009 Superstition

In this episode we talk about superstitions, from lucky pennies to fortune telling in Yokohama, and also a childhood story about my lucky pet rock.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:26 Common Superstitions
• 5:53 Walking under a ladder
• 11:04 Yokohama Chinatown Fortune-Telling
• 21:39 Pet rock

Transcript

Hi everyone, and welcome back to Kuli English Podcast. It's me, your host, Chris. So today I want to talk to you about superstitions. 

And what is a superstition? A superstition is a belief that if you do something or if you see something, it'll bring you good or bad luck. And a lot of these things, it's not actually true, like it's not proven to actually work, but that's just kind of how superstitions are. It feels a little bit like magic, but not all the way like magic. 

Let me give you an example. So there's something called a rabbit's foot. And a rabbit's foot is actually the foot of a rabbit, the foot of a bunny. 

And people would make a charm out of that. So they make a necklace out of that, and then they wear it around their neck. And the rabbit's foot is supposed to be a good luck charm. 

So this is kind of like a superstition. But it's not magic, okay? Superstitions are different from magic. So magic is like the extreme case. 

So if I told you like this good luck charm, I wear it, and then it gives me superpowers or lets me control the weather or something like that, then that's magic. That's not superstition. Superstitions are a bit more vague. 

It's like, oh, if I wear the rabbit's foot, I'm gonna be lucky. So then, you know, like I'm gonna go, and maybe I'll like fall into a hole, but then I'm not gonna get hurt. And it's because of the good luck charm. 

So that's kind of like a superstition. Again, these things are really hard to prove, and it's also really hard to disprove. It's hard to prove that it's not true. 

But the most important part is superstitions just feel good. And so for me, you know, I'm very like science oriented. So like I grew up a lot of my life studying science all throughout like college and even after college and stuff like that. 

But I also have things that I do, which I noticed recently, right? Because I was preparing for this podcast, I noticed that there are actually a lot of things that I do that are a little bit superstitious. And it's not that I like believe that it's going to bring me good luck, but it's just like I'm used to it. And I do it because it doesn't really hurt, or I do it because it makes me feel good. 

And if nothing happens, like that's what I expect. And it just becomes part of culture. Because realistically, a lot of superstition comes down to culture. 

So let's talk more about this. But after a short little break.

Okay, so let's talk a little bit about some really common superstitions. 

So I went ahead and looked up a couple of superstitions. And all of these things, if you ask anyone who grew up in the US, they'll definitely know all of these. But the first one is Friday the 13th. 

So Friday the 13th is a special day. And it means the 13th as in like in a month, it's the 13th day. And if it happens to be a Friday, then it's a Friday the 13th. 

And, you know, let's let's try to take a guess here. So if you don't already know what Friday the 13th is, like try to think about, is that a good thing? Or is it a bad thing? And you know, if we think about Friday, Friday is like the last day of the work day, last day of the work week. So it's before the weekend. 

And the weekend is like the best thing ever, because we don't have work, we don't have school, we can, you know, go play, go hang out, just relax. But actually, Friday, the 13th is a bad day. And it's not entirely like because of the Friday, it's because of the 13. 

So 13 is like a really unlucky number. And why is 13 an unlucky number? Well, there's a bunch of history for that. And it was actually pretty cool to read into that. 

But some of these stories are religious in origin. So it has to do with like Christianity as well as some other religions too. But let me just give a couple examples that don't have anything to do with religion. 

And then we can move on. So 13, why is 13 an unlucky number? Well, if you look at the number of months in a year, you just have 12 months, right? So January up until December, there's no month number 13. So it's like, oh, why is 13 here? So 13 is like looking kind of bad. 

And not only that, but if you look at the clock, the clock has like 12 hours, right? If you're looking at an analog clock, so not a digital clock, like an Apple Watch, but an analog clock, like the one that I have, well, it's a podcast, so you can't really see it. But the one that I have on my wrist, it's an analog clock, and you have 12 numbers. So what is the 13? The 13 is unlucky. 

So, you know, anything that doesn't fit into our world, it's bad. So Friday the 13th is a very unlucky day. And then also, there's also a lot of influence from like horror movies and stuff. 

