Jason & Susan

We got a TV last week and started watching local broadcast programs. While the number of channels available are many (over 60!!), we have not been able to find many quality channels or programs. Part of the reason is due to the lack of a comprehensive TV guide that lets people know what channels and programs are available, so we’ve just been flipping through the channels and not really finding anything good. CCTV and CCTV International each has their own website with some information about programs/showing time but they are not very helpful. CCTV is completely in Chinese so it’s hard for us to figure out what programs are available. CCTV International is the English CCTV but we haven’t been able to find any good programs besides the daily news. There’s another (only other) English channel called ICS (International Channel Shanghai) that started recently. We haven’t had much time to watch ICS but have heard good things about a program called “Culture Matters.” We set our TV to record a few episodes but haven’t gotten around to watching them.

Anyway, between ICS and CCTV International—the only two English channels in Shanghai—we’ve paid notice to the fact that all of the commercials shown are in Chinese except for one. This one in particular is about healthy “hobo” drinks. You see, most of the time when the TV is on, we’re actually doing something else like cooking, cleaning, reading, or working, so we’re not really “watching” the TV. We just listen to the noise in the background and catch whatever interesting bits of news that pique our interest. Chinese commercials pass right through our ears, but we keep hearing this “healthy hobo drinks” commercial and we’re like, what’s a “hobo” drink. So finally, we paid more attention to the TV and realized that they’re actually saying healthy “herbal” drinks, except with a weird British-Chinese accent. Jason said that British people pronounce the silent “h” out loud. Is that true?