As of now, my new single-most (well…) favorite weblog may very well be TV in Japan. It feature all the mind-boggling, awesome, weird TV shows which – thanks to all the inter-cultural misinterpretations etc- are just sooo much fun. Just one example:
As far as I can tell, this is a game show where students are forced to watch a video of a non-English speaker struggling with trying to sound out English phrases. The basic idea is not to laugh. Or course, this is hard because watching someone struggle with language skills is almost always cause for hilarity. Especially when you’re forced to hold it in. Unfortunately, there’s a slight twist. If the student’s do laugh, they are caned by masked men. Yes, full on the ground, butt in the air, painful-as-they-come, caning. As the game goes on, the students try so very hard not to laugh. Unfortunately, they do not succeed. You, however, are free to laugh at will.
(Note: Check out the comment section for more details about who’s participating and why.) [Link to the video]
