I have a lot of homework, people. Most of it is reading. English majors get to read a lot and we’re expected to have insightful opinions on all of it.

I’ve been a bad procrastinator already. I didn’t really do much all weekend and now I have a ton of stuff due tomorrow that I haven’t gotten too far into yet. At least most of it is pretty interesting. I have a feeling I’ll be sharing a lot. I’m taking one class called Advanced Folklore which will give me the bulk of my reading (152 pages this week) but has given me a lot to think about so far.

So as an intro to what Folklore is we were given some questions, and today I want answers!

1. How do you cure the hiccups? Hold your breath for 20 seconds or drink three sips of water.

2. What is done with the bride’s bouquet? It’s thrown to all the unmarried girls at the wedding and the one who catches it makes small children cry (true story.)

3. What do you do with a baby tooth when it falls out? Put it under your pillow and the Tooth Fairy will give you money! I always got a dollar.

4. How do you predict the gender of an unborn baby? There are a lot of these, apparently, but I remember learning that you check the veins on the wrist of your dominant hand. More blue veins means more boy babies, and more purple veins means more girl babies. I have even amounts of both so WHAT NOW, FATE!?!?

5. What do you do at birthday parties? Cake, singing, presents, in that order.

6. How long do you wait before leaving a class if a professor doesn’t show up? 10 minutes, 15 if s/he has a doctorate.

There are more, but the overall point is that you didn’t learn these answers at school, from books, internets, etc. In most cases you heard them from family, friends, or just randomly. What are some other tidbits you’ve picked up along the way?

For next week I get to read some fairy tales by the Grimm brothers. Best class ever? Maybe.