So there's actually a horror movie called like Friday the 13th. And then in a lot of other horror movies, like when bad things happen, it's usually something to do with the number 13. So maybe on like the 13th floor of a hotel, or, you know, like the 13th box that we open or something like that. 

Like it's, it's like the, it's the, it's the poor number that everyone associates with bad things. So Friday the 13th is a bad day. It's unlucky. 

I don't really believe it, but it just, that's the reputation that Friday the 13th has. And let's talk about another superstition. So black cats. 

So black cats are considered bad. And I feel bad for all the black cats, because they're just normal cats, right? And they just happen to be black. But if a black cat crosses your path, crosses your path, meaning you're walking along, and then the cat also is walking along the same place that you're walking along, ooh, that's bad luck. 

That means a black cat has crossed your path. It's a bad omen. It means you're going to have bad luck. 

And I don't really know where this came from, but I'm guessing it probably comes back to when people believed in witches, which was like, you know, over 300 years ago. And now we know that there is no such thing as witches. But black cats are still, they kind of have a bad reputation. 

And it's kind of sad because I love cats. I love all animals. And, you know, black cats, brown cats, white cats, whatever, they're all cute to me.

But anyways, let's move on. So there's another one. And this one is walking under a ladder is considered bad luck. 

And this one's kind of interesting, because like, the other two, you know, the Friday the 13th thing and the black cat, like, I didn't actually agree with it. But walking under a ladder does seem like a bad idea to me. Like, what if the ladder falls and you get hit? So it's just it's a bad thing. 

It's not only bad luck, it's just actually a little bit dangerous is what I was thinking. And so I, I looked into this. And there's a bunch of stories for this. 

But let me actually give you an explanation that I made up, which is not true. But I think it makes a lot of sense if this were true. So, you know, the way that this was invented, by the way, I made this up, so it's not true. 

But the way that this became like a big thing was a long time ago, there was like a house. And then in the house, there's a grandma, and there's a grandpa, and there's a kid. And the kid is just like a stupid kid and just doesn't listen to anything. 

I want to play. And then, you know, the grandpa has to take care of like the house's roof. So like, the grandpa has to climb up the ladder and go onto the roof and clean out some garbage all the time. 

And he's always climbing up the ladder. And then you know what he does when he climbs up the ladder, he always tells the kid, don't you come near me. Okay, it's dangerous here, the ladder might fall, it's gonna fall on you, and you're gonna get hurt. 

And the kid's like, I don't care. Oh sorry, I did the wrong voice. The kid's like, I don't care. 

I don't I don't care. And then, um, so then, then the grandparents are worried, okay, they're worried that the kid is going to play around the ladder, and then the ladder is going to fall, it's going to hurt the kid. So then the grandma comes up with an idea. 

And the grandma's like, come here, kiddo. And then the grandma tells the kid, it's like, listen, if you walk under the ladder, you're gonna have bad luck for a long time. So don't do that. 

And then the kid's like, Oh, no, I'm actually scared. And then so that's how they scare the kid into not going under the ladder. And this is uhh this is not just a superstition. 

It's kind of like a cautionary tale. So cautionary means kind of like a like a warning and a tale means like a story. So it's like a warning story. 

You tell the kid, like a story, and it's like not true. But it makes the kid do stuff that's supposed to be safe. So you don't want the kid to play under the ladder. 

So you make up some story. It's like, if you dance under the ladder, you're gonna have bad luck for 17 years or something like that. And then the kid's like, Oh, no. 

And so you know, I think actually, this is just good advice. So you shouldn't walk under ladders. I don't believe that it's actually bad luck. 

But I think it's just a bad thing to do. Because if the ladder falls, it sucks. By the way, there's actually a real story to that, in terms of like, you know, why it came to be. 

But it's kind of a long story. And I'm not going to talk about it. So let's talk about this last one. 

So the last one is one of my favorite ones. And it's, it's a lucky penny. So in the US, a penny is one cent. 

Okay, so it's like 100 of these pennies equals $1. And it's the smallest amount of money that you can have, like one cent, it's the smallest amount of cash that you can have. And if you happen to find a penny, while you're walking, and you know, you're just walking along and you find a penny, and the penny is heads up heads up, meaning that there's two sides to the penny,

one side is a head and the other side is tails. If the head side is up, and the head is a is a, it's like a, it's a head of Abraham Lincoln, he's one of the most famous presidents in American history. And if the if Abraham Lincoln's head is coming up and it's facing up, then that means you're gonna have a lucky day. 

