Time for another round of investigations into different cultural superstitions held by Columbia students. This week, staffer Joanna also shares some insights into her own (Chinese) culture’s practices (involving food, just to whet your appetite for this Thursday)!

Thanksgiving is coming up! This usually means means family dinners and, inevitably, dealing with unwanted questions from relatives. Before you sit down and shove turkey down your throat, here are some tips from the ever-so-superstitious Chinese culture. First and foremost, if you ever use chopsticks (or any utensils), don’t rest them vertically in your food. The Chinese culture believes that is a harbinger of death because it resembles incense sticks lit before graves. That’s why there’s usually a chopstick stand in Chinese restaurants, and if there isn’t you can make your own with the chopstick wrapper. When you’re eating fish (which is highly unlikely seeing as it’s Turkey Day), don’t flip over the fish. Chinese people generally eat fish whole, and a whole fish symbolizes a boat. If you flip over the fish, it means you’ve capsized the “boat,” therefore bringing a lot of bad luck. Finally, always have an even number of dishes on the table. Remember yin and yang? Odd numbers are associated with yin, which is negative energy, while even numbers are associated with yang, the positive energy.
Enough about food, here are some more non-Chinese superstitions:

Ioana Alecsiu (CC ‘14) – Romania
“There’s a lot of superstitions in Romania, some are religious, others depend on the area you’re coming from. We consider Tuesdays to be unlucky days, with three unlucky hours called the three dark hours of Tuesday. It’s probably a coincidence, but every single injury that I had during my four years at Columbia all happened on a Tuesday. There’s the typical taboo on the number 13, but it’s not as big of a deal as it is in the U.S. We also consider it unlucky to step out the door right foot first, I still actively make sure I don’t do it every day, it’s kind of engrained in me. There’s also the idea that Fridays are unlucky, but not a lot of people believe in it. As for a weird one, supposedly when something bad happens to you, if you throw salt over your shoulder, it will take away the bad things.”
(Image taken from Columbia Athletics)

Stephanie Borgani (CC ‘19) – Brazil 
“For general things nowadays, it’s not so different from the US, but if you go back to the older generation there are some funny ones that were widely believed to be true. For example, my grandfather believes that a completely valid cure for ear infections is to pee in your hand and put it on your ear. He swears by that. My grandma thinks that you’ll die if you eat mango and drink milk at the same time. There’s also the idea that if your ears are red it means that someone’s talking about you. For New Year’s, you’re supposed to go to the beach, jump seven waves, wear white, and throw roses into the water to get luck for the rest of the year. It’s an African tradition that the slaves brought over. I’m just not a superstitious person so it doesn’t really affect my life here. The thing is that they’re not really seen as superstitions but rather truths by people who practice them. I mean, how do you really draw the line between what’s superstition and what’s a culture’s customs?”

Ines Padilla (SEAS ‘19) – Philippines
“I feel like all the superstitions are pretty much Chinese, because everyone in the Philippines is either Spanish or Chinese. From what I know, leaving your umbrellas open is supposed to be bad luck, so I don’t really like to do it. I also don’t like the number 4 and 13 but I do like the number 8. I remember in the Philippines there’s no 13th floor. I think you also can’t have your bed in front of your door because it’s bad luck. You’re not allowed to have a mirror on your door because it deflects away good luck. The Spanish brought in religious influences, for example if you want something to happen, pray for it consecutively for nine days. I did that before every SAT.”