First things first - Happy Friday! Another week has come and gone. Are any of you reading Pride & Prejudice for the blogging book club? If so - hop over here and read my guest post! I am about half ways through it and am enjoying it even more than I did the first time I read it!
Today is Friday the 13th (cue scary dun, dun, dun music), so let's talk about superstitions. I have to say I am not at all superstitious. I do have rituals, like laying out my race outfit the night before a race, but I don't link that ritual with my performance the next day. I just do it because I know I am going to be so groggy the morning of the race.
I will tell you what country/culture has a lot of superstitions, though - Russia! Last fall I went out to dinner with a co-worker, and her 2 friends. They were all from Russia. Here are a couple of things I did over the course of the evening that sparked a lot of Russian chatter:
#1 - On the car ride to the restaurant, they were all chatting in Russian, so I started whistling. (Yep, I whistle sometimes, sort of subconsciously. This is what happens when you live alone for 6 years.) I was quickly informed that in Russia (or at least the region where these girls are from) no one whistles because it means you are going to lose all of your money.
#2 - We got to the restaurant and I put my purse down on the floor. Turns out if you put your purse on the floor, you will also lose all of your money.
#3 - We were eating at a Russian restaurant (Moscow on the Hill for any locals that read this) and good Lord their portions were enormous. So I didn't even come close to finishing everything on my plate. Turns out that leaving food on your plate means you are going to also lose your health.
It was kind of funny because I just couldn't seem to do anything right. Every time I'd break one of their traditions/superstitions, the girls would start talking excitedly in Russian, and I'd know right away that I had once again done something wrong!
Anyways, I am intrigued by the practices and traditions of different cultures, so this was an interesting and fun experience to go out to eat with Yulia and her friends! Now let's just hope their superstitions are not true!!
Would you consider yourself a superstitious person? Do you think of Friday the 13th any differently from other Fridays?
16 comments:
Haha, that's ridiculous! It does seem like every time you went to do something it had a 50/50 chance of being wrong! I'm not really a superstitious person.
I am not at all superstitious. Although, If i spill salt I throw a little bit over my shoulderby habit. Also, In Scotland, when you hae a boiled egg, you smash the bottom of your eggshell when you finish so that thw witches can't use it as a boat. Een though I am grown up, and know that 'witches'of that type don't exist, I still do it.
Well aparently I too am going to lose all my money and my health. These superstitions are too funny. I don't have any real superstitions, especially about Friday the 13th. Although I do think it's amusing that my dad's 10th wedding anniversary will be a Fri the 13th in Oct (if they make it that long--8 more years to go --fail). Well now that I've gone off on a random tangent again, have a happy Friday and a great weekend!
Too funny- I didn't even realize it was Friday the 13th until you mentioned it!
I am only superstitious about certain things. I think it's more a childhood habit that has just carried onto my adulthood. For example:
-Last time I ate Mac'N'Cheese was when I was like 7 years old b/c I got sick the next morning. After that I always thought "If I eat that again, I'm going to get sick." Now I've just carried it on.
That is really funny you mention Russians. We had to do a cultural project about "nursing care" and "health practices" among various parts of the world. One girl in my class is from Russia--so she obviously did her country. They had some reallly funny ones! Like if you get sick, she believes you must dump ICE-COLD water over your head to freeze out the illness.
That's HILARIOUS! I love it!!
I am a little superstitious that when everything in my life is going really good that something bad is just waiting around the corner for me. It's kinda silly and certainly doesn't keep me up at night, just a nagging feeling I get sometimes when things are going well!
It also just took me FOREVER to spell superstitious, I had to refer to your spelling of it in my reader. Haha
I'd bet that, like me, anyone who has grandparents from Europe finds themselves quasi-superstitous. One very well known Jewish superstition is that a red ribbon will keep evil away. I have a small piece of red ribbon in my wallet and one in my apartment. This superstion is acted out even more when someone has a baby and a red ribbon is placed on under the crib, carraige, etc. As crazy as it sounds to my rational self, my emotional self (and the part that is proud of my culture) knows that when I have a baby there will be red ribbons. Even though I don't believe in evil spirits, I figure a red ribbon here and there can't hurt, right?
those are funny superstitions. I'm definitely not superstitious. There are too many friday 13ths that come and go just like any other day. Happy weekend!
Your entry made me laugh out loud! I wonder if all the Russian superstitions don't have something to do with losing your money (or health) because of their poor economy so long?
I'm not really superstitious, although I partake of some superstitious behavior. For instance, I throw salt over my shoulder(s) and I won't open an umbrella inside.
I think the Jewish superstition that Little Fish shared is neat. I might add a couple of red ribbons around my house, just in case!
I have only 1 superstition that I follow; I don't like 3 6s. I have even bought a pack of gum that I don't like a few times because my purchase came to that amount!
Oh my gosh, I was seriously dying laughing reading that post! WHAT IS THE DEAL? I guess I am doomed to lose my money and my health since I put my purse on the floor all the time and almost never finish my food!
I am in no way superstitious. Wierd, but I can't think of anything. Thanks again for guest blogging. I am so exhausted from conferences and what not that I think bed is very for me haha.
I am kind of superstitious... like I am always worried about "jinxing" myself. It's ridiculous!
That post was hilarious!!! How are you still alive with all that bad luck supposed to happen? ;)
I'm not very superstitious, I don't think. But I still like to wear my "lucky" necklace (which always changes) when I have exams :)
Ok, Crystal, I agree about the three 6's. I have a friend who actually changed a flight because the one she was purchasing came up to that amount.
That is just wild! I try not to be superstitious at all- I think it's wasted energy - but I will admit, I saw the movie Candyman too many times in high school and if someone says the word "Candyman" around a mirror I may or may not totally lose it.
But I think that more paranoid delusion than superstition, don't you? =p
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