Okay, so if you find a penny and it's heads up, it's a good luck charm. It's like, it means you're gonna have good luck for a day, or I don't know, a couple days. No one wrote down the rules. 

So you know, it's not even true. But, but it's good luck. And then what happens if you find the penny, but it's not heads up. 

And so it's tail side up. And on the tail side, there's no Abraham Lincoln, there's like a, there's like a picture of some building. And if it's tail side up, you don't actually get good luck, you just get nothing. 

So it's not bad luck either. Okay, so if it's heads up, you get good luck. If it's tails up, you get nothing. 

And in both cases, so if you find a penny and it's heads up or tails up, you get a little bit richer. And this is just true. Because you know, you get one cent more. 

So however much money you had plus one cent, that's your new amount of money. So the lucky penny is a really cute thing. And if you watch like American TV shows, like cartoons or something, like sometimes you'll, you'll see stuff where like the main characters walking along and then at least I'm thinking of one in particular, like Fairly Oddparents and, and like the main characters walking along and he finds a lucky penny and it's heads up and it's like, okay, now I'm lucky. 

So then not the whole day, a bunch of lucky stuff happens, you know, like, like maybe they're about to get bullied by some bully, but instead the bully messes up and they hurt themselves. And then the main character is like, yay, it's all, it's all good. So anyways, I think the lucky pennies are a pretty cute thing. 

Anyways, let's take a short little break here. And then we'll continue with a real life story about my experience with some superstition. 

Okay, so we talked a little bit about common superstitions that most people probably know.

And if you know anyone that grew up in the US, definitely feel free to ask them like, hey, have you heard about this? Is it true that like, you know, black cats are like supposed to bad luck or something like that? Like, feel free to check in with them. And you might have some interesting conversations. But now I want to tell you about my own experience coming across like superstition stuff. 

And I have a lot of different stories, but I had to just pick one for the podcast. So let me tell you about how I went to Yokohama Chukagai, which is like the Chinatown in Yokohama. So in in like the Japan, Tokyo area, like Chinatown, there's a really famous Chinatown in Yokohama. 

And I highly recommend, I highly recommend it. It's a great place. They have like really nice Chinese food. 

And they have a lot of like, kind of very Chinese style buildings. It's a nice place to just kind of hang out, I think, if the weather's nice. So I was there.

And I ate some nice Chinese food, of course. And then I saw like something called Uranai, which is like a fortune telling. So they have these like palm readers, and they have like four professional palm readers. 

And they are gonna read your palm. So you show them your palm, and then they tell you things about you. So they tell you like, oh, like your personality is like this, or like, oh, your destiny is like this. 

Oh, you're gonna excel in this kind of work or something like that. But I've never done something like this. Like I don't believe in these things.

I don't think that looking at a palm can tell you anything about your future, because I'm like, you know, like a science nerd. But I thought I'd try it. Okay, and it was only 500 yen, which is like $3.50 or something. 

So it's like, okay. So then I lined up. And there's four different fortune tellers. 

Okay, there's four different people working. And like three of them are like, like young Japanese ladies. And they're kind of pretty, right? But I wanted the guy in the back.

Okay, there's one guy in the back. And he's like this old guy. And he's got like a white beard.

He's got some like white hair. And maybe his hair is not all there, because he's wearing a hat to cover up most of his head. And I thought, okay, if there's one person that's been doing this for a long time, it's definitely that guy in the back. 

So I wanted that guy in the back to read my palm. And so what I did was I lined up and they're like, okay, you can go over here. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no. 

I want that guy. I want that guy in the back. So they're like, okay, you got to wait a little bit longer. 

And I was like, yeah, that's fine. You got to wait for good things in life. So, you know, all the good things, it's not short, you got to wait a long time. 

So like, I waited in line for this guy. And then finally, it was my turn. And then I show the guy my palm. 

And I was like, dude, tell me my destiny. Tell me. And then the first thing he says is like, oh, I can see that you are very good at like physical work. 

And then I was like, what? And the physical work is like, you know, I'm thinking like construction or like, like making things, like crafting things. And then I was like, that's not my job. And he's like, oh, no, no, no, sorry, not physical work. 

