China's Growing Pains

News from Hong Kong: My roommate, George, has just returned from spending his reading week back home in Shanghai. He just had a shower and came in to set up his laptop so he could watch it while laying in bed...he was clearly excited about something. With his headphones clamped on and his eyes riveted to the screen he soon began laughing uncontrolably. I had never seen him like this before. Naturally, I had to ask him what he was watching. "Oh, a very popular TV show called Growing Pains," he said. Yes, that Growing Pains!

It turnsout that, yes, the early '80s family sitcom has become a hit in China -- twenty years later! George was really excited about scoring a bootleg box-set of the first five seasons while he was home in Shanghai. He seemed very confused when I told him that I used to watch it when I was a kid. He couldn't believe that it was an old show because it is, according to him, the most popular show in China right now. "When this show is on, nobody is in the streets...everyone is watching their TV," he informed me. It's all dubbed into Mandarin and it's pretty neat seeing the show in such an unusual context.

It's funny, but in many ways it is these completely unexpected cultural differences that I really value - foreget about the Great Wall...they've got Kirk Cameron!

A.