Tag Archives: Apple

Eating Apples – China/Hong Kong (Claire Macedonia)

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Title: Eating Apples (China/Hong Kong)

General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: China/Hong Kong
  • Informant: DT
  • Date Collected: 11/01/21

Informant Data: DT was born in 2000 and then raised his whole life in Hong Kong. After taking a gap year where he studied at a small university in Hong Kong, he is currently a member of the Class of 2025 at Dartmouth College and is studying Government and Economics. His mother is Chinese and his father’s cultural background is primarily Eastern European. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context:  In Chinese, the pronunciation of the word “apple” is the same as the word “safety.” Additionally, my informant shared with me that in Chinese culture there is a great stress on doing well academically and thus following superstitions related to tests and exams is a widespread practice. 
  • Social Context: DT shared with me that during the weeks in which there would be midterm or final exams, the cafeterias at universities in Hong Kong would serve apples and apple dishes since it is believed that if you eat an apple(s) prior to your exam, you will safely pass it. The informant expressed that this was common practice at high schools and universities in both Hong Kong and China and has been occurring for decades, citing that his mother took part in this superstition when she was attending university in Hong Kong herself. 

Item: In China/Hong Kong, eating apples before taking an exam will help you safely pass said exam.

Associated File

Cafeteria Menus - Washington Elementary School

Transcript:

  • “During the exam period, I would walk into the cafeteria and notice the usually untouched basket of apples, empty. In the dessert section there would be apple pies and everyone would take a slice.” 

Informant’s Comments:

  • My informant mentioned that he found it strange at first that when midterms were taking place here at Dartmouth, there wasn’t an influx of apple consumption. He noted that it made him realize how cultural this superstition was.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I enjoyed hearing from my informant about this superstition and how he continued it once he came to Dartmouth, but I would likely not partake in this superstition myself. 

Collector’s Name: Claire Macedonia

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition 
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • Apples 

Foco Apple Game

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1. Title: Foco Apple Game

2. Informant Information:

Parker Johnson was born on October 24, 1996, and he grew up in Houston, Texas. He is currently a freshman at Dartmouth College. He is on the track team and wants to study Economics, and he has participated in this game.

3. Type of Lore (Genre and Sub-Genre): Customary Lore, Game

4. Language: English

5. Country of Origin: Hanover, New Hampshire, United States

6. Social / Cultural Context:

Three important pieces of Dartmouth slang that are necessary for understanding this game are “Foco,” “Droco,” and big weekends. Foco is short for Class of 1953 Commons, which is the main dining hall at Dartmouth. Droco is a combination of the words ‘drunk’ and ‘Foco,’ referring to when people go to dinner at this dining hall after consuming alcohol. Big weekends constitute Homecoming in the fall, Winter Carnival in the Winter, and Green Key in the Spring.

7. Associated file: N/A

8. Transcript: “The game involves throwing an apple from person to person at the dining table, but the catch is that you can only catch the apple with a fork. So, the object is to stab the apple you’re your fork and get the apple to stay on the fork. And you try to keep passing it down the row and across the table, and see how many people can catch the apple with the forks in it. And you leave the fork in the apple once the person catches it. Then you just keep passing it. By the end, you have six or seven forks stuck in the apple until someone misses or the apple breaks.”

9. Informant’s comments:

“It can be a lot of fun, I’ve played it myself.”

10. Collector’s Comments:

“Usually, the game is played on Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday, and especially on big weekends when people tend to go to Foco a little inebriated. The apples at Foco are notoriously bad, so maybe it originated as a type of statement against the quality of apples. Ultimately, nobody really knows how the game was invented, but it caught on.”

11. Tags/Keywords: Game, Apple, Foco, Alcohol, Droco, Customary