You're good at creative work. And at the time, like I had like a bunch of different jobs. And, you know, one of them was like playing Fortnite with kids. 

And then I was just thinking like, dude, I don't know what you're talking about. There's no creativity here. Like when I play Fortnite with the students, and we speak English and do like an Eikaiwa, like some kind of English practice, like there's no creativity. 

We just go and we shoot people. And then I tell them good job. And then, you know, like we try to talk in English. 

There's no creativity here. And then he was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Like what I meant is you are good at either kind of work. 

So you'd be good at like physical work or manual labor. So like, you know, cleaning stuff, like cleaning the toilet. I am pretty good at cleaning the toilet, but it's not my job. 

And then it's like, and you're also good at creative stuff. So like if you're to like draw or like art or stuff like that. And then I was thinking like, no, dude, like I'm actually really, really bad at drawing. 

Like it's, I've never met anybody who draws like as poorly as I do. Like anything that I draw, it's actually pretty bad. But anyways, you know, I was playing along with it because I paid the full 500 yen and I wanted the full experience. 

So I was like, oh, wow, you're so right. Like everything he said, I was like, oh, wow, you're so right. You're so right. 

And he was pretty happy. He was like, oh, yeah. Like I like it when the, when the customer believes everything I say. 

And then, uh, and then next, uh, he wanted to read my lifeline. So I asked him like, how long am, when, when am I going to die? You know, cause I want to know when I'm going to die so that I can try to like, you know, set up my life around it. Like if I'm going to die pretty young, then I better do all the stuff that I wanted to do as soon as possible. 

And if I'm going to live to be really, really old, then, you know, I better make sure that I have enough money for a long retirement. And then, uh, so the way that he reads it is he looks at your thumb and he looks at your pointer finger. And then in between those two, there's a line. 

Okay. So you can look at your own palm. Everybody has this, but in between your thumb and your pointer finger, there is a line. 

And this line runs across your palm and it goes down to the middle of your wrist. Now this is called your lifeline. And it's supposed to tell you how much life power you have, how much life energy you have. 

And if it's really long, that means you're going to live a long time. And if it's really short, that means you're probably going to die pretty soon. And, uh, so I asked the guy, I was like, I was like, Oh, thank you so much for telling me about work. 

Thank you so much for telling me like, you know, so much! 

Now, can you tell me when I'm going to die? And he was like, and I kid you not. I kid you not meaning like, I'm not kidding at all. He pointed to my palm and he touched a bunch of different places. 

And he said 50, 60, 70, 80, 90. And then I was like, what? I didn't, I didn't understand that. And then he was like, Oh, and he sighed. 

And then he did it again. He took my palm and he touched like a bunch of different points. And he said 50, 60, 70, 80, 90. 

And then, uh, I was thinking, okay, so you're saying that like the answer to my question, when am I going to die? The answer is either 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 or 90. So basically if I die between the age of 50 years old and 99 years old, then this guy guessed it. And I remember thinking like, Oh, that's kashikoi, that's pretty wise, like a good job because as a very high chance that that's correct. 

Like most people do die between the age of 50 and 99. But if I make it to a hundred years old, then this guy's wrong. Then this guy's palm reading is false. 

Uh, but anyways, I was like, Oh wow, that's, that's really cool. And, uh, it was just funny. Cause like he said all those numbers so quickly, like he's done it a lot before. 

And then, um, and, uh, it actually, it made me laugh a little bit. And, uh, you know, up until now, I did a really good job of like always being like, Oh wow. Yeah, that's amazing. 

And then like, I was like, wait, what, when am I going to die? 50 60 70 80. And I was like, well, what, what does that mean? And then I laughed a little bit and then he was kind of like, okay, so this is one of those guys. Like then he knew that I didn't really believe it. 

And you know, I tried to get back into it. I was like, Oh, please, sir, tell me more. But you know, he, he wasn't really that into it. 

And, uh, he, uh, then he tried to upsell me. Uh, so upselling is like where you try to sell something for more money. And he was like, okay, look, if you want more information, you got to pay up more money.

So you only did 500 yen. So that's like, I can only give you the basic readings, but if you pay me 5,000 yen, I can tell you about your upcoming promotion at work. And then I was like, holy crap.

