If you want to fit in, respect your hosts’ superstitions

Each week Dustin Jordan, who is currently living abroad, talks about his travel experiences. This week he talks about superstitions.

Dustin Jordan

The world is an interesting place full of weird beliefs and fears, which are often the remnants of the generations that came before us. Where do superstitions start?

Sometimes I think our forefathers were just bored and turned urban legends and myths into stories that became part of the national psyche. After all, there was no way to authenticate a story like we can.

South Africa has its fair share of superstitions, depending on the culture and creed you are from. There’s the belief of tokoloshes, those pesky little goblins that will chase after you while you try to sleep. When I was younger there was the myth circulating that you dare not got to the bathroom alone because Pinky Pinky will get you.

A man supposedly in a pink suit that was harassing kids. A family member would freak out when there was a lightning and thunderstorm and she was wearing red, because she thought the lightning would strike her. Why, who knows?

Superstitions are the quirks that make a long trip even the more interesting. In Brazil, for instance, it’s believed that your fortune for the year is determined by the colour you wear on New Year’s Eve. White is considered the best colour to wear because it will bring you good luck in the year that lies ahead.

Germans don’t believe in saying cheers with a glass of water and make it a point of looking in your eyes when they do.

If it’s superstitions you’re

looking for, then South Korea has them in abundance. One of the funniest ones for me was fan death.

For some reason there is a belief that you shouldn’t have a fan on in a closed room with unopened windows because it will destroy the oxygen in the air and lead to suffocation. If you really want to see a Korean freak out, go ahead and write their name in red. It is said the red represents blood and means you are dooming that person to an untimely death.

I also got used to some buildings not having a 13th floor. In Chinese buildings you will often find the fourth floor missing because the words “death” and “four” sound similar in Chinese. Don’t ever put your feet on tables and stand on things in Thailand. It is considered incredibly rude.

Doing a stint as a PE teacher I had the unfortunate experience of prompting children to play leap frog which ended in tears because you absolutely don’t touch someone on the head in Thailand. The head is considered sacred.

Initially I thought it was because the kids didn’t like sports!

The head case (excuse the pun) is the same in Vietnam. The Vietnamese also consult fortune tellers to give them specific dates they should be married for a prosperous relationship. Sometimes you can get away with feigning the cultural norm when it comes to certain superstitions.

If you’d rather not get strange side glances while travelling, perhaps taking five minutes to do a quick search on the cultural norms is worth it. For assimilation’s sake.

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