the military, since he idolized the veterans from World War II and Vietnam. His grandfather was in the Navy and his uncles were in the Marine Corps at Vietnam, so he knew that this was what he wanted to do since he was three years old. He was raised Lutheran and comes from a rural part of Northwestern Pennsylvania, three hours from Pittsburgh, so his family and the entire area is very conservative. Military service where he grew up is a very proud accomplishment. He wanted to be fighting in war, and he joined the military during his senior year of high school when he was 17. He ended up joining the army in order to join the infantry, get to go to airborne school, and join the Ranger Special Operations Unit. He always wanted to be involved in combat. He has had 4 deployments to Afghanistan and Iran and 7 deployments to the Middle East altogether, and spent around 10 years traveling. He went to the Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets. On a scale of E1 to E9, he was an E7 on the pay-grade system, and he got promoted very fast. He did an Associate’s degree after leaving the military in 2013 and ended up at Dartmouth after meeting a family of a soldier who had connections to the college.

Contextual Data:

  • Social & Cultural Context: One of the colloquial nicknames of the Green Berets in the Special Operations community is “snake eaters.” Green Berets are known as tough guys, who are comfortable living in austere environments, who eat bugs, snakes, and other wild animals. The training course in Camp McCall of North Carolina (close to Raleigh) they go through to become a Green Beret takes around a year and a half and broken up into different parts, learning different things, including language, technical, and tactical skills. One part is called Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SEAR) school, and this is a three-week course that covers how to manage a hostage/prisoner situation, evade capture, and what to do. The completion of the first week of this program is when this rite of passage occurs.

Item:

  • Snake Stew

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

  • “During the first week of that, we’re living out in the woods and we’re learning like all the primitive field things, like how to set snares, how to butcher rabbits, chickens, and things like that, and how to cook it so you don’t get sick, what to eat and what not to eat and all those things, how to boil water, you know, and stuff like that…and somewhere in there of course the whole time, they gave us like one rabbit to eat for like the entire week, so you’re not eating a whole lot this entire time. Towards the end of that, they, towards the end of that, make this, for lack of a better word, stew, which is basically just a boiled big pot of water. They put some, a few vegetables in there, some carrots, celery, and some potatoes, and maybe some leftover chicken and rabbit that we have left over, but we also had this big ol’ snake that they chopped up. They skinned in, gutted it, chopped it up and everything, and threw it in the stew. And so that was a pretty cool event because at that point, we could kind of officially call ourselves snake eaters if we eat the snake. And so I don’t know if that’s actually how we get the name or maybe it’s just like a self-fulfilling you know whatever, but it was kind of cool. I remember it being a cool feeling.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Josh mentioned that the whole group held the snake, and this is not only a rite of passage, but also to make sure everyone has a tough stomach. He thought that this was one rite of passage where people go through shared hardships and build bonds, and this is why everyone misses the military so much when they leave in regular life. After this stew rite of passage, he felt prepared to handle more difficult situations of the training, such as when he was evading being caught in the woods, had nothing to eat, and when he was put in Camp “Slappy.” This is when he gets interrogated, slapped around, and eventually liberated from this simulation course. This bond that he formed with the people he went through with the people he shared the stew with allowed him to get through such a difficult training process.

Collector’s Comments:

  • This seemed to be a rite of passage that reflects the colloquial name of the Green Berets, as well as being a special milestone in one’s training. Josh was the only one out of the informants who was part of this branch of the military, so he gave an interesting perspective on them, their superstitions, and what kinds of training they go through that are unique to the Green Berets.

Collector’s Name: Jenna Shin

Tags/Keywords:

  • Snake stew, Green Berets, rite of passage

White Socks

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Title: White Socks

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre
    • Example: Customary Folklore: Superstition
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Marcus is from Illinois and was born in 1989. He joined the military so he could pursue higher education in the future. He joined the Navy because he wanted to travel the world, and he initially thought of joining the air crew to fly from country to country. He instead decided to become a corpsman, went to corps school, went to CTM (combat trauma management), got deployed with the Marines, and went to Afghanistan for his first deployment. He worked at a hospital in Spain and currently resides there. He attended one semester of college before deciding to go to the military.

Contextual Data:

  • Social & Cultural Context: He first heard about this superstition in Afghanistan, and he understands it to be to make sure everyone in the military is doing their daily checks and keep everyone in line. The military wants everyone to pay attention to their surroundings, not neglect anything, wearing the right clothes and uniform regulations, and making sure one is aware of small details.

Item:

  • White socks – do not wear them or else one will be blown up

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

  • “My superstition is the one where they tell you if you wear white socks, you’re going to get blown up because you’re not paying attention to your surroundings because instead of wearing black socks like you would in the rear, you’re wearing white socks because you’re not in the rear, you know. You can get away with it. So that’s the big superstition for me.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant did not really believe the validity of this superstition, and he stated that it does not really matter what socks you are wearing out in the field or what kinds of clothing you’re wearing. He believes that everyone just does they’re best to make sure the person next to them gets home by staying disciplined. However, a lot of care packages that people send to the military contain white socks, and people just wear white socks more and this higher percentage of people wearing white socks is reflected in who gets hurt.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Many of the people we interviewed shared this same superstition, and we speculate that it is associated with a cautionary tale to just be careful, take care of oneself, and have good discipline in the military.

Collector’s Name: Jenna Shin

Tags/Keywords:

  • superstition, white socks

Title of Boot

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Title: Title of Boot

General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre
    • Example: Customary Folklore: Rite of Passage
  • English
  • United States

Informant Data:

  • Ben is 26 and was born in Connecticut. He currently lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was in the Marines until May of 2016 and won a scholarship to come to Dartmouth College. He joined in the military when he was 21 and attended the University of Rhode Island briefly. He wanted to make a change and joined the Marine Corps because he was interested in the infantry growing up and throughout high school. He wanted to join the Marine infantry because it appealed to him the most. He is a Computer Science major and wants to pursue a more normal life after traveling so much the past few years. He has been to the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Kuwait, Iraq, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Oman, Japan, and Italy.

Contextual Data:

  • Social & Cultural Context: Every branch of the military has a social hierarchy, depending on the experience, length of their service, and their age. Titles such as “boot” seem to symbolize this kind of hierarchy by differentiating new members of the military from those who have seen more experience overseas.

Item:

  • The title of boot is what everyone is called when they first join the military, before they have gone through any deployments.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

  • “Really the biggest rite of passage, which is going from being a boot to being considered one of the, I guess, equals. Before you go on your first deployment, you know, you’re considered a boot, and I guess really to the Marine Corps what pledging is to a fraternity where you’re just kind of treated, kind of treated like you’re on a lower tier I guess. You’ll always be told to clean, you’re really treated worse I guess than you know, the rest of the guys who have been in longer than you.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Ben thought that this was a way for people to demonstrate that they had first joined the military, as it is an important milestone for a lot of people. He said that you’re really motivated and proud to be a Marine when you first join and leave boot camp and the school of infantry. He believes that people who are not boots are more used to the military, which turns into the fact that making of that individuals are boots is a way of entertainment and tradition.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The title of “boot” was also referred to across many different branches of military service, and almost all of the informants shared this same title when they first joined before their first deployment. It seems to represent the title one receives when one is new and not yet experienced, and going through this rite of passage and gaining more experience allows one to move past this title to earning other titles higher up on the military hierarchy.

Collector’s Name: Jenna Shin

Tags/Keywords:

  • Boot, rite of passage, customary folklore