My promotion, dude, I want to get promoted. And, uh, but the funny thing is like, there, there were no promotions for any of my jobs. Like, uh, you know, I worked at like a language cafe and like, I managed like some people and then like teaching the kids like while playing Fortnite, like there's no promotion there. 

So I don't know what kind of promotion he's talking about, cause, uh, my jobs didn't have any kind of promotions. Uh, well actually, you know, because I was doing like a podcast, um, technically you could say that the promotion, uh, the promotion is like, you know, I'm trying to advertise the podcast. Cause in English, if you say promotion, it can mean a promotion at work or it can mean like, uh, like a promotion that's like to advertise something. 

And, uh, but I mean, in Japanese it's, it's a different word. So he definitely didn't, he definitely didn't know that I had like a podcast or anything like that. Uh, and then, uh, so I, you know, I, I didn't want to pay that much money cause I already paid 500 yen. 

So I was like, ah, yeah, you know, 5,000 yen. Like, uh, that would be really nice because I definitely have a promotion coming up. That's a lie by the way. 

I definitely don't have a promotion coming up. Uh, but I don't think I can afford 5,000 yen. And he was like, okay, okay. 

Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I'll give it to you for cheap for 4,500 yen.

I'll tell you about your next promotion. And then I was like, oh, wow. A discount. 

Wow. Thank you so much. Yeah. 

4,500. I don't know. Like if it was like another 500 yen, I'd probably do it, but I'm not going to do it. 

I'm not going to spend another 4,500 yen to hear this guy make up stuff. Uh, but, uh, you know, I had a really good time overall. So after that, you know, then I didn't do it. 

Uh, and he tried to sell, he was like, oh, like, do you want to know about like who you're going to marry? Do you want to know about your love fate and stuff like that? And I was like, no, dude, I'm not going to pay you more money. Uh, but I did have a really good experience for that. Uh, so I say all this stuff and it sounds like I'm making fun of the guy, but, uh, the guy gave me a lot of fun. 

Like I went into this thing and I paid 500 yen and I got a lot of entertainment and the, you know, now I have the story to tell you. And then also I have like my own ideas for, oh, like I should do some kind of like comedy thing where I always wanted to go on the street in Japan and then just give people free palm readings. Uh, but you know, I've never studied how to palm read. 

I just had that one experience. And then, uh, I was thinking, oh, like I can, I can read people's palms and then like tell them like such generic things that it must be true. And then, uh, so like, you know, I'll, I'm imagining like I'll read a stranger's palm and I'll be like, oh, I can see how you're going to die. 

I know how you're going to die. And they're like, oh, how am I going to die? And I'll tell them, oh, you're going to die. And I can't see all the details, but it looks like you're not breathing and that's how you're going to die. 

You're going to, you're going to stop breathing for some reason that I don't know. I can't see it. And then they're going to be like, well, of course, like when I die, then I'm not breathing. 

And I love this kind of idea. So, so thanks a lot to that, that old guy. Like if he's listening to this podcast, he's going to be like my favorite listener ever. 

Uh, but, um, that's my short little story about, uh, getting an uranai, getting my fortune told in Yokohama. And let's take a short little break here. And then I have one more story. 

Okay. So I hope you enjoyed my little story about the uranai, about the fortune telling in Yokohama. I would recommend that you check it out if you're ever in Japan and you like Chinese stuff. 

Uh, but now let me tell you a story about, uh, my, my pet rock. And I feel so stupid telling you that I had a pet rock, but I did have a pet rock, uh, when I was about eight or nine. Uh, so I, um, let me tell you the full story. 

So, uh, when I was about eight or nine, so this is about third grade or so, um, I, I would walk home from school every day because my school is actually pretty close to my home. So if I just walk for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, then, then I can get to school and I can also get back from school. And, you know, of course, if it's like raining or something, then like probably my parents will come get me. 

Uh, but most days it didn't rain because I grew up in Oklahoma and Oklahoma's weather is pretty, pretty dry. So, so like most days I would walk home and, uh, on the way home, I always took the same way home. Uh, I actually, I know it so well, even after all these years, I'm pretty sure if I just went there, I would totally remember how to get there. 

Uh, but on the way home, I always took the same route and, uh, there's like a road where, where cars go and the road is for the cars. So you don't really like you meaning like people. So people like me, we don't really walk on the road. 

