So it has been a while since my last update from Cheng. We had a minor lack of communication via email. But thankfully I finally got to get coffee with him on Friday. We ended up having a great conversation about China (of course), his plans for winter break and Ninja Warriors. Yes, Ninja Warriors. I was wrong in my assumption that it was a Chinese game show. It is actually Japanese according to Cheng. He explained to me that they had a Chinese one that was similar but he thought it was stupid. He said that he didn't find the humor in someone doing something on purpose to hurt themselves. So basically, he doesn't really understand the appeal of slap stick humor.
After talking about this for a little while, I began to agree with him. It really isn't that funny to me either. It was so interesting to learn how universal humor is. I mean of course I know everyone laughs and everyone finds entertainment in something but it was cool to bond over something like this. It made me realize that around the world the one thing we all have in common is our emotions.
We also talked about some of his favorite TV shows. He likes to watch Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. Neither of which are funny or humorous. I asked him if he ever watched Family Guy or South Park and he said no. He also brought up an interesting point that his government blocks a lot of shows so he doesn't know much about those types of show. It makes complete sense though. Shows like Family Guy and South Park are offensive and racist and that is what people think is so hilarious. It would make sense that a government that is trying to block their citizens from seeing their government in a negative light by blocking shows like this. This made me wonder if they would even think shows like that were funny since they haven't been exposed to them.
I really enjoyed talking with Cheng and getting to know more about his culture and his home. Talking with him always opens my eye and changes my perspective on his country and culture.
Caroline, even though you may not have gotten to meet your conversation partner many times, even just one experience is eye-opening. Cheng's comment that his government blocks some TV shows interested me because my conversation partner said her government does the same thing. She is from Saudi Arabia and they are strict there on humor that ridicules the government. I can completely agree with you on the slapstick humor opinion. This is not my preferred from of humor either. I also agree that it is interesting to see all the similarities between countries and how humor can bring people together.
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