Folk Groups

Folk groups were, at first, very hard for me to understand. I was having a hard time stepping back from my circumstance and looking at where I belong on the spectrum of folk groups. If I think about other people’s families and compare their customs to my family’s, I can decipher the differences much easier. For example, a neighbor for Thanksgiving has all 20 relatives come into town and they will be up to all hours of the night playing Pictionary or Scrabble. While I have my immediate family and it is just a big dinner for all four of us.After reading Chapter 3 I now understand what kinds of folk groups there are, as well as, the folklore that normally is attached to those folk groups.
Personally, I think I am in a regional group called NOVA,Northern Virginia. In this group we tend to differentiate ourselves from the rest of Virginia. We are a more compact community (of over a million), we do not have southern accents, and we look down on the rest of Virginia. We do this not always thinking about the rest of Virginia, but about how we want others to perceive us; as educated and knowledgeable people. Growing up in Northern Virginia, and then traveling outside of it, people will ask you if you have a farm or why you don’t have an accent and that is another reason why will differentiate ourselves from the rest of Virginia. Within,Northern Virginia we have our own folklore about certain areas of NOVA. Most people in the Burke area know where Bunny Man Bridge is and why it is called that, as well as, the crazy neighbor runs out when people pass his house to look at the bridge. Also, most people call Woodbridge, "Hoodbridge". There are problems about NOVA folklore as well. One example is that people will drive drunk around here as if nothing will happen to them. No matter if they hear the police will be out that night or someone just recently passed away from drunk driving people feel that NOVA is a bubble and nothing will burst it.
Another folk group that I belong to is the ethnic, nationality, and religious group. I am a reform Jew which means that I practice Judaism when I want to and mostly on the High Holy Days, (Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Channukah, and Passover). All Jewish congregations do many things that are different from one another. From the way a service is run to the spelling of words; i.e. Rosh Hashanah or Rosh Hashannah, Channukah or Hannukah. Even though many things are handled differently food in Jewish households is always important, especially after a death. At many markets in Jewish neighborhoods there are "Kosher Plates" that feed up to 35 people and they all of Smoked Whitefish and Smoked Salmon or Smoked Tuna. They also have vegetables and a dip as well as crackers. Smoked fish is always a staple at most conservative Jewish homes to begin with, which is why most delis will sell it.
Just recently my grandmother passed away and she had lived in Baltimore, Maryland her entire life. As my family and I started going through her things I realized that she had a very different experience with Judaism than I will ever have. She grew up on a street that was only two miles long, but have 17 synagogues. I have only seen that kind of numbers with churches. It was astonishing to me to see the support that we received from her neighbors who knew our customs of sitting Shiva after the death and how open everyone was. It was an eye opening experience because I never grew up in a Jewish community.
Overall, I have been able to look at my life and start to categorize it into folklore and folk groups. Folk groups seem to be where the stories originate from, where they are most influenced, where they grow, and how they connect the group together as one.