You leave that for the cars. We walk on the sidewalk and, uh, on the sidewalk, uh, sometimes there's like trash or like something or like leaves or something. And, uh, once there was this rock and the rock was about the size of, you know, we just talked about it, but like my palm about the size of my palm. 

So it's like a decently sized rock. It's not too small. It's what did I do? Uh, you know, when kids, kids see stuff like, uh, they just go and they kick it. 

So I went and I kicked it and I can't really explain why, but you know, as a kid, it just feels good to like kick stuff. So if there's trash, you kick it. If there's a stick, you kick it. 

If there's like a can of Sprite or a can of Coke, that's empty, whatever you go kick it. And then I saw this rock and I was like, Oh, this is, this is like fate for me. This is my destiny. 

I got to go kick it. So I went and I kicked the rock and I always played this kind of like mini game with myself on my walk home, which is, uh, I kicked the stuff, I kicked the trash. And then, you know, if it goes out of the way, so if it goes into the main road, like into the middle, I'm not going to go get it.

Forget it. Like, bye-bye. And then if I kick it and it goes off to the side, like into the grass or something like, I'm not going to go get it. 

Who cares? Bye-bye. So most of the times I kick something once or twice and then it disappears. But this rock, this rock was a special rock. 

And every time I kicked it, it would bounce and bounce. And it always would end up back on the sidewalk where I was going to go. So it's basically like, you know, I kick it and it comes back to where I'm going to go anyways. 

So I never have to go pick it up. And I was like, Oh wow, this is amazing. And I did it a lot. 

Okay. I kicked it like once I kick it twice. I kicked it probably like 10, 15 times. 

And it always went back onto the sidewalk. Like sometimes it goes onto the road. And by the way, the road is like lower than the sidewalk. 

So once you go on the road, it's probably not going to bounce back on the sidewalk, but this rock is a magic rock. So it would like hit the road and then bounce back up and then come back on the sidewalk. And I was like, wow, this, this is amazing. 

So what did I do? I ended up taking this rock and it became my pet. I feel so stupid telling you that, but I had a pet rock and it was on my desk for like a year. Uh, and I put it on like this little tray thing that I, that I had. 

And then that rock was my lucky rock. And every time I needed some luck for something, I, I would like touch the rock. And then I'd close my eyes and I'd imagine, Oh, let me get some of the luck coming out of this rock. 

And then I'll take it and I'll use it. So then I'd use the luck for like stupid things. Like if I played a game, like I used to play less like this dragon ball fighting game on the PlayStation 2. 

And then sometimes like, like I want to get like some like good thing. Then before I hit confirm to like get it, I go, I go to my room, I touch the rock and I'm like rock, give me good luck. And then I go back and then I go play dragon ball. 

And I'm like, come on, give me the good guy. And then, Oh yeah, I got the good Goku or I didn't get the good Goku, something like that. And then, you know, there's other stuff too. 

So like I used to play piano and then, uh, sometimes you have like a piano recital, which is like a piano performance. And then, uh, you have to go perform piano in front of a bunch of people. And I would be nervous.

Uh, but before the performance, I touched the rock and the rock's going to give me good luck. And the performance like usually went well. Like, I don't think I've ever had a piano recital that went, went badly, maybe because of the lucky rock. 

And then, um, so like this rock was lucky and it was really nice. And actually I don't think I told any of my family. I don't think I told anyone else in my family about it because I wanted the luck for myself. 

Like I didn't want other people to come and take the luck and then there's no more luck for me. So the luck is just for me. Okay. 

I was the one who found it. I kicked it down the street so I get to keep this rock. And then, uh, once I tried to use a lot of luck. 

Okay. So there's like this really big test and, uh, the test had like four different parts. Okay. 

There's like the math part, the reading part, the science part, and the history part. And then I was like, Oh no, I didn't really study for this test. So then I touched the rock. 

And by the way, this is like still third grade. Uh, so I was what, like nine years old, maybe 10 years old. And then, uh, I went to this test and then I took the test and it was a math part first and math?

I don't need luck. Okay. Math is easy. 

So I passed the math section, no problem. And then I went to the reading section and the reading section, I got like, I like barely didn't pass. I got an 88% and you need a 90% to pass this test. 

And then, uh, but you know, maybe because of the lucky rock or maybe it didn't have anything to do with the lucky rock, but the person who was giving the test was like, Oh, it's fine. 88. That's close enough. 

You can pass this one and you can move on to the next section, which is science. And I was like, yeah, great. This is great. 

And then I went to the science section and, uh, this test was like the hardest test I've ever taken in my life. Like, I don't think I've ever scored so poorly on a test. I remember there was this one question that was like, they have a picture of a plant and then it's like a black and white picture of a plant. 

And they have a bunch of different parts of the plant and it's circled. And then they're like, which part of the plant is this? And then they like circled some part of it. And the, you know, like I I'm, I've always been pretty good at tests. 

And, uh, sometimes when you don't know the answer, if, especially if it's multiple choice, you just like pick one, you're like, you look at them and then like, maybe if you don't, if you know that one of them is not the right answer, then you pick a different one. But, you know, I read all four choices on the question. It's like A, B, C, or D. I don't know any of those.

They're all new words to me. It was like a different language. And then I was like, dude, I don't know what this is. 

So then you just like circle one and you skip it. And at the end, like, they were like, oh, hey, Chris, like, uh, you didn't pass because you, you got, you got a 44%. And then like, you know, the reading one was close. 

Okay. It's like 88%. Like, it's really close to passing, but the science. 

Sorry, I'm, uh, I'm just so embarrassed that I started coughing. Uh, but, but then, uh, I, I got a 44% on that science test. So then I like failed miserably. 

And, uh, this wasn't even like a test that I needed to pass. Uh, if I pass this test, then I would actually skip the fourth grade. I didn't actually even want to skip the fourth grade. 

I don't even know why I was taking it, but, um, I went home and I felt like a loser because I've never like failed a test before. Right. So then I went home and, uh, you know, I'm nine, I'm 10. 

So what do I do? I got to blame somebody. Okay. Somebody whose fault is it that I failed this test? Okay. 

It's not mine. Okay. I'm nine or I'm 10 years old. 

I don't, I don't, I don't blame myself. It's gotta be someone else's fault. And, um, and then I saw the rock and I'm like, it's your fault. 

You didn't give me enough luck. And, uh, the, the truth is the rock, I think it actually did help me out because, you know, I passed the reading section, which I should have failed. Uh, but, but, you know, I was mad and then I was like, okay, it's, it's the rock's fault. 

So you're the only reason why I failed. And so then I took the rock and then I threw it away. I didn't throw it away in the trash can. 

I like threw it away where I found it. So like, I took it and then I like tossed it outside, like pretty close to where I found it. And I was like, I was thinking like, oh, this rock is out of luck. 

So this, this rock has no more good luck to give me. So anytime I try to get luck instead, I get bad luck. And that's why I failed the science exam. 

But, uh, actually looking back now, like, I'm actually really glad that it didn't pass that test because, uh, I actually think that most people, there's not really a reason to skip grades, especially like at a young age, like it doesn't matter. So I think, you know, if you're thinking about skipping a grade, or if you think like you want your kid to skip a grade, I don't know. I think you should definitely think about like, what are the goods, what are the good versus the bad parts of it. 

Uh, but anyways, uh, this podcast, uh, I, I, it might've been running on for a while. Um, so let's go ahead and end it here. And so today we talked about superstitions and again, superstitions are like things where you believe can give you good luck or bad luck.

So for example, my lucky rock, that's like a superstitious thing. Like I thought that touching the rock would give me good luck. And, and I thought that the rock was out of good luck. 

So then I threw it away. These are all like superstition and there's no proof for it. Okay.

So like, there's no way for me to measure like, oh, like I see that when I do this, then I get good luck or I get bad luck because these things are just impossible to measure. So we talked about superstitions and remember superstitions are not magic. Okay. 

So if there was some kind of magic thing where like I touched the rock and then I'm suddenly able to like fly or something, that's magic. Okay. That's different. 

That's not a superstition, but superstitions are always fun. And they're, they always have like good, uh, I don't know, good introductions in the culture or something like that. So I always like talking about superstitions.

But anyways, thank you so much for listening to this podcast, and as always if you like it, you can share it, or you can not share it, whatever, it's fine, just make sure that you're enjoying your life. And with that, we'll see you next time on Kuli English Podcast.